The Race - Miles 13-25

Miles 13-15 - Half way! My time at the half was 3:22:12 which put me on a nice 15:25/mile pace. There were tables of salt packets here. I grabbed some and had a little more. Yuk. But I was feeling ok- no cramping or pains or anything. I was just hot and thirsty. I was DYING for some water or PowerAde. George kept assuring me the next water stop was up "just up ahead". Right before the cut-off for the half marathon finish line, a TNT coach asked if I was running the full or half. When I told her the full, she told me to get some ice from the next medic station and put it in my hat. I am wondering what I must have looked like at that point for her to tell me that. I'm sure my face was beet red.

Toward the end of this leg, I was just not having as great a time. I was thinking there was no way I would be able to finish this. Here I was JUST half way and I had another 3 or 4 hours to go. There was just some doubt and question in my head.

Here's a shot of mile 15. Obviously this photo was taken well before I arrived on the scene. I think some of the wheelchair finishers did the race in two-something hours. But it's just another picture that shows you the course.




Miles 16-18 - Left Brain continued to rule here. We were approaching the Mission Bay area, so I knew pretty scenery and cooler breezes weren't too far ahead.

I had taken the advice of the TNT coach and was grabbing any ice I could find and was putting it in my hat. Aaahhhhhh....... A few times I would also get water and pour it down my shirt or on my head. How hilareous that is to me now - like I was a real runner or something.

Somewhere right in here there was a guy on the side dressed up like Scooby Doo. He had to have been burning up in that costume. But nonetheless, a little high-five from ol' Scoob.

I was continuing to fret about the next cut-off at mile 19.2. At this point, I was walking a lot more than I was running. And I was worried that it may have slowed me down enough to have to get on the bus. I didn't want that to happen. There were 2 TNT runners from Florida that I had been kind of keeping pace with and he assured me that if I kept my current pace, we would be just fine.

One of the neatest parts of the course was around mile 18 when we went through a neighborhood. They had their own water stations set up - card tables and styrofoam cups. Many of the houses also had their sprinklers set up to spray on the road or there were kids holding the hoses. It was just really a cool section. It's probably a big deal for them every year to help out. That was one of my favorite parts.

Miles 19-21 - Andrea (LLS staff member) was waiting at the 19.2 mark. Big hug and high five! I had given her a baggie with 2 gels and a bag of green apple sport beans. I still had one or two gels with me, so I wasn't interested in those. But I did want the sport beans. I also had ripped off my iPod and gave it to her. I had been listening to it off and on throughout the day, but at that point I could not stand to have it on my arm any more. Get. It. Off. My. Arm. She trotted along with me for a bit. I apparently had almost 45 minutes to make it about 2 blocks before the cut-off. So I was safe. HOORAY! No bus for me. I went on ahead and she said she would see me at the FINISH LINE!!!

(I found out later that there were several TNT runners that Andrea and other coaches and LLS staffers ran up and told them "You've got to run with me to that stop sign or you'll be getting on the bus." And they would go up and back, getting more and more people and speeding them up past the cut-off point. If you missed the cut-off point at this mark, you didn't even get to cross the finish line. The bus just took you to the 'finish area'. How heartbreaking that would be.)

This part of the course was so pretty because we were right on the bay. There were two sections where we went over a bridge so we saw the water on each side. Sailboats, etc. Very pretty.

From mile 20 and beyond, was brand new territory. I had never run anything longer than 20 miles before.....

I think this picture was taken somewhere along this part.




Somewhere along this part a girl started talking to me about my knee braces. It was nice to chat with her. For a bit. Then I was just tired of talking to her. I was really walking a lot here, but I also felt like she was walking quite a bit slower than me. So I wished her luck and trotted off.

These pictures were taken at mile 21. My time then was 5:31:32. That was a 15:47/mile pace. Still decent.






Mile 22-25 - UGH. Definitely the WORST part. I don't know if I hit the proverbial 'wall' or what. But it was just awful. It just ugly. I walked this entire part. My time definitely slowed down here. Maybe to a 17:00/mile or something. I just remember the course being so 'concrete' and 'gray' and not pretty. It was much less scenic. Part of it was on a frontage road I believe. I was just not enjoying it at all. But I was continuing to move. I never EVER stopped - even at water stations, I just grabbed it and kept going.

There were local cheer squads that rooted us all along the course.




I did run into one very zealous cheerleader who was doing this to apparently everybody...




She ran along beside me screaming my name and shouting "Run Angie! Run! You can do this! Move! GO GO!" I had been out there running for about 6+ hours at that point. And I figured she had been out there about 1 hour - 2 hours tops.... I told her to just "Come on then! Run with me!". I was very, very apprciative of their cheering and giving their time to encourage us. But at that point, all I really wanted to say to these peppy little, non-sweating, perfectly made up girls was SHUT UP.

These are actual quotes I said to George along this stretch:

• I'm ready to be done.
• What mile are we at?
• My feet hurt.
• I'm out of gas. There's nothing left.
  
• I want a shower and my bed.
• What mile marker did we just pass? (Simple math and basic counting were VERY challenging at this point.)
• My feet feel like a size 12.
  
• I want those pillows in the bed at the hotel.
  
• You are an idiot for doing these marathons. (Yes, I called my coach an idiot. I'm sorry George. It wasn't the real me talking during this part.)
• How much farther?
• My feet are killing me.
• I'm ready to finish this.
• I want to take my shoes off. (An emphatic NO from the coach at this request.)
• My. Feet. Hurt.
  
• I'm not having fun any more.

This glorious thing was waiting for us at mile 24. I could have stayed there all day long. If I thought I could have carried one of them with me for two more miles, I would have lugged it along......




I remember just trying to count it down to single miles. Just 4 more miles....just 3 more miles.....just 2 more miles......It seemed so darn DOABLE. But at the same time, just so far away.

Mile 25 took us down a street that would lead toward the entrance of the Marine Base. And the finish line. There were quite a few more people along the road here. There were people walking the opposite way wearing their medals. Everybody screaming and cheering "The entrance to the base is up ahead." "Just one more mile." "You're almost there!" It was becoming very real that the finish line was just up ahead. I was almost finished!!!

Ships and flags

Forgot to mention that at about mile 6, we ran past the USS Midway. Way cool. And way big.




I also saw Running Flag Man on the course. So did Jacob apparently, because he took his picture.



And so did the San Diego newspaper, because his picture was online too...



How on earth did he run with that flag stuck in his shorts?!?!? He must be speedy fast because his bib number is 831.....

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)
  

Race Day! From the start.....

Early morning wake up call when the alarm went off at 3:30 am. "It's today!" I couldn't believe we were finally doing it. The marathon was today.

I took a quick shower and tried to eat a bagel with peanut butter. It just didn't seem to want to go down, but I knew I *had* to eat it. Rubbed Body Glide everywhere. Rubbed sunscreen everywhere. And we headed to the lobby.

As we left our rooms, we found that our coaches and mentors had decorated our door the night before. There were lots of doors of other TNT runners decorated throughout the hotel.

The lobby was full of purple TNT jersey-clad folks. Everybody was so excited - you could just feel it. More hugs and high-fives. "Are you ready?" we just kept asking each other. One quick team picture, and we headed to the bus.

It wasn't too long until we got to the start area. Balboa Park. It was still dark, but there were already tons of people milling around. We found a good spot right under a big tree and claimed it as our own. We had brought garbage bags to sit on and/or wear. I also had brought a long sleeved t-shirt. That morning, however, it didn't seem cool at all, so I never put the sleeves on. A few trips to the porta-potty. The lines were already growing.

Then, out of the blue, a band started marching down the street toward the start line playing a song. But it wasn't just any band. And it wasn't just any song. It was the Marine Corps band and they were playing the Marine Corps Hymn. Instant tears. MY DADDY....

I managed to catch Jodi and the kids by phone as they headed to church. I was glad to hear their voices before I started. "GO MOM!" A few text messages from Connie too. ("Good luck! Keep 17 min pace or they will drive u! I love you! Dad is proud!")

We took our gear bags to the row of UPS trucks. They were in alpha order by last name. Mine was all the way at the end of the row. After my hike back to our spot, it was about 6:15am and time to head to the corral.

We all weaved our way through the people and found a spot in Corral #19 (out of 23). There was a sea of people in front of us (remember, faster runners toward the front) and still tons of people behind us. We were all just so excited and nervous. Hugging, crying, holding hands, laughing, squealing - you get the picture. I can't tell you the emotion that we were feeling at that minute.

National Anthem. And then we heard the announcer start the race. Jessica (tallest member of our team) said she could see people ahead moving. And then a few minutes later we started walking. Slowly. We'd walk a bit and then stop. This went on a few times and then we were walking and walking. A bit faster and faster. And then there it was - the start line - and we crossed it! *SCREAMS* You could hear the beeps of the chips on our shoes being recognized as thousands of feet were crossing the mat.

We started running!

The marathon had begun!!

Saturday Part Deux

Right after we all got back to the hotel from the emotional Pasta Party, we had our team meeting in the lobby.

Andrea congratulated all of us on everything we had accomplished - from just deciding to do it, to training, to raising our money. She said we were already heroes no matter what happened tomorrow. George also congratulated all of his chicks. (He really did just seem so proud of us.) He talked about how far we had come and how we had trained and prepared and now it was here and we were ready for it. He gave us some race day pointers and also told us we would need to eat salt packets before and during the race to prevent cramping. That was a new one for us - none of us had trained with salt - but he assured us, it wouldn't make any difference in a negative way. George also said that on race day, every TNT coach would be OUR coach - not just him and Dennese. All the TNT people were there tomorrow for us.



They just kind of gave us a run down of the morning. Meet in the lobby at 4:30am. Head to the park by the start line. We would claim a little area that would be our spot until the start. Julie was going to run in front with the faster ones and George would hang in the back with the slower ones (i.e. ME). Andrea was going to be at the 19.2 mile mark (which is the 2nd cutoff point on the course - more about that later). She offered to hold on to anything that we may want later during the race, but not carry all during the race. Good idea. Julie and Dennese gave us a goody bag with bottled water, snacks, bandaids, green apple sport beans, TNT tattoos and purple pom-poms and a card signed by all the coaches and mentors. Julie had also purchased two cases of water which we all divided and were instructed to drink during the remainder of the day.



George wanted all of us to carry our cell phones on the course. I had not planned on doing that, and I knew it would cut into my space in my belt. I would have to refigure how to get all my stuff in my belt. But since Andrea was going to hold on to some things for us, I could split some of my stuff up like that. It later proved to be a great idea to have the phone and I'm glad he made us do it.


Here's our team! Me, George (coach), Julie (mentor), Lindy (she's a 2 time survivor!!), Jessica, Nichole, Dennese (coach), Anne. GO TEAM!!!








We had a little time to rest before dinner, then we all headed out together. We enjoyed a nice dinner together and cheered ourselves and our great team! During dinner, we realized it was TWELVE HOURS UNTIL THE START OF THE RACE!!! After we ate, we walked down to a Ghiradelli's Chocolate candy and ice cream shop. (Connie, it would have been heaven to you - you would have just *died*.) It smelled great in there, and I'm not even a big chocolate fan. None of the marathoners were allowed to have ice cream.....and we all upheld under the temptation. We just watched everybody else eat it....We did enjoy a tiny little free sample of chocolate though.

Back to the hotel to try to get some rest. I laid all my stuff out for the next day. And, in my OCD way, checked and rechecked and checked again.....

We set the alarm for 3:30 am and I think we turned the light out at about 9:30 pm. I slept pretty well. Much better than I expected. Although it's hard to "get a good night's sleep" when you have also been told to "drink water all day long".....

Tomorrow was it. Tomorrow I WAS GONNA' RUN A MARATHON!!!

He's proud of his peeps!

A congrats email from George this week:

Dear Rock n Roll Marathoners:

My heartiest congratulations for everyone participating and FINISHING the San Diego Rock n Roll Half or Full Marathon!

I know the huge sacrifices you and your families have made since January in training for this event, as well as the tremendous effort required to raise the funding required, and surpass it. But you all DID IT!

I am so honored and proud to have been a part of this process, and to think that many of you went from 0.0 to 26.2 (or 13.1) in a matter of 19 weeks is a phenomenal accomplishment! And from $0 to $4,000+ WOW! I suspect all of you had your share of both supporters and doubters all the while, but you have proven the supporters right and the doubters wrong. Me, I never had any doubt that each of you would stick it out and cross the finish line upright!

I hope all of you are taking that well deserved rest break, eating all the rewarding foods, and nursing any lingering maladies. I saw some attractive blisters on some, and perhaps for the really "special folks" maybe there are a few black toenails or missing toenails by now . . . the price of a TNT marathon warrior!

And certainly I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge and thank the mentors who were instrumental in this program - without them taking charge in a hundred ways, and covering my absences, none of this would have happened.

Thank you again for the opportunity to coach - it's been a rich and rewarding experience for me and will be cherished for years to come.

George

Saturday's Pasta Party

The day before the marathon.....

The odd hours and the time difference were playing with me a little bit and I had decided the extra rest would do me good. So I slept in. Until 8am (which is 10am Memphis time - wow!). We were instructed to take it easy on Saturday - not a lot of walking. And to drink a LOT of water. Julie and I had a nice little breakfast and then I went down to an outdoor mall area and just looked around a bit. It wasn't long before we had to take the shuttle to the Pasta Party.

The Pasta Party.... It was just beyond amazing. I really didn't know what to expect, other than some pasta for our carb-loading. But it turned out to be an event that I will never, *EVER* forget. It was at the Town & Country Resort & Convention Center.


As we headed toward the entrance, we were greeted by a huge 'TNT cheer line'. All the coaches and LLS staff and mentors were lining both sides of the walkway. They were cheering and screaming and clapping. They had horns and cowbells and airhorns. It was the neatest thing. It was loud and just totally electric. I've got chill bumps right now as I type just thinking about it.

Nicole and I grabbed hands and just walked through the hundreds of purple clad, wildly decorated people. They were cheering for US. "Just think what tomorrow will be like," we kept saying to each other. I don't know how, but I saw George on the other side of the walk. He pushed through all the people and gave me a big high five. Ever play Where's Waldo? Let's play Where's George? ....

Then, I saw a younger woman holding a sign that said "This survivor thanks you." And she was just crying and smiling and saying 'thank you'. And that's all it took. Because then I was crying too. I honestly don't think I'll ever forget that image of her. Then I saw Andrea - big hugs. And then there was Lindy - our teammate, a leukemia survivor herself. She was the only person I had not seen yet since we arrived in San Diego. Big hugs and more tears.

Thanks to Jessica and Jacob for sharing their pictures with me. I was so totally overwhelmed by the whole thing, using my camera never entered my mind.....




The line ended at the pasta buffet. So we filled up our plates with good carbs and headed to the ballroom to find our assigned tables. There must have been 2500-3000 people in that room. All TNTers and their friends and family. WOW! But then I realized that this was just the first seating for the Pasta Party - there was another seating that afternoon at 5pm. So we're talking 5,000 people. We heard from John "The Penguin" Bingham. He's a writer for Runner's World and also a spokesman for the TNT. He was so hilareous and gave us an overview of what to expect on race day. Sadly, all of funny, silly, crazy things that he said would happen during the race, totally did.....He's called the penguin because of his 'no need for speed' approach. My kind of guy. Penguins are apparently still faster than turtles though...Our other speaker was David Monson who is the husband of Susan Butcher. She was a champion Iditarod sled dog racer who fought and lost a battle with leukemia. He was excellent. He said that the LLS had asked him to come and speak to the runners, to be an inspiration to us. He said that HE was not the inspiration, that WE were the inspiration. You could have heard a pin drop in that room. And there wasn't a dry eye in the house. I was crying so hard that I was just hoping I wouldn't make some kind of choking noise or gasping sound or have some sort of audible sobbing. Wow - he was something. Our last speaker was a VP from Elite Racing (the company that puts the race together). He said he was probably the only person in San Diego that had on a suit at that moment. And the reason he wore a suit is because his mother told him that when he met important people, he should put on a suit. (That's us - important people!)

They recognized an 84-year old woman who would be participating in her 11th marathon on Sunday. And there were several fundraising awards. The national winner raised $51,000! Wowie. They also announced that we had all raised $12.5 million!!! $12.5 MILLION. Isn't that awesome?!?!?

We left the Pasta Party totally charged. It was an incredible experience - full of emotion. Truly an unforgetable event.

Next on our agenda was the Team Meeting.....