382.2

382.2 miles. That's how many miles I've run since August 6 when I began training for my Third marathon, which I ran on Sunday.

4:32:10 was how long it took me to run the 26.2 miles throughout Philadelphia.  4:30:00 was the goal I set for myself back in August when I started training.

It was a lofty goal, and I liked having a new challenge added to a race I had done twice, but honestly, I didn't think I would even come close to making it.

But sometimes, you just have a good run. And that's what happened on Sunday. More intensive training, a good understanding of how to hydrate and feed myself in a marathon, and a lot of hill work (training in Pittsburgh makes "hills" in Philadelphia seem quaint) certainly contributed to 4:32:10. But it was also just a great run.

I didn't stop or walk at all until after mile marker 16 - that's the longest I've ever run without walking before. Every time I checked my watch as I hit another mile marker, I remember thinking "I can't believe I'm still on pace! I can't believe I'm still running!"

In Manayunk, as we approached mile 20, I began bracing myself for the wall. The point in which your glycogen stores are totally depleted, and you begin cramping, your legs start seizing, and you generally feel exhausted.

Have you ever experienced your eyelashes and fingernails and teeth being tired? That's the level of fatigue you feel in the last leg of a marathon. Not to mention the parts of you actually involved in the run.

Instead, at mile 20, I experienced one of the most intense runner's high of my life.  Rather than feeling tired, I felt terrific. I ran back up the "hill" out of Manayunk towards Kelly drive for the final stretch with enough dopamine flooding my system to get me to mile 22 smiling.

When my legs did finally start cramping up at mile 24, I had less than a 5k left, and it's way easier to talk yourself through 2 miles of pain than 6 miles.  I started to slow down a bit, and crossed the finish line with not much left to give. And that's the goal in a race - to finish having used everything you've got.

I finished just 2 minutes over my goal time. Half an hour faster than I finished one year ago.

It's scary when you push yourself to the edge of yourself. Not just in running, in anything you do that is totally out of your comfort zone and away from anything familiar. But it is incredible and surprising what you are capable of when you do.

Skinny Jeans

Today at work, I stood up to refill my water bottle when Ian said, "Kels! You're wearing jeans!"

Which, I was.

"Yes..." I said.

"You just don't usually wear jeans," he stated.

Which is true. While it may have been months since I've had occasion to wear a suit, and while I could wear yoga pants to the office everyday if I wanted to, joining the start up world hasn't squashed my natural tendency to dress business casual.  I mean, if high school couldn't, probably nothing will.

"You know what's special about these jeans though?" I asked my fellow Threadheads.

They shrugged.

"I bought these jeans when I was 19, after backpacking across Europe for a month, during which I got skinny.  I am now able to wear them once a year, when I am about 3 weeks out from a marathon, as I am right now."

They all congratulated me on my skinny jeans status.

I know you're not supposed to keep the jeans that don't quite fit lying around making you feel bad about yourself, but let me just say that fitting into them makes the toenails lost during marathon training totally worth it.

26.2

On Sunday I had the amazing opportunity of checking off an item on my Life list.  I completed the Philadelphia marathon.

It was hard.  It was incredible.  It was totally and completely surreal.

I woke up energized and excited, which was awesome considering that for the 2 weeks prior, I was a nervous wreck.  The weather was perfect.  I had carbo loaded the night before.  I had loaded up my iphone with Girl Talk's latest album.  I was as ready as I was going to be.

We took off, and the first 8 miles flew by.  Around the museum, up through the city, down south street, by the zoo, we hit a hard hill around mile 9, but umm, I'm from Pittsburgh.

At mile 12 I started getting nervous again.  In one mile the half marathoners would be splitting off to finish.  The rest of us would be going on to complete the next 13.1 miles of the course.  I entertained the idea of just stopping at the half.  13.1 miles is still an accomplishment I reasoned.  I was starting to feel tired.  This was only half way.

But, as we came up on the museum for a second time, there were more people cheering, I grabbed some gummy bears from a bystander, and as I turned the corner towards mile 14, I saw my parents jumping up and down and waving. Sheryl Crow came on my ipod, and I continued down to the Schuylkill river.

Mile 15 I was feeling fatigued.  Or I was getting bored.  It's hard to tell at that point.  One of the best pieces of running advice I've ever got, and one that I frequently give, is to ask yourself if you can run one more step.  If you can, you're not tired, you're bored.  Keep going.  I grabbed some Gu, gave myself some short walking breaks, and kept going.

Around mile 17 it hit me.  "Oh my god!  I'm actually going to finish this!  I am really going to do this."  Mile 17 and 18 were fun.  It's entirely possible that I was just really high on endorphins at this point, but hey, that's one of the benefits of running.

The first cramp happened around mile 19, as we came up to Manayunk.  It wasn't the dull pain I had gotten used to on my long runs.  It was sharp and searing just above my knee in my thigh.  ow!  And then my calfs started clenching causing me to trip a bit.  ok, time to walk.

The final 6 miles were spent alternating walking and running, and are kind of a blur.  Finally we hit mile 25, the crowds picked up again, I saw my Mom and Dad again right before the finish line, and then, it was over.  The line was crossed, someone was slipping a medal around my neck, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh, cry, or fall over.

Since we're coming up on Thanksgiving, I'll do the thankful stuff now.  I'm so thankful that I could do this.  That my body stayed healthy, and strong, and I didn't get injured or sick.  I'm thankful for my amazing friends and family for their support, and encouragement, and for putting up with my incessant talking about running over the past few months.  I'm thankful for the other runners I've met and instantly bonded with, who gave me advice and told me I'd be ok.  I'm thankful that I work in an office where there is a shower so that I could run over my lunch break, and that I work for an organization which is flexible enough to let me go for a run over my lunch break.  I'm thankful for all of the people who cheered, and helped organize the race, and who volunteered.  Thanks.