I’ve recently been ramping back up into my training after a few months of running only once a week while letting my achilles rest… and thought I should get back into writing in this blog….and then realized…. I NEVER POSTED MY MARATHON FOLLOW UP. GASP! So here it is… Oct. 18th 2009 

So first and foremost THANK YOU to everyone who supported me in my marathon. It was the hardest and greatest thing I’ve ever done but hopefully not the greatest thing I will do.

With the help of my friends and family, I raised over $2500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! Here’s my awesome gear!

The whole experience from start to finish was amazing (except maybe trying to park in San Francisco the day before the race). There was a great camaraderie, and shared insanity from everyone who was involved.

We had a beautiful inspiration dinner the night before with the honored speaker Joan Benoit Samuelson, there were thousands of people and everyone was supporting the cause of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

The morning of the race was filled with nerves, I’d been nursing an achilles injury for the 3 weeks before the race, but knew that even if I had to walk the entire race, I would finish. It hurt just walking over to the starting line, but I tried to stay optimistic and got together with my amazingly cheerful running buddy Catharine Nadeau who was also using the run/walk strategy.

At about 7:15, we crossed the starting line and began our journey around San Francisco. Here we are pre-hilly section of the marathon being happy and cheerful about the day. BTW, the weather was SPECTACULAR, a bit foggy around the bridge and through fort mason, but perfect temp!

Around the time we were starting our first hill into Fort Mason, Catharine starts telling me about her time in the Alps, where she used to run hills all day… this is the point when I start questioning my decision to run with the hill-master. My poor achilles and knees just don’t handle the hills, but I barely managed to keep up with her.

Then we rounded the beautiful corner at the Pacific Ocean before heading into Golden Gate Park, which was the beginning of my real pain. When they say it’s not hilly, they lie. It’s not BIG hills, but they’re rolling and constant.
My pain started at the beginning, when I was looking everywhere for my fiance, Jeff, who was going to try to catch me before I entered the park and again when I came out.

Mile 11, no sign of him. I ran through the park, getting grumpier and grumpier passing signs telling me about how I’d given up sleeping in (true) gotten blisters (true) and finally exited the park ~mile 16…still no Jeff. At this point, I feel like my achilles must actually be on fire and that someone has slipped a golf ball in my shoe, but I kept running down the great highway, passing teammates who were on their way back on the other side and wishing (quite literally) I was in their shoes. While running with Coach Hao along the great highway, I’m pretty sure I may have mentioned wanting to punch Jeff in the face. I lost Catharine around mile 18 as she sped ahead to finish the race 20 minutes faster than I did. About this time. I began crying from the pain and how I believe that Jeff has forgotten about me. Mile 19, I enter the worst part of the race… Lake Merced. No beautiful scenery, hardly any people cheering, just 4 miles of pain and solitude. And just as I’ve put my headphones on in an attempt to use music to pull out of my funk…..there is Jeff, complete with Gatorade! YAY! I’m pretty sure I was delusional at this point…. made no sense… probably cursed a lot…..

Mile 23… chocolate mile…. also known to me as the “F*ck off, the last thing I want is chocolate mile” (My apologies to the volunteers trying to hand me chocolate for my profanity)

Mile 24… Coach Kris to the rescue!!!

Mile 25…. Coach Adam to the rescue!!!

Mile 26…. Coach Tim running with me to the finish line…. I’ve never been happier! (OK, yes that’s pain in this photo)

Time to run it in…. Total finish time was something around 5:40, definitely not my goal time, but I gained a great understanding of my body and my injury and think I’ll be able to be smarter about the running in the future and WILL run a sub 4:00 marathon in my future.

Okay, I’m done, I can barely walk. Now, where’s the food? (This eat attack attitude lasted for me for the next 2 weeks post marathon, I felt as though I was never full… and put back on ALL the weight I lost + 5 lbs….oops)

Again, I want to thank everyone who supported me through this journey, my friends, my family (my sister in particular who listened to me talk about running on the phone more than any human should have to endure), my fiancé, my coaches, my teammates (especially my running buddy Catharine and the rest of the Guadalupe park buddies and the “Girl Band”) and thanks to anyone who has fought the battle against cancer.

Stay tuned to this blog for more running adventures to come!

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