We made it! After 18 weeks of training, we ran our race and crossed the finish line! What a fun trip! We got into San Diego Friday afternoon, checked into our hotel (which had a patio with a grill), then went downtown to the convention center to pick up our race packets. We were able to go to a Padres game that night- where Matt was seen shakin it on the jumbo tron, then spent Saturday on the Coronado Beach which was absolutely fabulous (minus the sunburns) before our big day. The husbands made us dinner at the hotel (grilled chicken, pasta, and salad) the night before, and we were so relaxed from spending a day at the beach that we were all in bed by 9!
The race info said that we should be there at least 1 hour before the start, so we woke up at 4:15 that morning and the husbands drove us to the airport where there was a shuttle for runners to the start line. We had bumper to bumper traffic at 4:30 in the morning on the interstate! But we are married to men with skills, so they took some side roads and had us there on time. The race itself was amazing. I've never seen anything like it. The website said over 30,000 people had signed up, so it was CRAZY! We stood in line for the port-a-potties for an hour before the race and actually missed our start! The race started at 6:15 in the morning, then they let a wave go every 2 minutes. Our wave was supposed to be 19, but we started with wave 23. Lucky for us you could start in any wave after, you just couldn't move up without being authorized.
The men went back to the hotel after they dropped us off and had breakfast, and we had signed up for runner tracking (the best $5 Tasha ever spent) so they got a text every time we passed the check points. We had chips tied to our shoe laces that tracked our time, so when we crossed the checkpoints it sent a text. This helped them plan where they wanted to be to cheer for us. I thought with all the craziness that it would be a long shot to see them along the course, but we got to see them 3 times - once at mile 12, then mile 22 and 25 (the last spot we ran past twice). There were bands all along the course, and cheerleading squads, and tons of spectators. Lots of people had made great posters- "your perspiration is our inspiration" "the pain you feel now is nothing compared to the pain of quitting" and my favorite "worst parade ever". My favorite shirts said "is my celluite gone yet?" and "still waiting for my runner's high (and this is my 4th marathon)".
I thought I would cry when we finished, but I ended up crying at the beginning, middle, and end. I cried at the beginning because it was so cool that we were finally here, and I almost cried towards the end because I was starting to get overwhelmed and I was just plain done running, I cried when I watched my friend Jamie cross the finish line because I knew how much she was hurting, and I cried in the middle of the race because of the runners doing "team in training". These runners were raising money for the leukemia and lymphoma society. The race was a fundraiser for the leukemia and lymphoma society, and it was awesome to so many people running with pictures on their shirts in memory and honor of their loved ones (they are the ones in the pictures with the purple shirts on). One guy had a picture of a little girl on the back of his shirt and below it said "Cancer Sucks". I couldn't work up the courage to ask him who the little girl was because I knew if he said it was his daughter I would lose it. It helped me remember that I have so much to be thankful for.
You can click on the links below to see some of our photos. The finish line links have pics from the race photographers so I'm not sure how long they will be available, but they also have videos of us crossing the finish line. The slide show is made up of our personal pics from the weekend.
So what's next for these 3 crazy runners? Well, Tasha has her eyes on another marathon, I am considering one, and Jamie has sworn the full length off forever :) We do have our eyes on a triathalon- maybe next summer, and some 1/2's so stay tuned and we'll keep you posted! Thank you so much to our husbands - thanks for watching the kids, thanks for cheering us on, thanks for believing we could do it- we would've never made it without you.
~love, the Part Time Sugar Mommas
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