Do the Race Results get archived? It feels so lonely with only a few here!!

This is a repost from a blog entry (it's about all I use myspace for!) that I posted for friends and family, but I'll probably add some comments just for you guys in a bit, too... there are some things we talked about or I mentioned here that you guys might ask anyway or I'd like to comment on, I just wanted to get the basics in for everyone. My apologies for the length, I should stop writing these after work when my brain is toast.

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Aloha and greetings from the chilly, chilly Northwest. As I mentioned following my last event, I had signed up for the Seattle Marathon held last weekend in (guess where...) downtown Seattle on November 26th (Sunday). Well, the short version: I made it. Read on for the long version (sorry for the length, I'll have to practice brevity instead of running next).

We had decided not to spend Thanksgiving in Seattle and instead spend it at home, then head to Seattle *after* all of the T-Day travelers had already left. We flew out on Friday afternoon and bused it down to the host hotel: the Westin in downtown Seattle (which had an awesome marathon room rate), right near Westlake/Pacific Place. No rental car to worry about (saved $11 a night or thereabouts in parking fees), no place to go, just two days of "relax" before the big day. We didn't realise Friday night was also the big tree lighting ceremony at Westlake (duh, after all those parades we marched in you'd think I'd remember), so our bus was slightly diverted and delayed and we had to walk through huge crowds of people. The weather was pretty nice, in the 40s and cloudy with some sunbreaks if you squinted. Instead of jumping right in to the Expo/Packet Pick-Up, we went ahead and went to a movie (Stranger than Fiction, with Will Ferrell, which was enjoyable). While it might be nice to have everything squared away as soon as you could, I think it was nice to set Friday aside as a "nothing" day/night and just take it easy, be willingly distracted for a while. Plus, it's hard to feel guilty about what you eat the two days before running a marathon, so we had movie theater popcorn to boot (hey, it's carbs with salt, right?).

Saturday, we planned on meeting my in-laws for the traditional Italian dinner fairly early (4:45) near Seattle Center, so we planned our day around it. The Expo/Pick-Up opened around 11:30; around noon we headed down and after a 10 minute wait in line, I was one step closer to committed -- chip in hand, bib number squared away. I didn't have to do the clothing check (they provided garbage bags and sharpies to put your # on for check-in on Sunday) since I wasn't there alone, which was nice. The Expo was full of people and the traditional Expo stuff: new shoes, shoes that must have been demo shoes (once used), fuel belts, hats, gloves, tiny running shorts (I honestly don't think I will ever be prepared for someone to have that much information about my bum and the legs that sprout henceforth), long running tights, shirts that could wick the sweat from 30 lions on a hot day on the savannah in one fell swoop, bodyglide (not to be confused with astroglide although probably quite similar in contents), various types of foods good and bad (gels, juices, vitamins, you name it), and those cool Tanita Ironman scales that measure everything from weight to body fat to quantity of dirt particles inhaled since 4:30 PM yesterday. It's hard to deny you're running a marathon after you pick up the chip, bib, free race tshirt (long sleeved technical fabric, cool logo, too, but doesn't say "finisher" - that costs extra), and hang around at the Expo for a while... my marathon sherpa was a little tired of it, though.

After the Expo, we saw another movie (The Fountain, which was also good, but different), and hiked it over to REI. REI is like Mecca for the Granola People of the Pacific Northwest, and also the place where Hippie squarely meets Yuppie. Of course, the Seattle REI is the most awesomest REI around, with a mountain bike testing trail, climbing wall, and all the things they never carry at those smaller REIs (like mine). I picked up some gels (my REI doesn't carry Hammer, bah!), got some arm warmers so I didn't have to wear a long sleeved shirt and could ditch them if I got hot, tried on some ski pants (if you can afford Arc'Teryx or find it on Steep and Cheap, buy it - very awesome stuff), and cruised the clearance items. My marathon sherpa read by the fire while I wandered. We headed over for our Italian dinner with the fam, which was tasty and fun -- my very own Marathon Last Supper. Headed back to the room to TRY to sleep... good luck with that, even on the Westin's signature Heavenly Bed (tm) with new Westin scent. I had carefully placed all of my items where I could find them, put my change of clothes in a bag for my sherpa, and turned on boring TV. Worth noting, the weather for Saturday was similar to Friday, cloudy with some peeks from the sun.

Now for the fun. Anyone from the Northwest and especially Seattle knows that you either want to tell people one of two things about the weather: if you don't like them, you tell them it's everything they've heard - wet, gray, damp, and depressing; if you like them, you tell them what we all tell ourselves - it's really not that rainy, it rains more in Chicago than Seattle, we love the weather. I can't lie about Sunday: it was a stereotypical Seattle day, and then some. Started out with snow outside our hotel window. Yep, snow. Turned to rain pretty quickly, but it wasn't too bad, it was the kind of rain I could mostly ignore. We headed to the start line (we *walked* rather than risk -- er, I mean -- take, the monorail), too late to turn back now!! The Marathon Walk started at 7:15, the Half Marathon at 7:45, and the Marathon Run at 8:15. By 8:00, it was wet. It was actually hide underneath stuff and consider possibly using an umbrella if you're going to be waiting outside for a while wet, which takes a lot for people from Seattle to admit. I of course took one last visit to Honey Bucket Row, then fastened my number to my Camelbak waistpack and I was ready to go... relatively, of course.

The course was interesting. Having never done a marathon before, let alone this marathon, I would say I was probably over conservative in a lot of places, especially at the beginning. I also think I'm going to stop taking my heart monitor with me to races, it is just distracting (in fact, this time, I ditched it at mile 16 or so with my sherpa). Starting from Seattle Center, we headed down 5th to the I-90 onramp, all the way down the I-90 Express Lanes to Mercer Island, around the Seward Park area, back through Lake Washington Blvd, then cut back over toward the city center. I-90 is built for cars, worked okay on the bike, but is much harder on the feet. Somewhere around mile 10, the rain seemed to let up a bit, which was nice (and typical). Somewhere around mile 20, the rain was back and stronger than before, with added wind features. There was some *beautiful* scenery throughout the entire course and I really enjoyed running through the city, though I think the whole I-90 thing was less than spectacular. There weren't a whole lot of spectators either, but my sherpa with fam met me around miles 5, 16, and 20, then at the end. They were an awesome cheering squad, complete with cowbell and loud cheers. Marathon sherpa and cheering squad all get gold stars, wish I could take them with me to all my races (well, the sherpa doesn't really have a choice). There was a nice sized hill around mile 21 (short, but steep), otherwise it was a fairly rolling course with some flat segments. I had to walk some hills in fear I wouldn't make it if I didn't, but I think maybe that fear was a little extreme. 26.2 miles is a lot of time on your feet, especially if you aren't a super awesome runner, but I made it, with a very cool sprint to the finish and my arms overhead to the sound of cheers from my cheering squad and my name being called out by the announcer.

After the marathon, my cheering squad gave me flowers and a balloon, I changed my clothes just to feel cold and send my sherpa to get me a sweatshirt (this one says "finisher" on it ), we grabbed some food (mmm, bananas, about all you can eat at that point), and headed out into the wind and rain back to the hotel. We did laugh at the announcement overhead that the monorail was now "running again"... glad we didn't plan on that!! My sherpa treated me to PF Chang's for early dinner, I iced iced iced, took some ibuprofen, added some heat, then read and watched TV. Walking was... difficult. Sitting and standing was... nearly impossible. The weather? Still rainy, then snowy. Monday wasn't bad to start out with, but the snow (and ice pellets, among other things) came back in full force in the afternoon.

My time? Not fast. 5:19, which turns out to be 12 minute miles. I know I could have finished faster, but being my first time at all and my first time on this course, there was no reason to beat myself up over it any more than I did. I was honestly expecting 30 minutes or more faster, but given the conditions and that it was my first time, just finishing is a major accomplishment. There's always next time for "faster" or "better"

I still walk funny today, sitting and standing still hurts, stairs are especially fun, but from here on out it's about recovery and whatever comes next.