The Race - Miles 1-12

I'm going to try to break the race down by miles - what the course was like, what was going on, what I was thinking, etc. However, I may be confused on some of the exact locations, and what happened when, etc. But I'll give it a shot. Just know that everything I tell you DID happen, I just can't be completely sure exactly WHEN or WHERE it did......

You can follow along on the course map if you want to. Here's a larger version.

Miles 1-3 - Got off to a good start. I still couldn't believe THIS. WAS. IT. Decided to run a 6/2 interval. There were people already lined up along the road cheering us on. A spectator on the side took my picture and I shouted "I'm being pursued by the paparazi!!" It was amazing and the adrenaline was pumping for sure. I started getting a cramp in my right calf. Just like usual. So I was trying to walk and stretch it out. I knew that after one or two miles, it would leave me alone. And sure enough it did.

George had been running along with me. He ran up to check on Lindy at one point. He instructed me that if we got separated, he would always wait for me under the next mile marker sign and I should try to run toward the right side of the road. You would think it would be easy for us to find each other, but there really were lots of people and tons of us had on purple jerseys.

Miles 4-6 - I actually said to George at mile 4 "I think I may want to do this marathon thing again." He laughed and said I would change my mind about five more times between then and the end of the marathon. (He was RIGHT.) I was feeling really good during this leg of the race. Had a nice pace. It all just felt really good. Looking back on it, this was probably the part where I felt the best and was doing the best. We ran through the Gaslamp Quarter and went right by the restaurant where we ate on Friday. Most of these miles were through the downtown area of San Diego.

Check out this picture. (Thanks again to Jessica & Jacob for letting me use their pictures....) -- there are runners as far back as you can see......

Miles 7-9 - We ran right by our hotel at mile 7. A guy was running beside me, kind of limping. I don't think it was a race-related injury of any kind. I just think he had a limp. He said "We're half-way to half-way." OK, a nice way of looking at it. Somewhere around mile 8 (maybe it was sooner than this, I can't remember exactly), I had to find a porta-potty. Unfortunately the first one we came to, had a pretty long line. But there way no way to wait until the next one. So I had to stop.

It may have been at about mile 8 or so that I got a text from my sister-in-law. "How did it go?!" Sweet of her to think of me right then.....but wowie - a long way to go yet......

Remember that all along the way there were people on the sidewalks cheering and clapping. And rooting for me BY NAME! Spectators, water stop volunteers, TNT coaches. Just lots of people cheering for me. That was just the neatest thing. And it's definitely what kept me moving. "Go Angie!" "Looking good Angie!"

The only big hill started at about mile 8 and continued through mile 10. The race actually started on this hill and we ran down to begin, then around, and then basically back up the hill where we started. It was on Highway 163 and while it was hilly, it was also slanted, sloped. The road was tilted - does that make sense? It was hard to run on that uneven road. Here's a pic from that 'highway' leg of the course. You can't see the slopey road though. Just the moderate hill.








Here's the elevation chart so you can see where we started and then where it rises at miles 7-10.

Miles 10-12 - This is where it got a bit dicey. There are two course cut-offs on the race. This is what it said on the race website:

In order to ensure that the roads reopen at the published times, there will be cut off points enforced along the course. These times and locations are as follows:

10:35 am at Mile 13.4 - This reflects a 17:26/mile pace
12:15 pm at Mile 19.2 - This reflects a 17:26/mile pace

Participants not upholding a 17:26/mile marathon pace at mile 13.4 will be rerouted to the finish line and complete an 18 mile course. Participants who do not uphold a 17:26/mile marathon pace at mile 19.2 will be stopped and transported to the finish line.

OK, no problem, right? Even when I'm walking SLOW, I'm faster than a 17:26/mile pace. BUT, George wasn't sure if they were timing the cut off from GUN time or CHIP time..... Hmmmmmm. It had taken us about 12 minutes to cross the start line. That's the difference between gun time (6:30 am) and my chip time (approx. 6:42 am). So he is calculating and adding and looking at a race pace printout bracelet he had on. And he tells me that I needed to pick up my pace or it may be questionable at the 13.4 mark for me. OH NO!!!!!! There was NO WAY I was getting on the bus. Are you kidding me?!?!? I. Am. Not. Getting. On. The. Bus. So he runs on ahead to wait for me. And I must have put it in gear because when I got to him and asked him - totally out of breath - "Are.....we.....pant pant......ok......pant pant pant........did......I......pant pant pant......miss.....the.....pant pant........bus???" And he said I had made up over two minutes and we were just fine. Thank goodness. What a speedy turtle I must have been! That would be a bad scene if I had to get on the bus. I spent the remaining 6 miles asking him and everybody around me if we were on track to miss the NEXT cut off at mile 19.2.

Some of the signs that I saw along the way:

• Thanks from a leukemia survivor (There were several of these along the course. And THAT is what made it all worthwhile.)
  
• Free beer (The spectators at this little 'unofficial refreshment stop' looked to be guys in their early 20's. And yes, 2 girls running right beside me stopped to chug a beer. Oh my. Now, I'm not a beer drinker. And I was very, very hot and thirsty. But I cannot imagine anything that sounded less appealing at that exact moment in time than a beer. This was maybe around mile 14-17 maybe. Can't remember. But it was *well* into the race. I later saw those girls a few miles ahead laying in the grass. Looked like they were stretching. Maybe they were RETCHING.....)
• You're farther now than you were
• Sweat is Sexy
• I wish we weren't here (saw that on a TNT runner's shirt)