KristenBegins...

Run a marathon. Check.
Finish a marathon. Check.
Survive a marathon. Check.

It is has taken me a while to write my post-marathon blog and that is mostly because I've been eating Moe's burritos, drinking lots of coke and making my 30th birthday last for a whole week. Oh, and doing absolutely nothing in the form of exercise. So mostly everyone has heard my marathon story from start to finish but I am going to tell it again. I mean, what fun is it to do a marathon if you don't get to relive it a hundred times.

Pre-race

We arrived out in Phoenix a few days early. We did our last 2-mile training run on the day we got there. I learned how wonderful dry heat really can be. Sweat evaporates so much quicker out there. We spent Friday driving up to the Grand Canyon and visiting Sedona. Matt was a Grand Canyon virgin and as such approached the railing ever so cautiously. The following day, Saturday, we went to the expo and picked up our race gear. There were so many people there. So many vendors too. I think that is when it set in that we were really doing this thing.

Race Day morning

Onward to Sunday morning... we awoke just after 4 a.m. Got ready, ate breakfast (pb&j on a bagel for me), took some pictures and trekked downtown. It wasn't until we got in the car that I officially felt the nerves set in. I'd been fine up until that point, but as we drove in the dark to the start line, it felt like the first day of school all over again. We had a little over an hour to sit around before the marathon started. It was cold. I peed 3 times before the race started. This is my new thing... being paranoid about having to pee so then having to pee. Shortly before the race started we got in our corral. We were corral #8. At 7:40, the race began. By 7:43, we had crossed the start line and were on our way.

Miles 1-8

Miles 1-8 were great. It was cool out and the sun was just starting to come up. It was during this time, I appreciated looking at what people were wearing, what music the bands were playing, and what buildings we were passing. I felt great. My legs felt good, my mind was good, and I was even high fiving children along the route. It was fun. I think we stopped at the port-a-potty around mile 7. We lost 4 minutes waiting in line. I also ate my sports beans during this time.

Miles 9-20

We saw Matt for the first time around mile 9. It was really good to see his bright orange bandanna. We ate some pretzels and drank some water. His water was much, much tastier than the hose water we got at the pit stops. Seriously, it was water straight out of a hose. I recall hitting 11 or 12 and starting to feel a bit tired. Miles 15, 16, 17, 18 were especially boring for me. I was getting increasingly tired but knew I was no where near the finish line. I tried to focus on how much longer until we'd get to see Matt again, eat some pretzels and regroup. At this point we were taking walk breaks a couple of minutes each mile. Each time we started, it became a little harder and harder to run. We saw Matt around mile 19. I knew after that it would be just one more stretch to the finish line but that was a very long, long stretch. Oh, I think I also took another bathroom break somewhere in here but I have no clue what mile that might have been. It only took about 2 minutes this time. And there was no toilet paper.

Miles 21-26

These were my hardest. I tried to enjoy the music when I passed the bands and focus on what was playing on my ipod. We were in the direct sun most of the time and I was getting hot. Our walk breaks were getting longer and longer and when I'd start to run again it felt more like a shuffle for the first minute or so. An old man shuffle. I was SO ready for it to be over. I knew I'd finish. I knew there was an end in sight but it could not get there fast enough. I hated mile 22 and 23 because it meant we were close but still had a good 35-45 minutes to go. By 25 I was completely beat. I thought I'd want to try and at least run that last mile, but when we got there, all I could think was if I didn't walk some I would not be able to run through the finish line area.

The end

We finished in 5 hours and 33 minutes. It felt SO good to be done. To have 5 months of training behind me. To know that I finally finished and could spend the rest of the day not worrying about it. I know 5 hours and 33 minutes isn't breaking any records, but I went out there with the goal to finish and that's what I did. From here on out, I can worry about breaking records, but as Christina and I reminded ourselves... we set our PR (personal record). 5 hours and 33 minutes is our PR. What I feel most good about is there was never a point during the race where I thought I couldn't finish. I didn't doubt that. I remember around the halfway mark thinking, I KNOW I am going to finish. It might take awhile but it is going to happen. Also, I never hit that "wall" that everyone talks about and warns about. I felt tired, I felt exhausted, I felt like I wanted it to be over, but I never felt like I couldn't keep going. I never felt overwhelmed by negative emotion. I have felt worse in much shorter runs. I think the fun of it is not knowing what to expect. We didn't know what was around each corner or what each street would look like or how we'd feel at each mile. I knew I hated the last few miles of my 20-mile training run, but I also knew I could do it. I just kept reminding myself of that.

Post race

Besides burning 3,000 calories, finishing a marathon and getting to leave with a medal, we ended the marathon injury free! That might just be the best thing. After we left, we stopped at In & Out Burger, got some greasy food, popped some Tylenol (because what is a run unless Kristen gets a headache), and relaxed for the afternoon. I think we were all too restless to actually get any sleep but laying in bed felt oh so wonderful. That night we went to Buca di Beppo for my birthday/celebration dinner. The race day activities caught up to us because while my original intentions were to at least go out for one drink, by 9 p.m., I, along with everyone else, was ready for bed.

The race day delusions have already seeped in and me and X have started talking about what marathon we want to do next. I think I have officially lost my mind. But I have all my toe nails and none of them are black... so how bad can it really be?

For race day photos, take a look here.