This post was originally published on my personal blog. This was my first big race experience, I was still a newbie. I wanted to move it into this site for safe-keeping, since I’m not really maintaining the other blog anymore.

On January 13, 2008 at 5:45 AM my mom and I were in the lobby of a hotel, waiting for a cab to pick us up and take us to the start for our very first marathon. It was dark, chilly and early (4:45 my time!) and we were a bundle of nerves. Our cab driver ended up being 15 minutes late, leaving us in a momentary panic as we tried to figure out what we would do if we ended up without a ride. Eventually our cab driver did show up (a kind older man who had retired to the Phoenix area and drove a cab part-time to keep himself occupied) and we were on our way. He got us to the start line in remarkably good time and even managed to avoid the majority of the traffic rush.

At the start we took a few moment to absorb what was going on around us. There were tents full of goodies; bagels, water, coffee, green bananas (I don’t think a single banana was ripe in that place, sad since they probably spent a lot on getting them there and most were probably going to waste) and sports drink. Port-a-potties lined up for as far as the eye could see. Rows of UPS trucks parked on the lawn, designated to carry athlete gear bags to the finish line. And people, lots and lots and lots of people milling around. An estimated 34,000 people were participating in the event.

We checked our gear and found our corral. We were placed in the very last corral, based on our estimated finish time. I was glad to be in the “slow” corral, we were a fun and crazy group. None of us were focused on qualifying times or records or making sure we had packets of salt. Our corral was the group taking pictures and making sure our candy reserves were well-stocked.

The race started at 7:40 AM. We walked toward the start line and began jogging right when we passed under the official starting balloon arch. My mom and I stuck together for the first couple miles, but then she urged me to leave her and work at my own pace.

Unfortunately around mile 3 I had to pee. Damn hydration. Thus I had to wait in line at the nasty toilets. Note to self: go at the start line… even if you are waiting in line when the race officially begins because your official time doesn’t begin until your chip crosses the start line.

My mom passed me while I was waiting in line. We reconnected around mile 5 or so, but then I left her behind once again.

Most of the race I was pretty upbeat. And if I ever felt tired, I just adopted a new name. There was always a group somewhere along the course cheering for somebody, so I just changed my first name for that moment. I was Chelsea, Julie, Karen and at one point I was even Nick. Anything to keep myself motivated!

Around mile 17 I hit the proverbial “wall”. I hated everybody around me, I hated everyone I had ever met and I hated the world. Negative thoughts filled my mind. But giving up was never an option or even a thought in my mind. I was going to finish, even if it made me miserable!

At mile 19 they were giving away Powerbar Gel, thus they had set up a little more of a party-like environment for the product promotion. Photographers, balloons, extra cheer teams, all helped to create a fun atmosphere that perked me up immediately. I wasn’t going to eat the gel because I had never trained with it and everything I read said to not take anything during the race that you hadn’t consumed during training. But at that point I said, “Screw it!” and popped a caffeinated strawberry-banana gel. In the real world I would hate the texture, flavor, delivery method, etc. In the marathon world, that was the most wonderful thing I have ever consumed.

That burst got me moving and the next 4 miles were awesome. I was moving at a good clip, I was happy. I was just past the mile 23 checkpoint and my knee gave out, buckled and I had searing pain.

I couldn’t help it, I started to cry and a loud sob escaped my mouth. And that’s when I met my savior, Bryan from Pepperdine University. He turned and asked if I was okay. I told him my knee had just given out and I was hurting. He said to me, “We’ll walk together. I’ll keep you company.”

And that’s how I made it to the end. Bryan kept me entertained as we talked about my job and his schooling, our training process and how much we loved/hated the gel. I even missed seeing mile 24 because he kept me occupied.

Mile 25 to 26 my limp became even more pronounced. But seeing mile marker 26 brought a different kind of tear to my eye and the last .2 mile was so exciting. I told Bryan he could leave me behind but he told me that he would rather see me across the finish line. We crossed the finish line together and then he escorted me straight to the medical tent. Once I was in the hands of the med staff, he said good-bye and disappeared. I haven’t seen him since and I’m not sure how to reach him, but he will forever be in my heart.

The doctors gave me pain medication and strapped ice onto my knee. I got my medal and I called my husband and proceeded to deliver the most unintelligent statements to him. In my head I was telling him that I finished a marathon and that the medical team helped me. In reality I think it came out, “Waaaahhifinishalldonemarathon. Iceonmyknee. Ouchouchouch Iloveyou holyshit!” or something like that.

After verifying that I wasn’t dead and that I had indeed finished, I disconnected and wandered around until I saw my mom approaching. I hobble-ran toward her and hugged her as she crossed the finish line.

We were both pretty foggy mentally at the end. We got some snacks at the finish line, figured out where to pick up our gear bag, called the cab company to pick us up and made our way back to the hotel.

We ordered a pizza delivered to our room, showered and crashed. We didn’t make it to the headliner concert, as we were both exhausted, hurting and I was not able to walk very well. But the physical pain didn’t hold anything to the euphoria that we both felt at having completed the event.

I learned lots of things and I plan to post about them soon. My knee is still hurting and I may be calling the doctor tomorrow. I am unsure what to do about this; if it is just “overuse” and the only fix is rest or if there is something really wrong that needs to be addressed.

All I know is I want my knee fixed because I want to do another marathon.

I’m not done.