Rock & Roll Baby! (part 1)

Coach Ginny, Carmen, me, Carissa, & Adrienne at the TNT victory party.

Click here to see the rest of my photos from San Diego.

So I'm back from San Diego where I ran the Rock & Roll Marathon. The trip was fantastic. Definitely one of the most fun trips I've had in a long time. If only the marathon itself went as well as everything else. This is going to be a long, drawn out post so don't say I didn't warn you.

We got to San Diego bright & early Friday morning & it was an absolutely GORGEOUS day. Carmen & I walked the block from our hotel room to the convention center to the marathon expo to pick up our bibs & goodies. Carmen & I were super excited to find out that we weren't in the very last corral. They'd added a 23rd one! WOO-HOO!!! To celebrate, we spent WAAAAYYYY too much money on merchandise at the expo. There was SO much great stuff. We got to meet John "the Penguin" Bingham at his booth & he signed our race numbers ("Waddle on!") & took pics with us. He's a huge TNT supporter & was super nice. After our chat w/ the Penguin, we waited in line to meet the artist who designed the official marathon poster & got personalized signed prints of the poster from. He was very nice, too. In all, we spent about 4 hours at the expo. Afterwards we met a lot of the team & went to dinner, followed by Ben & Jerry's ice cream (yeah, I know... dessert of champions, right?) then an early bedtime.

Saturday Carmen & I went back to the expo w/ Adrienne & Carissa for a while & of course ended up buying more stuff (it was too good to pass up!). Afterwards we went back to the hotel, changed into our bathing suits & spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the pool with our coaches. Again it was a gorgeous day & we were loving every minute of that California sunshine & cool breezes. For a while there we contemplated skipping the marathon to hang out at the pool instead.

After the pool we started to decorate our race day singlets in our room. We'd bought awesome iron-on letters & phrases, & Carissa bought us all "bling" to put on them as well. We had the hottest looking singlets of any TNT'er! It was awesome.

I headed back over to the convention center early for the TNT pasta party so I could pick up our custom-made t-shirts at one of the booths in the expo. On my way I got a call from Adrienne saying my friend Kim (one of my very best friends who happens to live in SD) was in our room & was going to meet me at the convention center. I hadn't seen her in 3 years & was SOOOO excited when I saw her sashaying down the sidewalk to meet me. It meant so much to me to see her again, especially on this occasion. She hung out with me as we waited for the shirts to be done, then she came to the pasta party with me. I was really glad she got a chance to meet everyone, hear all the stories from the speakers & see just how many people are touched by TNT (we had 6800 runners in this marathon & they raised over $12 million for the LLS).

After the pasta party, it was back to the hotel to help all of our mentees & other teammates decorate their shirts, then it was time for bed.

We had to be up at 3:30 am Sunday to get ready & meet the team in the lobby by 4:15 for breakfast. The busses started to come at 4:45 to take us to the starting area. We got there just after 5:00 am & immediately got in line for the port-a-potties. Poor Carmen stepped in a crack in the park & twisted her ankle a bit, but I was able to calm her down. Thankfully it wasn't serious. She was so nervous that she ended up puking.

Before long, we heard the Marine Corp Band start to play, which was really cool. Then it was time to get to the starting line. Since we're such slow-pokes, Carissa, Carmen & I were waaaaaaay in the very back. We were so far back that we couldn't even see the starting line! I was starting to get super nervous. Finally the gun went off. It took us just over 12 minutes to get to the actual starting line. There were over 20,000 runners & they were as far as the eye could see. It was really quite amazing. We didn't start to run until about 1/2 mile into the race. I felt great in the very beginning. This would prove to be my downfall later.

I felt so great that I stupidly decided that I should run more. It was great for the 1st few miles, especially since it was a lot of downhills. I'd gone as fast as a 13:30 mile (I usually walk/run 15:30 miles) but suddenly, around mile 4, I felt my lower back start to tighten up. By the time I got to about mile 7, I had slowed down significantly. The pain kept getting worse with every step. At mile 8, we entered the freeway, which was all a steep uphill climb on a road that was slanted at about 35-40 degrees. It was agony. To get from mile 9 to mile 10 took me 21 minutes. It was there that I had my panic attack. I was trying not to cry & ended up hyperventilating. I couldn't get any air in at all & it scared the crap out of me. I was terrified that I'd pass out from not being able to breathe & that I'd be taken off the course. I eventually recognized that it was a panic attack & I was somehow able to calm myself down. Suddenly I could breathe again. I reached the top of the massive 2 mile hill & felt a HUGE relief when I started to run down. I went from a 21 minute mile to a 16 minute mile because I was able to "run" (more like shuffle) down the hill.

Even though I was able to speed up at that point, I knew from my watch that I was WAY behind the pace needed to meet the 1st time cut-off. It was killing me to know that I wouldn't be able to make it all 26.2 miles & I started to cry. I felt horrible & really just wanted to quit. Then I saw a man on the side of the road holding a sign that said "Thank you from a 9 year Leukemia patient!!" He cheered me on, told me I was looking good, thanked me for what I was doing & gave me a high five as I passed him. I cried again, but this time it was because I felt so stupid & horrible for wanting to quit. I was in pain, but I knew it would only last a few more hours. This man endured years of painful & debilitating cancer treatments. The least I could do is finish the race.

Not long after this point, I ran into coach Bill. He could tell I wasn't doing too well & told me that it wasn't much longer until the 1/2 way point. He kept telling me I could quit at 13.1, but I kept telling him I wanted to take the diversion. He walked & talked with me for the next few miles & really helped keep the pain off my mind. When we got to the 13.1 "finish" he said "this is your last chance. You can quit here or you can go to the left & keep on going." I said I was going to keep on going. We saw Coach Anne & Ginny & they joined Bill & I & took me through the diversion all the way to the merge with the pack at mile 22. They all hugged me good-bye, said they were proud of me, & watched as I joined the throng of runners again.

It felt great to be with such a huge crowd of runners again. It gave me a real boost & made me momentarily forget the pain I was in. Unfortunately, I quickly remembered the pain. Every step was worse & worse & I had to keep stopping to stretch my back. By this time the pain was going in sharp waves from my lower back all the way to my toes & back again. Since I no longer had to worry about time cut-offs, I stopped as often as I needed & those last 4 miles took me almost 2 hours to complete. I must've looked absolutely horrible because runners kept stopping to see if I needed any help. One guy even offered me all his Gu's. I thanked him & assured him I was ok (a lie). Just after mile 24 I couldn't take the pain any longer & I stopped at the medical tent for some pain medicine. I was so weak that I couldn't even open the pill packet & had to have the medic do it for me. I took my pills & went on my way. I had to finish.

When I hit mile marker 25 I couldn't walk any more. I forced myself to "run". I ended up running the rest of the way. When I saw the Marine Corp base around mile 26, I knew I was almost home free. I turned into the base & saw hundreds of people along the sides cheering & I kept on running. With about .4 miles to go, out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone running next to me. I couldn't understand why this person was so close to me or why he wouldn't pass me. I finally turned to see who it was & I saw a very cute muscular guy in stylin' running gear & shades smiling at me. For a second I didn't realize who it was. Then it finally registered... it was my friend Jay. I hadn't seen him in over 3 years & the last time I saw him, he was about 100 lbs. heavier. I knew he was running this marathon but figured I'd never actually run into him (especially since he was in corral 1). I let out a little squeal, hugged him, & asked how he did. He said he'd had problems with the heat & humidity (SD was experiencing unusually high temperatures that day) & didn't do too well. I asked him what his time was & he said 3:35. I just laughed & flipped him off. LOL!! We said good-bye & I started to run again, this time a bit faster thanks to Jay. It really helped SO much seeing someone I knew as I was finishing.

Next thing I knew, I was turning into the final straight-away & I saw the finish line. The crowd was cheering & for that last few moments, I felt no pain. As I neared the finish line, I heard the announcer say "Well alright Erin!!! Look at you! You got it girl!" I smiled & laughed and crossed the finish line. I looked up & saw the time of 5:49.

Five hours & 45 minutes to go only 18 miles. I was so disappointed in myself, yet SO happy to be done.

To be continued.... but until then, click here to see my official race photos.