Marathon Recap

This is the first thing I saw when I woke up a bit before 5 on Monday morning:

my niece wanted to sleep in the loft with me so I took the couch and gave her the (deflating) air mattress. the mattress was flat on the ground and her head and shoulders were on the floor. I'm not sure I understand what happened with the pillow. after taking a couple of pictures I moved her to the couch.

Bethany and me just as the race was starting. I think this was the last time I saw her face until after I was done.

After passing by port-o-potty lines that were 5-8 people deep, I encouraged my partner to zip into an open Carl's Jr. instead. Much faster. No lines. Running water!

While I was waiting for her I was tempted by the orange cream shake - good thing I didn't have any money with me.

This was my recurring nightmare during the race. I don't know how many times we passed her, then she passed us. I don't know if you can tell, but she has spiders tattooed on her lower back and bright pink highlights in her hair.

Suzanne and I stopped to lie down on the sidewalk and prop our legs up to attempt to lessen the swelling. Our legs felt great right after. ... for a few minutes.

Salvador and Rosheen.

Salvador qualified for the Boston Marathon (he had to run under 3:30 to do that!) when he ran a marathon earlier this year in February. He's running another marathon in San Diego this coming Sunday, so he decided to just walk the LA Marathon. He was holding a sign that said, "6 hour Walking Group." We joined up with him for a bit, then sped up for a while, then saw him come up behind us and pass us. He had a quick walking pace and was hard to keep up with. He ended up finishing at 5:58 and some odd seconds.

Other highlights of the day include, but are not limited to:

Crossing the finish line!
I decided I had to run across the finish line. Unless I'm walking the whole race, I have to run across the finish line. I was walking for a lot of the last half mile (finish line in sight) and decided to start running with about .1 to go. I decided about 15 feet into that last "run" that I had started too early. I was able to keep going and even sped up at the end. Though I was still extremely slow.

Talking to Suzanne
Bethany had a few friends from church that were running it too. Suzanne and I ran together for almost all of the first 20 miles. At about 19.5 I sped up a little bit. I don't think I finished much faster than she did, but she was having problems with her foot. No fun.

The Multiple Fire Hydrants They Had Open
Fairly often throughout the race they'd have firemen at a hydrant which had been opened up to spray onto the road. I think I hit every single one of them. It felt heavenly. There were also a few people in front of their homes offering drinks or candy or something. It was so nice! There was a man outside on his lawn spraying his hose into the street. We thanked him for it and he mentioned his water bill... but he was still willing to do it. I definitely appreciated it!

Trying to Pay a Bike Cop to Give me a Ride to the Finish Line
There were a few of them here and there along the race and while passing a small group of them I asked one if they could ride me to the finish. They were willing... but unable. Sad. I later tried to just buy someones bike. That didn't work either.

Taking 8 Ibuprofen
I took four before the race started and four more about halfway through. Either ibuprofen doesn't work for me or my pain was just that much worse than it could cover. I was in pain almost the whole 26.2 miles. Good times.

Going Straight From the Race to the Airport
The worst part of this was not being able to take care of the five blisters I had developed while running. Walking through both airports was pretty painful. I told my mom that she should allow for "hobbling" time when coming to pick me up. No need to be right on time when I'm walking that slowly.

The Great Treatment at the Security Check
I hate the security check at airports. That's the most anxiety-producing part of flying for me. I don't know what I'm really worried about, but nonetheless, I get worried. After arriving, I went into the restroom, changed clothes, washed up a bit, got more comfortable and presentable (put on my marathon t-shirt so everyone would know why I looked as pathetic as I did) and headed to security. While getting things ready, one of the guards came up to help me get things sorted out and started asking me about the marathon. He was helpful all the way through. Right after getting through, when I was putting my things back together, a guard from the other line came over to help and talked to me about the marathon. It was the most stress-free time I've had at a checkpoint. I loved it.

The Great Treatment on the Plane
While waiting in line to get back to my seat, the flight attended commented on my shirt asking how I was doing. I admitted I was absolutely exhausted, then hobbled back to my seat. When he was going through with the beverage cart I declined a drink pointing to my half-full water bottle. He offered ice, I said "no thanks." He offered peanuts and before I could say "no thanks" again, he quickly added, "Peanuts are legumes and have protein and you need protein after running a marathon." With a sales-pitch like that, I couldn't say no. So I said "thanks." Then he says, "I think someone who just ran a marathon deserves two bags." Nice. I only ate one.
Turns out he is training for the Provo River Trail half that's coming up in August (I think).

Overall, it was a great and amazing experience. I got slightly emotional right after crossing the finish line thinking, "I just finished a marathon!"

Thanks for all the well-wishes and congratulations!

Follow-Up After the Marathon:

I used the elevator when I got to work on Tuesday morning. Since then, it's been nothing but the stairs. I knew Dingo would get me outside on walks and, while painful, it was really helpful. Tuesday I only went a mile and it took me 40 minutes. Yesterday we went two miles, and though my muscles felt better, I was still dealing with blistered feet and now raw skin where the blisters have come off my toes. Downstairs is still harder than upstairs (not exactly sure why - I know it has something to do with how the muscles are used...) but overall I'm amazed with how well I'm moving around.

I did it!

It's all good.