I Am A Marathoner. Race Report!

As promised, here is the race report.

So the night before flying out west, I headed over my my sisters place for some dinner. She lives close to the airport so I was also just gong to crash there, plus I love spending time with her. When I got to her door this is the sign she made for me:



How sweet?! Yeah annual is miss spelled, its an inside joke though :D So we ate whole wheat pasta with this amazing sauce my sister made. Yummy! Then we watched Wall-E. It was a very cute movie and a good distraction. Then the next morning it was off to the airport.


Here i am trying to act "Hollywood." Which really was just be putting my sun glasses on. I'll work on my impression. I got use to first class right away. I texted my dad who flies first class all the time for work and asked him why us first class people have to watch the common people walk through! hahaha
The pilot came on and said "Our flying time to Detroit will be 1 hour and 18 minutes. We should be landed around 7:58, local time. It is currently 6:30...no wait, 7:30...wait, hold on, what time is it? 6:30. Wow, we had to get up early! You probably want to sleep, so I'll let you go." I laughed at this. When they came around for drinks, after checking my name and my ring finger they said "Something to drink, Ms Sumara?" ooOOOOoo don't mind if I do. How fancy! I couldn't really sleep to much on the first flight because I was so excited, the second one, oh yeah, I slept.

This is what you get for breakfast when you fly first class. It was that or eggs, and I don't like eggs, so cereal was perfect.
I had a lay over in Detroit, which was ironic because Lydia was leaving from Detroit around the same time. So close, but we were in different terminals. We had to fly to Cali to see each other. On the second flight we flew over the grand canon. I've never been, but its on my to do list.


How Cool?! Ok so we got into LAX and I met up with Shannon and Lydia and we drove down to San Diego. We picked up my sister from the SD airport and went straight to the expo to check in and get our bibs. We were all pretty exhausted so went to check into the hotel and then find somewhere to eat. We got some pasta then went to get some water, bagels and other needs from the grocery store. I swear, every single runner was in there buying the same thing as us.
We then went back to the hotel and crashed. We were all so tired. Lydia was coming from her brothers wedding, Shannon was coming from Tokyo, and Jenna and I were coming from NY. I think we may have been the only people who slept extremely well the night before the run.
The next morning we got up at 4:30 with plans to walk to the start - leaving around 5:15 or so.

I was dressed and kind of awake. But It was so cold, I really could have crawled back to bed. Still I was excited!

Legs are ready! Chip is on my shoe!


My sister and I walking to the start. It was so humid outside! By the time we got there we were warmed up!
Jenna, me and Lydia before we checked our bag. Afterwards we headed in line to wait to get one last nervous pee out. We got to coral 22 around 6:20. It was fun to look around at all the people. When the gun went off, we didn't actually cross the start line until about 6:40, then we had to weave in and out of people who were going slower than us. I was surprised to see how many walkers there were. We finally got a good rhythm going by the 1st mile marker. It was so incredible to see all the people who were in this with us. We saw a group of guys who were there supporting Team in Training. They all dressed up as cheerleaders which included wigs and balloons for boobs, even short skirts. What a site to see. We rounded the corner and started to go down near the zoo. At the 5k mark I stopped, letting the girls continue on, because I had to fix my feet. I stopped many times throughout the race and I truly believe that if I didn't have my feet issues, I would have shaved off at least 45 minutes from my time. Oh well, some days my feet are my friend, some days, not so much. Each time I stopped I had to take off both pairs of socks and my shoes, rub vaseline on them, and then put both socks and shoes back on. I was wearing two pairs of socks because of my blisters. I think my shoes were too tight by the end, but I didn't think about it. My feet really swelled more than normal. I will have to get a bigger size. Lesson learned.
I caught up with Jenna and Lydia and we continues on our way. Lydia brought her cell phone and was able to text Shannon to see where she would be waiting for us. Mile 8! We were around mile 4 at this point. A little after mile 5 Lydia stopped for a bathroom break in a hotel and Jenna went too, I was feeling good after fixing my feet for the second time so I continued on. I really took in everything around me. There were people dressed up as super hero's; thor, wonder woman, green lantern, super man, etc. Classic! There were a lot of cheerleader squads out. Every time I saw a group of them I would run by and make them all give me a high five. Some of them would say my name "go Jocelyn!" "Yeah Jocelyn Keep it up!" and it confused me at first, until I realized that my name was on my bib. Still, its surprising how much hearing your name being called helps.
When I got to mile 8 I saw Shannon and I ran up to her and gave her a big hug. I was so excited to see someone I knew! I waited there until Lydia and Jenna caught up. We all had a mini reunion and then off we went.
Mile 8-11 were on the highway, cool in a way. But UPHILL the whole time and it was curved too. This made it difficult. Jenna and I decided to walk some but I told Lydia to keep on going. Then Jenna and I started running and caught up to Lydia, but ended up passing her and kept going. Later, Jenna stopped running but said she'd catch up with me. I stopped a little after 10 miles to fix my feet and I saw Lydia. She came over to make sure I was ok. I asked her if she had seem my sister and she said no. I was a little worried because I though Lydia should have passed her. We had decided around the 8 mile mark that we would all stop and meet up at mile 13 to take a picture, so I decided to keep going, assuming that I'd see her later. I was alone on the course with no head phones, no cell phone, just me and myself. I was able to get inside my head and just enjoy the ride. I never really stopped to walk, just once in a while I would fix my feet. When we finally got off the highway a couple people cheered. That part was rough. We passed a mall and the seconded themed water station. The first was Christmas and people were dressed as elves, this one was a jungle theme. Very cute. I passed some golfers who were watching and I told them to hit a hole-in-one for me. I was feeling really good and when I saw the 13 mile marker I got excited! I was 1/2 way done. I looked for Lydia and I didn't see her. I didn't remember passing her, but maybe she went to the bathroom. I didn't see my sister either, but I figured she stopped. I waited for 5 minutes then decided to keep on going. I rounded the corner and saw Shannon. I was so excited I ran up to her and gave her a big hug. I don't think I had ever been that excited to see her. She told me Lydia had passed 6 minutes earlier! Damn it! If I didn't wait I could have seen her or caught up. Oh well. Still, no sign of Jenna. I was really worried that she got hurt. She really didn't train properly for this and I imaged her stopping back at a medical tent, having to quit. Or maybe she headed to the finish to meet up with me later. I asked Shannon to walk back to where we said we would meet. I keep running. We were started to go around Mission Bay. It was beautiful. On lookers were becoming fewer, but the overall energy was great. I was really alone and I didn't even have my iPod. I started to wish my parents were there. I questioned why the hell I came out to the west coast to run this. I wanted my parents there so badly, I would have given anything to see there faces on the side lines. I promised myself that the next one would be on the east coast so they could make it to my race.
It was so much fun to see the bands and people who were going crazy for us. I passed the a band that was playing Beatles covers. I would have loved to stay and watched them. I then passed the third themed station which was back to the future. Everyone was decked out in 80's gear and then the sign at the end said "back to the future->" Very clever. Someone passed out orange slices! So nice. We were going through neighborhoods at this point. It was nice to see all the families who were out cheering us on. I passed mile 15 and really, truly knew I would make it.
When I got to mile 16 I dedicated it to my grandmother who passed away Thanksgiving morning, 2008. She was born December 16th, so I figured it was appropriate. I said a prayer to her and felt her presence in that moment. I got to mile 17 and knew a GU station was coming up. I grab one and kept on going. I passed another themed station which was Maragaritaville. I would have volunteered there! Playing some great Jimmy Buffet songs! I was hoping for a margarita, but all I got was a sports drink. I grabbed a salt packet at a medical tent as well as some Tylenol.
One apartment had a sign that said "free beer for runners" and they were standing and handing them out. I opted out of the can and kept going. I got a tizzler from a kind and some more fruit along the way. Since I was in the back of the pack, you could see a lot of what had gone on. They were racking up all the cups and garbage people had thrown. At some point I could look over and see down town San Diego. I remember thinking "holy crap, I was there this morning!" I really started to see how far I had come. I passed 18 and 19 mile markers and was on a little island. Bridges were not my friend at that point. I made a comment about how much I hated the bridge to the guy next to me and he totally agreed. I stopped again to fix my shoe and saw a girl with two knee braces on. Some spectators asked how her knee was holding up and she said they were ok. I ask if she had done anything to them. She hadn't, they just started to hurt in the last couple of weeks. I told her that I tore my ACL a year and a half ago and that if I could do it, so could she! She said "I really have no excuse!" I hope I motivated her. I kept going. My calves were tight, and so were my quades. no amount of stretching was going to fix this though!Who ever put mile 20 on to of the 2nd bridge is a jerk. The miles got longer at this point. So much longer. I don't know how I made it through mile 21 and 22. The long straight away was long, and long and never ending. When I got to mile 22 a guy was standing on top of his RV yelling "you can do it, 4 more miles, its all down hill from here!" It was not all down hill from there. In fact, as I was going up the bridge to mile 23 I want to go back to find that liar and smack him! After 23 I stopped for the first time to use the little runners room. After that, I was on my way. Felt good and I knew I could run this last 5k. I FINALLY hit 24. Ok Jocelyn, lets do this. Two more miles!! my feet started to kill me for about the 15th time and I could see the 25 mile mark. I passed over it and said "ok, one more mile, lets stop to fix this so I can finish strong." I took off my shoe and noticed that one of my toes was back and blue around the outside and was definitely a blister. So THATS why I've been in so much pain! Alright Jocelyn, just grin and bare it. I put some some stuff on it, put my shoes on and was ready to ignore the pain.I should have taken off the second pair of sock earlier but I just didn't even think that my toes hurt because my shoes were tight! DUH! Oh well.
I picked up my pace some when I saw that I would be going into the base soon. The sexy army guys were there to welcome us in and told us that only .5 miles were left. I really picked up the pace. I was still looking in the crowd for Shannon and Jenna. No sign of them. I was also frantically looking for the finish line. When I turned a corner and went under an arch way I finally saw it. There it was! SO CLOSE . I don't remember where the 26 mile marker and frankly it didn't matter. I saw the finish. I ran towards it! Then I finally crossed the line!

http://www.rnrmarathon.com/home.html If you go there on the right hand since there is a video archive bottom. You can type in my bib number : 22221 and watch me cross the finish line. I threw my hands up for a second before a realized my hands seemed too heavy. I put them back down. I couldn't stop smiling!


Lydia was the first person I saw after I grossed the line. I ran up to her hugged her then bent over and started to cry, "I'm in so much pain." We went to the medical aid station and they popped two of my blisters. Then I went on with my a water. I got my medal. SOOOO HEAVY!!
Lydia and I posed together! Then we went on to gab some food. Turns out, my sister was still no where to be found! :( I was so worried! She called my parents using someones phone and they called Shannon. She told them that she was going to be at the medical tent near the family reunion area. Nope. we walked to another one, nope. I was kind of freaking out. We decided to get out checked back and while I was standing with Shannon, Lydia somehow found Jenna. Turns out Jenna was ahead of us! She finished 3 minutes before Lydia who finished 20 minutes before me! Jenna thought we had already finished and didn't care about her and left her. Silly girl. We were all worried!


We all got ice for our knees then walked to take the trolley back to the hotel. We showered and packed up. That shower was amazing. After I took my closes off I noticed that I chaffed soooo badly. I never had problems before so It was a surprise. Owe!

The toe on the left foot, second to the biggest is the one that was the blood blister. I'm pretty sure it will come off. Ew. We went out to eat at Chevy's and then took Jenna to the airport for her red-eye before driving back to NYC. When got to LAX and dropped Shannon off for her red-eye. Lydia and I went to Burbank to sleep at her grandmothers house before gong back to the airport the next morning to drop me off for my flight home.

On my lay over I finally got a beer. It was good but not as enjoyable as it would have been if I was with my girls.

Pink slippers were totally the way to go on the flights home. So comfy. I am actually not at sore as I thought I would be. Still limping, but its from my 12 blisters. I think only one toe doesn't have a blister on it. So hot. I wore the medal on the trip home, even though it was so extremely heavy. I was like a peacock, showing off to who ever I could. U just am so proud I can't help it. i wore it to work today too.
So what next for me? Another marathon! Duh! I'm looking into maybe one in the fall. Somewhere on the east coast, closer to home so my parents and friends can come watch - with out having to fly across the country. I wish I could have met some of you bloggers :( One day we will!
Jenna wants to blog about her journey and since her blog is more geared to random thoughts, I offered her my blog, so look for that soon. She wants to start training for another marathon with me! I love my sister so I'm excited to have yet another thing to share with her! She will probably start a running blog soon as well :D

It still hits me from time to time and I will text my parents and say "Guess what...I ran a marathon." Or I'll text my sister or Lydia and say "OMG we ran a marathon!" I get the same feeling all over again.


I can't wait for the next race!