I'm a horrible tourist...

I don't like living as a tourist, it's just not my style. So here's what my weekend looked like marathon weekend...

Saturday I went to the expo and at that point I was pretty sure if I did the marathon as a run/walk I could complete 26.2 miles! Those expos are good at one thing, pumping you up and getting you started on that runners high. I came home and talked to a few friends who reminded me that I was being foolish, but I think they used stronger wording. So I reluctantly decided to jump in at mile 14, because who doesn't run 12 miles without training (due to injuries I hadn't run in 2 months).

I ate lots of yummy carbs, drank more water than a fish and went to bed early. I woke up Sunday morning a little bit defeated that I wouldn't be at the start but still up for the challenge of whatever was ahead of me. Actually, if I'm going to be real, mostly defeated, I tried to go back to bed. Instead I went and met my friend Alyssa and her family and we set out to cheer on her sister Amy. We spotted her at the 4 miles mark and I thought this too might be a good spot to jump in...again Alyssa reminded me that I was being stupid...so alas a compromise, mile marker 10. So we sat in Starbucks, drank some more Gatorade, ate some more Cheerios and waited for Amy to make it to mile 10. When she did I jumped in and was off to the races...provided some encouragement and prayer and then was on my way.

I'm not really sure how to summarize the 16.2 miles that took place that morning. They were hot, and sometimes very painful. The course alert changed from green to red in less than an hour signaling that conditions had become extreme and dangerous. The visualization is probably my torn up feet and legs so sore I can barely walk. I've taken to "running" down stairs because it hurts too much to walk. One of my co-workers asked me why I do this to myself...my response...it's great when you are doing it, so great that it's worth all of this! All the cheers and the feeling of accomplishment, which I'm sure is much better if you actually run the whole thing. Bugger, I am a stubborn woman! Thankfully, I was able to get past that, I only ran the amount my body could handle that day and I am getting ready for take 2, Disney, January 9, 2011!

Thank you all for your amazing support, I'll post pictures soon!