THE BIG DAY

I have completed a marathon!

I am very proud to be able to say that! I finished in 5:36:56. My goal was under 6 hours and I realized from the start that I was probably going to be able to beat that. I was running with the 5:30 pace guy for several miles but I kept wavering back and forth, running faster for the most part, but taking more time at the water stops and I finally dropped back a bit when I had to stretch in the Waterworks Park.

Play-by-play of the weekend:
Saturday:
This morning I slept in and ran errands, packed, etc. When Ryan got off work, we headed to Des Moines for the race expo thing. I had to stop by to pick up my race bib, tshirt, and a timing chip. We checked out a bunch of displays and I bought a cheap shirt for $5. We checked into the hotel (crappy, btw), and looked through all the random samples we were given at the expo. I set out all my gear so I would be ready for the next day. Then I went down to the team's spaghetti dinner. It was great to learn how much we earned (between like 15-20 people)... $50,000!!!! It is amazing what we accomplished. $2,000 was really not that hard for me to raise, but it is awesome to realize how fast it adds up when it is compounded like that. We heard several people speak, but the people I was most interested in were the honored patients. It was very touching but also very humbling. $2,000 is really not going to do that much; there is so much to be done. When I got back to the room, Ryan was eating Tasty Tacos, so I had some homemade guacamole and chips, took a long bath to prepare for the race, watched part of the Red Sox game (Ryan fell asleep), and then went to bed.

Race day:
I got up about 6 am and put on all my gear, headed down to breakfast, and then met the team in the lobby. We walked to the starting line and stretched, used the bathroom, etc. and lined up from the fastest to slowest (generally). It was really weird, when they fired the gun, we literally just stood there for over 2 minutes. By the time we crossed the starting line and were able to jog, the announcer stated that we were 2:30 into the race and the leading half-marathoners were already around the half-mile mark. Again, a very humbling experience, but also kind of funny. It's not like I was running to break records or anything. It was just a good excuse to make exercising a priority. We had a timing chip on our shoes anyway, so "our" time didn't start until we crossed the starting line.

Miles 1-13ish:
I was feeling really good and running with my friend Jen. We were having fun, talking, running downtown, listening to bands, taking it easy, meeting people... Unfortunately, right before we got to Drake stadium-- about halfway, she got a migraine. I felt that I was not going to be able to finish if I stopped/slowed down (I was getting really tired and I tend to have asthma attacks/cramps if I stop frequently), so we parted ways. I did see her later at Waterworks Park, though, so I was glad for that! I fell in step with the 5:30 pacer and tried to stay with him for several miles.

All the miles run together now up until Waterworks Park. I'm not sure where we entered the park, but it was only fun running there for about 2-3 miles. Then we left the forested area and went by the water. It was really windy and since the loop was so big, it didn't feel like I was making much progress. The water stops got further and further apart (literally) and that didn't help because I was needing to eat my energy gels and drink Gatorade more often. By this time, I had burned off a ridiculous amount of calories, and was only able to replace them at a rate of about 100 calories every 2-3 miles... so I had a large deficit! I was getting really hungry and dizzy but kept plodding along. At first, I was discouraged by all the people walking in front of me. I was wondering how they got ahead of me when I had been running almost the entire time... but then I realized that the walkers started a full hour earlier than the runners, so that made me feel a lot better.

Miles 22-26.2:
I got to the 22 mile marker and ate a Gu, I was so hungry. I was getting sunburned, but I could tell my face was drained from the lack of food. Seeing the photos that were taken the last few miles of the race, I realize I looked worse than I felt...! I took some extra time at this stop. I was getting really exhausted and began walking when I guess you could say I hit my wall. I was contemplating walking the rest of the way, but thought "the faster I run/walk, the faster I am done." I had an asthma attack and had to use my inhaler a few times. I just crouched down and took some water, walked a while. I started "yogging" again (like in Anchorman) and got to Gray's Lake. It was super windy and I was getting bitter, wondering why the planners didn't have the runners run the opposite way. It was very difficult the last few miles because there was little access for supporters to get to the location, so I really felt I was out there alone. The already sparse water stops were also running out and shutting down, so that was very annoying. I think it would have been easier to finish downtown than out in the boonies like that.

Anyway, I struggled through the last few miles run-walking (mostly running!) and just thinking about Ryan and my teammates waiting for me at the end. We came to the last mile and there were some junior high of JV (young) cheerleaders. The guy in front of me asked if they were out of juice as they seemed pretty out of it. They said they were tired and that thought alone got me through the next half mile or so. How ironic. They did cheer for us though and it was greatly appreciated! I made the last turn at (I'm guessing) the 26 mile mark with 4 blocks to go. I could see the finish line. I am so glad I turned when I did and not 30 seconds later, because I'm pretty sure I would have had to wait for a train (ridiculous... I think they should subtract time from those who had to wait). The Eastern Iowa coach ran with me a little and let me know where I was and that I should have a photo finish. I always try to finish a run at a sprint so I can have no regrets about how the race ended. I was able to sprint (well, at least it felt like a sprint and the crowd got excited) across the finish line, so I was very excited about that. I had my photo taken and had to figure out how to get off the course, which took several minutes because there were ;people everywhere and I was pretty out of it. I was walking so slow. Ryan walked along beside me on the other side of the fence and gave me directions because he somehow figured out what I needed to do.

I checked it at the TNT booth, tried to get a massage and was turned away for coming in so late :( and ate a ton of food that was shoved my way. Ryan collected my things and we got the car, went to his parents' to clean up, and went to Hessen Haus with the team for dinner. Ryan drove home and we were super lazy all day Monday, watching movies, eating junk food, and enjoying a day off to bask in the glow of success...

Thanks for supporting me through all of this. It is crazy to think that when I started training in June, I wasn't running regularly at all and in 3 1/2 months, I trained myself to able to run 26+ consecutive miles. The human body is amazing. Honestly, I wasn't even running 4 days a week most weeks! I haven't run since the marathon, but now that I am done with my DNR job, I will have more time to dedicate. I did do my video, though, so that is something.

Photos of the race at the following website:
http://www.marathonfoto.com/order_my_photos.cfm?RaceOID=18922008F1&LastName=CANNON&BibNumber=1478&Language=en&Mailing=17782&BFI=a4jrrhtsfl&Frames=true&Flash