Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon!!!

Full marathon - complete!! Nothing can compare to the feeling of crossing that finish line after 26.2 miles and 5 hours, 27 minutes, 46 seconds... This weekend has been absolutely incredible, I don't think I could've asked for a better experience! After months of preparation, anticipation, excitement, and anxiety, the big day has come and gone.

Getting to Seattle was a whole day's ordeal. My flight was out of LAX so I took a shuttle from Santa Barbara on Thursday morning. The views from the plane were incredible as we flew over the Cascades, passing Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, the Three Sisters, and Crater Lake. I finally arrived in Seattle and met my parents, who had flown in from Sacramento. We headed to my hotel, the W Seattle, which was absolutely amazing - it had such a retro, cool vibe. Our room was incredible, too - so luxurious! Sarah arrived with her mom later that night and we eagerly got some much needed sleep in our wonderfully comfortable beds : )

Mt. Rainier? I honestly don't know!

These beds were even better post-race : )

Friday we went to the Health & Fitness Expo at Qwest Field to pick up our race packet and bib and to browse the official race merchandise. We took our coaches' advice and didn't stay too long, but we didn't leave empty handed - Sarah and I both bought a race shirt for a souvenir and hats to wear during the race. Next we headed to Pike's Market with our parents for a quick lunch, and then it was back to the hotel for Sarah and I to rest our legs until dinner. I have to admit I was a little disappointed we couldn't explore more...it was such a beautiful day and I was really loving Seattle!
Friday night was the Team In Training Inspirational Pasta Dinner. While we loaded up on carbs we watched an inspiring slideshow of honored teammates who have conquered cancer, are still fighting, and those who sadly lost their battle. It was great to be reminded of why we were all there and who we were really running for. After dinner we had a couple of wonderful speakers. First was John "The Penguin" Bingham, author for Runner's World magazine and national spokesperson for LLS. John told us his story of how he became a runner after years of being a sef-proclaimed "couch potato". The great thing about John is that he truly represents to average runner, and proves that pretty much anyone can run a marathon if they set their mind to it. My favorite thing about him is that he proudly declares that he is slow - and couldn't care less! For him, it's all about enjoying the experience and crossing the finish line, no matter how long that may take. He pointed out that although the elite runners will finish the marathon before many of us are even halfway, none of them has ever run for as long as we will to finish our marathon.

The purple and green TNT crowd waiting for dinner.

Mmmmm carbs!!

The next speaker was meant to inspire us, which she certainly did, but not without bringing a tear to eye of everyone listening. The woman told us the story of her son, Luke, who was diagnosed with Leukemia when he was just a few years old and is still battling it. Her heart-wrenching story was followed by a wonderful slideshow of Luke and his family, a smile always on the little boy's face. You could easily see what the cancer had done to his little body, and imagine the struggles he'd been through. This became my mantra for the race: If they can fight cancer, I can run another mile. After a very emotional evening, Sarah and I were more than ready to head back to our hotel and get some sleep before our 3am wake-up call!!!

The "me" I layed out the night before so I wouldn't forget anything!

The big day was finally there! I woke up reluctantly when my alarm went off, not having slept very well thanks to all my nerves and excitement. We dressed carefully, making sure we had everything, and then headed up to our teammate Peter's room for team pictures. It was still dark out as we hopped on the shuttle and got to the Start area in Tukwila around 5am. Our team huddled together to stay warm while making frequent bathroom breaks along with every other nervous/anxious runner : ) When it finally neared 7am we all headed to our corrals, only to wait almost 50 minutes after the start gun went off to actually start! In fact, our corral was so far back we couldn't even see the start line!

GO TEAM!!!

Trying to stay warm!

My teammates and I waiting in Corral 27 to start.

Finally getting closer to the Start Line!

Things went quite well at the beginning, as I tried to get in my stride. Tom and I stuck together as planned and encouraged each other. The quaint little neighborhoods we ran through were so cute and many of the residents were out there cheering and offering there support. A unique feature of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series is that there are live bands every couple miles so we had some great entertainment along the way : ) From about mile 5-9 the course took us along the beautiful shores of Lake Washington with spectacular scenery! We saw my parents for the first time at mile 7 and it was just the encouragement I needed at that point. One of the highlights of the race was along this stretch - a bald eagle was perched in a tree right above the course! Tons of runners paused to take a quick pic - it cause quite the traffic jam! At that point my feet really started to ache, and would continue to do so throughout the race.

One of the bands entertaining us along the way.

Tom and I at mile 7!

My dad running with me for a minute at mile 7.

The famous bald eagle!

Miles 10-12 split the half and full marathoners and took the latter along a "floating" bridge over Lake Washington. It sounds much more fun and beautiful than it was - it was like running on a never-ending freeway! The bridge was like an optical illusion, the miles looking shorter or longer than they actually were. At that point it was really starting to warm up to I started pouring full cups of water on my head to keep me cool. Along the way Tom and I passed a woman whose shirt said she was a recent survivor - nothing like that to keep you moving forward : )

The next few miles got us to the halfway mark and then the course took us toward downtown Seattle where we met my parents again around mile 14. Then around mile 15 Tom began struggling from the heat and lack of fluids. He decided to walk a few miles so I reluctantly moved on ahead by myself. I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself for running almost half the marathon by myself. It definitely tested me mentally and physically. But honestly, it hurt more to walk so I had to keep running! Miles 17-19 were on a steady incline and were pretty difficult, but I just kept telling myself that at least the next few would be downhill! I started running with this old TNT runner, Stu, and had some great conversations with him about TNT, running, and life. We kept passing and catching each other all the way til the end! Passing the 20 mile marker was a weird feeling since that was the most I'd ever run up til that point. The next 6.2 miles would really be a mental test. Around mile 22 I spotted Sarah's mom, Karen, and her friend up above the freeway and that pushed me through another mile.

Tom and I at mile 14.

The view of Qwest Field heading back downtown on the highway.

And then there was miles 23-26. Not only did this stretch take us right past the Finish Line, but they continued on a long, straight road, right past a railroad depot, with no shade and awful scenery. Clearly not the best part of the race. Around this point Sarah and I met up and ran mile 25 together, both in shock that we were so close! The last half mile took us down a freeway offramp and into Qwest Field. Despite my throbbing feet, I started sprinting as fast as I could down that hill and toward the finish line. One of our mentors spotted me from the crowd and started running with me. I checked my watch and saw that I could make it under my goal of 5 hours, 30 minutes, so I kept pushing! As I neared the finish line I glanced at the sideline and saw some of my teammates and my parents cheering for me. And then I was there, arms raised, smile plastered on my face, emotions running high, body ready to collapse. AMAZING!!

Sarah and I trudging up the last incline at mile 25!

Laura running with me at the end!

Nothing like it.

After the race everything was a blur. Race officials gave me my medal, and then I hobbled over to the ice tent to ice my knees. Sarah finished just behind me and joined me at the recovery booth. Our parents finally found us and there were lots of hugs and pictures. Then we headed to the TNT tent to sign-out and relax with our teammates. Everyone from our team finished, even though a few had some challenges along the way. We couldn't be more proud of each other. Eventually we realized how tired we were and headed back to our hotel to clean up and nap.

My coveted medal!

My dad stretching out my sore muscles post-race.

I don't know if a shower has ever felt so amazing in my life...it was glorious! Despite being exhausted, napping wasn't as easy as I'd hoped. Every part of my body ached and throbbed, making it almost impossible to fall asleep. Eventually I napped a little and then we headed out to a team dinner at Mama's Mexican Restaurant. We enjoyed some much-deserved margaritas and stuffed ourselves with delicious food to replenish all the calories we'd burned. It really was a great night, with amazing people and good conversation. I couldn't have asked for a better team to experience this with.

The team celebrating at dinner!

Mmmmm margaritas!

That night Sarah and I spent our last night in our fabulous hotel, and then said goodbye to Seattle the next morning, which was in the midst of the wonderfully colorful and exuberant Pride Parade. Lucky for me I didn't head home right away. My mom and I headed to the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington to stay with my grandparents at their vacation home. It was just what I needed, a relaxing and peaceful week in a beautiful place.

Here are some statistics from race weekend:

- From the Greater LA Chapter, TNT had 59 athletes and raised over $289,559!

- Nationally TNT had 1,400 participants and raised $4 million!

- The event weekend saw 25,000 participants, 20,000 running/walking the half and only 5,000 running/walking the full

Instead of posting a lot of pics here, I decided to include the links to various photos.

Official Race Photos

Peter's Race Photos

My Race Photos

Dad's Photos Pre-Race

Dad's Marathon Photos

p.s. I have to say that I've been bitten by the running bug! I have several half marathons planned this year, starting with the Disneyland Half Marathon on September 6, 2009. Wish me luck! And once again, thank you all for tagging along on this wonderful journey and giving me so much encouragement and support!!