Here's How You Run A Marathon:

Step 1: You start running.
There is no Step 2.
--Barney Stinson

Well isn't THAT the truth. This past Sunday I ran the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. That's right - I RAN A MARATHON!! 26.2 miles, y'all!

Holy crap was that a long run. But it was so much FUN! (well, maybe not miles 21-25...)

WARNING: long post ahead. (and props to htd for most of the photos)

Htd and I started out the weekend in San Francisco by flying in on Friday morning with the rest of our Phoenix-area Team in Training team. After we had checked into our hotel downtown, we walked over to Union Square to hit up the Expotique, get all checked in for the race, and do a little (ok, a lot) of shopping for cute race-related gear at Niketown. For race weekend, the entire outer wall of Niketown is covered with the names of all 20,000 people running the marathon. Htd and I found our names, bought some hoodies, and headed back to the hotel to meet up with our friends who had flown in to spend some time in SF and cheer us on on Sunday.

Friday afternoon, the five of us spent some time at Fisherman's wharf - an expedition that included sea lions, really good clam chowder, and a bunch of saltwater taffy. Then we caught our ferry over to Alcatraz, where we took a surprisingly impressive audio walking tour. You get a personal headset and follow the directions through the compound while actual Alcatraz prison guards and inmates narrate the history of the prison. We all caught the ferry back to the mainland and met up with a couple friends of mine who live in the area and ate some amazing Thai food at an authentic Thai restaurant - no shoes allowed and reeeeeeally low tables.

Saturday we explored Haight-Ashbury, the hippie sector of San Francisco. We did some earthy, granola-y shopping, met an actual leftover hippie, saw the Grateful Dead house, dodged a few crazies, and spent some quality shopping time in an awesome music store, Amoeba Records. Then we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and took some photos. By then it was time for htd and me to head back to the hotel so we would make it to the TNT-sponsored pasta party that night and get to bed early in preparation for the big race the next day.

We were up bright (well, dark) and early Sunday morning. Our team met down in the lobby at 5:30 and walked over to the start line at Union Square. It was a little surreal walking through the deserted (blocked off for the race) streets of pre-dawn San Francisco and knowing that in about 45 minutes, 20,000 people were going to be streaming down those same roads. We hit up the bag check buses, just happened to run into Brad, Ashley and Lorraine (the friends who flew in to cheer us on) on a street corner, found our corral/pace group, and toed up to the starting line (at least in theory - we were actually about two blocks away from the starting line).

At precisely 7:00 the starting gun went off and we began to slowly make our way to the start. The race was chip-timed, so my official race time didn't start until I crossed the blue mats and the chip tied to my shoe was electronically read. At about 7:06, I was off!

From Union Square, we headed through the still-dark streets of the financial district. After about a mile, we poured out into the Embarcadero and began the trek past all the piers. About mile 1.5 we hit the first live entertainment along the course, a full gospel choir singing their hearts out in the weak light of an overcast dawn. We continued along the edge of the peninsula, past Fisherman's Wharf and at about mile 2.5 we rounded a corner and heard the haunting strains of a group of bagpipers coming from the thick morning fog - our second entertainment of the course. Very awesome.

The miles continued to tick by - the course was flat and fast, my legs felt great and it was so much fun to be running with so many other people (other than occasionally having to maneuver around walkers). Then, at about mile 5.5, I rounded a corner and was met with the holy-crap-are-you-kidding-me sight of the upcoming hill. I knew there was going to be a mile and a half long hill at mile 6. But knowing and seeing are waaaay different animals. You could hear a collective moan from the runners when that hill came into view...until one lady off to my left shouted out "Don't worry about it, just do it! It's going to make your butt look AWESOME!!" Well that cracked everybody up and we began the looooong slog uphill. It seemed endless. Every time I was sure I had to be at the top, we'd round a corner and there was more hill in front of me. Ugh.

Somehow I finally made it to the top and was rewarded with a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The course turned sharply downhill for about three quarters of a mile, and then began another 2-mile ascent. My hamstrings were BURNING. Just before mile 10, I hit the pinnacle of the course with a nearly 350 foot drop over the course of half a mile in front of me. The view was breathtaking - there was the crashing waves of the ocean off to my right and the lush green of Golden Gate Park to my left. At that moment I felt extremely lucky to be doing what I was doing.

After the rapid descent, the course took a sharp left turn into Golden Gate Park, where there would be about a two mile section of steady incline. Just after mile 11, the half marathoners split off to head towards the finish line. It was amazing how much the crowd of runners thinned out after that. I hit mile 13 in about 2 1/2 hours, knocking more than a half an hour off of my half marathon time from August.

This entire section through the park, I was scanning the sidelines for Brad, Ashley and Lorraine - the shuttle was supposed to have dropped them off near mile 11, but I didn't see them. I was pretty bummed, assuming I had missed them altogether and wouldn't see them until the finish line. A few more miles ticked by and as I was nearing mile 16, the end of the park and where the course turns AWAY from the finish line to send you on a 10 mile loop down the highway, I heard some familiar yells - there they were! It was SO exciting to see familiar smiling faces cheering for me. I'm sure I had a ridiculously huge smile on my face as I ran by.

The next 10 miles were HARD. This part of the course consists of a 2 mile section along the Great Highway with neighborhoods and the zoo on one side and the ocean on the other, a six mile loop around the Lake Merced area, and back up that same 2 mile section of the Great Highway. Lake Merced SUCKS. You don't run BY the lake, you run AROUND it, in the street about a half a mile away. There are cars zooming by in the lane next to you, very few spectators, and, I swear, it was ALL uphill. I mean come on! Give us a break! Mile 22 was the Ghirardelli chocolate mile. Before the race I mentioned that I couldn't imagine wanting to eat chocolate after running 22 miles. Oh, I TOTALLY ate that chocolate.

At that point in the course, the race becomes more of a mental game than a physical one. You really have to focus on the goal, remember the reasons you are running, and just. keep. going. I picked out landmarks and told myself "ok, run to the next pedestrian crossing sign. ok, now run to that stoplight." After doing this for a couple miles, I passed a sign that said Mile 25. Mile 25? That meant I had 1.2 miles to go! I picked up the pace and was determined to run the rest of the way to the finish line. As I neared the finish, my coach, Johanna, found me and ran with me a ways just saying encouraging things. With a half a mile to go she said "You can do it! Go get 'em!" and sent me off to the finish line. Right then I saw Brad, Ashley, Lorraine and Haley (who had finished the half marathon a couple hours before) all cheering me on. I gave one last surge of speed and took off for the big pink finish line and the little blue boxes I could see beyond it. I crossed the finish line at about 12:55pm, 5 hours and 48 minutes after I started. I did it!

Now here's where the fact that this was a marathon geared towards women just shines through. Instead of the usual finisher's medal, I got a finisher's silver necklace, designed by Tiffany and Co. Yes, in the little blue box. Handed to me by a fireman. In a tuxedo. I know. I mean, look at that picture ladies. Le sigh. Nike said those firemen got over 200 marriage proposals that day. :) Then it was off to get my fitted finisher's t-shirt, the BEST BAGEL I HAVE EVER EATEN IN MY LIFE, and the usual mylar blanket to ward off the cold ocean wind. Then I had to go check out at the Team in Training tent, met up with my posse, and got, literally, an armload of food and spent the next half an hour eating.

Monday, I was sore. OHHHHHHHH I was sore. I have never been so sore in all my life. It's like that episode of Friends where Joey has the hernia and every time he moves he makes that "hhheeekkkk" noise. Our friends took pity on us and, instead of doing walking activities, they just drove us down the coast. We got to sit in the car and enjoy beautiful views of the ocean from Hwy 1 and sit in an outdoor cafe and enjoy delicious food in Half Moon Bay. Bliss.

And now I'm back to my life here in Phoenix. I'm a little sad that it is all over, but so excited that I accomplished this huge goal I set out for myself back in January. And I'm hardly short on things to do. I have the new house to put together. I have a freelance project I'm working on in my "spare time." I'm headed to San Diego in a couple of weeks. And I've got to get my new training schedule figured out: the P.F. Chang's Half Marathon is coming up in January. :)