I loved it. It was much better than Cats...

GOOD NEWS: There will be an encore presentation on Thursday, Feb 21 -- GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! I'll see you there!

In the meantime:

I have an on-again/off-again relationship with the fact that I ran a marathon. My iPod died before me -- at Mile 15. On again. I only beat Katie Holmes' time by eight minutes. Off again. There are rumors that she may not have even completed the whole thing. On again. She's kinda strange and her husband is insufferable. Way on again...oh wait. I digress.

I will admit, I felt like I was going to get a little something extra out of the film because I have a finisher's medal. (Not gonna lie -- I teared up a little.) I also thought the event might cement my feelings of ownership over 26.2. If only it were as simple as that.

As I settled in for the opening moments of this film, I thought Hey, I did that! On again. One of the first talking heads validates the "slow-timers" -- that it doesn't matter how fast or how slow your time; the distance has been covered. On again.

Then they showed the amateurs and first-timers training. Off again. Ooh. I didn't do that. My longest training run was 10 miles, over two months before my race. Yes, I will say that part of the reason I don't "own" my first 26.2 is because I don't feel like I earned it. I didn't make months of sacrifice -- I simply forged on for a few hours. That feels disingenuous, somehow. Off again.

Then we got into the meat of the movie: Greek history, growth of marathon-distance races around the world, etc. But the one thing I was most impressed by was how they gave the women their props. From Kathrine Switzer's infamous entry in Boston (go girl!), to Joan Benoit's winning of the first women's Olympic marathon in 1984, I felt a special sense of -- not ownership, but something else, camaraderie, maybe? -- to see my sisters (whoa, I never use that word) kicking ass. And I will admit that I'm not sure if being a woman made me read the film this way, but I LOVED the fact that the end of the women's race was more compelling than the men's race. (Just sayin'.) On. Again.

And then: sweeping aerial shots of Chicago, footage of the race itself, glimpses of the finish line -- I've got to do Chicago. I want to see that city from the middle of the street, not the sidewalk. And you know what? Why NOT try to qualify for Boston? Then I started running the numbers and calendars trying to figure out a timeline. This year = Ironman, so...Chicago...2009? Boston '11 or '12? Is that even possible?

I think this is the moment that I made peace with my 26.2 skin: yes, I've covered the distance -- ran every step. But all I did that day was show up and keep going. So no, it's not so much about the race behind me. I'm looking to the horizon. I'm looking at the road between here and there. I've got some dues to pay. My journey to the finish line needs to be longer than 26.2 miles. But more importantly, it's one thing to earn the finish line -- it's something else to earn a starting line.

26.2

3:45

On.

Lessons in 26.2

Ah...the long-overdue race report:

On December 2, 2007, I finished my first marathon. The mile-by-mile account was half-finished for a long time and not all that interesting. Instead, I want to share the enduring memories from this experience – by way of quotes and t-shirts.

First things first: I want to give a heartfelt thanks to my friends, Scott and Ana, for taking such good care of me both physically and mentally in the days surrounding this race. IMHO, having this kind of support is just as important as training. (In my case, it was a good substitute!)

Distance Creep – Last year, GeekGirl and AndraSue wrote about this phenomenon. Even though my training leading up to race day had been spotty, I still fell victim to The Creep. Once 140.6 was on the table, 26.2 seemed somehow lesser, like it wasn’t a big deal. Even though I didn’t know if I could finish, and even though I thought I would start hurting at mile 13, I didn’t feel like anything about me would fundamentally change if and when I crossed the finish line.

Oddly enough, this attitude toward the distance kept me calm at the start line (I have dry-heaved at the start of more than one race). It also took DNF off the table. I knew that only an injury or a freak storm would keep me from the finish line, even if I had to crawl.

And then I took walking off the table as well.

The start line is probably no place to start setting goals, but just before the gun went off a little voice in my head said, “You know you’re going to finish – wouldn’t it be great if you RAN the whole thing?”

So I did. And it was.

The last 10K: "The marathon's about being in contention over the last 10K. That's when it's about what you have in your core. You have run all the strength, all the superficial fitness out of yourself, and it really comes down to what's left inside you. To be able to draw deep and pull something out of yourself is one of the most tremendous things about the marathon." - Rob de Castella

So I’m obviously not a contender of any sort, but this thing about the last 10K is no joke. (I've also seen shirts that say a marathon is just a 10K with a 20-mile warm-up -- also true.) Once I hit Mile 20, my mind started checking out of the race. All I could think was "All right! Just another 10K and you're done -- you've done that before." This is when the real pain started to set in.

Scott cheered for me on the course at miles 18, 20, and 22. Boy, was I glad to see him! At Mile 18 he said, "Hey, you're really going to finish this thing!" At mile 18 I agreed -- I still felt pretty good. Mile 20 was a little different. I honestly didn't know for certain if I would finish between Miles 20-24. There were moments when I thought, "I have to keep running because my muscles will implode if I walk." And "How lame would it be for me to DNF at Mile 24?" Mostly I thought, "How on earth am I going to do this AFTER riding 112 miles?" But I kept moving and about 10 minutes later I reached Mile 25 and then it was ON.

Remember what I said before about The Creep? It completely disappears at Mile 26. When I got there and could hear the finish line around the corner, I picked up the pace -- partly to get the damned thing over with, and partly to look like a "real runner" as I crossed the line, if only in my head. Thoughts of "I really did this" emerged.

The Last Point-Two: The CIM course makes two left turns at the end, each a block apart. After the last turn, you have one city block between you and the finish line. Whenever I imagine crossing the finish line at Ironman, I know I will weep. Perhaps it was The Creep, but I only thought I would feel a moderate sense of accomplishment crossing the line for this race. But when I caught sight of the finish banner, I teared up a little. Then the announcer called me by name -- which I did not expect at all. My arms shot up in a victory-v and a smile washed over my face.

For all the mind tricks and nay-saying -- I DID IT and it felt FANTASTIC! My inner ass-kicker moved a little closer to the surface!

Chip time: 5:21

Is it bad that I'm happy about beating Katie Holmes' time by 8 minutes? I'm going to say no.

Parting Thought: Scott drove me to the start line in Folsom. He said, "You know, we live at mile 21 or 22 and we have been on the FREEWAY driving to where this thing starts for A WHILE now...I can't believe you're going to cover this distance on foot."

Believe it.

I Did It!!!

I ran every step. Body: destroyed. Will: stronger than ever.

Race report: here.

One foot in front of the other. Repeat.

Well, I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I can't believe I'm really going through with this marathon business. Even if I have to crawl, I will finish this.

Unless the weather's bad...then I'll spend the morning with Scott, Ana, and mimosas. :D

Happily, the weather report predicts clear skies and highs in the upper 50s. It should be a great day; a grand adventure.

I really, really, really want to have a great story when I return. Yes. I am nervous, excited, frightened.

This first semester back in school has kinda put me through the wringer, so I am looking forward to the 26.2 miles of running back to myself (my old stomping grounds, my old friends, my old athletic self).

Anyway, thanks for stickin' with me through my absence and non-posting. Just three more weeks of school, 90 pages of writing, 850 pages of reading -- not that I'm counting.

Oh yeah...I've lost 20 pounds since I got here.

Rubber? Meet Road

School starts tomorrow, but my big news of the day is that I have discovered the glorious wonder that is Ultimate Frisbee. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! A handful of faculty and students from the department as well as a whole bunch of other non-departmental peeps play three times a week. And now, me too!

I played for the first time on Saturday afternoon, which Kicked. My. Butt. And I loved every minute of it!

Ultimate is basically everything I loved about playing soccer and basketball as a kid, only I am slightly better at catching and wingin' a disc than a ball. In other words, I get to bring my sprinting back, which was the reason I was any good to a team back then -- I could always get to the ball first and give it to someone who would do something useful with it, like score. WOO HOO! Plus, what's not to love about team sports?

The best is that it meshes beautifully with my marathon training plan. (I've switched over to a 15-week plan since my grief over losing Dinah sort of prevented me from making a real start on my previous plan.) The boring intervals on the track have been replaced with ULTIMATE! *singing* Plus, getting to actually _sprint_ again is going to get me ready for the Pewterman Pentathlon in November. But GOOD GRIEF I am Slow-Ass-Slow right now.

So...I'm about to begin Week Two of my marathon training -- last week felt great to get back out there. I love the roads I get to run on -- excellent for contemplation. I've got a 7-mile run this evening to round out Week One; class and Ultimate tomorrow.

I feel content, optimistic, and happy.

I Can't Believe I Clicked It

As of last night, I am officially registered for the California International Marathon from Folsom to Sacramento.

My first marathon.

And I have ample time to prepare. Can you believe it?

I've been training for the last few weeks, but without any big, ridiculous goals ahead of me, it feels like something's missing. So I broke out my copy of Four Months to a Four-Hour Marathon and the cogs started turning. Then I got on the Runner's World Race Finder to see what might be available about four months from now.

And there it was.

Here's why I think this will be AWE-SHOME:

1. I am prepared to start the training plan (which starts Monday).
2. I am not, repeat NOT, shooting for 4:00 (my uber-runner neighbor from NM who's been running for 22 years only recently cleared this time), I'm just looking to finish...under six hours would be nice.
3. My childhood friends who married each other live there and are hosting me!
4. Ana might even run this with me! (no pressure...wink) It will be like first period freshman PE all over again!
5. One of their friends (and therefore, one of mine) has a HOT TUB!
   
   
   
   
   

Now for the mushy sentiment:

One of the other reasons I decided to go ahead with this instead of waiting for a local race in the spring is because I kind of see it as a homecoming.

I spent the first 20 years of my life about 40 minutes away from Sacramento, and though I haven't lived in CA for over ten years, it's still part of me. It also occupies a place and time in my life when I was still athletic and active -- and thought I'd always be. And since my 32nd birthday is in December, it will also be a gift to myself...like I'm getting my old self back.

And did I mention the hot tub?