Alisa and Justin go for a Jog

We did it! Alisa and I have been planning to run a marathon for probably more than a year now. We had originally wanted to run the Carlsbad Marathon in January, but couldn't make all the details fall in line to make that a possibility. I think we would both agree that that was probably for the best as we are both very glad we ran this one! There were bands about every mile and the energy of the crowd cheering us on was awesome.

Our hotel was very nice with a good location that was close to the starting site of the race as well as the downtown area of San Diego. We had an amazing view and the hot tub came in handy for after the race!

We flew in Friday morning and spent the day walking around the Gas Lamp district of San Diego and also getting all of our race information, number, and swag at the race expo. We were both amazed at the number of booths and people. There is a lot of money in running, and people will actually pay you to do it too! Guess we are two of those suckers. Friday night we met up with Alisa's college friend Erin who is living in the San Diego area. She and Andrea, a friend of hers, took us to a cool little restaurant that we never would have found with out her yet was only a couple of blocks from our hotel. The restaurant was in the Little Italy section of San Diego, and this particular restaurant was in the back of a little meat, cheese, and Italian import shop. The restaurant itself is rather large, but you have to stand in line through the tiny little deli portion with salted fish in barrels at your feet and sausages hanging all around you. I had my doubts that this place would compare to all the fancy looking restaurants around it, but the pizza was very good and very worth the small wait.

Saturday we went to the San Diego Zoo. For it being a "taper" week where we were supposed to not work out much in preparation for the marathon, we sure did a lot of walking. The zoo was a lot of fun. I was amazed at the fact that I can still get amazed at the number and types of animals on this tiny little blue dot called Earth. One of my personal favorite things to see were the large cats walking back and forth in their cages. We were feet away from these beautiful killing machines. Cutest sight has to go to the tree kangaroo asleep with its baby safely in its pouch.




Sunday morning was game time... We got up at 4:30 am and started preparing: roll on deodorant (didn't do much to stop us from being uber-stinky). Slather up with body-glide (an anti-chafing ointment). Tie up our well worn running shoes (it is amazing how quickly we can wear down shoes by putting in the miles required to prepare for a marathon). Cover ourselves in sunscreen. Load up our bags we checked to get at the finish line. Eat a small breakfast. Drink a cup of coffee (a must for Alisa). Put on the race numbers.... And out the door we go! We were shuttled over to the start where we almost immediately got in line to use one of the hundreds of port-o-potties. Even though we had about 45 minutes before the start of the race, we barely made it through the line in time. It was a good way to distract ourselves from the start of the race however as we were both very nervous!

Finally we headed over to our corals. They place you in a coral based on when you think you will finish the marathon. Alisa and I had to split up at this point, but we gave each other one last hug and wished each other well. Standing in a huge crowd of 22,000 people all with a single purpose is pretty awesome. I snapped a picture of the crowd behind me with my iPhone. I ran with the phone on my arm just in case I had the opportunity to take pictures. See Alisa in the crowd back there??? Neither could I, but I was glad she was there running it with me.

6:37 and they finally shoot the starting gun. It took me a couple of minutes to get the start line and it took Alisa ten minutes or so. Thankfully we had timing chips on our shoes and our individual race clocks don't start ticking until after we get across the start line. That was really the only time all race I had any issues with there being a 22,000 people around me. It was amazing how smoothly that many people could run a race without constantly getting in each other's way.

The first few miles flew by for both of us. We loved the energy of the crowd and having a new band to watch every few minutes was pretty cool, however we could only enjoy the bands for a few seconds each as we raced on by. For about the first ten miles we ran through the down town, past the harbor, past the ball park, past cheering crowds, past tall buildings, past a giant aircraft carrier, past people running with giant US flags, past people dressed up as Elvis (they were attempting to break a record for running Elvis's... hey people have to have goals), past urinating lines of male runners too impatient to wait in line for a port-o-potty and who were able to find a tree to partially hide behind, and on to the freeway. Yup, we ran on a freeway for a good five miles or so. It was a neat experience with cars on the other side of the freeway honking in support as we went by. I managed to take out the iPhone and snap one picture after going over the largest hill we had to run up. It was too much of a hassle to get the phone back in my arm band so I didn't bother pulling it out again, although I saw some people running with cameras practically the whole way.

After the freeway we ran through some residential neighborhoods and around a bay. It was pretty and had some cool sights, but wasn't nearly as unique as the first ten miles. It was amazing to see how many people turned out to cheer us on though and there was hardly any part of the race that didn't have some people near by.

Mile 21 or 22 came around and both Alisa and I hit our proverbially walls. We both fought through it though and did the best we could. I rewarded myself with 30 paces of walking every mile and at the water stops. I don't know if I really got any rest out of the walks, but it kept me going till the next mile. Those last four or five miles of the race are the hardest I have ever ran. Finally, we turned into a Marine base guarded by a group of Marines in their desert camouflage fatigues. They were only letting runners in through the gates, but visitors could get in through another entrance. We still had 0.4 miles to run at this point, but the promise of the finish line made both Alisa and I pick up our pace... Sadly, 0.4 miles seems pretty far after running 25.8 and we both felt that we "kicked" a little too soon. I ran as fast as I could into the final turns and was running beside a woman who only had one arm. I point this out only because of how inspiring we found so many people. We passed people who were running for lost loved ones, who had broken their hips ten months earlier, who didn't have a "runner's body" but were making great time, and others who were helping out fellow injured runners. With all that inspiration, and maybe due to those practice miles we put in, I was able to pass the finish line right on target with the time I was secretly aiming for. Really, I would have been happy to finish, but meeting my time goal made the finish extra sweet.

We were greeted with ice cold towels, cold water, and stiff legs. It was almost easier to jog at that point than walk. It is as if we had forgotten how to do anything else but jogs with our legs, and our walking was more an awkward shuffle. We shuffled through a picture booth, a volunteer who took off our race chips, and past a bunch of booths with food and drinks. I stretched for a good fifteen minutes or so before feeling up to see the festivities surrounding the finish line. The crowd was huge!

Mom and Dad had been watching our mile times on-line and Mom gave me a call when she saw I had crossed. It was great to have someone at the finish line, even if it was virtually. After I enjoyed my self-victory for a few minutes by lying in the shade of a palm tree, I put the now cool but not cold towel over my head and under my hat to cool myself off some more and keep the sun out. There were booths to make signs and I took the opportunity to write one for Alisa. I then walked back to the finish line and enjoyed being a spectator. The finishers came in a constant stream and it was further inspirational to see so many people of so many ages and body types finish. Before too long, the wonderful inspirational person I was waiting for came along. She had a smile for me! It must have been the crazy head gear. She actually looked like she was full of energy and could run a few extra miles, but I am sure she was glad to get to the finish line as well. Yay!

The rest of the day we sat in the hotel's hot tub and marinated in our good feelings of accomplishing the goal we set out for ourselves. That and we ate lots of gelato... Mmmm... Being near the Italian district has its perks.

All in all, the race was a great experience and we are even thinking about which one we will run

next. Possibly Portland in October... or maybe Walt Disney World in January... or Arizona's Rock N' Roll marathon also in January... Who is going to run it with us???