Marathon Pics!

"See, here's the thing..."

I am officially a marathon finisher! Woohoo! However, I have been in excrutiating pain since Sunday night. I didn't really sleep Sunday night because I couldn't get comfortable. When I did try to roll over to find a comfortable spot, it hurt so bad I wanted to cry! Not to mention the blisters on my feet in between my toes and the raw spots on both arms. Trying to get up and walk anywhere on Monday was horrific. Tuesday wasn't much better. But, I kept moving in order to work everything out.

So, was it worth it? You bet! I am so proud of myself. I can't believe that I actually FINISHED 26.2 miles! In addition, I raised over $4500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and was a part of an amazing team. In addition, Keith and the kids were there to cheer me on and be a part of the experience. I couldn't have done it without them.

Thank you to everyone for all of your love and support throughout my marathon experience!!

Here are just a few marathon quotes that you may or may not appreciate:

*"To describe the agony of a marthon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind." ~Jerome Drayton

*"Marathoning is like cutting yourself unexpectedly. You dip into the pain so gradually that the damage is done before you are aware of it. Unfortunately, when awarenss comes, it is excruciating." ~John Farrington, Austrailian marathoner *Marti's note: Tell me about it!

*"There is the truth about the marathon and very few of you have written the truth. Even if I explain it to you, you'll never understand it, you're outside of it." ~Douglas Wakiihuri speaking to journalists *Marti's note: This is sort of like earning your black belt for those of you who earned one before the year 1995!

Enjoy the pics...I'll post some more of our sight seeing this weekend!

I'm a FINISHER!!!

"See, here's the thing..."
I'm going to start this one a little differently than I normally do. I'm going to start with another quote from yet another movie.

"Run Forest Run!"

I just ran a freakin' marathon! Yes, me..."Miss I Hate Running...." "Miss Slower Than a Turtle..." just finished a marthon! That's 26.2 miles for all of you non-runners out there.

So let me give you the play by play of my marathon.
**CAUTION: It's not alway funny, it's not always pretty, but it's the truth. So, for those of you who want to hear a happy story about how it was all "La Di Da" and "Do Re Mi" for 26 miles can just stop reading now....it's not too late for you turn back...although it is for me.

So, as you all know, I was involved with Team in Training for my first marathon. Team in Training is a group of individuals who train for marathons, triathlons, or century rides. In the process of training, they raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I personally raised a little over $4500! My virtual team of 22 people raised over $100,000! And get this, all of the chapters in the nation that participated in the Nike Women's Marathon this weekend raised $18.5 MILLION...yes, I said MILLION...for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. To be a part of that number is simply amazing!

The marathon began for me this morning when I awoke at 4:20 am. I ate my usual oatmeal, banana, and peanut butter...but I added an extra packet of oatmeal since it wouldbe around 7:00 am before my official start. I then proceeded to "assemble" myself...I put on all of my running gear. My running gear consisted of: shorts, bra, shirt, TNT purple singlet over the shirt, socks, shoes (my shoes had my timing chip, my TNT emergency info tag, and my Nike+ sensor on them), sunglasses, ipod armband (although I didn't attach my ipod until start time because it's on it's very last leg...in fact as of my finish time, it is officially retired), and my fuel belt (which holds four 8 oz. water bottles, and also has a pouch for GU...put I also attached my red washcloth, phone, and two other "pockets" to the fuel belt that held more GU, my granola bars, and various other items). I also had my gear bag that I had to put my stuff in for after the race - we checked these at all these buses before the start. They stuck a sticker on your bib with the corresponding bus number and window so that I could pick up my stuff after the race at the finish line.

So, after we did that, Coach Maureen led us around to the start line. Because I run SOOOOO slow, I was in the 12:00-14:00 minute per mile pace group. Luckily, I was at the beginning of that group, but it was still the slow group. In fact, we were so slow that it actually took me 23 minutes from the starting gun to the time that I crossed the START line!!!! However, considering there were almost 20,000 participants, 23 minutes isn't bad.

Once we crossed the start line, I started my run. I was going along pretty good there for quite a while. HOWEVER, I quickly learned that my ipod and the actual mileage do not MATCH!!!! So, whatever number my ipod gave me, I quickly subtracted ONE WHOLE MILE! Talk about a huge bummer! On the plus side, I was running strong and felt good there at the beginning...even though I did have to pee! I opted to wait on the bathroom since the lines in the portapotty was extremely looooonnnnnnggggg! You want to hear something even more incredible? I opted to wait on the portapotty throughout the entire course! That, my friends, is a feat that I hope to NEVER have to do again!

Okay, so back to the race. I felt strong up until about mile 4 when we reached a huge hill. Remember when I said, "Oh no, no big hills."? Well, evidently I lied. I knew there were hills, but I guess I did not realize how monstrous the hills really were. Or maybe it was because I was attempting to go up them on a course that was supposed to last 22 more miles. Either way, it doesn't matter. I made it up...I walked it...but I made it up. I continued this way until the next huge hill...that I also walked up. But you know the great thing about hills? Once you go up, you MUST come back down. And I just let that hill carry me right on down to the very bottom.

At mile 10 I was thinking, "Man, I would run a marathon in San Francisco any day over 10 miles in Lubbock." The views were absolutely breathtaking, especially from the tops of those hills. Even at mile 24, I kept thinking how gorgeous it was.

I was doing really good until about mile 13 when I started having these negative thoughts. "If I was only doing the half marathon, I'd be almost finished right now. What was I thinking?" But, I made it until about mile 16 when I was joined by my virtual friend Shirley. Yeah, yeah, I know...if she was virtual, was she really there? YES SHE WAS THERE YOU IDIOT! Sorry...we got that all day.

Anyway, Shirley kept me going for a while. We were doing super and were able to hit the 18 mile mark way before the cut off time (at which point, they would have turned us around to do a 22 mile course if were going too slow). In fact, Shirley and I kept going until about mile 19 together, but I was feeling way crappy at that point and just couldn't continue to run.

BUT, I will have you know that I did NOT GIVE UP! Even though I couldn't keep running, I decided to speed walk. I was going along at a pretty good pace and was actually passing runners in this manner. That was cool! I was still able to keep up even though I wasn't running and was feeling a whole lot better by walking. I was still exerting an amazing amount of energy doing so, and could really feel it in my legs, but it wasn't upsetting my stomach nearly as much and I was able to keep the same pace from that point on.

Then, the best thing ever happened. It was the thing that literally got me to the finish line. One of my TNT coaches picked me up (not literally, that just means he joined me). He walked me from that point all the way the 26 mile mark. He kept my pace at what I needed to be at in order to finish in under the time limit. At the 26 mile mark, he turned me lose so that he could go back to pick up another TNT virtual member. Because of Goetz, I was able to finish in 5 hours and 45 minutes...that's just 15 minutes slower than my pace would have been had I run the entire way like I had planned. In fact, I fully suspect that had I not changed my strategy from running to walking, my time would have been even slower.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about a couple of key things....so sorry.
First of all, there were people cheering throughout the entire course. I had my name on my singlet so I kept hearing "Go Marti," "You're looking strong Marti" etc. This was a huge boost. Most of these were people supporting TNT, but even the locals were out cheering everyone on. My favorite TNT cheer group was the group around mile 6...or maybe it was 7...I don't know...my brain had left me because we were on a hill. Anyway, they were all dressed in prison stripes and their sign said, "Run like you stole something!" Cracked me up!
Second, this is really gross...so if your stomach gets queasy easily, then just skip on down to the next paragraph. I started rubbing blisters in between my big toe and second toe and continued on down to the ball of my foot ...on BOTH feet! But at mile 25, I felt the right one pop! Yes, it popped! If I hadn't had my music up, I think I would have heard it. Then, not a minute later, I felt the left one pop. I was sure there would be a bloody mess awaiting me at the finished line. But, I was at mile 25 and couldn't think about that right then.

Ok, so back to the finish line. I ran the last .2 miles to the finish line. Everyone was there cheering and yelling your name and giving me lots of great energy. My legs felt like they were about to give, but I had to cross the finish line running...no matter how many times I fell before that. Luckily, I never fell, and I crossed the finish line at 6 hours 12 minutes. Don't forget to subtract the 23 minutes that it took me to actually cross the start line. So, that gave me a 5 hour 45 minute finish time. Thus, the hottie SFFD firemen hotties dressed in tuxedos handed me my Tiffany's finisher necklace that I gladly accepted, and then moved on to the finishers t-shirts that I also gladly accepted. Then I headed to the place were they removed my timing chip and almost fell trying to put my foot on the stool for the girl to cut it off.

So now here's the really crappy part. In my excitement, I kept on walking right on out of the finishers' t-shirt line and kept on going. I was looking for the TNT tent where I had to check in, but I couldn't find it. I walked all the way to the end of the booths and still didn't see it. I called Keith who was waiting at the TNT to meet me for directions. The good news? He gave me directions and stayed on the phone with me until I arrived. The bad news? It was right BEFORE the finishers' t-shirt line to the left. I should have gone out of that line and curved back around to my left...but I didn't know that. So, I had to walk all the way back....with blistered feet, and legs that wouldn't move.

Once I made it to the TNT tent, I checked in and received my 26.2 TNT finishers' pin....which I gladly accepted. Then I got my sandwich and chips. However, it was so crowded in there that I didn't even sit to eat. Plus, I was looking for Keith and the kids. What I really wanted to do was go get my feet looked at. So, I headed to the medical tent. I told the medic what happened...he looked horrified as I described it...then told me to take off my shoes so he could take a look. To my amazement, there was NO bloody mess!!! Woohoo! Yes, I did have huge blisters, and yes, they did pop. But they did not wear off and cause me any more bodily harm than that. He put some spiffy band-aids on them and sent me on my merry little way. Ok, so maybe I wasn't so merry, but I went on my way.

I had to walk quite a way to get my gear bag that I had checked on bus 17 window A some 7 hours prior to that time...which made me really unhappy. At this point, I was well into the "bite me zone." On top of that, I had to make a lengthy walk from the gear check bus to the shuttle. Then had the longest bus ride ever...with Ry Guy sitting in my lap. Can you imagine running a marathon and then having to sit with you legs cramped up with a 65 pound child on top of them? I know most of you don't get that, so let me put it into perspective...imagine sitting on your knees and feet (seiza position for you karateka out there) for hours on end, then having to get up and walk to shuttle on which you were forced to ride with a 65 pound child on your lap. That's how I felt.

So, would I do this again? I don't know...it's kind of like giving birth. At the time that you're screaming in pain from the contractions and squeezing a 8 1/2 pound baby out (yes, mine were that big), no you would not do it again. But after you forget the pain and agony you went through, all you remember are the good things. So, ask me again in about 4 1/2 years...because that's how long it took me to forget those bad things with Ty and decide I wanted a Ry! :-)

PS - Stay tuned for pics...I'll have them up soon, but I must be off to my victory party now...where I'll hopefully make it before it ends since we're walking!

"Stop Forest Stop!"

OH CRAP!!!

"See, here's the thing..."
I don't have much to say tonight...Ok - I have tons to say, I just don't think I can right now. I am SOOOO NERVOUS! I run a marathon...that's 26.2 miles...in ONE week! Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! What was I thinking?

Limits

"See, here's the thing..."
I have been rereading a book called, "The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and on with Your Training" by Dawn Dais. This book is absolutely hilarious and part of the reason that I decided to "get on with my training" and actually run this marathon. Anyway, in one part she talks about limits. I would like to quote her opening paragraph for chapter five - The Limit. She states, "We all have our limits. The maximum we can take. But the fact is that we as human beings rarely approach our limits. Things we perceive as personal limits usually just mark the limit of our comfort level, not the limit of any actual ability. It's not until we're challenged that most of us ever know what we are really capable of doing, " (p. 97).

So what's the point of this quoted paragraph? The point is that I have exceeded my limits this weekend. I have gone far beyond anything I ever thought I was able to do both physically and mentally. I was able to actually run 20 miles (which took me a little over 4 hours by the way...yes, I told you I run REALLY SLOW!). I also actually reached my fundraising goal. This, to me, was the biggest challenge. It involved me going out of my comfort zone and actually asking people to give me money...OK, so the money wasn't going to me, but it always felt like I was asking them to give ME money.

Needless to say, I have gone beyond my limits...and I will surpass myself once more on marathon day. Go TEAM!