pre race:
friday
flight over was ok, didnt do much except walk/ride around SD all after noon. LOL it does rain in southern california, and it is also cold! no other foodies in my group so we didnt eat anywhere. a long day, so instead of going out for drinks with the others, i went to sleep at 8:30...NOTE: i was very dehydrated that night despite drinking water all day. if you fly to your big race, try to go a day early and drink extra esp if you are sightseeing.
saturday
more sightseeing, and i kept my water intake in mind all day. i also ate as well as i could considering the company i kept and not wanting to spend lots of money. no big indulgences!
NOTE: ryan hall is totally cute! (he was at the expo and i have pics)
pasta party was good, a big night for the LLS and TEAM in training. over 8 million was raised just through this race! wow! after eating 2 plates of pasta with plain sauce and lots of bread and water, i walked back to hotel (stopping for yogurt and banana dessert) and got to bed. i had already prepped for morning: NOTE if you are getting up early for race day to make it to the start line, do as much as you can before supper so that bed time is easier. timing chip on shoe, bib pinned on, clothes laid out, all the gear packed for baggage claim, body glide, etc laid out.....get it all ready.
race day:
up at 3:30 am. yes, 3:30. dressed, no skimping on the body glide. lol. board shuttle at 4:30. start line before 5:00. porta potty first, got that business done...lol. drank water, took pics, found my corral, one more porta potty, checked in my bag.
6:30 race starts. walk to start line, then crossed about 5 mins into the clock time. very difficult to get to my pace immediately b/c of crowd. tried to stay within sight of the 4:15 pacer guy but he was too fast (ahead of 9:45 pace). about 3 miles in i finally got on pace and was comfortable. made it to 10k just under 10 mm pace b/c of slow start. lots of cheering and fun things to see, but being careful around the crowd and running is not easy; this is one sacrifice of a larger race. the water stops were awful. ppl stopping, jumping in front, etc. i lost lots of time. i was on good pace, and was trying to stay easy until the hills came at miles 10-14. they were not bad. had been taking the sport beans early, at half took a gel. water or cytomax (which ever i could get to ) at all but one stop. NOTE: if you are slow in water stops, get over to the side! this is important! also, try to throw cups, gu packs, orange peels, etc, to the SIDE of the road. ppl can slip on them easily.
ok, the hard part. mile 17 i went for the gu stop and was still going on pretty good, some pain in the foot coming on. miles 18-21 were tough, 2 big hills to pull, but i made them at a good pace, and was on about a 4:19 pace according to a race official who was directing us through a sharp turn. then somewhere after that i felt a sharp pain in my upper abs, later found out it was probably diaphram spasm. couldnt breathe well, so hard to push through the tired feeling to keep up pace. got a bit angry at this. NOTE: i did very well keeping a positive attitude until this point, a big improvement for me.
now, mile 23 or so? i suddenly found myself face down on a street somewhere in sandiego.....LOL! it didnt hurt then (does now) and i got right back up and kept going, still hard to push through the spasm and breathing and being tired, but not as bad as earlier. now the mental battle began to wear me down. i'm stupid. i'll never do this again. i flew half way across the country to bust my butt and crawl across the finish? i wont beat my first pace. what good is this race if i do worse than before? on and on the negative thoughts came. i did let them slow me down, but i managed to keep running. NOTE: i ran every step except 3 or 4 i took to try to get the spasm under control. amazing for me! so excited about this!
mile 26: the last mile + was so hard. but easier than the first full i did, so that was great. i turned onto the marine base where the finish was and felt good. i went as fast as i possibly could. around the curve i could see the finish line banner. i could hear the announcer. i could see the finish line! i did it! smile! camera are everywhere! crossed the line! i started to cry b/c of all the emotions going through my mind. unbelievable!
post race: my foot was in terrible pain, but held up great most of the race. i was able to put it out of my mind after i started hurting. but by the end i couldnt ignore it as easily. better than i couldve hoped for, certainly.
NOTE: if you run a full marathon and really push hard, be prepared to have no mental energy left. be prepared to hobble (best word i can use) around the finish area. i drank some water, got my medal, had a pic made, then stumbled around looking for some food. out of chocolate milk dang. where are the bananas? dang. where are the nice ppl to help me? arrrghh. finally, after a banana and an apple, i made it to the baggage claim and txt my time to my family. stumble over to t he TNT tent to check in with them (required) and got some pbjs. my team mate helped me remove my shoe (more crying--it hurt!) i could barely walk. the beer line was entirely too long so we caught the shuttle back to shower, rest, and relax before some supper that evening. my post race treat was ginger snaps and chocolate soy milk. bigger treat: a PR, sore body, and the most intense 4 hours, 26 minutes and 17 seconds of my running life!
more later
friday
flight over was ok, didnt do much except walk/ride around SD all after noon. LOL it does rain in southern california, and it is also cold! no other foodies in my group so we didnt eat anywhere. a long day, so instead of going out for drinks with the others, i went to sleep at 8:30...NOTE: i was very dehydrated that night despite drinking water all day. if you fly to your big race, try to go a day early and drink extra esp if you are sightseeing.
saturday
more sightseeing, and i kept my water intake in mind all day. i also ate as well as i could considering the company i kept and not wanting to spend lots of money. no big indulgences!
NOTE: ryan hall is totally cute! (he was at the expo and i have pics)
pasta party was good, a big night for the LLS and TEAM in training. over 8 million was raised just through this race! wow! after eating 2 plates of pasta with plain sauce and lots of bread and water, i walked back to hotel (stopping for yogurt and banana dessert) and got to bed. i had already prepped for morning: NOTE if you are getting up early for race day to make it to the start line, do as much as you can before supper so that bed time is easier. timing chip on shoe, bib pinned on, clothes laid out, all the gear packed for baggage claim, body glide, etc laid out.....get it all ready.
race day:
up at 3:30 am. yes, 3:30. dressed, no skimping on the body glide. lol. board shuttle at 4:30. start line before 5:00. porta potty first, got that business done...lol. drank water, took pics, found my corral, one more porta potty, checked in my bag.
6:30 race starts. walk to start line, then crossed about 5 mins into the clock time. very difficult to get to my pace immediately b/c of crowd. tried to stay within sight of the 4:15 pacer guy but he was too fast (ahead of 9:45 pace). about 3 miles in i finally got on pace and was comfortable. made it to 10k just under 10 mm pace b/c of slow start. lots of cheering and fun things to see, but being careful around the crowd and running is not easy; this is one sacrifice of a larger race. the water stops were awful. ppl stopping, jumping in front, etc. i lost lots of time. i was on good pace, and was trying to stay easy until the hills came at miles 10-14. they were not bad. had been taking the sport beans early, at half took a gel. water or cytomax (which ever i could get to ) at all but one stop. NOTE: if you are slow in water stops, get over to the side! this is important! also, try to throw cups, gu packs, orange peels, etc, to the SIDE of the road. ppl can slip on them easily.
ok, the hard part. mile 17 i went for the gu stop and was still going on pretty good, some pain in the foot coming on. miles 18-21 were tough, 2 big hills to pull, but i made them at a good pace, and was on about a 4:19 pace according to a race official who was directing us through a sharp turn. then somewhere after that i felt a sharp pain in my upper abs, later found out it was probably diaphram spasm. couldnt breathe well, so hard to push through the tired feeling to keep up pace. got a bit angry at this. NOTE: i did very well keeping a positive attitude until this point, a big improvement for me.
now, mile 23 or so? i suddenly found myself face down on a street somewhere in sandiego.....LOL! it didnt hurt then (does now) and i got right back up and kept going, still hard to push through the spasm and breathing and being tired, but not as bad as earlier. now the mental battle began to wear me down. i'm stupid. i'll never do this again. i flew half way across the country to bust my butt and crawl across the finish? i wont beat my first pace. what good is this race if i do worse than before? on and on the negative thoughts came. i did let them slow me down, but i managed to keep running. NOTE: i ran every step except 3 or 4 i took to try to get the spasm under control. amazing for me! so excited about this!
mile 26: the last mile + was so hard. but easier than the first full i did, so that was great. i turned onto the marine base where the finish was and felt good. i went as fast as i possibly could. around the curve i could see the finish line banner. i could hear the announcer. i could see the finish line! i did it! smile! camera are everywhere! crossed the line! i started to cry b/c of all the emotions going through my mind. unbelievable!
post race: my foot was in terrible pain, but held up great most of the race. i was able to put it out of my mind after i started hurting. but by the end i couldnt ignore it as easily. better than i couldve hoped for, certainly.
NOTE: if you run a full marathon and really push hard, be prepared to have no mental energy left. be prepared to hobble (best word i can use) around the finish area. i drank some water, got my medal, had a pic made, then stumbled around looking for some food. out of chocolate milk dang. where are the bananas? dang. where are the nice ppl to help me? arrrghh. finally, after a banana and an apple, i made it to the baggage claim and txt my time to my family. stumble over to t he TNT tent to check in with them (required) and got some pbjs. my team mate helped me remove my shoe (more crying--it hurt!) i could barely walk. the beer line was entirely too long so we caught the shuttle back to shower, rest, and relax before some supper that evening. my post race treat was ginger snaps and chocolate soy milk. bigger treat: a PR, sore body, and the most intense 4 hours, 26 minutes and 17 seconds of my running life!
more later
