This is a long post...the culmination of months and months of training! Read if you will, skim if you wish, and picture browse if you must.

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Activity: THE MARATHON!
Distance: 26.2 miles
Weather: 45-60F I guess that it was pretty gusty, but I had other things on my mind... I did notice a huge gust right when I was making a U-turn by the Capitol Bldg to run back on the other side of the National Mall
Time: 4:50:09 officially (I estimate ~4:33 w/ no bathroom breaks based on my iPod playlist)
Average: 11:03 wow, that's really slow.. (~ 10:25 w/ no BR breaks)
Splits (from the MCM website):
5 Mile - 0:48:49 (9:45 split 1BR break)
10 Mile - 1:37:19 (48:30/5 = 9:40 split 1BR --> 9:44 total 1BR)
1/2 M. - 2:15:28 (38:09/3.1 = 12:18 split 1BR --> 10:20 total 2BR) I waited for the bathroom for a while.
15 Mile - 2:35:40 (20:12/1.9 = 10:38 split 0BR --> 10:23 total 2BR)
20 Mile - 3:38:48 (1:03:08/5 = 12:38 split 1BR --> 10:56 total 3BR) ouch. I did take a bathroom break, but that was a rough 5 miles! keep on choppin'!
23 Mile - 4:14:32 (35:44/3 = 11:55 split 0BR --> 11:04 total 3BR) see, I did speed up a little bit!
FINISH - 4:50:09 (31:37/3.2 = 9:53 split 0BR --> 11:03 total 3BR) woooahh sub-10 minute mile pace?! I'm like Speedy Gonzales!!

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FRIDAY: I drove down to Brandy's grandfather's house on Friday night after Synoptic. I'm so glad that I missed the worst of the traffic because it still took 1.75 hours to drive 30 miles. It's amazing that people actually commute into DC daily! Once I got there, Brandy and I had our little reunion YAYAYAY! Then, I was served some of her grandpa's yummy Pasta Fagioli. We chatted for a bit and headed to bed early (the most important sleep is 2 days before the race).

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SATURDAY: We went to the DC Armory to pick-up our race packets and to enjoy all of the freebies at the expo! There was free beer, but it was Michelob Ultra - if it had been something good, I may have been tempted for a little taster. Then we got some lunch. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts (lots of places downtown are not open on weekends...), we got some food at the little sports bar attached to the Holiday Inn, and I got to see the end of the Penn State game! We also drove some of the course. I mostly wanted to get a gander at the 200ft hill at the beginning.







Brandy strikes a pose on our red carpet entrance to the DC Armory to pick up pre-race packets.








I got pretty nervous for the race around mid-day. My left foot was hurting right behind my big toe. It wasn't entirely psychosomatic, but I was def focusing on it and freakin' out a bit.

On Saturday night, Sylvia and Brandy's grandpa made an absolutely delicious chicken dinner. mmmmm it was like Thanksgiving (minus turkey + chicken). I ate a whole bunch of broccoli, some mashed potatoes, stuffing, chicken, and salad. It was a pretty well-rounded pre-race meal! I also ate some yummy blueberry cheesecake. I really need the recipe for that!

In addition, I forgot that I tend to lose my appetite when I am nervous. Before gymnastics meets, I didn't eat very much. This is not a smart tactic when you are going to be using some 3000 calories of energy the next day. I only had an apple and a salad for lunch. I was able to eat more for dinner. I didn't eat as much as I probably should have, but energy didn't turn out to be a problem during the marathon.

We went to bed around 10pm to get a good night's rest. While I was falling asleep, I started to feel better about the race and to get excited again. The primary goal was to finish, and I could do that!!!

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RACE DAY: woooooaaahhhh!

We woke up hella early (5am), but, thankfully, DST ended that weekend - we got an extra hour! I was nervous/excited on the drive to the race shuttle in Crystal City and kept taking everything out of my bookbag and repacking it. Sadly, I left my watch at Brandy's grandpa's house. oh well. At least I had my iPod! We got to the race queueing area at about 7:15, and Brandy and I were quite chilly for the next hour-ish! There was some aerobics group that ran a pre-race warm-up that reminded me of Chrystal's 80s aerobic workouts (we work hard for the money!). I attempted to go to the bathroom, but I was nervous and couldn't go.







This is before the race. It's too bad that there's a shadow cuz it's a cute pic.






Brandy and I finally realized that we were nearly a mile away from the start of the race and headed toward the mobs of people. Brandy was in the 1st wave (Scarlet), and I was in the 2nd (Gold). We said our goodbyes and good lucks and went our separate ways. Brandy's wave was scheduled to start at 825am, but there was a 10 min delay to ensure that the course was clear. After the 1st wave set-off, I got near the beginning of my wave. Unfortunately, someone had to get carted off in an ambulance in the first few hundred yards of the race (poor guy/girl!). Therefore, my wave was further delayed, but we were on our way at 9:03am. The announcer was amusing. "Put your hands in the air as you cross the start line and say to yourself that you only have 26.2 miles left to run!"

I guess that I started off a little bit too fast. My first split was 9:15, but I didn't get any more splits for awhile because the other clocks were set with the 1st wave's start time. The hill at the beginning was a piece of cake compared to some of my training runs in State College. The run down Spout Run was very pretty. I was thorougly amused: it seemed that if one man saw another man peeing in the woods, he would run over to join him. I took a bathroom break (in a porta-potty, thank you) at mile 4.5 just past the bridge into Georgetown. Despite the bathroom break, I finished my first 5 miles in 48:49. whew! I was feeling good at that point, but I tried make myself slow down.

Then we headed up the Rock Creek Pkwy. The first wave of runners were coming back the other direction, so I tried to look for Brandy in her pink top...no luck :( At mile 8, I took my first GU break. I was doing really well up until that point. In my training runs, I did not have any problems with eating, but my stomach was NOT happy with me after the food break. I started to get the chills and feel sorta sicky and had to slow down quite a bit. I wasn't sure what was wrong and thought that maybe I needed more water... there wasn't another water break until mile 10 tho. I was glad for my iPod playlist and that I got to run along the river.

Next, we ran along the Mall and past all of the downtown monuments. This part of the run was probably my favorite. Even tho I was still feeling sicky, I ran by the crowd and high fived some kids on the side that were cheering. There were so many wonderful spectators there to cheer us on!







How awesome is this picture?! I only have a thumbnail right now, but I'm goin to buy the original from MarathonFoto.






I took another bathroom break at mile 12. ugh. I still wasn't sure why I felt so sick, but I hoped that a bathroom break would help. I also felt light-headed, so I thought that I needed more food. I took a Clif shot at mile 13 and crossed the halfway mark (yay!). There was another water break, but my stomach was very unhappy at this point. It cramped up, and I had to stop and walk for a bit to let it settle down. I was getting a little upset at this point and just wanted my stomach to feel better so that I could run since that's what I freakin' trained for! The cramps abated, and I was able to start running again for the loop around the Tidal basin (yay for more water!).





Where's Steph? I'm like lightning! I look like im taking pictures or something, right?? This photo was taken around mile 15 by my parents.





This next part of the run was def the hardest to push through. My stomach was cramping up quite regularly, forcing me to walk for about a minute for each mile between 15 and 20. I had not anticipated any gastrointestinal issues and had absolutely no idea how to to cope with it. I didn't want to get dehydrated, so I forced myself to drink 2 waters at each water break even tho the water was also hurting my stomach. At mile 19, I tried to take another bathroom break. It was to no avail. I was still getting the chills, so I put my long-sleeve back on.

At this point (~mile 20), I realized that my stomach was not going to start to feel better. I decided to run the best that I could to the finish! We crossed over the Potomac on I-395 (yes, they closed the interstate!), and I think that I might have picked up my pace because I was starting to see the light. My muscles/joints weren't really hurting too bad. They didn't feel GOOD, but I had prepared for that and knew that I could push through it.

On the other side of the river, I continued to take 2 waters as I walked through my water breaks. It wasn't easy to start running again, but it was easier to run than it was to walk (isn't that crazy?!). There was a big party in Crystal City. Actually, I sorta wanted to cheat..there were runners going the other direction and people stretching inbetween. I totally could have stopped, stretched, and jumped in going the other way. What's the fun in that tho?

I really don't remember that much from the infamous last 5K of the race. I had prepared for this part to be the toughest since I had maxed at 20 miles, but my stomach issues had made the middle part (specifically, miles 15-20) harder. All that I knew was that I could keep on running. It becomes purely mental at some point: I completely forgot my stomach and that my muscles were cramping up and continued putting one foot in front of the other (as cliched as that sounds). After I passed the Pentagon, I started to get excited because I had seen that part of the course before the race. I could gauge where the finish was! It was within reach!!!







I think that this pic was taken near the end of the marathon...look at my stride length. I'm goin' pretty slow!






There was a little steep hill right after mile 26. For all of those that think that the marathon is 26 miles, there is still another 0.2 to go! This distance may seem completely insignificant compared to the first 26 miles, but it was the most significant part for me. I def had a grin on my face even tho I had to climb a hill to the finish!!






I'm about to cross the finish line..YAY!





I cannot describe the multitude of emotions as I passed the finish line, but I will try to name a few: ecstasy, pride, relief, and pure and total fatigue.

After I crossed the finish and was standing in line for my medal, I noticed how much my body was hurting. My back and hips were spasming; I had to lean forward to relax them. All that I wanted was to be away from the mass of people, so I headed directly to the left where people were not congregating (therefore, that was the wrong direction!). I finally found an exit, asked the marine (yes, maam?) where the area was to meet up with my group, and headed back into the mass of people.

Brandy's dad found me...yay I could change into my clean, dry clothes! It was very hard to walk because my muscles were still spasming, so I sat down and called Waverly. The finish area was simply too chaotic to hope to find anyone easily. I was sad that I wasn't going to see Wave, but I really wanted to sit down, shower, and relax. Brandy, her parents, and I headed back to her grandfather's car that was parked a couple of blocks away! Her grandpa is awesome!





post-marathon pic of me and Bran! Don't you just love the obnoxiously yellow MCM shirt?!?! oh, and zoom in to see my salt crusties!






Now, you're getting to the goooood part...we pull away...I have 3 new voicemail...I check them...SURPRISE my parents are at the finish line!!!! WHAT?! you're at the finish?! what finish?! you drove down to DC?! There was very little cell phone reception at the finish because everyone and their mom (literally) was on the phone, so my phone never rang. It took a couple of minutes after I got away from the finish area for my voicemail to register that I had voicemails. The end result is that I didn't get to see them :( we were already on the road by the time that I found out that they had come, and it would have been really hard to meet up with all of the chaos at the finish. I was sad.

Mom and Dad, thank you so much for coming to the marathon to see me! It means the world to me! I love you both so much :-D

Aside: My parents and Waverly were both watching along the finish and didn't see me. My chip also didn't register immediately that I finished. I almost thought that it was a dream!

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I feel pretty okay after the marathon...this is a day later. I may have achilles tendonitis in my right foot, but who, as a gymnast, has never experienced that?! I'm planning on taking the requisite min of 2 weeks off from running (tho I'll prob be grumpy), and I'm hoping to run the 1/2 marathon here in State College in December. Don't worry, Brandy, I'll be smart about taking time off!

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A couple of other notes:
1) Evidently, the leading female runner popped a squat on the National Mall...she didn't want her 2 min lead to be compromised.
2) Brandy's body glide was aMAZing! no chub rub. I will have to invest in that!
3) There were a couple of signs that said something like 'If P. Diddy did it, so can you!' They made me smile :)
4) I placed 12190th overall and 3916th among females! Can you believe that I finished before almost 2/3 of the 35,000 people running??
5) Including me, there were 19 runners from State College, PA. I placed 10/19 locally. One of the runners was Kelley Paterno. JoePa relative?
6) The countdown did go negative!

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Thanks to Brandy's grandpa and Sylvia (and Penny Lane) for their hospitality! The food was all so wonderful, and it was so nice to feel at home away from home! Also, thanks to Brandy's parents (and Yuki and Bonnie) for coming to watch and cheering me on as they did for Brandy!

Last but NOT least, thanks to my parents, Brandy, Jon, Shannon, and everyone who has supported me in training. I love you!

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Coming soon!
Aaaaannndddd da da da. I know that you all have been waiting for this: my marathon playlist!
Click here to see it!

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This is the *official* end of my marathon blog. Hope that you enjoyed it - I know that I did!
Heart, Steph