26.2

So, I finally did it!

I ran the Nike Women's Marathon on Sunday October 21^st, 2007.

From the second that I decided to register for a marathon to the second that I crossed the finish four hours thirty-seven minutes and twenty-three seconds after I crossed the start line, it was one helluva rollercoaster.

I used to be a fairly decent runner and ran my way through angst in junior high, homesickness at boarding school, and in tandem and adoration with my high school boyfriend. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that my fastest mile time at 5:31 or something took place 15 years ago on the Sequoia Elementary School track and has gotten exponentially slower as time passes. It was way easier to propel my tiny frame back then, and I had never inhaled anything at that point, either.

I've always held admiration for marathon-ers and always knew I'd complete one, the question that remained was when. Fast forward to 2007.

My "training" wasn't quite non-existent, but could be described as sporadic…Pretty much my training was interrupted by every non-fatal thing I can think of: I was on antibiotics 3 times (twice for a persistent ear infection and once for strep throat 3 weeks before the race date), I fell off my bike directly onto my knees and got a hairline fracture in one of my kneecaps, I was out of town on business for 3 weeks and on vacation for 14 days (all in humid locations that made running deathly) and so forth…oh, and did I mention, lots of my friends are heavy drinkers and smokers…love you guys, but a challenge none-the-less!

As race day approached I was the picture of calm despite only running once in the month preceding the race and feeling winded after a flight of stairs! But I was filled with dread swiftly and silently as I was handed my racing bib and chip, and as panic began to sweep over me, I fought hard not to entertain negative thoughts of injury, death, catastrophe…It dawned on me that my usual laissez faire, off the cuff approach to life might not have been the best way to prepare to run 26.2 miles…

Lucky for me, I have a few friends that are experienced marathons (Ilia and Dana, thanks for the advice) and most importantly, I have an AMAZING bunch of friends that met me between miles 17 and 22 exuding positive encouragement and bursting with energy. Pouring water down my back, singing and dancing, and holding many cups of Gatorade and luna moons, they were the bestest I could have ever hoped for. Irina, Ilia, Natalie, Carman, Dave, Gabriel, Christian, Alex and Nellie – you are the best friends a runner could EVER have. Seriously, the best. I couldn't have done it without you. Not to mention, my training partner (in crime), Shannon, who also ran her first marathon that day; a woman who "trained" through about the same motley list of ailments that interrupted her training, but was 100% trooper and lifted my spirits at mile 13 like nothing has ever done before.

Running a marathon was awesome and really not that hard. You could totally do it, if you want to. And I'll help you if you like; to be honest, I do miss my 5:45am track workouts and the sitting down to cheese rolls and latte's at the cheeseboard after a quick six miler with my comrades. Shockingly, I have run far more in month since the marathon than I did in the three months before the marathon combined, and am thinking I might do a half in January or February…who's in?