Erin Go Run

The winds were with me that day, as I embarked on the best marathon of my life to date. As discouraged as I was from the La Jolla Half Marathon (stopping twice, finishing slower than I had hoped), I never expected to run as I did. The preparations made for this race had been the same as those of my wild college days; drinking, little sleep, little running. The only difference is that I am in nowhere near as good a shape as back then and that my body can’t handle the same carelessness as before.

Previously that week, I had discussed various components of the race with co-worker Gaia, and the possible effects they could have on our performance. I had also tried as hard as I could to not make a time goal for myself, in order to save any possible joy at the finish line. These race factors included coffee/caffeine beforehand and the fact that I would be celebrating my birthday the day before with an annual Beer Pong tournament. So, as expected, I maintained a buzz until about 10pm and then stayed up until past 3am. Then, getting an hour-and-a-half of sleep, made some coffee and headed for the race…..

… the race of my life (to date). Finishing with a clock time of 3:22:09, I came in 455th place (out of about 16,500), 56th female, and 12th in my age division. And for your reading pleasure, I am going to break up the marathon into miles so that you can all experience a thrilling performance vicariously through mine. Enjoy…

Mile 1  split: 8:05 marathon time: 8:05

Mentally preparing for this race was not done as I typically do… I was mentally preparing for another SD rock and roll defeat. Waking up after my nap (hour and a half sleep) and drinking coffe were the first things. I managed to beat traffic and the porto potty lines. After those, I felt like, maybe I will have a good race? But then quickly diverted any positive thoughts into Stop worrying about it, just run. And so I did. I maintained a steady pace and took in the excitement of other runners around me as I began taking off from corral #3. Just cruise Erin, maintain this- it’s gonna be a long run.