Marathon Days

Days 61 – 50 (4/22-5/3) of the T-90 Project:

For the last week I’ve been in California and therefore unable to continue my New York City U-Haul list. Tonight the mission to try new things each day before I move west continues with FTDC at Gotham Bar and Grill. An old friend once called it his favorite restaurant in the entire city and since then I’ve been intrigued to discover why.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a few photos from my trip.

To those who were losing sleep wondering if I finished the marathon, I did finish it, though not without pain and experiencing every emotion known to man within the span of our 4 hours and 31 minutes on the hills of Big Sur. I was nothing but hyper-excited smiles in the beginning and I was a weepy, weary mess at the finish line. I hugged my mom and the relief and agony just exploded via my tear ducts.

We went out like champs, holding sub-9:30-minute miles for the first 20, and then I hit the Big Sur wall. I cried because the pain was so unbearable until I was picked up by not only MaineMan (who barely broke a sweat), but by strangers we met along the way. One father and son team approached me after for a hug at the finish area and thanked me for the cheering. I in turn thanked the dad because it was his words, “Just put one foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other,” that got me running from a crippled walk somewhere during mile 23.

Congratulations to all those who did any distance of the race, especially to my parents and their friends for completing the 10.6-mile walk with a blazing time, my brother for finishing the entire 26.2 even though he was only supposed to run the first leg of a relay and to MaineMan for insisting on running by my side throughout the entire race, despite my trying to push him off to a faster finish.