I am a marathoner!

 Above: Around 6:00 a.m., in the hotel lobby. Mistake number 1: change in my routine. My normal pre-long run food is oatmeal. Although I brought oatmeal from home, I tried the hotel oatmeal. It was not fully cooked, which left me wondering if it would digest properly. I quickly opted for one of the protein bars I bought at the expo the day before.

Below: Making my way to the corrals. Behind me you can see the start line. Excited!

 Above: A friend from Eufaula, Stephanie. She was running her first half-marathon. She finished right at 2 hours, amazing pace. Congratulations Stephanie!

Below: All of the Sole2Soul Sisters decided to start together. We met up in Corral 20 and prayed together before the start of the race. We were a couple of blocks back from the start line. Rock N Roll does this so right! The corral start is very well organized and makes everything smooth.

Mistake #2! Panic moment! I left my Garmin in the room. Thankfully, we were only two blocks from the hotel. Scott ran back to the hotel to get my Garmin. A few of us walked ahead of the crowd and made a quick potty break. Possibly one of the nastiest things EVER! Let's just leave it at that.

 I met up with Scott to get my watch! Whew! That was a little crazy start.

 Jackie and I ran together from about mile 2-17. I had a goal of finishing in around 5 hours. I thought I would be fine on my own because I am so used to running by myself. I was so glad to have Jackie with me though. Even with the corral starts, the first half was super crowded. At one point, we even jumped up in the median to run. Although this was easier on our legs and did not require so much weaving in and out, I almost tripped, so it was back to the road.

 At the 5K mark, my time was 34:38, an 11:08 pace, right where I wanted to be.

It was important to not start out too fast. I was trying to stay 11:00-11:15.

And, I was all smiles!

 The sun was shining, the temperatures were in the 50's and all was right in the world.

There were still plenty of beads in the trees leftover from Mardi Gras

and a few hazardous ones on the streets.

I was looking for Scott at mile 8, but finally found him at mile 9. It was really warming up and I had planned to leave my extra shirt with him. Like my friend Missy says, you gotta get a little naked in NOLA. Well, that's as close as I'll get. It sure did feel good though to cool down a bit. I had already refilled my water bottles at mile 8. I was carrying 18 ounces total. I had also taken my first Gu at around 55 minutes and my plan was to take those every 45 minutes or so.  

 Once we finished in the business district downtown, it was off to the French Quarter.

This mega blow-up by Brooks Running is just kinda comical. It welcomes you into the

heart of the French Quarter. This time passes fast as you are passing all the typical touristy

sites like Jackson Square, Hard Rock, Cafe du Monde and the French Market.

 Around mile 12, you do have the option to keep running the full or go straight ahead to a half-marathon finish. There was never any question that I was going to finish this thing, so a hard left I took. I was already taking some walk breaks, but was able to keep Jackie in my sight.

2:28:45 was my actual time for the half, an 11:20 pace.

Mistake #3: Although I look pretty excited in this picture, I just didn't feel great. I just felt FULL! I don't know if it was the protein bar or if I took in way too much water.

After the half split off, it was a liberating feeling to not have to weave in and out of people. In hindsight though, perhaps that helped keep me going. I started fading quickly on the back half. There was a long, kinda boring stretch along the back side of City Park. There were very few spectators, but we did see the speedy marathoners coming back on the other side of the street. We finally turned to run along the waterway. Miles 16-22 were along Lakeshore Drive. At mile 17, I started taking a lot more walking breaks and NEVER got into a good pace again. I still had Jackie in my sight at mile 20, but after that, there were some slow miles. 

 Perhaps that was my wall. I never felt like it was unattainable, but I just grew exhausted. I couldn't find a happy pace. I was in a complete mental fog. I had intentions of writing quotes on my arm and dedicated those last 6.2 to miles to certain people, but I never followed through with that. Big regret. I needed something to carry me through. I was trying to think clearly, but honestly just couldn't.

 Interestingly enough, this man had a keg out in front of his mansion at 11:00 on a Sunday morning. I asked him to give me a ride to the finish line, but I guess he would have needed a designated driver.  Shortly after this, I saw a man doubled over and a bystander trying to encourage him to just keep going, he only a had a "couple more miles". BTW, 2 or 3 miles is a LONG way when you have already been 23. Those words are NOT comforting. Tell me when I have .2 and that might encourage me. The poor guy looked like he was going to vommit, but he was having extreme cramps. Although I was doing a lot of walking, I was grateful to God that nothing really was hurting. I was just worn down and exhausted, mentally and physically. I mean, everything hurt, but nothing HURT. As you can calculate, it took me 39 minutes to go three miles. Oh well!

At this point, everyone is in the same state of delirium. I just thought this was the most beautiful scenery, so I needed to stop and take a picture. Why not? I had time to spare, huh?

The bands along the course are a good pick me up. The name of this band was Local Skank. OK.?!

Then, we have the official race photos. As Jackie said, yes,

this is PROOF that I did run the marathon.

I think the picture above was taken about mile 25.

Below, coming into the finish.

This one above seems to be the one my friends on FB like, maybe it's because it is the first one in the set. I can't decide if that looks like a muscle or cellulite on my left leg. The jury is out.

Although, I do think the picture below captures some of the emotion I was feeling at the finish.

Again, I can't even describe the mental confusion I felt. I couldn't focus or think straight. I wish I understood if that was just from exhaustion or something I could do different. Poor Scott had been waiting for me with our video camera at the finish. He had just left the sidelines one minute before figuring that he missed me. This is because it took me more than an hour and twenty minutes to go what would normally take about an hour and 5 minutes.

Further clarifying to you that my brain was mush, genius here took off her fuel belt with her bib on it for her finisher picture. Hence, I don't have an official finisher picture, but I do like this one that Scott got with my cell phone.

Below: a quick picture with Ann. She ran the full last year in 4:52 and this year

 she finished in 4:34:49. Wowzer! Way to go Ann!

The finish line from afar.

Scott was upset that he didn't get my finish on video, but I was just too slow. :)

I was just so thankful to finish. I walked through the finishing area, grabbed some chocolate

milk, a banana, and a few other snacks. When I saw Scott on the other side of the finish line,

I completely broke down in tears. What an emotional journey.

More reflections on what I did right and what I did wrong in my next post. If you would

to witness my painful last 6 miles, you can click on the link below to view my Garmin data. Some of the plummets are when I stopped to refill my fuel belt. My Garmin did lose satellites for a moment in the first mile due to the tall buildings. I have a time of 5:11. They have my time as 5:15. Let's compromise and say it was about 5:13. I've got room to grow and become stronger. I only have to shave off about 30 seconds per mile to get in under 5 hours.

Marine Corps Marathon here I come-October 28.

NOLA Marathon by leahmoore at Garmin Connect - Details