I beat my San Antonio Marathon time by a whole minute…. Ok, so it wasn’t my best marathon, but it was definitely NOT Paris. It has officially been the hardest for me…not so much physically, but rather mentally. It’s like “matter took over mind” and it pretty much affected every single one of my training runs. I don’t recall much of my training…it was hurried and squeezed into all the free moments I had - even the free moments I didn’t have. These last 6 months haven’t really been mine and neither was this marathon…I don’t feel like I “owned it”…rather it owned me. I’m not going to get into it…too much info.
The details? Well, I don’t think my finishing time was horrible…actually I’m surprised it didn’t take me any longer. I had a bit of a tough time with the hills - there were a lot more than I expected. It was warm (in the 70’s) which would not have been so bad (don’t forget, I’m a Texas girl) except that a good part of the route took place along a highway - lots of concrete - it just made it feel that much warmer. The people were great, many Elvi sightings (San Diego RNR was trying to break the Guiness World record for the most Elvises running in a marathon), and I ran behind Dean Karnazes (waaay behind…he finshed in 3:22:54). I thought that was pretty cool. I did experience my 1st official toe wedgie - it’s not like I hadn’t worn these socks or shoes before…anyway, had to stop and fix that somewhere around mile 11. One of the best highlights of the race was getting to meet a few of the Big Cats (myspace running group) who were there cheering for other Big Cats running the marathon. I stopped, introduced myself, posed for a quick pic, and they sent me off on my way with a Payday (thank you, WalkerChick! 
). I wish I had planned this trip better and had a chance to meet up with the other Big Cats who were also running the marathon. Apparently there were quite a few and I actually finished within minutes of a couple of them…but I had never met them in person and didn’t know who they were until after the fact.
I had a great support crew consisting of Punxsk8erdude, Tomate, and Patrick. They got to see me more times than I thought they would be able to (somewhere between miles 6 and 7, again right after the halfway point, and finally at treacherous mile 22). At mile 22, Punxsk8erdude ran along side me for about half a mile…he offered me chapstick and words of encouragement. The field was stretched out enough to where he did not get in anyone’s way. Actually, it got so warm that many runners were walking instead of running at this point…still he was mindful of other runners. I noticed I always seem to “hit the wall” somewhere between miles 20 and 22. Anyway, it was nice to have my little trainer running with me…it kept me going for the final 4.2 miles…it was painful…I thought the end would never come.
The recovery dinner was great. This time there was no champagne involved - instead there were Margaritas - and they were goooooooood!
Now I’m home, tired and somewhat jetlagged - yes, I know it was only California (not some faraway country), but I’m just so tired, drained, and sleepy. Oh yeah, and my toe hurts.
