I'm a marathoner! (My attempt at a race report when I am not really in the mood.)

After a fun-filled weekend in San Francisco, I have fulfilled my goal of the past few months and ran a marathon. The course was absolutely beautiful, we ran along the coast, through Fisherman's Wharf and various gorgeous neighborhoods, and around Golden Gate Bridge Park. On the downside, actually running 26.2 miles is not really a lot of fun. The marathon and half-marathon course were the same for the first 11+ miles. I had a true internal battle in getting myself to stay to the left and continue on with the marathon when they branched off. I kept with it though, and ran, walked, and just about crawled to make it through the race. There were quite a few times when I felt strong, except for some leg cramping. But there were also times when I didn't feel like I had the strength to make it another 20 steps.

I am happy that I followed through with my plan, but can't say that I feel any huge sense of accomplishment. It was interesting to see how people reacted to the day (I went with a group of 20 or so women who were doing both the full and half marathons). There were the veteran racers who were disappointed they didn't meet their goals, there were those (such as my two running buddies) who weren't sure they were able to make it through the race due to injuries/lack of training, and then there was the disappointment of one girl who was not able to meet the time requirement and was forced off the course around mile 19 (for being 4 minutes too slow).

I am feeling relaxed today, after a long nap this morning and a massage and pedicure this afternoon. I'm getting settled back into real life and am looking forward to my week of forced rest that means I don't have to run or do any strength training!

Thanks so much to all the well wishers who helped me through this experience. You all rock! And while they say Never say never, in case you were wondering, there are no plans for me to run another marathon.

Mile 26