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Mile 0
We park the car in the Bartlett High School start area and make our way with other eager, yet nervous, marathoners. There's Anastasia, with Lisa, Jessica, and Pam. Today is Anastasia's 30th birthday; what a way to celebrate it! Her party hat will stay on as long as she can stand it.
We mingle about the start line and reunite with other friends. With news of my accident of the previous week, I garner instant sympathy. Despite the troubles -- running, walking, or crawling, I will finish this marathon.
Mile 1
The countdown begins, backward from 10 to 1. "Happy New Year!" I shout, as if in Times Square. My watch is set for conservative intervals of three minutes running, three minutes walking -- again, just *finishing* is my goal. The first few minutes are a bottleneck; run a little bit, then walk a little, until people are spread out enough. With our early walking plan, we quickly become the tail end of the race. Oh well; I'm used to it.
Mile 1.5
Erin from the Peninsula team passes by... "we're barely at one mile!" she laments. My self-confidence is already flagging. I have to remind myself that it's far too early to predict what will happen, so keep a positive attitude...
A woman racewalking behind us joins up with us. We talk briefly; she is recovering from a knee injury, and is excited about her first marathon. Still, she quickly passes us and moves on.
Mile 2
The first water station. I happily lap it up, along with some ibuprofen. Unfortunately my chronic sinus problems occur on the same side of my head that was injured in the accident, so I feel severe pain all down the left side of my head. Hopefully this will pass.
Mile 4
Up and over the freeway on a bridge. It is here that the cute jingly BurmaShave-type roadside signs begin.
I approach the beginning of the overpass to be greeted by Coach Alphonzo, with a big high-five. On the other end of the bridge is Coach Chris. "Go Yools!" he shouts with a smile. I can only grimace in response, as my body has yet to feel good.
Mile 5
Off of the bike path paralleling the highway and into the "woods." We stick to our plan, other than a slight deviation allowing ourselves to walk up all of the big hill.
Here, we meet up with two fellow TNTers -- Dolores from the San Diego chapter, and Jessica from the LA chapter. These two young women had run all of their long runs together, and take pride in the fact that they know their pace well enough that they can run 20 miles without stopping to walk. Given that their pace yields about a 7.5 hour marathon, I admire these women.
Mile 6
For the first time, I extend a walking interval. The dizziness is getting to me a bit; I can't turn around too well. Moreover, something that I can't verbalize just isn't *right*. My legs are not quite lead-like, but I feel like I'm running on stumps already. *Something* just doesn't feel good.
On to Page 2 of the Alaskan Adventure!
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