Another Marathon Complete

  The Austin Marathon required quite a bit of patience, taking the hills at a nice easy pace to avoid burning out my calves and quads before mile 7 like I did in San Diego :-).  My brother and I paced eachother very well, and for most of the marathon we were both all smiles.  In general, we get along very well for siblings.  I think we have a mutual respect and a healthy level of competition.  For example, it would have been completely unacceptable to lose badly to the other, but we don't have to humiliate eachother either.  I believe we encouraged one another as we ran.  It was new to me, running an entire marathon with someone.  I enjoyed it.  I did feel a little guilty when we hit mile 14, and I could see the pain starting to show in my brother's face.  He braved the pain, he braved the distance, and he completed his first full marathon without any walking.  We had a pretty decent time 4:23.  I give us a little grace because Austin is full of those rolling hills that can do a number on legs trained on the flat roads where we live. 

  It was a beautiful day.  The rain decided to go away for the day.  We started early that morning, with my traditional breakfast.  We arrived at the start, and had to find our gear drop off.  When we got back to the start, we heard encouraging words from President Obama and from Lance Armstrong.  Well, can't say I've had that kind of interest from anyone so famous in any race I've participated in previously :-).  We jumped into the line of runners, and took about 7 minutes after the gun to get to the start.  The race started with the 1/2 marathoners included.  As we ran, I couldn't help but be impressed with the number of athletes we were crowded next to.  For the first time in my marathon history, I had a cheering team.  My brother's wife and my father were there to encourage us along the way.  At the 8 mile point, we spotted them.  They were a little distracted by camera issues, and my brother ran right up to his wife and kissed her without her realizing who he was.  It was a great moment in the day, and we laughed about it for the next mile!  In the crowded group, we would weave around people as they slowed, and bumped into eachother for a good 11-12 miles before the full marathon folks broke away for their long journey around the city of Austin.   A little after this point, there was a little pain my brother needed to push through.  We stopped for a moment to stretch and take a breath, giving him a chance to evaluate and truly experience the pain.  Ultimately, it was decided we should have just kept on going.  Though, the fun and games were pretty much over at this point.  The marathon started to become work.  I could tell my brother no longer cared for conversation.  I imagined he could use some distraction from the pain, but he seemed to just need his iPod and some focus.  We found mile 20 just in time.  We were both ready to start the decent to the finish line.  It was a steady (mostly) downhill 6 miles, and I remember a few times where I checked my heart rate and it was below 160!  Yeah! 

My brother, a fan of the 5k distance, enjoyed counting the number of 5ks we had completed as we passed markers indicating we'd done 10, 15, 20,25, 30 kilometers.  At some point, I thought, "He's going to have to eventually say, 'only a 5k to go!'"  As the miles got closer to the 23 mile mark, I made sure I was next to him, so I could hear the phrase I now associate with my running with him.  He did not disappoint me.  Despite the pain, the slow progress, and probably some resentment toward me for encouraging him to do this crazy distance, he smiled and told me that there was only a 5k to go.  And, as we neared the finish line, he even had some extra energy to push to the finish.  The official placement on the website shows that he placed ahead of me :-) (of course, we both had the same time, but I am willing to conceed that he may have won by a nose)

Dieting, Nutrition fact, and planning

  I would probably characterize myself as a bit of a control freak these days.  I have everything planned and organized so that I can almost predict the future.  There is nothing terribly exciting about having that kind of control, and I think that is what makes it so appealing.  It isn't that I don't like surprises, I do.  It is just that I don't like that feeling of dread when something bad surprises you.  I am also pretty adaptable.  As long as I have not been looking forward to something I have planned, I am okay with change.  The one major exception is in my diet.  If I wind up going out to a restaurant without anything healthy to eat, I feel like I have failed before I even order.  It seems crazy, but losing weight is VERY difficult when you work on the night shift.  I can see any little slip up reflected on the scale.  I enjoy eating healthy, so it isn't usually an issue.  Of course, I enjoy exercising as well, so that helps too.  The only time it gets out of control is when I am too depressed to give a crap about my health- figuring I should just give up on myself.  Here's an example of my meals for today:

  I have been successfully eating healthy for a 7 days straight (had a slip up before that where the red vines got the best of me).  At the moment, I have lost 10 lbs off my max weight in January.  I am currently 147.5, and my goal is 130.  I am eating between 1200-1500 calories, and I am eating 4 meals each day.  I give myself more calories around my long run, but for the most part, I stay below 1300.  The first week of reducing calories is always the worst.  I get angry, I am hungry, and I have cravings for sugar.  In addition, I have felt drained, and I have had a hard time completing some of my workouts.  Burning up fat stores is a good thing in the long run, but in the short term, it feels like crap.
  To anyone who has ever counted calories, 1200 calories is a typical american meal.  When you break it down, the way I do, you get 250 calories for breakfast, 350 calories for lunch, 450 calories for dinner and 250 calories for snacks.  Calorie content seems to have a correlation with convenience.  If it is easy for me to get, it has way too many calories.  If it requires special planning and cooking, well, then it is far more likely to be healthy, low Calorie, and will require refrigeration.  If I want to have a quick meal from a fast food restaurant, I have to be kind of picky.  Try to find a menu item at any fast food chain that is 350 calories or less.  Here's an idea of what I see when I look at a fast food menu:

  If I want to get french fries, a small will tack on another 250 calories.  That means, I am over my lunch budget.  Ha!  I give the fast food companies some credit, though.  The healthy options are getting easier to come by.  And, nutrition facts are very easy to get to.  McDonald's gets a lot of crap for being unhealthy, but I've found more balanced options on their menu than most fast food chains.  Jack in the box had whole wheat pitas which would meet my nutritional needs.  Of course, I avoid beef because of the saturated fats, but there are hamburgers under 350 on the menu.

  If I go out to eat for dinner, at a typical restaurant, you can assume I am going to find very little that will meet my 450 calorie budget.  There are restaurants with the lowest calorie items on their menu in the 700s (and that can be for a 1/2 salad).  Everyone needs to know you can't trust a salad you don't prepare yourself.  I have had calorie "sticker shock" many times when I am hoping to get a delicious salad from a restaurant.  Dressing, cheese, croutons, all these are evil calorie budget busters.  The snip from the nutrition info at Chilli's restaurant will give you a good idea of the frustration I face when I leave my home to eat.

I can't order anything in their sandwich menu (without modification) for under my DAILY calorie budget.  Let's just ignore the saturated fat issues for the moment :-).  So while my friends order the mouth-watering sandwiches, I get to eat a house salad with a vinegrette dressing.  So, yes, I hate eating out.  If I didn't think the 1300 calorie meal looked delicious, I just wouldn't be human.  I wish I could really enjoy the food I ordered from the restaurant, but I cannot, and so it is pointless (and it costs too much).
  Don't get me wrong.  It is my anniversary this weekend, and we will be going out for a nice dinner.  And, I will find delicious food to eat, but I do need to be careful and keep my meal around 800 calories.  I think of it this way, if 3500 calories is equivalent to 1 pound of body fat, how many extra pounds am I keeping by eating this meal?  There is, of course, exercise to help keep off the pounds.  Check out the Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich above.  Guess what, that's an 18 mile run.  3 hours of running, and I will have finally burned that off.  Of course, if I ate that, I'd be in no mood to run...
  So, weight loss is never fun, and it is never easy.  But, healthy eating makes my body happier, my mood better, and my running easier.  So, eating out and convenient meals will be saved for occasional use only.  And, I will keep progressing toward 130 lbs.

Dieting!

  The exciting thing about having completed my biggest fitness goal for my life, Ironman, is that I was allowed to relax for an entire month without any terrible guilt about the terrible foods I was eating and the weight I was gaining.  Mentally, I needed a break.  My body paid for my indulgence with an increase in acne, fat cells, and sluggishness.  It is very easy to drop healthy habits.  They really aren't very fun, even if they are good for you.  I could use the excuse that I worked night shift and pretty much anyone would forgive my bad health, including my nurse practitioner.  Only one person knew better, but she was too busy stuffing her face with red vines and cookies to do anythign about it :-). 
  I went to the doctor this week, and my cholesterol levels were high.  I wasn't terribly surprised, but my NP did not lecture me, she gave me another night shift free pass.  Well, when my heart is in danger, I will jump through a few hoops to remedy the situation.  I wasn't going to wait to see if I could improve once I went to days!  I started a healthy diet, and intended to drop about 25 pounds by April (Tour de Mesa time).  I weighed 155 when I made that goal.  I currently weigh 150- a year ago, I weighed 135 lbs and ran a marathon in 3:40:??.  It is discouraging in some ways since I did this to myself, and I should have known better.  I know there were factors like depression, stress, and night shift that contributed.  And, I don't hate myself for giving into the treats that help me cope in the moment, but I am trying to shift my focus.  I love all my heart can do for me, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself it I didn't take my cholesterol levels seriously and wound up having a heart attack.
  The recommendations I was given were to include more whole grains, fruits and veggies in my diet, and to exercise regularly.  Hmm, well, exercise should not be a problem, and I like these foods.  I am trying to reduce the "bad" fat in my diet and replace it with "good" fat.  I am steadily increasing my veggie count, and am up to 5 servings per day.  I am hoping to work my way up to 9, but that is a lot of veggies!  I am trying to reduce my packaged food intake since it tends to contain a lot of salt- which might be bad for me (they're revisiting that idea).  I am also trying to increase the amount of fish I eat. 
  In addition to changing my foods, of course, losing weight can lower cholesterol.  My diet this week has been limited to 1200-1300 calories/day, and, to be honest, I have trouble getting through my workouts.  I did hills on the treadmill for an hour yesterday, and by the end of it I felt dizzy and weak.  I did a circuit training workout with my trainer today, and felt light headed quite a few times.  My whole body just felt weak afterward.  My body needs to adjust, of course, so I will give it another week before I re-evaluate my calorie deficit.
  In other news, I am getting set for my marathon in February.  My 20 mile last week was 3:18:17, so I need to keep pushing to get to that 3:00:00 goal (trying for a 4 hour marathon).  My speed drills are killing me.  I am discouraged that my fast pace on my tempo runs used to be my full marathon pace :-(.  But, I am working to improve, and I will be having a great race year if I stick to my healthy diet and keep up with my training.

Grumpy Girl

There are just those days sometimes when everything gets on your nerves.  It makes you grind your teeth and snap at strangers.  They call it, "the wrong side of the bed".  I do not know if there is a cure for it, but I find it interesting the things that I absolutely HATE on this kind of day.  Today it was the constant cleaning at my work.  Since I work night shift, it seems like I would be used to being around when carpets are vaccuumed and cubes dusted.  Usually, I get annoyed if I can't use the bathroom or if I get done with my workout at the gym and the locker room is closed for cleaning.  But, today was special.  I was irritated by the yellow caution signs, the locker room being cleaned before my workout, the carpet cleaners, and the vaccuming of cubicles.  I try not to be a crazy person, but some days I can't keep the crazy from bubbling up to the brain. 

It isn't that I don't enjoy the fun kind of crazy, but the random anger about cleaning or mistyping my password for the 100th time makes me feel like a 5 year old who needs to take a nap!  I probably need to take a nap...  They should have nap time for grown-ups.  Why do we suddenly not need sleep because we are able to have jobs. 

Well, when I get irritable, it often helps to get some exercise to get the energy out.  I went to spin class, and I felt much better afterward.  Of course, that didn't last long enough, and I am cranky all over again (I blame the sleep problems)

New Year's Resolution Time!!

We all have a resolution like "This year I will lose weight, budget better, get in shape, move ahead in my career. . ."

We all have something that we disliked about the way we lived last year, and 2012 is a chance to start again.  My 2011 was not my best year in a few ways, but I learned a lot about myself, and I learned a lot about my husband.  We are both better for having faced the challenges we did, but we are also in the process of rebuilding some things that fell apart. 

For my husband, he begins the year by leaving his job and returning to school- forever.  That is to say, he is going to get his masters in education and become a math teacher.  This is a huge step for him, and I am very proud.  He is a little nervous about the change, understandably, but I believe the career he is in now has never felt rewarding to him, and it is important to him to feel that he is making a difference.  Beyond this change, he has also made a resolution to lose 70 pounds!  That is a tough goal, and I do believe he will accomplish it, but I am going to be extra naggy for the next month on the nutrition and exercise side of things since the toughest part is when you start good habits.

I am going to be struggling to get back to my former 130 lbs.  So, while my husband loses 70 lbs, I will be working off 25.  I do not really care for diets, they make me cranky, but I will sacrifice my good mood for a while to gain the happiness of looking and feeling good.  The plan is simple, 1200-1700 calories per day and exercising at least 1 hour each day 6 days a week. I am aware of how much I hate being hungry, and how much I depend on food to comfort me.  But then, no goals worth reaching were ever easy. 

My other resolution is to be able to do 20 push-ups from my feet (no girl push-ups this year).  As much as I like exercising, this seems like a pretty easy thing to achieve.  I absolutely HATE push-ups though.  I think it is because they are so hard for me and make me feel weak every time I try to do them.  My trainer thinks I have a mental block, and I probably do to some extent, but I will overcome that as well!

Good luck to everyone who has made a resolution!  I hope we all make some positive changes this year.

Just doing the running part

I have enjoyed taking some time off from the crazy exercise schedule to focus on important things like my mental health, my relationships, and my career.  I have enjoyed being stressed by Christmas and a project at work without having it impact a rigorous training schedule to boot.  I indulged in all my holiday favorites to the point that now, just looking at sugar gives me a stomach ache.  I have not been on my bike or back in the pool since the race.  I have packed on an extra 15 lbs of mass.  But, taking the time to reset physically and mentally is as important as all the training, and I am looking forward to picking up my training again in January.  I do have a marathon in February (not a big deal, it's only running).  I have started working on my speed for this, and there is definitely progress to be made.  I am currently running at a 10min/mi pace.  I hope to reduce that to a 9 min/mi pace over the next month.  My brother is visiting for the holidays, and we are going to do a 16 mile run together this week. 

My body is fighting a little as I try to get back into my routines.  I think there is still some part of me that wants to stay in bed all day and watch old episodes of The X-files.  The problem with a day that starts out like this is that it never picks up momentum, and I get absolutely nothing accomplished.  It is too much work to get out of my pajamas and pick up my prescriptions or groceries.  Too many days like that in a row, and I am out of food and drugs.  So, it is time to get back into a healthy routine, hit the gym, eat better, drop some pounds, and take my vitamins.  Ah, just in time for a New Year's resolution!!

Post Race Week of Gluttony!

Yeah, fighting gluttony is a lot like a boss battle

Well, now that I have proven to the world that I am an Ironman, I can stop behaving like one and start eating like a 300 pound lady.  There is nothing quite as freeing as the post-race week.  I have enjoyed pizza, beer, red vines, eating out, ice cream, and pie!  My body feels like shit, but mentally, it is great to not have to say no to everything that I want.  My body is pretty unhappy right now.  Aside from just the stomach issues that come with switching to such a large and sugar-loaded diet, I am also feeling extremely tired and sluggish.  Going out to eat with friends and feasting with family this week was absolutely wonderful, but I am ready to return to some more moderate eating (for both my body and my wallet - meals out are expensive!). 



Oh, they can't wait to be a part of my diet!



So, what's next?  2012 will be a little less distance, but, if all goes well, a little more speed!  I have a marathon scheduled early in the year, February.  I will be doing this one with my brother, and it will be his very first marathon!  He is a good runner, but a busy guy.  It is tough to get endurance training in when you are working on a PhD!!  He is doing well at the 1/2 marathon distance though, and I will need to build up some speed to keep up with him for the marathon, I think :-).  I am going to do the tour de mesa bike race again, and hopefully I will have company on this.  Other races are up in the air, but there are a few sprint triathlons I want to do.  I would like to do the Seattle rock 'n' roll marathon, and I would like to do the mountain man 1/2 IM distance triathlon.  There was also a mention over Thanksgiving of doing a Warrior Dash! 



Like that, but less killing

Aside from races next year, I have a few fun things planned.  I didn't do as much hill training on the bike as I would have enjoyed (since IM was pretty flat).  I have a few rides that have been asking for me to try them.  This includes Mt. Lemon in Tucson, and Snow Bowl in Flagstaff.  Of course, my life does not have to revolve around swimming, biking and running this year, since my overall distances will be significantly less, and I have decided to do some more yoga and weight training to round out my fitness.  Yoga has been a big help with my mental health in the past, and I think starting back into my practice will help me deal with any of life's little stresses.



Yeah, this warrior don't dash. . .

 It is strange to be done with the race I've been preparing for all year.  I was sure I would feel kind of empty without having it to look forward to.  I enjoy having a purpose to my training, and I enjoy facing new challenges, but this next year, most of my races I have done before.  I do not feel purposeless, though.  I feel relieved.  I faced the hardest endurance race of my life, and I did fine.  I wasn't even all that sore.  For once in my life, I am happy with what I have accomplished, and I can relax (relatively speaking).

I am an Ironman!



Sunday morning I woke up at 3:00 AM excited and nervous to start one of the bigger days in my life.  I had set out all my required clothing for that morning, and I had delivered all my transition bags to the race site the day before.  This was going to happen!  I started making my peanut butter and oatmeal breakfast, as my mind went through the process of visualizing the race.  Most of my nerves revolved around the swim.  I am a strong swimmer, not exceptionally fast, but I can go the distance, and am very good at pacing myself for a 2.4 mile haul.  I had done a 1/2 ironman in this lake 2 years prior though, and, even with the race having a staggered start with the men ahead of us, I was being kicked and clawed at the entire 1.2 miles.  I simply wanted to survive the day. 

It doesn't actually look as bad from out here

This memory fueled my anxiety.  For good reason, I have a fear of drowning.  I can remember being in the wave pool as a kid when it was crowded and being deathly afraid because of all the people in my general vicinity.  People are crazy, and people afraid of drowning are even worse.  Though I knew the people I would swim with would be athletes, and would not climb on me to save themselves from death, I also knew that they would be athletes who were getting kicked in the face and clawed by their fellow athletes while swallowing water that contains God only knows what kind of toxins.

I'm sure it's just the good kinds of bacteria

I ate my peanut butter and oatmeal breakfast; the same breakfast I had been enjoying all week (would hate to introduce some untested nutrient into my system).  I took off for the race at 4:00AM, with time to stop at a convenience store for some extra sports drink, red bull, and protein bars in case the worst happened and I needed to use the "special needs" bags I was given.  My stomach was in knots, still thinking about the swim.  I had to get through it though, because they won't let you just opt for a duathlon on race day.

If I organized triathlons

  I arrived at Tempe Town Lake before the transition area was open, wide eyed, and looking very much like the noob I'd been feeling like since dropping off my <$5,000 bike and non-aero helmet the day before. I was dressed to impress, wearing a pair of my husband's old workout pants (much too big for me) and my zip up fleece (they didn't match though they were both shades of blue; I have some mad fashion skills). I was wearing a tri-suit underneath, and that made me feel pretty professional. Everyone there looked like they'd been pulled from an REI catalogue. I have always been self-conscious about what I look like, and I couldn't help making the comparisons that morning. I really felt like a slob compared to this beautiful mob. I kept repeating to myself some words of inspiration I'd received in an email earlier that week, "I trained for this, I belong here."

Of course there are those who belong more than others

I got into the transition area, checked on my "sub-standard" bike, made sure the tires had air, and the water bottles were in place.  Nothing was amiss.  I took my special needs bags to their designated location, and realized I had nothing to do for the next hour and a half.  I walked back to my bike, checked my tires, brakes, shifting, handlebars, and food that had been taped to my bike.  I had no real idea what I should be doing during this time because I had never competed in this race before, and I just waited anxiously for people to start putting on their wetsuits so I would know it was time.  I think this might have been the longest hour of the entire day. 

It wasn't quite as bad as all that.

Soon, it was time to put on the wetsuit, and prepare to enter the cold water.  It was still dark outside, and talk began around me about how cold it would be.  I looked around at the full-sleeve wetsuits and wondered if these people were aware of what 60+ degree water actually felt like while wearing any kind of wetsuit.  My suit is sleeveless (because I live in AZ, and do not swim in really cold water).  I saw athletes wearing caps covering their ears as well.  My wetsuit seemed inadequate as I waited to freeze to death on the swim portion of my first ironman.  It was too late to make any changes now, and I nervously talked with the athletes next to me, and they reassured me that I would be just fine.  My favorite thing that was said to me was to "think of the race as a long commute to a marathon."  This was said after I expressed that my favorite portion of triathlons was the run.  With that thought in my mind, I jumped into Tempe Town Lake.

Maybe with a little less enthusiasm

My heart was pounding as soon as I entered the water, and I felt like I could not breathe.  Was it too cold?  I began to swim toward the start, and felt like my chest was being compressed, my wetsuit felt tight around my neck, and I could not catch my breath.  Would it be like this the whole 2.4 miles?  As I was treading water, I tried to breathe deeply and relax.  I realized now that what had been anxiety had turned to panic when I had hit the water and could not see my arm in front of me.  I reminded myself that I just needed to swim, that is all.  I felt myself relax, and when the gun went off to start the race, the panic was under control.  That moment was short lived, however, and I soon began to feel the other swimmers feet and hands hitting me as I tried to get into some kind of rhythm.  At one point, I felt someone grab my calf, and pull on my leg.

yeah, that's about how I felt

I decided to move toward the outside where the less competitive swimmers were hanging out, and that worked out better for me. I began to enjoy my swim as I found a rhythm, and started keeping an eye out for familiar landmarks. The swim finish was probably not as beautiful as it seemed at the time, but I can remember feeling like I was getting out of prison. I wanted to be graceful, of course, but I could not remember what had been said about the steps in the meeting the night before, and I just graciously accepted help from one of the volunteers, and let my pride have the day off. Wet suit came off, and I went into the transition. I did not set any records for my transition times to say the least. I was disoriented, and my fingers were too cold to zip up my jacket. I wandered toward my bike, which was brought to me by a volunteer. As I rode out onto the course, I saw my husband and a group of friends cheering for me. By far, this was the happiest moment of the day so far.

Not quite the happiest moment of my life, though

I realized a little too late that I had not seen the sunscreen application area. And, this committed me to my jacket for sun protection for the duration of the bike ride. I had some SPF chapstick which I applied to my face and hands to prevent sunburn as well. My legs would just have to move fast enough to dodge the uv-rays. My first lap, I recovered from the swim, had some Gatorade and tried to tell myself to relax. As cyclists passed me at 20+ mph, I could feel my shoulders growing tense. As the ride went on, I grew more comfortable, and began to appreciate the race environment. I had to take a bathroom break at the first turn around, and again, the volunteers were there to make everything easier by taking my bike and offering to supply me with any nutrients I might desire while I was in the port-o-potty.



The special today is chocolate energy gel

When I got back on my bike, I was on the down-hill.  This was amazing.  I was speeding down the Bee-line at 28 mph!  I started to really enjoy being a part of this race.  I began to pass other cyclists wearing aero helmet with shifters on their aerobars, and I allowed myself a little smile.  The second lap, I was passed by one of my heroes, Lindsey Corbin.  It was INCREDIBLE!  She was so fast.  I loved when the pros would ride past because a motorcycle would drive through and tell all of us amateur to move to the right so we could see what REAL athletes are capable of :-).  The low point of my ride followed shortly after, when I reached the turn-around, and an overly-ambitious cyclist crashed into a bike at the bathroom line, and fell into the path of my bike.  I almost missed him, but I ran over his right foot.  I stopped, looked back, and saw him walking toward the line for the bathroom. 

When you gotta go, you gotta go

With the reassurance that he was okay, I tended to my brakes which were now rubbing on my front wheel.  After a quick adjustment, I was back on track, a little shaky, but ready to enjoy some down-hill riding.  At this point, the winds had picked up, and I was now facing a headwind.  My speed was reduced quite a bit from the first time around, but it was nice to have a tailwind when I started uphill again.  I made it through the bike portion at a record pace, finishing 112 miles in 6:51:09.  I transitioned into the run with my typical disorientation.  This time, I could not miss the sunscreen appliers.  A welcome sight, my "coach" and his wife were there to keep the sunburn at bay.  I had so many things to say when Brian asked how the ride was, but I had completely forgotten how words and sentences work at this point, and just made a generic comment about how it was going well.  I went off to run feeling a bit rude for not introducing myself to his wife or saying anything at all, really.  "Enjoy the run!" I heard him say, and that was what I was determined to do.  Only a marathon to go!  The run was beautiful.    As the sun set over Tempe town lake, there were sailboats on the water, and I felt like I was part of a screen saver photo.  I looked at my garmin to see my pace, and it was slow, but it was steady.  I don't really know what kept me from running any faster, but I would try to push myself and then fall back into an 11 min/mile pace.  I decided to let it go, and enjoy the remaining hours of the race.  My mother-in-law and my father-in-law were there to cheer me on for my first 2 laps, and it kept me smiling for at least 3 miles :-).  My dad met me a few times on the run to snap some pictures of me.

I actually did feel as happy as I look

As I approached mile 20, I waited for the typical marathon pain to hit my hips and knees, but it never did.  I walked at mile 19 because my stomach wasn't doing so good.  But, I started up again at mile 20, and ran to the end.  I think my last 6 miles were fueled by comments about how I looked like Chrissie Wellington, though I am pretty sure no one has seen her running with a glowstick.  I am no champion.  I finished 1483rd out of 2542 athletes that finished.  I set out this year hoping to finish in under 12 hours, and managed to complete the race in 13:26.  But my friends met me at the end, and with that greeting, I could not have felt happier if it had been a podium finish!