That hurt, it really hurt. All week it was 30-40 in the mornings. Today it started at 60 and was at or over 70 when I finished. The first 14 miles were great. My splits were awesome, I was more then on track to my 4:30 goal. But, mile 14 the sun came out and I fell to pieces. I'll try to document what I remember.

Miles 1-9: Started at a nice pace, I wanted to keep it easy and not kill myself. The first mile was perfect, then we sped up slightly and hit a nice groove. We ran straight to mile 2, then started doing a minute walk at each mile marker, simulating the 9/1 walk interval I normally run. We saw my mom and Mrs Hippe at miles 3 and 9. They told me they would see me again at either 14 or 16.

At mile 9, the half marathoners turned around, so I said goodbye to Chad and started getting nervous about being on my own (I know, I know, but when I registered my dad and I were going to do this together and it was going to be a lonely road ahead without him).

I ran by myself to mile 10. As I was finishing my walk break, a guy ran by and then turned around and said hi. Turned out it was George from the pool and cycling club. So, I ran up to catch him and ran with him and his running buddy to mile 11. I lost them at the walk. Then as I was about to start running at mile 12, I felt a friendly squeeze on my shoulder and there was George. So, we ran another mile together. At mile 13 when I went to do my walk, he stopped to find his running buddy. He caught me and we ran to mile 14. We had the same finishing goal (4:30), but he was really moving so I lost him at the 14 mile marker and knew I shouldn't push it to catch him again, he was pushing harder then I wanted to.

I looked around at mile 14 and didn't see my mom, so I ran on. It was getting hot and I was tired, so I decided mile 14 should be a recovery mile. During my long runs, I occasionally bring it down a notch for a mile in the middle and then can run stronger afterwards. I walked a bit extra and stopped in the port-o-potty. At 15 I ran again but quickly hit the big hill and knew I needed to save my knees, so I walked the hill too.

At this point I couldn't get my speed back up. It was an effort just to move forward and the mile markers seemed to be getting further and further apart. My splits were suffering and I didn't see my mom and Mrs Hippe at mile 16 either. At mile 18 I took a longer walk and called them to see where they would be. They told me mile 20.

By mile 20 I was dizzy. I knew the heat was doing a number on my body and I knew I was in trouble. The sign at mile 20 confirmed what I knew, they had raised the color code to yellow and told us to slow down, be cautious and be ware of heat exhaustion. This scared me since I was dizzy. I took another gu and some more water (and some advil). I kept on keeping on and just before mile 21 I saw them.

I stopped to talk and this was the worst idea of the marathon.

I left them just as I felt my legs starting to seize up, with the plan of running to the 21 mile marker and then walking. I could see the mile marker, it wasn't far. I got back on the course and took one running step and my leg gave out on me. Thank goodness for a strong core! It shifted all my body weight to my left leg and I was able to hop off the course and hang on to a tree to hold myself up. Now I was really scared. 5+ miles left and one leg isn't working. I hung on the tree for a while, first swinging my leg back and forth, then bending at the knee. Then slowly adding a little bit of weight at a time until I could stand again. I got back on the course and walked to the next mile marker where I started running again. I ran/walked/struggled and at mile 22 saw Stuart. Went over and said hi to him, that was a nice surprise. Then I saw a red-head just after mile 23. I looked closer and realized it was my brother! He was with Chad and Marisa so I went over to say hi and as I went off my leg seized again. This time there was no where to go. So, I balanced on my good leg and walked it out and then finally started running again. At this point my goal of 4:30 was out the window. If I had strength to push the end, I still could have hit it, but now I knew it was just going to be a struggle to finish.

At this point I was in trouble. I was too hot and dizzy and I couldn't walk more then a few seconds at a time because my leg would give out walking but not running. So, I'd walk as long as it would hold out and run until I couldn't run anymore. Everyone around looked like the walking dead. People were doubled over on the side of the road. I was trying massively not to puke or fall over. I couldn't take any more gu because my tummy was not having it, so I took 2 electrolyte tablets and it helped a little, but not enough.

Then I looked up and saw a sign "only 1.5 miles to go". Only??? I almost started crying. Last year I made myself run the entire end of the race once I hit the 25 mile marker. This year that was not an option. I walked a ton of the last mile. I turned the last corner and saw I might be able to beat 4:40. At least I'd be in the 4:30s, right? So, I tried to run it all. I walked twice in the last few blocks! It was terrible. But, at the 26 mile marker I picked it up, my legs finally agreed with me and I pushed and pushed and made it in. My watch read 4:39 and change.I couldn't even smile at the finish. I walked through the end zone and the tears started welling up. A few spilled out.

I knew I looked bad because volunteers kept coming up to me and asking if I was ok. Then after I got my medal, 3 of them swooped up to me and told me I had to go weigh in. This hadn't happened last year, it was optional. This year it was not optional for me. I weighed in high and now they were worried about hyponeutremia. My dad gave me a huge hug and ran to get me some gatoraide. Now that the race was over I could drink some. The volunteers told me to go the medical tent, but I went with my dad instead. We walked a while and then he went to get my bag while I got my finishers stuff. Of course they were out of my size, they always are. We then went over so I could get out of my shoes and stretch and drink my pickle juice. After drinking the pickle juice I felt human again and not dizzy or sick. So I stretched some more, examined the blister the size of another toe on my big toe and went to get some food. I found my good friend from high school, Moira and we ate together. Neither of us met our time goals, but we were so happy to just finish under those conditions.

Take electrolyte tablets early on if it's going to be that hot. I didn't want to overdo the electrolytes because I was taking gu every 5 miles, but I really scared myself this run.

Walking around the expo center and stretching


The heat. I was on track until it got hot and then I couldn't cool down.