1st Marathon out of the way

My first marathon is over and done with. What an experience. We arrived in San Antonio Friday night about 9:30 headed to the hotel bar Mclods and had a few beers to take the traffic/drive edge off and then to bed we went. Saturday morning I meet up with Althea and Judi to take the trolley ride from hell to the expo. Without getting all bent out of shape I will just mention what should have been 15-20 mins at the very most took 1-1/2 hours to get to the Alamodome. Once we arrived we meet up with Najat and Special K, Robin was on her way out so we chit chatted with her for a bit and then got our packets and went shopping. Unfortunately the race committee or whomever was responsible for ordering merchandise did not plan for 30,000 people wanting souvenirs from the Inaugural RnR San Antonio Marathon. I got a magnet from the expo and I have ordered on-line my finishers shirt- which I really hope I get since this was my first marathon.After the expo Donna got us a reservation at the Hard Rock Cafe on the riverwalk for dinner and to hang out the night before our run.

Dinner was fun and yummy of coarse. I am sure Bill talked to all and tried to calm some nerves. Mine were horrible I was worried about catching the bus, I was worried I would not wake up in time, I was worried I would not eat enough, I worried about not finishing, etc. I think it all finally came clear with what I was about to do is when Bill told me.. "You know tomorrow you are going to be a marathoner" Coach (you) made me realize it was going to be ok..

Sunday morning up at 4:30, got dressed, took my meds for my nasty cold, ate my breakfast. My mom went down to the lobby with me to meet up with Althea, Judi, Donna and Rick. We got in the shuttle line and waited for our bus. It was a cold wait temps were about 37 degrees, thank goodness we were between some tall buildings to block that blocked the wind. When we got off the bus we fought the crowds to get the ups bag drops and at this time I made the decision to remove all warm layers and just deal with the cold. Luckily my great runner girl Althea gave me an extra garbage bag to block some of the cold air. After we dropped our bags I went to find a RR, Bill and Special K (Robin).

Standing in line at corral 19 I found Robin and as we moved up we found Bill and Jon Walk at corral 15. We slowly moved forward and Bill wished us a good race. Finally at 8:13am we were going across the start line.

Without going mile by mile (I will try to make this quick). It was a crowded run for a while, but the corral system was nice, there were very few times we had to weave around other runner/walkers. I saw my family at mile 2.7, got to give my hubby a quick kiss. Stopped for a clean bathroom break at a park (San Juan Park) that Robin and I kind ran off coarse to get to, but hey they had toilet paper and running water. Added about .3 to the Garmin so yes a little to much time was wasted there. But they were clean. Saw some funny sites along the coarse. The bands, cheer squads, spectators and volunteers were all awesome and made my race a fun one. About mile 16 Robin and I decided that we had got each other that far and we separated. Mile 18ish I saw Robin's husband and son and I waved at them. Shortly after I ran to nothing-nobody, just a bunch of participants and grass. This was a very difficult time of the race until about mile 22. Yes there were water stops between these mile and a cold sponge stop but i hit my wall during this 3.5 miles and kept reminding myself that I trained for this and I could do this. Coming up on mile 22 there was a golf coarse and I see this guy coming toward the fence and I realize it is my husband- first response is "I can't believe that SOB is playing golf during my first marathon"- then I realize he paid for 9 holes of golf so he could get a cart and ride the fence with me from mile 22 to mile 23. Awh how sweet is he? he also had chap stick which was nice. 35K mark.. my husband took this from the golf coarse, I am waving good bye because the fence ends and I am on my own again until the finish. By this time my feet hurt and i am doing a walk run pattern. Just past the 24 mile marker I left out a gasp and start to cry and I just want to be done. Then I hear "Don't stop this close to the finish that would be dumb to stop running now". I look at this guy with tears in my eyes and start running side by side with him. We chit chat and are both in pain, but of us our first marathon. When we round the corner and I can see the finish line I take off in a sprint and yell back at him to follow me in, I see my family, runner girls and Coach to my left and they are all cheering for me. I throw my arms in the air and I am done. I cross the finish line and a tear rolls down my face. I did it.. 5:39:28. I am a marathoner- a slow one but I did it.