My First Marathon- A Runners Journey Part One I DID IT! I ran my first marathon!

I cant tell you how happy, relieved, glad, sad, tired, and a whole other range of emotions I feel now that it is finally done. I started my marathon journey before I even knew I was going to run one! Its hard to believe that 11 months after I ran my first half marathon; I ran my first full, real deal, 26.2 mile marathon! Heres my marathon journey I started training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in May of 2012. That probably seems early to start training for a race, but initially I had no idea which race I was really going to do, so I figured I had just better start so I could be prepared. Sometime at the end of December I also signed up for this crazy challenge to do 1,000 miles in 2013 the Moon Jogger Challenge! Between training for my first half and starting this new challenge, I was determined to get my miles in to reach my goal. At this point, running a marathon was the furthest, absolute furthest thing from my mind. I completed the Princess Half, then did my second half (IronGirl Half in Clearwater) in April. Somewhere in between Princess and the IronGirl I got caught up in the excitement and chatter of the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend and race registration. So many of my runner friends had already done marathons, and I thought it was the next logical step in my evolution as a runner. I had done 13.1! What was another 13.1 on top of the other 13.1 to run all in the same day for 26.2 miles total? As I type this I realize how insane I was. Somebody shouldve restrained me! At any rate, for some reason I was really confident that I could do this! Oprah did it. Katie Holmes did it. P. Diddy did it. Ryan Reynolds did it! If these celebrities, with their personal trainers and personal chefs could do it, then so could I! On April 3, I took the leap, the craziest leap I have taken in a long time, and signed up for my very first marathon! I told myself, Oh, this will be a one and done and what better race than a Disney race for my first and only marathon?! I told Jim about my crazy plan. I even asked him if he wanted to do it with me and he said No Way! Probably a week or so later Jim and I were talking about it again and he asked me, So if you do this one, youre not going to do another one? This will be a one and done, right? I said yes. He said sign me up too, then. Yay! I had my
Ryan Gossling hasnt run a marathon as far as I know, but I had to include this meme. Too funny!

racing buddy. This was in April; I still had the Disneyland and Space Coast Half Marathons to complete, plus my 1,000 Moon Jogger Challenge to complete before the end of the year. My training was in high gear. I was averaging roughly 20 miles a week, sometimes more; in order to make the 80 I needed per month to meet 1,000 miles by December 31. Even though I had signed up for the marathon, the longer runs (runs I had never attempted before) werent going to kick in till October. Because I was alre ady training for 2 half marathons, I just kept at it. I trained through the worst parts of the summer in Florida. I would get up at 4 in the morning on my long run days just to beat the heat and humidity. During the week Id still get up early to run so that I could make it to work on time. The summer was brutal, but I had 2 major accomplishments. I ran my fastest 10k and half marathon times in August for the Full Sturgeon Moon Home Run Challenge!!! I ran the 10k in 1:07:21 (10:52 mm) and the half in 2:48:24 (12:51 mm). For me that was such a huge accomplishment, especially for August in Florida! All this time, my goal was to get down to a 2:30 half marathon time. By the time October rolled around I was super confident that I was going to meet my goal. I was really feeling great. On October 25, I ran my fastest 10 miler in 1:52:29 (11:14 mm). At the end of this run I was both excited but extremely frustrated and upset. I was excited because if I could maintain an 11:14 mm pace for Space Coast, I would come in well under my goal of 2:30! I was upset because at the end of this run, I had this really bad pain in my left foot. It got so bad that it was painful just to walk. I knew something was wrong.

Just a couple of the texts I sent to Carol Lee during my long runs. As you can see, I get pretty crazy around mile 16. I have to thank Carol Lee for being such a good friend and dealing with me and all my crazy marathon talk during training. I also have to thank Jim for physically putting up with me during my crazy miles. Not sure whats worse, having to deal with me in person or via text.

I made an appointment to see my sports doctor and he told me that I couldnt run for an eternity!! Ok, it wasnt really an eternity. It was just a week, but it sounded to me like he said an eternity! That was devastating. I had made so much progress and I could see my goal time slip away. So I waited, a whole eternity before I could run again. Exactly a week later I went out for a 3 mile run. I was determined to run fast, which I should not have done, but I did it anyway because I was scared I had lost it. I ended up running 3 miles at 10 mm and at the end of this run my foot was STILL in pain! Back to the doctor, but this time he said no running for 3 more weeks!!! Ugh I just wanted to crawl under a rock! I told him about all my races coming up and he told me to reevaluate my goals! I was in panic mode! What about Space Coast? What about the marathon? Am I going to have to defer? I did all this training, I dont want to defer! Bye, bye Space Coast PR. At this point I had just started doing the longer training runs for the marathon. I ran a 15 miler that did not go well (ran this one at 15 mm) and a 17 miler that I was very happy with (13 mm). There was nothing I could do but to sit it out and wait for my foot to heal. Fortunately I didnt have a fracture, strain or sprain. My This was the plan I jotted down for my last long doctor told me my injury was simply from overuse. I think I runs. Got help from Carol Lee and Jim. also heard him say that I was a badass and totally awesome, but needed to take a break and let myself heal. For the month of November, I didnt run at all. I rode my bike to try and maintain my car dio, but it just wasnt the same. Id get mad riding my bike because Id ride 6 miles in 30 minutes. All I could think was Man I wish I could run that fast! The month dragged on and finally Thanksgiving was here! That meant I could run again! After a month off, I wasnt sure how I was going to do at Space Coast, let alone get in the last few long training runs that I needed before the marathon. Needless to say, Space Coast was a challenge. Having a month off definitely affected my time and endurance, even with all those bike rides. I was fortunate to have one of my runner buddies with me during Space Coast, Carol Lee, who is also a Moon Jogger and a Princess. She helped me get through that run and without her singing and pushing me I wouldnt have made it in under 3 hours. I worked out my December long runs which got me running to 20 miles. I was ok with that, but still had problems. While it was much nicer getting up at 4 am for a 15 plus mile run in

Me and my own personal Cheerleader! Carol Lee and me are waiting for Space Coast to start!

December, I didnt have much luck at all with any of my long runs. Ill be honest, they were horrible. Usually on my long runs, right around mile 15-16 I think is when I hit my wall. I just feel like Ive had enough. I get angry, and start cussing, and I judge other runners as they run by me with all their energy. I know they arent running as far as me, not running like that! They arent out as early as I am either! These are the bad miles for me. Everything hurts at that point. Im sweaty, Im chafed, Im hungry and thirsty and I just want to be done. At this point I also yell at myself. I say Youre never doing this again! This was a very stupid idea! Never again! Of course all of this dialog is internal. I would never say any of this to a fellow runner out there trying to do their best on a run, no matter how many miles. During one of my 20 mile runs, I was at my wall mile and had no idea how I was going to be able to finish. I sent a text to Carol Lee ranting about being done and ever doing this again and she told me Youve only got a 5k left. You can do this! With that, I was off again. It hurt like heck, but she was right. It was only 3.1 miles and I was done. I risked running with BOTH earbuds in to finish that last 5k. Dont worry, it was daylight and I was on the sidewalk. I completed all my training runs and got down to the final week before the marathon. I was a bundle of nerves. On my last long run I felt a tweak, and the slightest niggle in my knee. So I decided it would be best for me to completely taper before the marathon to make sure my knee was going to be ok. I had to go out of town for a business meeting and everyone at the meeting kept asking are you ready, how come youre not drinking any beer, are you eating a lot of carbs?, what does taper mean and why arent you running and my favorite why in the world would you run 26 miles!? Needless to say while I appreciate the support of my coworkers, they didnt help much with my nerves. I had to leave the business meeting early so that I could make it home in time for the 10k. Another silly move considering my flight from This group looks like nothing but trouble! At Space Coast: L-R. Carolyn, TJ, Vicky, Tina, Jim, Carol Lee and our fearless leader, Dallas didnt get in to Orlando till around Angie! 11:30, I had to get my bags and by the time I got home and to bed it was 1 am. I had an hour sleep and had to get up at 2 am so I could do my morning ritual, get dressed for the 10k then head out the door for Disney. I was super tired but I did it and got some much needed rest.

This takes us up to the day before the marathon, but I have decided that this article probably needs to be broken down into 2 parts because its already pretty long and you probably have to go out for a run! I hope this isnt too much of a cliff hanger for you!! Ill go into detail in next months article about the day of the marathon and all the craziness that ensued. Thanks so much for reading! Stay tuned

End of the 10k. I conserved my energy for the Full and finished this race in 1:27.

Tina lives in Orlando with her husband, Jim. When shes not jet setting across the country with her job or running, or training for a race, or recovering from a race, she enjoys reading, photography, movies, music and going to Disney!!