The Really Long-Winded Race Report- San Diego Rock 'N' Roll Marathon 2005

***For some reason when writing my race report I felt the need to explain how and why I started running. It's a ramble, but you can always just skip down to the race part!

The Ramble:
After four months of training, I finally ran my marathon. It seems like that's all I've talked about since February when I signed up for Team In Training. But I guess it really all started further back- more like 2 years ago when Manuel invited me to go running with him. At that point in my life I hadn't gone running outside since junior high school track. My running since 8th grade consisted of 2 or 3 miles every now and then on the treadmill at the YMCA. I was definitely out of shape as far as running was concerned. Despite that I decided to go ahead and try to run with him. We went to Memorial park and started out slow and easy around the loop. It seemed like we were going really slow (it was actually around a 9 minute mile- I was clueless obviously!) so I went faster! We ran about 1 mile before I was totally dead. I had to stop while Manuel finished the rest of the 3 mile loop. Needless to say I felt pretty crappy about my overall level of fitness after that run. At that moment I decided my goal was to run the whole loop without stopping. 3 whole miles! I started going with him every other day to run and eventually I worked my way up to 2 miles without stopping and then finally 3 miles. For about a year I ran that same three miles every other day. I started to get bored! Then in October 2004 my office annouced it was sponsoring the Susan Komen Breast Cancer 5k in Houston. If we signed up the firm would pay our entry fee. So I decided to tackle a race for the first time! Manuel ran with me and we did the 5k in a painful 33:10:60. It was brutal. I was dehyrated before we started and just didn't know enough about running and preparation to actually perform well even though I had been running on my own for over a year. After that race I knew I could do better! So I figured out my hydration and energy needs and a month later ran my second ever race- another 5k- in 30:50:00. I felt great at the finish! After that 5k I set my sights on the Houston Half Marathon coming up in January 2005. I followed Hal Higdon's plan for beginners and it worked. I ran the Turkey Trot 10k (my 3rd ever race) in November in 59:36 and was on my way to the Houston Half. Right after the 10k I decided if I was able to finsihed the Half, I would go for a full marathon. Enter Phillip, my best friend from college. While I had been learning how to be a runner, Phillip was out running marathons for Team In Training out of Washington, DC. He told me about his races and about Team In Training and I decided if I made it though the half I would join TNT and run a marathon! I finished the Houston Half in 2:14 and 2 weeks later I was at the Kick Off party for TNT. When I got my training shirt and schedule I was SO EXCITED! I was going to run a marathon and raise money for a girl who really needed it while I was at it! A week after the Kick Off party, training began. Training was really fun- I really enjoyed meeting everyone involved with TNT. My coaches were kick ass. I learned to love getting up at 5am on Saturday mornings as we tried to squeeze in our mileage before the blazing heat of the Texas sun melted us all into puddles on Memorial Drive. I loved being able to run 14 miles because I knew cookies were waiting for me at the end. When we got to 21 and there was beer at the end- even better! I really can't express with words how GREAT the TNT program is and how happy I am I decided to join. I can't wait to do my next TNT event! Ok, finally.....on to the RACE!

The Race:
We left for San Diego Friday morning, June 3. They told us to be at the airport at 6:15 for our 7:40am flight. However, when we got there at 6:15am, there were only 4 people there (out of 30) and the rest straggled in as they pleased. Note for next time- get there before the plane leaves, but no need to be super early! As we waited for the plane, I was feeling pretty calm. I was tired because it was so early and a little unhappy b/c Manuel and I weren't able to get seats together on the plane. Everytime we travel we end up separated on the plane! Once we took off I went to sleep for a bit and then I read the new Runner's World. When we got to San Diego we had to wait for a while for the bus to take us to the hotel. The hotel was really nice. We stayed at theHotel Solamar. I've stayed at several Kimpton hotels and the room was very comfortable as I expected. The pool bar area was also pretty good. After we got checked in we walked over to the Expo to get out race packets. I picked up my bib #11159 and bought the Rock 'N' Roll champion chip. I wanted to get it since it was my first (of hopefully many) marathon. Now I need to do 30 races to make it worth the cost! Hehe! Anyway, we didn't check out the rest of the Expo b/c Manuel's parents were coming to our hotel. I was really itching to lolok around, but that would have to wait. We met his mom and dad and we drove up to La Jolla to see the cove area where Manuel swam when he was younger. There were a bunch of swimmers in the ocean doing laps and it was a really cool thing to see! I'm a sucky swimmer, so I was pretty impressed! After that we drove to Old Town and met my parents for dinner. I was a little freaked about what to eat/what not to eat, but I settled on some pasta with marinara and some bread. After dinner I went to bed early. Saturday morning I woke up to a really unpleasant surprise. Cramps from hell and the Aunt Flo that causes them once a month had arrived in full effect. This may be too much information, but when you're getting ready to run a marathon it's a HUGE factor. Ladies, you definitely understand! Anyway, I was SICK to my stomach like crazy all day Saturday and I couldn't take any of the medicine I usually take to stop the pain because it contains a strong diuretic and I couldn't purposely dehyrate myself the day before a marathon! We went to the Expo and finally hooked up with Phillip, but I was feeling horrible and starting to really stress out about being sick and trying to race. My mind was filled with doubts about my right IT band already and now this! I went to the pasta party, but on the way there I was not in a very good mood. I'm glad that we had the dinner because it was really inspiring and fun! They had huge projection screens with pictures of our honored patients and some great speakers including John "The Penguin" Bingham. I left feeling 100% better at least mentally afterwards. We got back to the hotel around 9pm, I did a quick blog, and hit the bed! I had to get up at 3:45am!
I set 3 alarms and woke up before any of them went off. Manuel was snoring away as I showered and got dressed. My stomach was still hurting a little, but nothing like the day before. This time it was more nerves than anything else! We headed downstairs around 4am and met my team. There was an exciting buzz in the hotel lobby. We finished getting ready- pinned on race numbers, drank water, put on TNT tattoos, and took photos like these:

Putting on my number- it's 4am here! Manuel looks sleepy!


The Team right before we headed to the start line!


Then we headed to the bus to take us to the start line. The bus was too full by the time it got to our hotel, so a couple of us had to wait for a second one. The bad part about that was it meant we got to the start only an hour before gun time and I was afraid I wouldn't have time to drink, eat and pee. When we got to the start I had a whole list of stuff to do- water, bagel, line to pee, dump my gear bag, find Phillip, get in the corral, GO! Once off the bus we ran to find a bagel and jumped in the pee line. I ate while in line. It took about 45 minutes to get through the pee line. As soon as I was done I ran over to my corral and in the huge throng of people I actually saw Phillip right away. He was wearing a bright green hat! We jumped on our corral and in a few minutes, BANG! we were off!
The first 4 miles ticked off easily. Phillip and I talked and cheered and "Go TEAM-ed!" and took in all the sights. There were bands every mile and people dressed in all kinds of running outfits. There were people wearing cargo shorts and cotton shirts with boots, Marines in their camies, men dressed as Elvis, a woman in a full on bikini, barefoot runners, and tons of TNT purple jerseys! It was really fun and exciting to hear everyone yell "Go Team" as we ran by. I had my name on my jersey- Cassie on the front; TIGGS on the back. People yelled my names over and over. It was GREAT! I was also wearing Texas Flag shorts so there were plenty of "GO TEXAS!" At mile 5, we rounded the bend and there on the corner were my parents and Manuel's parents. We jumped off the path for hugs and a quick photo (which I don't have a copy of yet) and then kept going. Manuel's mom called out "Manuel will be at mile 9!" as we sped away. Miles 6-8 were pretty standard. We cheered and just had fun. Mile 8 started the 3 mile uphill climb. This was not fun. Hills are murder on someone with IT band issues and to make matters worse, the road was totally slanted. We had to keep weaving from one side to the other to try and find a level spot. At mile 9 (still moving uphill) we saw Manuel. I jumped to the side for a picture (don't have it yet either!) and a quick kiss and we were off again. At mile 10 I saw my coach Brett and he jumped in and ran with us. We continued up the hill- my right IT band had started aching by now- and finally at mile 11 we started downhill. On the way down around mile 12 my right IT band had enough and my left was one starting to hurt as well and just past the half I checked my watch and saw we were over my previous half marathon time of 12:14 by about 10 minutes. At mile 14 we pulled off to stretch. My right leg was really hurting and my left was getting worse. When we started back up my fists were clentched so tightly in pain that I nearly drew blood. Once I got moving again the pain subsided a little. We kept going. My right IT band was throbbing and my left was aching. We kept going with me saying a lot of choice coloful words along the way! At mile 15 we had a little incline again and then coming down on 16 I felt something in my left knee that was unusual- like it had too much give or something. We stopped on the side of the road so I could stretch it and swear some more. We got going again- same fist clenching restart. Then at mile 19, another slight downhill, my left knee buckled and a sharp hot pain ran down my whole leg. I pulled to the side and started crying. It HURT like hell! At that point I had to decide- go to the medical tent and possibly drop or keep going. I didn't want to let myself or Phillip down, plus I was thinking of my family and Manuel and how disappointed they would be too if I didn't finish. One of my teammates passed me at this point and she could see I was in pain. "Be strong, You can do it." And just then Phillip picked up my wrist and held it in front my face. There was my white TNT hospital bracelet bearing Allyson, my honor patient's, name. He said, "Think about her." And so with a lot more colorful words from me and a ton more fist clenching we were off again. As we limped along I said, "Phillip I'm going to make it to the end, but we are probably going to have to go slow." To which he replied, "We not wining this by the way, so what does the time matter? All that matters is finishing. And we will! Even if I have to drag you by the hair over the line!" From miles 20-24 I just tried to zone out. I was really hurting, so for these fw miles I don't recall anything except swearing a lot and concentrating. I tried to walk a quarter mile and run the rest. As we were headed into mile 25 I remember asking Phillip how much further til the 25 mile mark and he kept saying "It's right up there" but he might have been fibbing a little! It seemed to take forever to get there. All during this time when Iwas zoned out I could hear people cheering for me- calling my name, shouting a "Go Team" or a "Go Texas" but I just couldn't respond. It really helped hearing them and during the previous parts of the race I had happily shouted back tons of thank yous! Now only sometimes could I barely manage a half wave in their direction. Once we passed into mile 26, I kept waiting to turn into the Marine base. I knew once we got inside we still had .4 to go, but the way the road bent you couldn't see how far it was ahead. I knew I wanted to run the whole way- no walking- once we passed into the base. As we neared the entrance up popped a girl with some gummy bears. I grabbed a handful and jammed them in my mouth and said "ok, this is it" and Phillip said "We're almost there you can do it!" So we ran into the base and I put my head up and kept looking straight ahead for the finish. We had to make a few turns and then there it was. The 26 mile marker and dead ahead the finish line! Only .2 to go! Suddenly I felt no pain- at least I don't remember it- and I pushed my chest out, head up and looked out at the huge crowd in the stands on each side of the lane. I could hear the announcer calling out names as finishers crossed the line. Not everyone got their name called- just a few here and there. Phillip and I looked at each other and he said "You made it!" and I held my hands up in the air, waved, smiled and crossed the line just as the announcer called "Congratulations Cassie Cowan!!!" I don't really remember doing all this (I do remember hearing my name!!!), but I did- you can see me doing it here!
Cassie Finishing the Marathon!!!

As soon as we crossed I said, "He called my name!" at the same time Phillip said, "He called your name. I've done this race four times and I've never had my name called!" I guess I looked like I needed it more than Phillip. He ran strong and painfree the whole race. He is my marathon hero!
Everyhing seemed to move really fast once we were over the line, but also like in slow motion. It's hard to explain. I could barely walk, but I hobbled over and got my medal. I don't remeber actually ever looking at it. I started to feel sick like I might throw up- my knees were killing me- but somehow I managed to smile for the race photos and pick up my gear bag and walk around a bit. I heard my dad call out to me from the other side of the fence, and I threw up a hand, but it was about 10 minutes before I actually went over there. I finally went over to sit down on the ground and take off my shoes. Sitting down helped the throw up feeling go away and even though I was hurting my mom says I had a huge grin. My mom handed me a purple rose through the fence and Manuel's mom gave me the Rock 'N' Roll Marathon panda stuffed animal. My mom is a nurse and she said, "You're really pale, do you need to throw up?" to which I said "Yeh, but no." Phllip came over- my mom had a rose for him- and he said he was proud of me and that I did great. We went to check in at the TNT tent and get our TNT 26.2 pins. The funny part is I have zero memory of what the finishers area looked like. I don't remeber seeing any booths, trucks, water or anything. I know it was all there b/c I got an orange, water and gatorade and my Spenco sandals to put on, but I don't remember seeing all this stuff set up. On the way over to the TNT tent I had to stop and sit down again- still felt like I need to throw up- and then finally we got our pins and plopped down to rest. I ate an orange and a banana and Phillip brought me cookies. He also tired to make me drink V8 juice, which on a normal day makes me want to gag! I settled on some more water, and then I really wanted a Coke. I normally hate Coke, but it was there and it was ice cold (#1 complaint was that the water and gatorade at the finish was HOT!!!), so I downed some of it and my sick stomach went away. We sat around for about an hour (seemed like 10 minutes to me) and then I went to the medical tent to get iced up before getting on the bus. My knees were both really swollen, but the left was HUGE. The medical tent folks looked it over, strapped ice to both knees and we got on the bus to the hotel. Once we got there Manny filled the tub with cold water and ice and I took the plunge. I was hungry so he went to get food and by the time he got back I was in the bed resting. After a steak quesadilla I was feeling great except for my knees. That night we went to the Victory party and even though I couldn't walk Phillip piggybacked me out to the dance floor and I did the zombie leg shuffle with him! Pain and all this race was awesome and very special and I am so glad I got to share it with Phillip! I'm also glad my family was there and I really can't wait to get healed up and do it again. TNT is an awesome program- if you're thinking of doing a marathon and aren't sure about it or need help getting started or if you're just looking for running buddies, I HIGHLY recommend getting involved with TNT. There is nothing better than being part of the TEAM!

I did it y'all! I'm a MARATHONER!!!