marathon....
ow....

so i did it. i finished my first marathon. my time, well, i was hoping for better but considering:

1. i hadn't done any speed workouts;
2. i didn't eat much breakfast, which made me extremely lightheaded in mile 17;
3. i went out WAY too fast;
4. iot was hot

i did pretty damn good.

on the bus, i met these really awesome women, jill and abby, and hung out with them. a woman mistakenly told us as the top 3000 women we would be going off with the professional women at 935--thank god she was wrong! i would've been trampled by the men.

our bus driver got lost. he drove from battery park to the brooklyn battery park and back over the brooklyn bridge. um...what? then he started driving uptown. some woman gave him directions. luckily we had plenty of time.

abby, jill, another woman, and i stretched, tried to eat. i peed a hundred and nine times. i was so excited and nervous. my goal time of 4:40 would be hard... i could barely jog--there were 36,000 people in the park.

b/c we were the first 3,000 women, we started on the left side of the verrazano--the pro men were on the other side. pro women went off at 935, and sadly, deena kastor, my fave runner, dropped out.

it was beautiful. the entire park was filled with runners, as the bridge. i couldnt stop smiling for the first 15 miles.

i am in love with 4th avenue. there were bands, crowds of shouting people. the best part? slapping little kids' hands as i ran by.

i felt like a hero.

bedford ave was a bit quieter, esp the hassidic jewish section. they just stared. in the southside, somebody gave me some candy. i scooped up oranges, sucking candies. at every water stop, i gulped down water.

trevor said it was 68 degrees. i have never been so thirsty when running.

i was smiling like a fool. "you looked like the happiest person in the race," rachelle said. i was, especially when i saw rachelle's sign. and my mom's sign, and trevor's. the oranges my mom gave me in mile 7, and mile 17, saved me.

ed met me before the 59th st bridge. i felt so ill and dizzy. i almost fell. ed kept me going. ed, i love you. you are the best friend. supposed to drop out at 125th st, the boy ran with me till we were in central park.

at mile 17, great to see my family. i fell shortly after, dizzy. soon, i indulged in goo. i am in love with strawberry banana power gel. soooooooo good. saved me.

gatorade upsets my tummy. tried to take a little.

whoever gave me the hard sucking candy in the bronx, and the gummy bears on 5th avenue, i love you.

i love the water station attendees. i have never been so thirsty. i love my nalgene.

the dizzy period of miles 16-18 were the worst (except when i saw my parents, trish and trev), and the bronx was hard. boogydown bronx, you killed me.

i didn't think the hills were so evil. somebody smack me. nyc is supposed to be a hard course, but i just thought the distance was hard.

on 5th avenue, i almost choked on the aforementioned gummy bear, and fed off the crowd's energy. into central park, i began picking off people. it was so crowded. i ran fast, faster. a smile was once again glued on my face. as i finished, i was so emotional.

then the sobs make you walk a mile to leave. i had my medal, and my little foil wrap to keep me warm. i kept swaying and falling on top of other people.

i got my bag from the ups truck and called my parents. i met them outside, and saw trev with his sign, my mom with her hot pink glitter sign and balloons, trish with her hugs, and met tired ed. i was so happy and so proud. sure i wish i ran faster but the thing abt running is you never know how it will go. i was proud of being strong, and feeling great for most of it. running would be a bad sport to bet on.

my parents took trev and i out to sea, and when i came home i took a nap. my mom woke me up, i couldn't fall asleep so i ate chocolate, straightened up the house while hobbling, and then fell back asleep.

trev gave me a sports massage, during which i screamed. my right foot, on the inner side towards the ankle, is swollen and hurting.

still i'm so happy. i can't believe i did it.

so crista, yes, i'll do a marathon with you. i think we should do a spectator-intensive marathon. god, i can't believe i had a smile for most of my race.

thanks so much everyone for everything. i love you all, you volunteers and friends and family and loves. now i need to recover.

what i learned

1. run more speed workouts
2. go out slower
3. carry goo
4. carry gummy bears and hard candies
5. eat breakfast before the race

shoutouts to ed for running 8 miles with me, illegally; mom & dad for the oranges; trish for helping my parents from getting lost; trev for the goo handoff; cathleen for the best cheerer; rachelle for making greenpoint a happy place; 4th avenue for rocking so hard; and everybody else who called me, cared, sent flowers, and love--thank you.

marathon linkage:

complete race results via the official site of the ing nyc marathon http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/raceday/index.php

ny times article abt the marathon: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/08/sports/08women.html?oref=login

want to know how a specific participant or group ran? try this! http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/training/simulation.html

ramaala's victory http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/08/sports/sportsspecial/08men.html

results: look up yr favorite athlete, or friend, or me! http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/results/results.html

complete marathon coverage from the NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/sports/sportsspecial/index.html