Nike Women's marathon

Sat. 22
I was completely zoned out that day. I was so nervous about the marathon that I couldn’t focus on anything except on my fears that something might just go wrong. Will my right ankle hurt? Will my left Achilles hurt? I haven’t run beyond 13 miles since I sprained my ankle over 10 weeks ago. I ran 8 miles on the 16th and it wasn’t a problem but my ankle did hurt a little. I was scared and for the whole day I could not think straight.

NC and I decided to crash at CB’s place, which was closer to the city. So at 6pm he came over and we dropped off my car at the finish line so I can drive us back to his car, at the start line, when we’re done. But I was so out of it that I forgot to take out the remote control to CB’s house. Luckily his housemate was home to let us in. By 7:30pm we both finished half a pound of pasta each, carbo loading for the next day. I laid out my gear for the next morning knowing I’d be too nervous to remember to bring the things I needed, then we tried to sleep by 10pm.

Sunday 23, Marathon Day
At 3am my anxiety woke me up and I couldn’t go back to sleep. I pretty much tossed and turned until 4:30am when NC and I both got up to eat breakfast. Two slices of toast with peanut butter, orange juice and coffee for me.

We got to Union Square at 6:30am where the race began. The 4 blocks surrounding Union Square and the side streets leading to it were filled with 19,000 runners and 150 registered male runners (so I heard). NC was proud to be one of them. At 6:30 am the sky was still dark and the streets were filled with women in T-shirts/tank tops and shorts, a great place to be for a guy. Though it was early in the morning, I didn’t feel cold at all, the number of people there and my nervousness helped warm me up. Finally at 7:15 we crossed the start line amongst the 10-12min/mile runners.

Along the way the streets were filled with cheering squads from family members, friends, members of Team In Training, there was even a high school cheerleading team and DJ’s to play us some beats. From Union square we headed towards Embarcadero to Golden Gate, through Presidio then to Cliff house, down Great American highway through Golden Gate Park then Up towards Lake Merced at mile 19th. That’s when we hit our last hill and I said screw it, I’m not going to kill my body over this. I walked up the hill then ran around lake Merced, my running pace slowed down to about 12:50min/mi making each mile longer than I’ve ever experienced by 23 mile I was so beat I had to walk and finally I ran the last 2 miles. If there wasn’t a crowd lining the last half mile of the run I probably would have walked my way back, but the cheers were very encouraging and I managed to pull whatever will power I had left and finished at 5 hours 1 min and 8 sec. Though cheering squads were great, my biggest motivator was NC, who kept pace with me till 19th mile when it was time to fend for ourselves. Along the whole way we kept encouraging eachother, no matter how much in pain I was I'd tell him "I feel great, ankle doesn't hurt"

Once I passed the finish line NC spotted me and we both desperately searched for a place to sit. We were hurting. I've never felt more pain in my knees, my back, my ankle, my feet, even my arms. After whining for 30 min we hopped on the shuttle back to his car BECAUSE stupid me forgot to bring the KEYS to my car which we parked by the park the night before! It was a good thing we took the shuttle though because I passed out the moment I sat down. But I owe NC a good meal for driving me back to the park to pick up my car. It may not seem like a big deal, but after running all morning and you're body is hurting, every second away from you bed is a big deal.

After fighting city traffic I made it home by 3:40pm and forced a quick shower and I crashed in bed. BUT I couldn’t sleep. A few minutes into falling asleep I would get nightmares that I’m still running, then I’d freak out. These nightmares continued to reoccur for the whole 3 hours that I tried to sleep. I guess when you spend 5 hours watching your world bob up and down from running, it can become a nightmare. By 7pm I was hungry and I wrapped up the night with more pasta, a few episodes of 24, courtesy of Mikey and a Haagen Daza from Tine.

I had planned on calling in sick and resting on Monday. But ‘common, how could I have forgotten who I worked for. Jack ass.