I did it!!

Hi Everyone!!

I did it!!! I ran a marathon!! Where do I start? It was the most awesome experience!

I'll start with the way the weekend progressed - so sorry for extremely long post! (this is also a way for me to remember it as well!)

So, our flight left from Milwaukee at 7 am, and Dad and Steph stayed over at my house in Janesville Thursday night. Not that we got much sleep! I was super nervous (and trying not to be) about getting there on time without a hitch - it was sooooo cold that schools were canceled on Thursday and Friday - the negative teens. I was so glad to get to a warm climate!!

So, I went to bed around 10, and woke up wide awake at 1:30. I could not fall back asleep for the life of me! The original plan was to wake up at 3 and leave by 3:30 (which would have been fine), but since I was awake, I woke up at quarter to 3, and made Dad and Steph get up and we were out the door by 3!! Steph was not happy. haha.

So, we get to the airport with plenty (and I mean about 2 hours) of time to spare!! Nervous and excited. Team in Training members start showing up, tired and eager as well. Our flight was actually 1/2 hour quicker, so we ended up getting there at 9:30 instead of 10! Dad, Steph and I got the rental car and had a little trouble getting to the hotel (wrong directions by the rental car attendant!), but eventually got there! Phoenix is very spread out - many of the roads were 3 lanes each way, and what was cool is they just got the electric light rail in operation a couple weeks prior to the event - worked great!

Anyway, ate a quick lunch and went to the expo downtown to get our bib numbers, shirts, and check out the stuff at the booths. Dad got me a PF Chang hat, which was awesome - I wore it the whole time on the marathon - and worked great!! I would have been Rudolph with the red nose if I didn't have it!

At the expo I also.....signed up for the Seattle Rock 'N Roll Marathon!!!! I was a little nervous about signing up before finishing my first marathon, but I just couldn't pass up the $10 discount and the free t-shirt! I know, I know, frugal Katie. I almost got a free plane ticket, but I was 1 person late in the line at the airport to get bumped to the later flight! Darnit!

So, we spent several hours at the expo - they had big dispensers of gu - and I tried to get Steph and Dad to try it out but they were chicken! I admit, not the most appetizing -especially in big dispensers!! I was explaining to Steph how they help replenish electrolytes, and instantly thought, hey, that would have helped when you were sick and your electrolytes were always out of wack! Not sure she would have gone for it then, but it was a thought!

Here's a pic of Steph making a sign for me! The expo had a couple booths to make signs for free!

Friday night we went out to eat as a group at a Pizza/Pasta place - we were able to eat outside on the patio!!! Man, it was just fantastic weather there - absolutely perfect. Sunny skies, light breeze, 70s as a temperature high - what else could you ask for?? Anyway, since there was a pasta party planned for Saturday night, Dad and Steph ate chinese from the next restaurant - were getting a little carbed out with all the pasta! That night was a big basketball game, but we timed the dinner just right because everyone was leaving to go to the game when we went to order our food!

Saturday was fun - Dad, Steph and I went to the Phoenix Mountain (city) Park, which was about a 5-10 minute drive from the hotel. Man, the mountains in this area really define Phoenix! Just beautiful! There were a ton of trails, and parking was scarse - very busy! Phoenix was a busy city this weekend with the basketball game, the marathon, and the football game!

Anyway, Dad and Steph really wanted to hike. I was like, okay, I'll just drive around, hang out, try not to over-do it. I distinctly recall my coach Art saying, "Don't do anything crazy like go hiking the day before." Hmmm. And what do I do? It is so hard to stare at the beautiful mountains and trails and say no. So, I convinced Dad and Steph to do the "1.5 Mile Nature Trail," which was considered easy/moderate. Well, we later figured out that the 1.5 mile meant 1.5 miles OUT, and 1.5 miles BACK!! Oops. I went slow, especially since I was wearing the worst shoes for this type of hiking. I felt bad going then, because I was really slowing up Steph and Dad. But, after the marathon on Sunday they ended up going back and hiking up to the peak of the mountain!! Anyway, I ended up hiking with them for an hour and a half. It was just beautiful! It was a little disconcerting to see the smog over the city to the west, however.

After the hiking, we drove to my Aunt Jill's house in Gold Canyon, which was about a 45 minute drive. Visited at the house for a while, and then she took us to this really neat restaurant, which was on the Apache Trail/highway 88. She had asked if anyone got carsick, and I mentioned that, yes, I had a tendency at times. She said, well, it's only 10 miles away, and I was like, oh, that's fine, so I climbed in the back in between Dad and Steph.

Little did I know that 10 miles was a little short - the ride was 45 minutes! But, it really was gorgeous - I will post pics when I get them developed (yup, I actually used a disposable camera on this trip, it felt weird!) - the route wound thru the mountains doing many switchbacks. It really was a fantastic ride, except for the fact that I was totally carsick nearly the entire way. Holy cow. hehe.

But, the restaurant was really unique, and we had a great time. Car ride back I got to sit in the front seat, which helped a little, but those switchbacks were tough!

We got back to the hotel in time to change and rest for a little bit before the pasta dinner, which was put on by Team in Training.

What an awesome event!! It was at a super fancy Sheraton Hotel in this huge ballroom. I think there was over 2000 people there! We entered the hotel, and instantly heard whistles and cheering and clapping. We followed the sound up to the 3rd floor, and got in line. The line wound through all of the mentors, staff, and coaches for Team in Training. You wouldn't believe how loud it was. All of the participants and guests would walk through the line. I couldn't believe how moving it was - I was near tears. It's hard to describe, but it resonated with me that I had already accomplished what I sought to accomplish - to fundraise for the greater cause to fight blood cancers. I was so glad to have Steph and Dad with me. It was just awesome.

The line ended up as the line for the food. The dinner was fantastic - what an event to coordinate and put on - for Team in Training as well as the hotel! Wow!

There were several speakers that spoke at the event - the Wisconsin table was in the back corner and we struggled to hear half of what was said. But, it was funny, moving, emotional, and rewarding. I was super pumped up after that to run.

Talk about a lot of build-up for the actual event! That is one of the many reasons that I absolutely LOVE TEAM IN TRAINING! They gave all of us so much support, so much help, a well coordinated event, it was just so awesome!

Saturday night I tried to sleep, but was too wound up. I think I finally may have fell asleep at midnight, only to awake 3 times throughout the night. I did wake up to the alarm clock at 5, so that was a good sign that I got some sleep.

Woke up, lathered up in sunscreen and body glide (both worked great!!) and got dressed. Ate, got down to the team meeting place by 5:45 and we were at the start by 6:15 or so. The official start was 7:40, but we needed the time to stop by the cytomax booth and mentally prepare.

I had the WORST porta-potty experience of my life just before the start. I'll spare the details, recalling it makes me want to gag again. Let me just say, I STRONGLY recommend going before you leave, and try to drink just enough to not have to pee during the entire marathon to not have to step foot in one of those.

Anyway, got into our corrals, which are groupings of approximate finish times. I was hoping for 4:45 (less than 5 hours was the goal), so I was in corral 7. I was with Lo and Amy with Team in Training, which was awesome!

We finally got to a start, and crossed the start chip about 3 minutes after the official start. We started out slow as our coach recommended, averaging about 11:15 minute miles. Throughout the marathon our splits got quicker and quicker - and it averaged to a 10:38 minute mile pace.

Official time: 4 hours, 38 minutes and 38 seconds!!!

But, the time is the least of it. The experience was absolutely awesome!!! Lo, Amy and I ran together for the first 18 miles. We sang, talked, and met new people the entire way. We high-fived supporters, we enjoyed the great bands playing, and made fun of the people (amongst ourselves) the warm-weather people wearing (no kidding) winter hats, pants, fleece jackets, and in one case that I saw, GLOVES! I couldn't believe it! The starting temp was 55 degrees, and it was I think about 62 degrees at mile 8. That was when I saw a woman still wearing a fleece jacket. It's all relative, huh?

We met so many cool people - lots of Canadians from Alberta, one of which trained in -38 degree weather outside! (unbelieveable!) Our jerseys said Wisconsin in the back, so we got lots of comments on that! Met a girl, Kristen, who was originally from Rockford! We introduced her to the idea of interval training. Met a guy in his 50's that had run 54 marathons, and was from Phoenix and had run all 6 of them. Talked with some girls about our favorite romantic movies (Love Actually is mine!).

Since we were doing the run 8 minutes and walk 2 minutes, we would pass and be passed by several groups of people. It was really cool.

The best part was just seeing all of the support for Team in Training. There were so many spectators, and they all would cheer "Go Team! Go Katie!" (we had our names on our jersies) It was awesome to feel so appreciated and part of this huge event. There were tons of purple shirts - from all over. Pretty darn cool.

And, of course, having Dad and Steph there!! They were awesome! I got to see them at miles 4, 13, 16, and at the end!! That is way more than most guests were able to see - it helped that they had the rental car. But, they figured it out, and they walked over 10 miles! Plus, they crazily hiked up a mountain later in the day and walked for another mile or so to find a place to get ice cream! It was just so awesome seeing them! They said they had fun supporting all of the team in training participants and watching the elites!

I managed to not have any big issues! I didn't have to use the restroom the entire time. I didn't have any problems with my knee! I timed taking the gels every 40 minutes, which gave me enough energy to not feel a "bonk" at any point.

I do have to say that the cytomax in my water bottles became 1/2 foam with the jostling from running. I didn't recall it with my camelbac, and that was when I realized that was because there isn't any air in the camelback to mix with - unlike the bottle! So, that wasn't too cool! But, I now know that next time I will fill it with water, and drink the cytomax at the water/cytomax stops. Water doesn't turn to foam! :)

My right foot felt a pinch, like my shoe was too tight on the left side, at mile 8, but I chose to ignore it, and don't have any issues with it.

I am SOOOO lucky to have had such a positive first marathon experience! I didn't get dehydrated, I didn't overheat (which I was worried about with the big temperature difference!). I didn't cramp up or hit "the wall." But, don't get me wrong, it was tough the last 4 miles or so. But, we kept going, and I was able to sprint the last .2 miles!

It was an awesome feeling crossing the finish line!! I lifted my arms and smiled, hopefully I timed it right with wherever the camera was! :) I had grabbed beads at mile 25, which actually got a little annoying, but at that piont I didn't care.

One funny part with running with Lo was that it got pretty quiet after mile 20. We'd talk, but it wasn't as spirited as the earlier part of the run. Around mile 24, we were running across this big bridge, which was next to these huge power lines. I was like, "Wow, look at how big those power poles are!" Looking back, I'm sure Lo was thinking, "WTF? I don't care about freaking power poles." It didn't help when we ran by a power plant at mile 25 that had a ton of solar panels (me being the green freak really got into that), and I said "look at how big those solar panels are!" At that point I started to sense that she didn't really care. :)

Then when we got to the walk interval, we would remind each other about lifting our knees to try to loosen up. So, I said, "Knees!" and she said something like "I don't care.... (pause) Sorry, I won't be negative." If you knew Lo, she is this super laid-back, funny, cool girl that nothing fazes, and it was just funny. I guess you had to be there. At that point we just kicked it in gear and pushed each other to go faster to finish it out.

Here's a picture of fellow teammate, Mike, and me soon after finishing the marathon. Check out the cool medals!

We got cool medals, which we wore at the airport today! (When else will you wear them?!) Ate food at the TNT tent, and tried to reduce the cramping and stiffness that soon settled in after stopping. Took a charter bus back to the start (this isn't a loop route - it goes from west to east) - sat in the front seat to minimize the amount of walking. :) Got back to the hotel room, took an ice bath (I was a total wimp and could only handle about 3 minutes!), and then a nice shower. Laid around and watched movies while Steph and Dad hiked. Then I went to the celebration dinner at 6, which was again at the fancy Sheraton hotel. The food was delicious!! I ate a ton, and then went back to the hotel soon after to just vege out and hang out with Dad and Steph. They were pretty wiped out from all of the activity that day! They should have just done the 1/2 marathon for all of the walking and hiking they did!!

I slept fantastic last night. Unlike the other nights where I woke up a lot, last night I was so tired that I fell asleep and didn't wake up throughout the whole night. Ahhhh.

As far as the post-race status, I'm doing good. My quads are really sore, and steps are difficult. I can do them, it just hurts. It's what I was to expect. I actually feel way better than I had expected, which is awesome. Like I said, I'm super lucky.

I have to chalk it up to:

1. Team in Training - their mission, support, etc.
2. Great coaching, mentoring, teammates, and training schedule.
3. Following my physical therapy and sports medicine doctor instructions to the "T."
4. All of my supporters - all of the donors who also believe in this great cause - I have you to thank for supporting me and the mission of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!
5. My husband, family, and friends - Thank you Dad and Steph for being there this weekend, and thank you to everyone else for being there "in spirit!"

It's been a blast, and I'm looking forward to keeping you all up to date on my sister Amy's Team in Training experience, as she is training for Seattle! (hense, why I signed up as well!)

Thank you all for your support!
Katie