My First Marathon

Well, I did it! The months of training were all worth it. Going into it, I was nervous about the last 5 miles. I had never experienced miles 21-26.2. I had heard of "the wall" but never hit it. A point at which your body just wants to stop was scary to me. I went into the race with the goal of running the whole thing....never walking. I wanted to keep at least a 10 minute mile pace and I'm convinced it was the training that made it all possible. The experience was unexplainable, but I will try:
It was my first night alone in 3 years. I ate dinner alone, watched TV (something we don't have at home) and took care of only myself. It was weird. I tossed and turned to fall asleep, and woke up a half hour before my wake up call. I guess I'm just not used to having only myself to take care of.
I headed down to take a shuttle to Dodger Stadium around 5:15. The 2 mile trip took over 1 1/2 hours! At 6:55, the bus driver opened the door and the marathoners ran the last 1/2 mile to the stadium (cause I guess the 26.2 miles we were about to run just weren't enough). I laughed as hundreds of people ran along the 110 freeway, peeing in plain view to reach the start line! I guess Dodger Stadium's exit just couldn't accomadate the 26, 000+ runners that were headed it's way.
When I reached the start line, I couldn't believe the amount of people. Luckily they had pushed back the start time to allow for more arrivals. It would have taken you 45 minutes to use one of the 100+ port-a-pottys there. You could see people climbing the hills, looking for a place to go.
The first 8 or 9 miles you had to cut in and out of people because you just can't imagine to sea of people. I saw the first guy down before mile one. I figured he probably tripped or fell, maybe trampled (haha).
I felt good. When I reached the halfway mark, I sent Woody a text. It was crazy how many people lined the edge of the course. Never would you go five feet without seeing people along the side, cheering for runners. Ya, the course went through several of LA's most popular sight, but don't ask me. I was only in it for the run. I felt like I could run faster, but stuck to my pace cause I wanted to feel good. I didn't want to end the race and say, "I will never do that again, I was miserable." I just kept chugging along.
The worst? It was around mile 18 when I noticed the crowd splitting. As I came up, I saw a man on the ground with medics surrounding him. They were banging on his chest and breathing into him. It was hard to believe that his heart had quit and they were trying to save him. I tried to block that out of my mind, but it was hard.
The best was when you'd hear some random person yelling your name and encouraging you to run, which happened often.
Yes, my feet started to hurt, I had a few side cramps, my neck hurt, but there was nothing that I couldn't run through. I can honestly say that I have never had a better run. It may sound wierd, but I was able to get into this "trance" and block out the pain. As I reached mile 22, I texted Woody again to let them know I was getting close. It was at this point that my emotions began to get the best of me. I would hear someone yell my name and tears would begin to overcome me. The emotion was too much for me to handle, and I would start to hypervenalate. Yes, I know how dramatic that sounds! I have never hypervenalated in my life. Luckily, I could calm myself down and it was a place I just couldn't go. CRAZY!
Unexplainable? When I hit mile 25. I figured, at this point, one more mile was nothing. I picked up my pace and went numb as I "booked" it for the finish line.
The whole experience is definatly on the top of one of my best experiences ever. Something I will never experience again. My first marathon!Here's me just shy of the end.....still running!
After the race.....still standing!

Later that night I was able to see my results:
Total runners were 26, 045.
Average mile was 9:30 minutes.
Overall placement was 3, 872nd.
947th female. That's in the top 5% of women.
I am amazed by the numbers.....and honestly, so proud of myself!

Really, the worst pain came after the run. I was moving very slow last night and my knees are hurting! I iced last night and feel a little better this morning. Just glad I don't feel worse today. Yes, I'm slow to get up and have some back aches, but I think I'm in pretty good shape.... considering I just ran a marathon.