Catching Up.

In October 2010 I ran my first marathon. It was a wonderful experience and as I geared up for my second I started to think about upping my pace. I was feeling strong and doing some actual speed work on my own {previously unheard of}. Mikey and I had initial plans of running in the California International Marathon since it's known for being a fast course and could make the road to running Boston a bit quicker {no pun intended}.
Then, all of a sudden, we were enmeshed in planning a wedding. And getting married. And working. And then it was too late to sign up for the dang thing! We scrambled. Over four months of training was not about to go down the drain! We luckily found a marathon a week after the CA one was scheduled so our training plan would work out. 
Even better, It was in Tucson! My wonderful in-laws live in Phoenix so we made a weekend out of it. Things got somewhat hairy since we kind of unexpectedly moved the weekend prior to the race. The race was on December 11th which also meant that our Big Drive to Arizona for Christmas was lurking. We hunkered down, though, and flew to Phoenix on a Friday afternoon. Saturday we drove the two hours to Tucson and checked into our hotel. 

There were all sorts of neat-o southwest decorations on the grounds. 

Since land is so abundant and cheap in this part of out country most Hiltons and similar hotels are more resort like that not which usually means lots of space, golf courses and several swimming pools. And palm trees, apparently.

I loved the local fauna inspired iron cut-outs!

I also enjoyed the flora.

The gift shop proved to be quite enjoyable as well.

Tiny creatures!

I got my dad one of these rattlesnake coffee mugs; he has a thing for rattlers. 

"Go figure" and "To each his own" would be appropriate reactions in this situation. 

We found a fun Italian style restaurant that night and enjoyed dinner and TV in our room. One thing I adore about hotels is the beauty of having a room with two queen beds. One is for sleeping, as you might surmise, but the other can be reserved for eating and MTV watching; who cares about crumbs when no one sleeps in the bed?!
This marathon actually starts in the middle of the desert. Every runner is required to take the shuttle from the hotel since there is not plentiful parking in rural Sonoran Desert land. It was still quite dark when we arrived {shuttles left at 5:30 ish}.

That poor guy didn't ask to be in the picture.

As you may have learned at Miles and Laurel, that Saguaro is probably older than I am!

Unsuspecting runners. "We love downhill!"

There was some snow on the ground but it wasn't terribly cold and once you start running everything is hunky dory. If you knew me in my Minnesotan college days I'm sure you're thrilled to read how far I've come since those outdoor winter track practices. Let's just say that there were tears involved. Not no more y'all...not no more.

I was pumped up when we got ready to start. I had my sights set on Boston and running a great race that day. The first six miles implied just as much. I was running amazing miles. That should have been a warning sign y'all.
The interesting thing about this particular marathon is that it also is touted as a fast course. Why? Because the first six or so miles are down hill. To a non-runner that might sound delightful. To a delusional runner {myself} that could be great. But. BUT. Those miles were my downfall {pun entirely intended}. I was running so fast. It felt amazing. I was cruising and there were mostly men around me; I always use that as kind of a barometer when I'm racing...if there aren't very many women then I'm kind of tearing it up. That's not to sound sexist or whatever, it's just what-it-is when it comes to running.
Anyway. After those six glorious miles we hit the main highway. As much as I love the desert and cactus and sandy scenery, it can be boring. We had about one or two more miles on the highway and then did a loop around where Biosphere 2 is located. The end of this loop marked the 13.1 mile mark {half way} and that is precisely where I started to hurt. Badly. The impact of the downhill on my little leggies was such that I was having trouble even lifting up my feet since my quads were so exhausted from the pounding and fast pace I had been pushing earlier. Eating my Gu, drinking the Gatorade at various stops and my in-laws cheering me on at various places along the remaining 13.1 miles of said boring highway are what got me to the finish. 
Prior to this day I had never walked during a race. I had never even walked during a run. Ever. I've been running since 14 and I'm 28. That's a lot of running! In that second half, though, on December 11, I walked. I totally walked. And the walking made it worse. That's also something that I had never experienced either. The end of a run always signals relief but those walking respites hurt just as much as picking up my legs to continue shuffling along {it was not running at this point} and only made it harder to start up again. 
People who I had passed up at the start were now passing up yours truly. I was keeping track of my time and slowly watched as Boston slipped out of my grasp. It didn't bother me too much at the time {& still doesn't actually; there will be another race in the future...another try} since I kind of set the bar pretty low {just finish!} for most things I do. 
And finish I did. I still improved on my previous time {woot!} and my Mike ran in under four hours which is AWESOME for a first marathon.
We went back to the hotel and I made use of their "cold" tub which sits next to the hot tub and felt heavenly on my aching {ACHING} muscles. Driving back to Phoenix let me nap a bit. Miraculously we got on a plane early the next morning and with the help of a local taxi company I actually made it to work in time to teach my first class {and four others}.
All in all it was a good experience. My husband was able to run his first 26.2 and do super well and we had a fun visit with family. My knees, though, might tell you otherwise. This race is why I've been out of commission since then and according to my physical therapist it is most definitely that down hill that triggered my knee pain. That and a left leg that is slightly weaker than the right. I've been slogging along with me at-home exercises and even ran for a whopping six minutes with no pain last week before the drama-rama with my grammy happened.
Things have calmed a bit {knock on wood} and I've been doing the rehabilitation for a few days again now...hopefully some miles are in my near future.
Oh man I'm glad I got this out; it's been almost four months but I wanted to be able to actually think about it and some free time on a Friday was just what I needed.

So happy!

Boy were we GLAD to be done; ha! I'll keep y'all {me} updated on my running {or lack thereof} progress if it gets to be interesting {beyond six minutes} anytime soon.
Good weekend {& Palm Sunday} to you!
 xoxo, natty ♥