Monday, October 20, 2008

Marathon by the numbers



"Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you are right" Mary Kay Asher



Yesterday was the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. I did it! Below are the highlights.


My pre-race dinner, a chile rellano


418 -- The number of miles I ran in the last 18 weeks while training

26.2 --The number of miles I ran on Sunday!! Woo hoo!

5 -- the number of times I pooped before the race. Got to love that nervous stomach.

1 -- the number of times I pooped during race (in porta potty, not my pants!)

The tattoo with my pace times, called a "pace tat"

50 -- temperature at the starting line. brrr!

2 -- the mile where there was a donation bin to drop jackets

Waiting for the race to start


2.5 -- the mile where I fell down, hard. Why? I have no idea. Some skinned knees and a bruised ego, otherwise I was fine.

The course map. Check out the elevation marker! They brought Mt Everest in just for the race.

6 -- the mile we ran by the Golden Gate bridge. It was absolutely stunning, as were most of the views

The view from the course

2 -- the number of big hills. There were countless small hills. I rocked those hills!


8 -- the mile I saw Pete for the first time. It gave me such a boost!

12 -- The mile Pete joined me on his bike, then proceeded to ride up and back with me the rest of the way. It helped more then words can describe.

13 -- The mile my foot started to hurt, but not enough to really bother me too much.

16 -- The mile my left knee started to bother me.

20 -- The mile where my knee pain became excrucitating. : -( The last hour was run in significant pain.

26.2 -- The finish line!!

54 - the temperature at the finish. Brr!

4:31 -- My official time. 15 min slower then I was hoping for. I am very dissappointed.

2,386 --calories burned by 115 lb woman running for 4 hr 31 min.

? -- the number of times I will do this again. I am glad I did it, but it was tough!


Holding my Tiffany bag after the race


This is the necklace we got at the finish line, handed to us in a little blue box by men dressed in tuxedos. The back says "NWM SF 2008"

Overall, a wonderful experience.

Pete, I can't thank you enough. First, for all the support during my many hours of training and all the mornings you got all the boys off to school without me so I could run. Second, for listening to all my complaints of pain during training and not smacking me upside the head and telling me to just drop out already. And finally, for sticking with me during the hardest miles of the race, reminding me that I could do it, and not letting me stop when the pain was trying to tell me otherwise. You are the best!! And you were right-- I should have eaten more breakfast.

9 comments:

Suzanne said...

That was an awesome post! I am crying. I am so happy that you were able to accomplish this great feat.

MotheringBoys said...

You did amazing!!!!!! I am proud of you as well! Loved the tat and the necklace is gorgeous. I would never take it off. lol!! Next year, we will do the 1/2! I love that Pete rode with you on his bike. I wish Dave would have been there to help me through the hardest part. I would have done better. I think you did amazing!!

Mr Lady said...

Color me impressed! I couldn't run across a ROOM, let alone the Bay area!

(Hey, nice button you got there! :) )

Anonymous said...

WOW!! That is truly awesome! I love the count down on the things that took place along the run. I can't believe you were running in agony FOR THE LAST HOUR!

Also, initially I thought you said you moved your bowels five times DURING the race. And I laughed when I saw you did not sh*t your pants like the guy in the picture.

However, maybe if you had, you would have met your time goal and knocked off 15 minutes :)

Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

You are awesome Michelle such a great accomplishment. You are so gracious to give Pete credit for all the help he gave; you he is truly a wonderful husband and son-in-law love you both. Mom

Andrea said...

WOW! You are awesome Michelle:) I am so proud of you for completing the marathon (I thought your time was great)!!! LOVE the necklace:)

Ash said...

I'm so completely blown away!!!

By you, and by Pete. You guys totally rocked.

I'm really, really proud of you. Of the race, and the fact that you didn't crap your pants. That's what you call a win-win - awesome!

Em

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! Sounds like you had a quite day. I also finished my marathon on the east coast. I didn't qualify for Boston, but I did pretty well. I think I'll probably do it again next year. Oh, and I love the necklace! The medals we received were sort of lame, but I was excited to be able to take one home anyway!

Anonymous said...

The marathon I ran was capped at 1500 people and that was much nicer than running a huge race. Although, I think it attracts only serious runners. So even though my time sounded good, I wasn't even in the top 50% of finishers. And these people looked serious too!

Disney has a half marathon that I ran a couple years ago with approximately 10,000 people and it was irritating having to navigate around so many people.