I had lofty dreams of a BQ time of 4:00 for my stretch goal, but the main goal was to have a full marathon under my belt before IMFL this November. Mission accomplished! :)

Despite the chilly temps I had a blast running to the half turn around with Sushigirl...we chatted the whole way and ran a wee bit faster than the pace my coach set out for me. she went on to a pr, which is awesome! I went on to a rather long, boring (till the pain settled in) run. There wern't tons of marathoners, but I did see my Fraser teammate Dave,and met another teammate Donovan for the first time! A couple of other runners were giving the thumbs up as they were heading in after the turnaround which was nice.

Mile 14.5 was ouchie time for the left achilles, just like on my long run with Trixie. Mile 18 was ouchie time for both the quads. Achilles....what achilles? Hello grumpy QUADS! And apparently, I am not very pleasant at about mile 20 in a marathon. The awesome Smoak and her hubby Gdog were there to cheer me on, and yeah...I was "cranky" :) Funny, I thought I was still feeling pretty good at that point! I guess when you're asked how you're doing and you grimace and say THIS SUCKS, people mistake that for being cranky! LMAO!! Gdog ran with me for a bit and told me I looked good and was doing great...and I called him a liar! With affection of course.

Then it got ugly. I screwed up my nutrition, was feeling a little loopy and at mile 22.5 it was just plain sucky...a hill and a headwind. Not Cool!!! I saw Cheryl and Eric at the aid station at 23 and then it was Ranger to the rescue. Dave ran (and walked when I had to) with me to the bitter end. He was encouraging me the whole way, but I had my earbuds in for the ipod, and I was so tanked/loopy/tired I couldn't dig it out of my pouch to adjust the volume, and didn't think to pull out one earbud! I just kept saying "I can't hear you!"

So we finally approach the finish, I have like NO kick, I know I've not bq'd and the kids 1 miler is going on...tons of kids in front of me...Jo on the sidelines cheering me to the end, and I finish...and the little ones stop dead in front of the most exhausted woman on the planet...Ranger to the rescue again...he got the little ones moving so I could at least walk (and lean heavily on him) to keep moving and not like, fall and smoosh some kid! That's a headline nobody wants to read "Exhausted marathoner smooshes kid to death at 1 mile fun run"

I'd say it took a good 15 minutes before I started to get a bit of my wits about me again. A bit mind you...a bit. :)

Overall I had a great experience at my first Marathon. Having so many BT'rs, Greyhounds and Fraser peeps on the scene, cheering, racing, volunteering...in a word...AWESOME. Made the day for me! It is just so much more fun to race among friends! :) I learned a lot about my running, and the importance of nutrition, and that I can tolerate some nasty pain. Good stuff to know!







gu before the race start, and at 45 minute intervals, keep pacing more steady.

leaned on Dave for like...I don't know...half an hour. Does that count? :) Drank some water, walked to the food area, ate a banana, walked off some foot cramps, tried to eat a slice of pizza...ew. No go, to greasy food, and had another banana. Stretched a very tiny bit, walked to check results and ruined Jo's cup with my recovery drink :)


only one 19 mile run, lack of pacing ability, bad nutrition


Thank you to my sherpa extrodinare Jogo!!! You are the best girl! Ranger, seriously, you are the BOMB! I have no idea how long it would have taken me to go those last three miles with out my favorite running partner! Sushigirl, thanks for the company to the turnaround!

The Beatles had it right...you get by with a little help from your friends! Thank you friends!