Surf City Marathon - First and Last?

Four months ago two girls somehow convinced me to sign up for a marathon. I have never aspired to do a marathon because I'm not that into running. Of course, running is part of triathlon, but at least the race is spread out between three different activities. A marathon is just running...for hours. I signed myself and Skyler up.

Ok, so I'm signed up for a marathon. Not only do I have to run 26.2 miles, but I also have to train for it. I didn't even think about that part! Carrie, Kelly, and I devoted ourselves to training correctly. We got together and ran once a week. The first week we started with a distance of 13.1 miles and then we increased every week. We worked up to 20 miles three weeks before the race and then starting tapering.

The day before the race comes and it's pouring rain! Although the weather forecasts show no rain for race day, I was still a little nervous. Of course my worrying was all for nothing. It was a beautiful day in Huntington Beach!

I have to preface these pictures with a disclaimer: Carrie and Kelly made me do it! When they first mentioned that we would be wearing sparkly running skirts I was definitely not into it. I think running skirts are silly, but they said these would be different. I agreed (because they are my friends) and I must admit that I love my skirt! We got hundreds and hundreds of compliments on them during the race. We may have started something...

Skyler

I love this photo of Carrie and I because we both have these huge smiles. This was taken around mile 16, just a few miles before we hit the wall.

Kelly

Tamra

Brenna

Donny

Our cheerleaders! I just noticed that one of their signs says "Don't get grumpy (please)".

Team Sparkle (post-race)

Skyler impressed me the most out of anyone! Every time I saw him during the race he was running faster than his goal time. He managed to beat his goal time by one minute (3:35).

This was the most fun race that I've ever done and I know exactly why. This was the first race where I've gotten to race with my friends by my side. We spent the first 10 miles laughing and having a fun time. (The rest of the race was spent in silent suffering, but we finished nonetheless.)

My official time was 4:03. I had hoped to finish in under four hours, but let me tell you that "the wall" that everyone talks about is a real thing. I hit it at about mile 22. Somehow I managed to keep running and still finish with a decent time. I never stopped running.


After two days of waiting for my legs to move normal again, a professional massage, a soak in a hot tub, and lots of Icy Hot, my legs aren't hating me as much anymore. Despite the pain, my two crazy friends are already talking about the next marathon. I told them I'm never doing one again, but somehow I think they'll convince me otherwise.

I'm officially patting ourselves on our back. Hope you don't mind.