The BIG Day

We did it!

Well, I did it - I ran my first marathon! I can't believe it's already been 18 weeks since I started this journey... I'm not gonna lie, I was a little hesitant at first... I honestly didn't think I could run a full 26.2 miles. But, I DID! And another thing that came unexpected... I LOVED IT! Honestly, it was quite exhilarating. Well, here's how it went down...

Saturday afternoon Blake, Gary and I drove down to Columbus and went to our hotel. We went to the expo to pick up our shirts and bibs - boy was that an adventure! It was probably about a mile walk from our hotel to the convention center where the expo was held. Once we got there the people at the shirt distribution area told me they only had larges in the full marathon shirts... WTF? Dude, I signed up for this race and asked for a SMALL shirt five months ago! :-( So, instead of getting a shirt that's three times too big, I just took a small half marathon shirt - same design and color, just had 13.1 on it instead of 26.2. They also had a form to fill out if you wanted to exchange shirt sizes. So I did. No biggie.

I definitely earned that bumper sticker!

We walked around the expo and I bought my 26.2 bumper sticker! Eeeeeeeee!! =-D Then, after we walked all the way back to the hotel room and there was only 10 minutes until the expo closed, I came to realize that I no longer had my bib... I left it on the table when I was filling out the form to exchange my shirt! UGH! Of course I panicked, freaked out and we drove to the expo. It was no easy drive either... One way streets and traffic... Not a good combo. But, I made it in time and a lady in the back had my bib! Thank goddess! (and yes, I meant GODDESS - I heard one of the actors on True Blood say it and I liked it. :)...) Anyways... On our way out, I almost got clobbered by a giant sign that a worker was taking down. He didn't even apologize... And to top it off, guess what my bib number was? 3666! YIKES! lol I found it more humorous than anything though. :)

We went to dinner right after that fiasco with Christa from Grunt Girls and some other runners. What an energetic and pleasant bunch! It was a very entertaining dinner. :) The only downside was eating around 8:30 at night... My stomach didn't like that... I'm normally hungry in the morning, but not that morning and I couldn't get myself to eat my Powerbar. So, I had some Honey Stinger Energy chews - they're like little gummies and sooooooooo good!

Before the gun shot!

We walked to the start line, which was really close to the hotel. The race started at 7:30 AM. I was a little stiff in the beginning and nervous about the miles to come. The marathon was a record breaker in terms of numbers - 4,300 marathoners! That makes it the biggest marathon in Ohio! =-D So glad I was part of that.

Around mile six I felt a little tired and luckily Blake brought along some more of the energy chews, so we shared a pack, drank some Gatorade at the water stop and I was ready to go! I stopped at pretty much every water stop and had Gatorade, expect for maybe two stops in the beginning.

At around mile 15, Blake started to get a little slower, so I asked him if it would be alright if I went ahead and he said it was fine... Now, don't make fun of him, because he did not train nearly as much as I did. He only ran the long runs with me during the weekends. He never really ran during the weeks, which is crucial. If he would have trained more, he probably would have left me behind. So, don't go rubbing it in his face that he got beat by a girl, because that's just ignorant. Thanks. I actually felt bad and like a terrible girlfriend for leaving him... But, I trained hard for it and wanted to do my best.

Anyways... I felt GREAT, and got faster as the miles went on. I signed up for TweetMyTime through the Columbus Marathon website, so when I started, crossed the 10K mark, 15K mark, 20-mile mark and finished it posted my time on Facebook. It was pretty neat! It was great too, because then I could go back later and see my progress. People kept telling me that after mile 20 it all goes down hill, but I actually sped up after mile 20! Mainly because I had some GU around mile 17 or 18. It was the first time I ever had it, so I was kinda nervous because I heard it was nasty. But, they must of had the newer stuff because it was AMAZING! I grabbed a vanilla and it literally tasted like vanilla icing. NOM NOM NOM! After that, I was set! All the cheering spectators and 100's of bands also helped. My endorphins were definitely kickin'!

Although, around mile 18 my right hip-flexer and calve started cramping up - so I had to stop every mile or so to stretch them out and then was on my way.

Once I got to mile 25, I was in disbelief. Did I really just complete 25 miles? Do I really only have 1.2 miles to go? Then I saw the 1/2 mile sign up ahead and started striding it out. We have our names on our bibs so spectators were cheering us on by name and as I sped by one guy he was like, "Wow, there ya go Colleen, look at her speeding through!" :)

All smiles. :)

Then, down the hill of hundreds of spectators... The end was near! I could see the time clock and people crossing the finish line! I passed by so many people that 100-200 meters... According to my marathon results, I passed 347 runners between mile 20 to the finish and only got passed by 12. :)

I couldn't help but smile as I crossed the finish line. I took it all in as I crossed. I actually started tearing up, as lame as it sounds... But I was just so emotional by what I had just accomplished. I did was only 1% of the population has and ever will accomplish. I trained for and ran a FULL 26.2 miles! Now, I didn't break down crying like a baby, but there was definitely a tear. :)

I grabbed some water, waited for Blake to cross and we headed off to the food area! I treated myself to some chocolate milk. We headed back to the hotel - boy was that a painful walk/wobble! Blake and Gary had Chipotle while I got Panera! NOM! Then we headed home. And of course, I slept on the way home.

I was really happy with all the comments I received on Facebook. It really meant a lot to me that people cared. My hope is that people didn't take my blog or any of my posts about training for a marathon as narcissistic or  arrogant, because that was not my intention at all. It was to motivate myself and maybe even others to train for a marathon, half marathon, 5K or even just to get off the couch! It was to keep my friends who care up to date on my training and so I could look back and see what I did wrong and what I did right later.

On my "journey" I've learned A LOT. But the main thing I learned was that I can do ANYTHING if I just put my mind to it and commit. I know it's corny/cliche, but so true! Alright, I'm barely five-foot tall, weigh a little over 100 lbs, my body has been through hell with my eating disorder - yet my little body was able to run for four hours! Nothing but a little hard work and optimism, and I guess athleticism. :)

I'm actually hoping to run in the Toledo marathon in April or the Cleveland in May. It's just I really want to work more on speed for shorter distances, like 5K's. My goal is to finish a 5K in about 21 minutes. I really like the idea of blogging about my running progress - so I think I'll keep it up! Once I set my next running goal in the next couple weeks I'll start blogging again.

Until then, stay fit my friends! :)