The Marathon...part I

I know what you are thinking...where in the heck has she been?  She makes us read this (somewhat entertaining) blog for almost a year, in anticipation of of this BIG marathon she is doing in October.  Then, she runs said marathon and nothing.  Nada.  No posts, no pictures, no funny stories.  Not a single word.

Well, like Hal Higdon's post-marathon training guide (titled week 0-how clever) says you need to take a break from running after the big race, I also needed to take a break from writing.  And while I am at it, I'll give you some more excuses.  Seems like leading up the marathon, I put off a bunch of stuff.  Most of which I said could "wait until after the marathon".  Guess what?  None of it magically got done!!  And...since returning from Baltimore and not needing to block off hours to run, I *had* to actually do it!  EGADS!

Well, I find myself with some time today to reflect on my marathon experience...which was AMAZING.  We all did it right by hopping on an airplane and heading out east to our destination marathon.  I love my kids, I love my husband, but it was so nice to just worry about ME for the day before and day of the race.

Upon touch down at Baltimore's international airport, we Divas had a pretty packed afternoon.  We started out with a delicious lunch (let the carb loading CONTINUE!) and then headed down to the Expo to pick up our bibs and fluorescent yellow marathon shirts.  Hell, I didn't care if that sucker was see through!  I needed proof that I actually ran this thing to strut around Dewitt in.

The Divas in front of the Expo.  Danielle, Peg, Staci, Sara, Kim and Lisa



Kim and Danielle checking out the finish line.  Looked so much different the day before then it did after 26.2...

After the Expo, the Type A excessive-ness commenced.  First we worked on laying out all of our clothing, along with our sneakers, hats, iPods, spibelts, making sure said spibelts were filled with the appropriate amount of GUs.  And speaking of GUs, there was also a *minor* bit of obsessing about that.  When did we say we'd GU (it was, of course, discussed at an earlier date but forgotten)?  How many did we need?  Lisa went as far as to write that business on her arm to remember.  At any rate, we also needed to attach our bibs and decorate our shirts.  Yes, we were the dorks that adorned our clothes with stickers spelling out our names and let me tell you, WELL WORTH IT.  Here's what Sara, Lisa and I came up with:

as my friend told me after I completed the marathon:  You are no longer a virgin; you are a marathon WHORE.



We continued all of this lengthy preparation until our stomachs growled for dinner.  Time to eat AGAIN!  Being I was the unofficial Baltimore tour guide, I took my girls to Sabatinos restaurant in Little Italy where we scarfed down about 5 loaves of bread (that bread was sooooo good), pasta, and salad.  A quick trip to 7-11 for Reeses Peanut Butter cups and cookies (protein!) and breakfast fixings and we were ready to call it night, while visions of mile markers and chiming Garmins danced in our heads. 

Although I am not sure how much sleep we all got since all that was on our minds was our big morning looming ahead of us.  Oh, and I am sure my elbowing Sara a few times in the middle of the night didn't help her sleep either...sorry Sara :o)

The Marathon...Part II- 26.2 miles on a beautiful Autumn morning in Charm City....to be continued...