Fun Weekend? Part 2-The Marathon

A marathon is always one of those things that I have wanted to do. I am not a runner by any means and am way to heavy to run long distances but still felt the need somewhere in me to run a marathon. My grandpa passed away when I was just a little guy before I could really build memories of him, but I've always heard stories about how he was a big time runner (he won a bunch of marathons in southern California and got 26th in Boston!). Since I never really got to know him, I thought this running thing was a good way to "bond" with him.

So this part of the weekend started at 3:45 am for me. In order to make the 6 am start time you had to park and get shuttled to the starting line. I made it in time to stretch and then go. This is when I discovered my new biggest pet peeve: slow people who go to the front of the starting line. There was a slight up hill (and I do mean slight) half a mile in and I passed no less than 100 women all walking (and no I'm not sexist, they were all women). Hello, we JUST started running and you need to walk!!! If you are slow GO TO THE BACK. I basically was dodging people for the first 3 miles. It didn't help either that the half and full marathon started at the same time. Alright enough rant.
So at about 5 miles I felt good but started to get hungry and this got me worried, 21 more and I'm already hungry! I realize now I should have pounded a bagel or something before the race. It didn't really become a problem though until about mile 17 or so. The first part of the race was by the ocean and the bay in orange county. So Beautiful and it was really fun to run there. At mile 12 the half marathon basically breaks left to go to the finish line and the full keeps to the right to do a huge loop to get the 26.2 in. Well about 80% of the people veered left to spectators cheering and getting excited for the finish and the rest of us morons kept running. It was actually funny to see the marathoners faces because we were all were thinking how nice it would have been to just go left. Paige and the boys were suppose to see me at this junction but we just missed each other. Luckily they caught up with me around mile 16. I was SO happy to see them. Rykie was tired though :)
At mile 14 was the one massive hill on the course. I was feeling okay at this point so I did not want to have to walk. Well the head wind was so strong that not one person was able to run the hill. It was so windy that at the bottom of the hill 3 runners gotten taken out by a road block barrier that blew onto the course. Luckily I was slow enough that I didn't get hit and the runners seem to be okay. By mile 17 I was really feeling the pain and at 20 I had to start a run walk routine. At mile 20 the mental fatigue was really bad and for some reason I just felt like crying for the next mile. I don't know where it came from and still can't explain it but I think it was just the combination of mental and physical pain and knowing that I still had 6 miles to go. I had no water left in me though, so I don't think I was physically capable of crying.
From 23 on I could no longer walk because it hurt but I couldn't really run because I was so tired. So I did this old man shuffle thing for a few miles until I saw Paige and the boys just after mile 25. They ran the last mile with me and that really helped. I didn't want to look like a chump in front of them so I was able to run and finish it out. The funny part was that with so many people cheering you on at the end that a few looked at Paige pushing the stroller and said "WOW look at you." "Amazing" "Even with the boys? You are so good" She just smiled and ran to the finish line since it was easier than telling everyone she just jumped in a mile ago.

This is me getting my medal and using Nicholas as a crutch so I wouldn't fall over.

Since the race I have been drinking non stop and still feel dehydrated. The one thing I was really surprised by was to see so many people struggling like I was who had done marathons before. I guess you never fully get use to it. I might do another one in the future but right now I feel like there is no way I would subject myself to that again. Of course if I do another one I will lose more weight so I'm not in the Clydesdale division. (That is what they call the heavy weight division in racing)

I'm really grateful that I was able to have this experience and finish something that was very difficult for me. I now enjoy running (as long as its under 10 miles) and understand the obsession my grandfather had with running. It makes me smile to think about how I will see him again one day and all the fun we will have talking about "running". This time last year that seemed like it would be a brutal conversation as running always seem dumb and boring, but I get it now and love it.