San Diego MARATHON!

So...I did something kinda crazy yesterday....I ran 26.2 miles....

But it was actually not too bad! I was kind of stressed that I wouldnt be able to finish or that I'd injure myself since I've never run more than 17 miles, but everything went well!

Here's the whole story:

We drove to San Diego on Friday afternoon. I took the first driving shift and Jen took the second. We stocked up the car with yummy foods (I made a pizza with dough from scratch, Erin made a white bean salad, we brought lots of hummus) and drove the 6ish hours over to the coast. On the road trip we passed these mountains that looked like giant piles of rocks...it was weird...I tried to take a picture, not sure if you can see(<--)

When we got to San Diego we were very excited to be in a city and feel the humidity. But most of all, San Diego has a BEACH! Which we are lacking in Tucson (dry....desert.....no water.....) It was a little late when we arrived and we were tired so decided to wait to get to the beach until the next day. But I took this picture in our hotel room (which my parents generously got for us!) Look how cute my housemates are(-->)

awww...haha. We joked that we were on a "family vacation" of the four of us. But my family from home actually did come the next day! Sean drove down from LA and my parents flew down that night. On Saturday before they got there tho, we headed to Mission Beach for some much needed ocean and sand time. We never got a picture of the four of us on the beach, but I did get these ones:

If I look cold in that last one with Erin it's because I was! The water was pretty chilly, but that's ok! It's still beach!!!!!

On Saturday night, I went to carbo-load at an Italian restaurant with Sean, Erin and Jeff. We met Allie there as well, and it was really fun! I had some ravioli and some great garlic bread with red sauce on it:)

That night My foot started to really hurt and I was worried about the next day! Would I be able to race on a sore foot? Would my knee just kill me and give out? Would I have to walk the last 5 miles? All these questions and worries kept going through my head. My parents arrived that night and my mom told me she would meet me at mile 16, then start running with me at mile 19 and finish the race with me. This comforted me knowing that she would be there!

Sunday was race day! Jen and I woke up at an ungodly hour (4:30am) to get ready and get on the 5:10 shuttle from the hotel to the starting line. When we got down to the hotel lobby there were some other racers there and a shuttle out front so we went and sat down on the shuttle. The driver took a long time to get there, and we were kind of worried so some of the racers went to go check it out. Turns out we were all waiting on a shuttle to the airport and were holding up pilots and flight attendants! Oops!!! They got us on the right shuttle after that and we were on our way to the starting line.

We met up with my parents at the start and got ready to race. We were in corral 17 out of 44. There were 33,000 people there so it was pretty hectic! San Diego is where the original Rock n Roll race started so I'm glad I picked it to be my first marathon ever!!!

Jen and I started the race together, but had to split up at mile 4 because she was running the half and I was doing the full. It was sad to say goodbye and run alone for a bit, but I was focusing on the fact that I would see my mom at mile 16 (and maybe my other housemates along the way?) So that was good. There were also people with entertaining signs (like: "Chuck Norris never ran a marathon!" or "Run now, Tequila Later!" or "Why are you reading this sign? You should be running!') and bands playing songs as well. The course was pretty cool too, going through the city, along a freeway and a beach.

I was still SO excited to see my mama at mile 16. We agreed to meet back at mile 18 and she would run the last 8 miles with me. I just kept focusing on the little milestones and the people cheering me on. I took my older sister's advice and focused on what I would get after I finished (Thai food and frozen yogurt!!!) When I got to mile 18 I felt ok, but by about mile 19 or 20 I really started to hurt. Luckily by then my mom was running with me and distracted me by talking and telling me stories.

From about mile 22 to mile 25 we ran around "Fiesta Island" which was pretty brutal since it seemed to never end. But it finally did, with cheerleaders from a high school cheering us on! When we had about .5 miles left it really felt like it took forever, but then we could see the finish line and my dad, Erin, Jeff and Jen were there cheering, and then BAM! I was DONE!!! My official finish time was 4:43:31, which I feel like isn't terrible. I just wanted to run it under 5 hours and I did!:) My main goal was to finish and not walk a lot. I ended up only walking at the water stations, so that was good. I was verryyy exhausted by the finish and couldn't think about anything except getting food and ice. We took the buses to the trolley and Sean picked us up.

After some showers and packing up, we got that Thai food for lunch and I ended up with a chocolate and peanut butter shake from Ben and Jerry's. YUM.

Would I do another full marathon you ask? Hmmm. Well today I'm really sore and my foot hurts A LOT when I walk. So....ask me in a few days. I'm already signed up for the Portland 1/2 marathon next year and Jen and I are discussing maybe doing a full one in Seattle or LA or maybe even St. Louis!

I've decided marathoners are crazy. And I'm proud to say I'm one of them.