Ask and ye shall receive, good buddy!
Sunday, January 11th, 2004. A day that will live in infamy. The day that scout ran her worst. marathon. ever. Courtesy of the Inaugural Arizona Rock & Roll Marathon. (www.rnraz.com)
Marathon Travelogue – Day One
I started the day by getting packed and ready to hit the road. With all the excess energy I had been storing, I also managed the following: vacuum the apartment, laundry, clean the bathroom sink, clean the bathroom floor, do the dishes. If nothing else, my apartment appreciates my efforts.
By 9:00 I was on the road, headed out east to Phoenix. This was the first time I’d made the drive alone. I’ve always had someone else in the car to talk to. Note to self: the drive from SD to AZ is long, flat and boring. A good CD collection is a must.
I arrived in Phoenix (Tempe, specifically) at about 3:00 local time. I’d forgotten that there would be a time difference, so I ended up with an hour less time to kill, and therefore decided that heading into downtown Phoenix on a Friday near quitting time would probably be a bad idea. So I postponed my trip to the Race Expo until Saturday morning instead.
Friday dinner was spent meeting lel and Winnowill at Macayo’s for some Mexican food. Caution was thrown to the wind, and many chips were consumed. We talked real estate (dear God Arizona is cheap compared to SoCal!), we talked DopeFests, we talked UnaBoard stuff, and generally had a fun time.
Back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep….
Marathon Travelogue – Day Two
I drove to downtown Phoenix to attend to pre-race business. I got to the Civic Center at about quarter to nine, shortly before the expo opened. I was there to pick up my race number and my timing chip, and to get last minute race instructions. I saw a coach from San Diego and spent a few minutes chit-chatting with him about the race, the expo and what we might expect the next day. At this point I’m a little bit nervous about what I’ve gotten myself into.
I get back to my hotel room, and figure I’ll just lay low for awhile and do a little reading. The phone rings, and it’s lel. Apparently there was a little discussion about the Dope Fest that we tried to get together. It seems that GIGObuster is planning on showing up. Oops! I’d figured interest had fizzled. So lel and I decide we’ll show up after all and have a little mini get together.
I spent much of the rest of the afternoon having lunch and gabbing with lel and GIGObuster. We got in touch with our artistic sides, and did some sketches. Maybe if you’re lucky GIGObuster will provide photographic links to said sketches. Trust me, you’ll be able to say you knew me when. 
We also realized that lel works with some pretty smart cookies. I mean, who else talks with co-workers about physics? I know I sure don’t!
That night I met up with a bunch of the San Diego runners for a pre-race pasta dinner at Lombardi’s restaurant in downtown Phoenix. I’m sure the waiter was disappointed that he had a table full of folks who were eating light and drinking nothing but water. When he asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu, we told him we’d be happy to enjoy some after the race. We were all more concerned about not eating anything that would…disagree with us the next day…if you catch my meaning. 
Once back at the hotel, I became super-duper anal retentive at gathering up my things for the race in the morning. Shorts? Check. Shirt? Check. Shoes? Check. Bib number? Check.
Marathon Travelogue – Race Day
Oh, God. Here it is, the day I’d been training for! Six months of preparation, anticipation, and now this. I walked from my hotel room to the shuttle bus that would take me to the start line. Along the way, I chatted with some other runners. One guy was from Colorado and was planning on breaking 3 hours! The guy I sat with on the bus was local, and was worried about where the driver was taking us. That didn’t help my anxiety level, worrying about getting lost on the way to the race! Turns out we made some wrong turns, but got there in plenty of time.
I met up with my fellow San Diegans, and we made our last minute preparations: applying lube to various chafe-prone areas, numerous trips to the porta-potties, getting our shirts tucked in, our shoes tied, etc. It was announced that the race start would be delayed by 15 minutes. That gave me a chance to get in the potty line one last time just in case. Yes, I’ve gone completely mental at this point.
The race actually started about a half hour late, but once we were off, it went without a hitch. There were quite a few people along the race route cheering us along. The bands at every mile were good for morale. Plenty of water and Gatorade available. The weather, however, was not so kind. At mile 9 we passed a bank. The thermometer read 69 degrees at 9:30 in the morning. That’s not good for a wimp from San Diego.
I passed the half-marathon point on pace to run a 4:28 marathon. I knew that chances were good that I would not make my goal of finishing under 4:30. It was hot, it was sunny, and I wasn’t feeling exceptionally fast. I wasn’t feeling bad, but I knew that I’d probably slow down in the later miles.
And slow down I did. I started to hurt at around mile 18. By that point I knew my time goal was out of reach. I started to take walking breaks. I started to question my sanity. At mile 20, I really started to get grumpy. But then I saw GIGObuster. I waved, he took some pictures, and I was momentarily feeling a bit more positive and lighthearted. That was fleeting, though, and by mile 23 I was almost ready to cry. I was really starting to feel sore at this point, and was doing a lot more walking. Someone I knew from San Diego caught up to me, and we ran together for about a mile or so. She helped me when I really was at my lowest, and I will never forget her because of it.
And…finally…the final turn. I can see the finish line. Dear God, get me there NOW! I crossed the line, and looked at my watch. 4:43. My slowest marathon ever. About 15 minutes slower than I’d wanted. But it was over. I finished it. I received my finishers medal, and I quietly wept.
I met up with the other San Diego runners, and comparing times, we all had bad days. We’re so spoiled by living where we do, that we were truly affected by the weather conditions. Generally weather is not a factor for us, and never needs to be considered. We were out of our comfort zones. But we all finished, and we all emerged uninjured. That’s about all you can ask for.
I started the walk back to the hotel, stopping to grab some lunch along the way (glad I remembered to put some money in my water belt!) to eat back in my room. A hot shower and a quick nap had me feeling a little bit more like myself. But I still wondered if I really wanted to go to the post-race concert later….
All right, say I, I’m going to go to the concert. How many times do you get an opportunity to see a concert for free? Not very often. So I hobble on over to Tempe Beach Park (where it’s fabulous evening weather, thankyouverymuch!) to meet my friends to see the Goo Goo Dolls. The concert was fun, and while I’m not a huge fan like one of our group was, I recognized enough of their songs, and enjoyed hearing the rest.
That night, I slept the sleep of the truly exhausted.
Marathon Travelogue – The Day After
Oy. I’m making my father’s noise. I hobbled around the hotel room getting my gear together. My muscles were feeling stiff, and my quads were pretty sore, but nothing I can’t handle. In fact, I’ve felt worse after marathons, so I think all that walking around yesterday was probably for the best.
I’m on the road by about 9:00. I decided I’d take frequent breaks to stretch my legs and stay alert. So there was a stop in Tolleson (just outside of town) to gas up, a stop in a McDonald’s in Gila Bend for a pee break, a stop in El Centro for lunch, and then finally…home sweet home.
In all, it was a really enjoyable trip. I received some great Arizona hospitality from GIGObuster, lel and Winnowill, for which I thank them VERY much. You guys are the cat’s meow. I also had some fun putzing around Tempe, had some good running moments with my training buddies. And then of course I again found out exactly what I’m capable of accomplishing. And of course, discovering what I’m capable of, I start to dream about how much better I could do the next time….
Yes, I’m insane.
This morning I ran my first post-race run. And it was the loooooongest twenty minutes of my life. 
I’d love to link to a picture of me in the race, but ASI hasn’t posted any yet. COME ON PEOPLE!!!