Lessons learned... Completing my first marathon

Well, it has been a while! I am back from my second Christmas vacation - or - I am back from my marathon in Arizona- whichever you prefer.... Back to school and back to reality- with grass - in January???? hmmmmm
ok, I have been so lazy! Not writing, not keeping up... Well, I am going to try to become dedicated yet again!
So, the weather in Arizona- fabulous. The shopping- fabulous! The marathon- still thinking about that one as I limp from A- to - B :)
I will say I learned quite a bit. What I hate is that I am learning all of this so late in life! Why couldn't I have decided to do this earlier, when running didn't hurt so much or take so much effort?
Ok, enough of that. On with the details- I will have to edit some of course :)
Got to Phoenix, escaping the 100 mph winds! It was a beautiful sunny day and we got a convertible! Pulled out the shorts and tshirt and did a bit of shopping... The positive- Carey decided we should leave Thurs eve instead of Fri evening. What a difference that made!!! We immediately went to the expo after check in. Got our bib #s and got to actually see a lot of the stuff you don't seen in Ak. Stuff you usually have to order... Anyway, that was great. My favorite quote of the weekend "does this pace make my butt look smaller" had to laugh at that. I settled for the headband that said "will run for beer"- that seemed reasonable!

Anyway, hit macaroni grill and filled up on some pasta. Got a couple great nights of sleep and then it was D-day. We woke up and I called for room service- my typical toast breakfast... They "weren't set up for that" sooooo that was the beginning of the marathon day. I had a granola bar instead. Lesson #1 learned "start eating oatmeal for breakfast/running"


Had all my stuff laying out, bib number set up. Got dressed and hit the road for the race. Of course the bathroom issue came up - big problem for me! Carey and I waited in line forever! 5 min before the race and I got into a porta potty! Lesson #2- bring your own TP!!!!

Hustled to the starting line and decided to run with the 4 hr group- good idea! It was a hectic start and an interesting one! I felt awesome but noticed my form was much different than it is in the snow! I was also missing about 5lbs of clothing so I thought that was great! Cruised with the 4 hr grp for quite a while - also paying close attention to my splits per advice of JC. They did a pretty good job of staying steady... Then it hit me- gotta go to the bathroom again!!! UGH! Got in line and waited about 2-3 min. finally I left- forget that! Found another one a few miles later- waited another 2 min. or so but finally took care of that problem!

Lost my 4 hr grp but picked up between them and the 4'15 grp. Felt my quads BURNING at 8 miles. hmmmm-- I was scared to death! "this isn't good! I have a long way to go before this should be happening!" Decided once the acid reflux feeling began it would be a good idea to eat some gu. That helped. Along with the water bottle I toted with me in hand per JC- again... I can see how using that method at the beginning of the race was a good one because the water stations were nuts at first.

Kept on moving and tried to stay relaxed although holding the water bottle helped me notice how high my shoulders get. I will be going to the chiropractor for sure this week!

Nothing significant occurred during the race. It was flat and warm. I think it was about 49 when we started and Jason told me it was 70 at 11 a.m. I still had another hour to go from there...

Other lessons- I used glide for chafing, but Vaseline is awesome! They were handing it out on the course, I needed that for the back of my arm... Missed the pretzels (which would have helped a bit I think), missed a lot of things Carey noticed on the run! But I saw lots of dogs cheering us on- that helped! So jealous that guys can just run next to a tree to pee!!! UGH! Porta potties in 70degrees is just GROSS!

Overall, I am pretty happy with my first 1/2 splits. I wish the last half looked more like the first half but one thing at a time!!!

Oh, I did forget!!! THE BEST PART OF THE RACE???? I was jogging around the bend, believing I was at mile 22 and guess what- it was mile 23!!!! I decided I better eat after that mess up so I gu'd before I lost my mind! But what a gift that was :)

Whew- I know I missed something but I will think of it later. As for running- still have a long way to go but at least now I have somewhere to start my triathlon season with! I also realized I am never afraid to work hard on the bike or the pool but I make so many excuses for working hard at running and that really needs to stop!!! Was my initial goal realistic? No. Am I upset about that- No! Did I have a great time? Yes!

Women pick themselves apart but afterward my friend Carey made a great point- she asked "do you know what your body just did for you?" That was a huge wow for me! And as Mike put it "you ran twice as long as the winners- and that's tough!" Thank you to everyone who supported me to this point. And my hats off to you for all your amazing accomplishment's in running! PS- Tom- what does that finishers medal from Boston look like anyway?????