"I run to be SANE! I run to be INSANE!"

I haven't posted in a very long time. I have been crazy busy with this and that, but did manage to write this back in October after I ran the Nike Women's Marathon. I wasn't ready to share it then, but I think now is okay. :)

"I run to be SANE! I run to be INSANE!"

I am feeling a little less sore, and a lot more excited for the next marathon (as of yet unscheduled) at 36 hours post full body torture. The excitement of finishing a marathon - my first in this case - was overwhelming. I keep thinking "what was I thinking and how did I DO that?!" and then "Yeah, I'd do that again!"

I did a few legal illegal things in SF that day. Peed in the streets (ok, it was in port-a-potties, but still..), stripped in the streets (okay, shed warm ups...), but refused to litter. Still makes for a funny story.

Starting out I was exhausted from not sleeping more than about an hour, and I'm not sure I was actually sleeping then. We were standing in this mob of people, and I'm so short I couldn't see over the heads of the people right next to me. We were so crammed in that we could barely get off our warm ups! We couldn't even fathom stretching at that point, and what good would it do to stretch when we couldn't start moving more than a crawl anyway?

Finally we crossed the start line and I was awake. There were still SO many people it was hard to navigate - start running and stay with your buddy! Dodge the people walking and dodge the spectators that shouldn't have been in the corral with us.

At mile one I was thinking about how stupid this is. Why am I doing this to myself? This is REALLY going to hurt in the morning. By the cut off of the half marathoners that changed to "this is really going to hurt if I can't finish!" By the beginning of mile 25 I decided that it was going to really hurt if I STOP running, so I should just keep going after the finish to avoid that burning pain that comes with ceasing running after a long run. Needless to say that didn't actually happen ... and YEAH it hurt! In hindsight, it was a really good 'look what I just did!' pain.

It was a little stinky that they ran out of so many things. Many aid stations ran out of food. They were out of warming blankets at the end, when we REALLY needed to warm up. It was about 50 degrees and pouring, with a swift steady wind right off the ocean.

And I did smile for at least the last half mile. I just couldn't help it! Despite the torrential downpour (the constant wet-willies in the ears) and cold temps, which we embraced for the entire race, until the very end.

Miles 17-21 I now call "sponsored by 'make Mom proud'" miles. Mile 16 started "make Dad proud", but you know what? Being the last comprehendable thing he said to me, I knew I didn't need to prove it. I knew I didn't need to prove it to my mom either, but right now, she needs some more good stuff to keep her going. It was less of a mantra, and more of a prayer. Throughout the race though, seeing all of the TNT shirts, 'in memory of so and so', I kept thinking about my friend Catie who lost her battle with cancer this past year. I still keep tearing up thinking about ALL THOSE SHIRTS and ALL THOSE PEOPLE.

At the end were the firemen in their tuxes, with the little red vests and little red bowties. They were very cute all lined up with their blue Tiffany boxes! The one I saw was 3 deep. He looked just like my neighbor, also a SFFD fireman. I approached and excitedly said "HI!!! HOW ARE YOU?!!?" I don't even remember what he responded because at that moment, as he handed me my little blue box is when I realized it's not my neighbor! OOOPS. In the same excited near shrieking voice I shout "YOU'RE NOT MY NEIGHBOR!" and his expression at that point was priceless. He clearly had come across a delusional marathoner, and perhaps she needs medical attention! You know, I can't even say that I am embarrassed yet. I am sure it will come, perhaps when my neighbor hears that story... :)

Next day going to Kaiser to pick up my contact lenses, I was asked by an older lady "excuse me honey, were you just in a car accident?" On the way out a very pregnant young lady asked "did you just give birth?" Today I probably am not going anywhere but I have decided to proudly walk with my hips unable to extend fully causing my rump to stick out and my knees not able to fully straighten, nor bend much. When the training runs caused this sort of pain and uncomfortableness, it made me crazy. But now, I feel a lot of pride in that pain, because so much of it was mental. I feel very strong, and able to conquer the world! But I'll wait a few more days before trying to conquer the world...

Getting that Tiffany necklace at the end was pretty exciting. It didn't bother me at all that they ran out and were handing out older necklaces and mailing our new ones. Two Tiffany Necklaces and I earned them both today! Then I open the box to find an already tarnished necklace. You know what? I put it on with pride. Then comes the email that because of this I can have a guaranteed entry into the race next year. You know what? I'm so stoked I can't sleep! It's a year away!!

I haven't said anything yet about having the perfect running buddy. I truly think this can make or break your marathon experience. Part way through when her knee was acting up so badly, she was considering her options of where to stop early. I can honestly say I would have wept just as hard as her if she had stopped. It would have only been partially out of selfishness because I would have needed to finish alone. Not finishing would have eaten her up for a long time. I would have finished for both of us though, and not only because she wouldn't have let me quit.

Training runs were wrought with no mental filters, show tunes and dancing, heat exhaustion, injury, lots of Gu, and much laughter (mostly after the fact, and mostly at ourselves). The race wasn't much different, except we exchanged the heat for the cold. The fruity pebbles were present, but we can't remember what we named her GPS on the 16 mile training run weeks ago (the first city training run). There were many prayers. Thankfully some didn't get answered, because after the fact I really am glad the lions didn't escape from the zoo to eat me (the same lions that I also prayed to eat me on our second training run in the city). Some did, because her knee started to feel better and she was able to finish. Most were just thanks ('for getting me to mile....'). We decided that We Rock! Then we decided that we must roll because Jesus Rocks. We planned our shirts we're going to have made for our next marathon. We enjoyed many 'plops' from Sarcasm September drippings, miggling with a little early ringing in of Narcissism November. Optimistic October stayed with us for most of it though.

48 hours post race I can now stand in a fully upright position and get up without any angry bear growling. I still am so excited about finishing and am planning the next. Truly insane.