Well, I survived

Holy amazing marathon, Batman!

Whew. The Catalina Marathon was amazing. Amazing. Was it totally intense? Yes. Was it an insane butt kicking? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes!

When we left San Pedro on Friday morning bound for Catalina Island, our boat was filled to the brim with runners, most of which had run this marathon more than 10 times! That was encouraging. I figured hey, if these people come back for seconds, then it really won't kill me.

I thought this until we pulled into Avalon and I remembered how those mountains just jut out of the water. Started to panic a little, but, my game plan was just to honestly not think about it. At all.

We walked around the island, played tourist (judge all you want but for 45 minutes I got to feed fishes under the water and it was awesome) and then headed to the expo. Trail runners are a different breed of people, let me tell you. Now, we all know I'm a girly girl and that 90% of the time I run in something pink, but, let me tell you, I felt like I was covered in Barbie pink compared to these folk (and I wasn't even wearing pink!). But, they are a very friendly bunch and that helped put my fears at ease.

After I picked up my race goodies I met up with Sam and his darling wife Tiffany. While he may just be a regular guy with bad jokes and awesome hair, he needs to fully embrace his total awesomeness (I've used 'awesome' a lot already haven't I?). Because he is fantastic. And Tiffany is so dang cute and sweet I just want to hug her. They are both just about the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.

Race morning was interesting--we had to take a boat to the start and then wait for another boat to dock which ended up getting a line tangled so we just sat in the harbor for 30 minutes or so. Could have been worse--it beats standing outside for 30 minutes in the cold! So, the race started a bit late.

Sam found me at the start line and that was a huge boost since this was the first race in which my husband wasn't at the start line with me. Yes, yes, I'm a wuss, I need my cheering section!

And then we were off! Everyone kept saying not to burn out the first 3 miles (do they know me? My gift is a slow and steady first 10k! This is a recent gift, by the way) so I just kept telling myself sloooow, slooow, slooow. Well, the first 3 miles totally sucked and right after mile 4 was an insane downhill. I was having serious doubts as to my ability to finish and I texted the husband and told him it would be a long time and that I was going to walk 90% of the damn thing. This also made me rethink all those crazy repeaters--what the hell was wrong with them?!

Around mile 4 I found a buddy and we stuck together for the majority of the race. Having him to help push me was great--and it's nice to have someone to talk to.

This was not a marathon in which you could run the entire thing. Well, I suppose some people can. I am not some people. Walking the uphills was necessity because I didn't know when or if I would burn out and I didn't want to waste my energy. I don't usually haul ass on downhills, but, I did this time because I knew it was the only way to make up time. Luckily, on the flat sections, we were able to run and keep a good clip going. The only hard part was is that you'd get so used to walking the uphills that when you could run, it was like "why bother?".

It was hard to find a groove because everytime you'd start running and finding a pace a damn hill would stop you in your tracks.

The aid stations and volunteers were the best I've ever seen. From M&Ms, Swedish Fish, homemade cookies and Gu, the stations were fully stocked and the volunteers were so helpful and friendly. And yes, I snacked at every station--this is still me we're talking about!

There is a nasty hill climb from about mile 17.5 to 18 and my heavens, it took forever. Luckily, you can see the aid station at mile 18 while you're climbing and those people were having a party! Singing, dancing, cheering you on. It was great. We stopped up there for water and snacks and I was pretty much ready to stay and hang out with the crew at mile 18!

My family met me around mile 19 and at this point I was kind of on my own. Miles 20-23 are filled will short steep climbs and quick downhills. I knew that from mile 23 on it was downhill so my game plan was to run the flats and downhills as quick as I could to get to 23. I knew that from 23 it was basically over. Mentally at least.

Those few miles downhill were killer! Super steep and rocky and scary. I wasn't able to get a good pace even though I was downhill because it was such bad footing. I finally tried lenghtening my stride and that helped to get me going faster but it got me too fast at at mile 23.5 or 24 I almost totally went head over heels and busted my toe a bit because I slipped on a rock!

We hit pavement and that's when I knew I could do it. I just pounded on down that hill and went as fast as my leggies could carry me. I love pavement, I really do!

I saw the finish line in the distance and just hauled. Even though throughout the race, my buddy and I kept saying how we felt like we'd already run a marathon and some point around mile 25 that all went away and I was so happy. I crossed the finish line under my goal time and am certain I could have finished faster if I'd run a bit more, but, this was my first time on the course and now I know. Also wasted a time taking pictures and you know, eating, but, this race wasn't about time.

Sam and Tiffany were there waiting along with my family. When I crossed the finish line they said my name and that I was running for Operation Jack--that was cool!

Post race my husband and I stood around and chatted with Sam and Tiffany and my new goal is to get them to move to Dallas (that's basically my goal for everyone in my life). I'm just saying guys, the house behind mine is for sale.....

Also, if I hadn't gotten old, I could have totally placed in my previous age group. Those young'ins were slower than me. Sheesh. Sam got 3rd in his age group!

After the awards ceremony I said my goodbyes and walked back to the hotel to shower and eat! I'm still hungry, fyi.

It was a great experience. I would definitely run this again and if I do it next year, will plan on making it a longer vacation since we had to rush home on Sunday, but, spending a few leisurely days on Catalina would be fantastic. It was seriously the most beautiful course and such a fun weekend. Obviously, the Big D Texas Marathon won't be a pretty, but, it'll be fun to see Sam and Tiffany again and show them around Dallas in a few weeks.

WOW. You survived that damn novel of a post? You deserve pictures. (these are all Blackberry pics,so, please excuse the quality)

This was around mile 8 or so--we'd just come off a long downhill and were greeted with this gorgeous view. And yes, I had my camera in a ziploc baggie to protect it from sweat so this is through the baggie!

Hill climb after mile 18. That is my running buddy, Julian there on the right.

I don't remember which hill this is, I'm guessing mile 11 or so since I think that was the view around mile 10.... Not sure. But, you kind of get the idea of what the course was like! You really couldn't beat the surroundings for 26.2 miles. I mean it was just gorgeous! Beaches, palm tress--and it was all so green and everything was in bloom. Just breathtaking.

Around mile 2 looking back down into Two Harbors were we started.
The before. You can see the after on Sam's blog.
View from the boat at like 6:50 AM on race day.

There you have it! Pictures from Catalina! I have a few more, but, I think I've overloaded this post enough.

I can't thank you all enough for your support of me and to those of you who supported Operation Jack--thank you so much. It means a lot. I am so grateful.

And Sam, thank you for picking such a great marathon to be part of your 60 marathons this year! I'm so glad I was able to participate.