I was shocked at how many people were there - and Louie didn't bring me, I drove myself and my 13 year old son came with me. I was really nervous. I've done a log of "crazy' things in my life, this tops the list. I've never just stuck my toe in the pool, I dive in head first, check for rocks later.

So we get there and there are a metic ton of people there. Nothing but runners for as far as the eye can see. Andy (my son) was bored. So I gave him the car keys to go back and take a nap. I was a nervous wreck, I wasn't sure if I was going to throw up or cry. Or what order I would do BOTH in. someone came up behind me and hugged me. I was so relieved I didn't even care WHO it was LOL Turned out it was a lady I'd started running with in May through church. Now I had someone to talk to so I was less nervous. I could crack jokes out loud to distract myself. And she even laughed at some of them. She was nervous too but had trained more than I had (her longest run was 11 miles to that point, mine was 6. Like I said, crazy, I know)

So the run starts. We ran through downtown Seattle and out towards one of the bridges that crosses Lake Washington. It was an uphill ramp onto the bridge so I walked that - a fast walk - but I had given myself permission to walk all uphills, I'm still heavy enough and not at a high enough fitness level that running uphill saps me. the miles were marked off by porta potties with signs on them. I was glad that I used the potty before we started - there were lines at all of them.

Mile one - warming up physically - it takes me a couple miles before I'm in a rythym.
Mile two - warming up nearly complete, I'm day dreaming, listening to my Ipod, so far, so good. I can do this
Mile three - warm, in a rythym, feel a bit like Forrest Gump - I'm not a graceful runner but I'm starting to put miles behind me. I'm passing walkers at this point, great for the ego.
Mile 4 - wash, rinse repeat
Mile 5 - I'm reaching the limits of how far I'd run before. There was a hill in this mile, again, I walked it. Felt kind of good to be using different muscles.
Mile 6 - nearly half way and ahead of my 3 hour pace. I can totally do this!
Mile 7 - I've passed the half way point, running through a neighborhood, music is nicely distracting, nothing hurts, it's all still going smoothly. I"m beginning to dream of the finish line.
Mile 8 - hmmm...I knew it was coming, it's finally starting to feel a little soreness - my big toes are hurting, they're pushing against my tennis shoe with every step. But I'm pressing on. Still determined.
Mile 9 - ok - there's a hill, I get to walk. Thank goodness, I'm tired, my legs are sore, my toes hurt, I'm starting to shuffle instead of run.
Mile 10 - The Wall. OMG. OMFG. I've never hurt so bad in my life. all of the muscles in my legs turned to stone. Granite. Rock hard, heavy granite. and warm - I'm pretty sure we could have fried eggs on my muscles. I've hever felt such pain. But I figured I would push through it - I'd come this far, I wasn't going to quit now.
Mile 11 - *NOW* I'm going to quit. No. Really. I was in tears - sobbing and hobbling. It couldn't have been pretty. I stopped at the porta potty since my bowels were now strenuously objecting as well. I had to wait for one person ahead of me. I almost fell down. I couldn't stand. And then I used the port o potty and didn't want to stand up. But I thought I'll just go until I find a support van and get a ride. I was done. But I couldn't find a van. So I kept walking. Scratch that - hobbling. THROWING one foot in front of the other. swinging them from the hip as they were protesting and made of lead. And my muscles were so tight that I couldn't get my knees to bend.
Mile 12 - I'm close, so close. I've decided I'm going to grit my teeth and just DO IT. I'm still throwing one foot in front of the other and it occurs to me that maybe if I get my muscles warm again, they'll cooperate. So I HTFU (hurry the fuck up) and start running again. Tears are streaming down my face. I"m doing the deep swallow to not start sobbing again. There's no crying in running, right? The volunteers cheered me through this mile. I don't know how I made it. And finally I was in sight of the arena. My legs felt like someone had taken a cheese grater to them and then dunked htem in lemon juice. I'm not kidding. I wasn't even hearing the music in my Ipod anymore. I was gritting my teeth, trying to visualize crossing the finish line and just running. I started scanning the crowd for my son - a familiar face - something to distract me. I was in more pain than childbirth. At least you get a break between contractions. This pain was continuous and relentless. But I was going to make it

And make it I did - they called my name and my hometown and I crossed the finish mat with a finish time of 3 hours 25 minutes. I was aiming for 3 hour finish time but given the events of the last 3 miles, I was thrilled to have crossed my line on my own steam (or what was left of it). Andy was there to hug me and I broke down at that point and started sobbing in earnest. I was mubling "I did it - I really did it" an dI looked over to find a TV camera documenting my entire breakdown. The camera operator then asked me a few interview questions and I excused myself to go and start drinking some water.

In hindsight, I really bit off more than I can chew. But I pulled it off. And have a time to beat for next year!

train more

hobbled to the car


training - lose more weight


Oy. Ow.