And then I dropped my phone down the porta potty.

Yeah, I really did. Before the race started. It was in the pocket of my shorts, and when I pulled them down to go to the bathroom, the phone popped out...and went right down the hole. And the person before me had had some serious stomach issues. Not so cool, right? But what could I do? I had my gloves on, so I used toilet paper and picked it out, wanting to vomit all over the place. I cleaned it as best I could (the TNT tent gave me some more napkins), and then bolted over to the start, as it was about 6:58 for the 7:00 start (never mind that the gun didn't go off until 7:10).

So, not the best way to start the race. It didn't seem to bode very well, but I did everything I could to just forget about it and run, even though I kept imagining I was smelling shit all over the place.

The first couple of miles were really tight. I don't remember that last year, but maybe I just blocked it out. In any case, you couldn't even really dodge people because it was so jam-packed. So, I just ran with the crowd, and assumed it would open up soon.

And it did. By the third mile, I could run at my own pace.

From miles 3-14, I was running a slightly sub-9:00 pace, and felt great. Then, I hit the exit ramp at mile 14 and was noticeably slower for the first time, and then I could never really pick it up again. For the second half of the race, my pace ranged from 9:10-9:30. I knew I had quite a bit of time 'in the bank', but as the miles ticked by, I could tell it was getting closer and closer, and I wasn't going to be able to let up at all if I wanted to break 4.

And my thought? 'I'll be DAMNED if I ran this well all day to lose it by seconds at the very end', and so I pushed through it. The whole time, my breathing felt completely fine; I never went into the anaerobic zone. It was just my legs giving out muscularly by the end, which was to be expected. I'm in great cardio shape from all the spinning classes I teach, and I've been doing a decent amount of speed work, but my long runs were definitely minimal. So, how I ran made perfect sense.

It hurt. A lot. But, I felt in control the whole time. No outbursts of sobbing or projectile puke, and I kept a relatively even pace throughout.

It's hard to know if running a bit faster than I maybe should have during the first half was good or bad. I came across the half way mark at 1:57 and change, so it was a pretty accurate pace. Maybe though, running at 9:05 instead of 8:50 would have made me less sore by the end. Or maybe running 26.2m is always hard and you're going to slow down at the end no matter what. In any case, I was pretty happy with the way I ran--with both pacing and results.

I really didn't know if I had a sub-four in me right now, and I know it was only by 13 seconds, but it still counts.

And here's the dilemma, guys. It seems my results didn't go through. I've emailed everyone organizing the race, from God on down, and I've gotten some emails back saying they're looking into it. But, if my chip didn't work, then I just don't exist, which is a pretty big bummer.

However, I know I ran a 3:59, so I'm not going to worry about it too much if it doesn't work out. It's not like I was qualifying for anything, so whether or not my time is recorded in their little list doesn't matter all that much. I started my watch right on the start line, and I stopped it immediately after I finished. So, if anything, I actually ran a second or two faster. There's no way I was over 4 hours. So, it's all okay. Yeah, I'll be much happier if I can just see it in writing, but either way, I ran the race, and I ran under 4 hours.

So, all in all, a great birthday race. I was really concerned about the weather going into it (they were saying 35 and rainy), but it actually held out perfectly until after the race. I wore gloves the whole time, and a long sleeve shirt with shorts, and I felt completely comfortable. I never even felt hot, amazingly.

I brought my own Accelerade, which saved a bunch of time. After I finished my bottle (and the packet of Cliff Blocks I brought), I used the race's Gatorade and water, but actually ran through the stops. It was the first time I was able to do that (usually I have to stop and walk to get anything down), and so that skill will definitely help in the future.

My legs completely seized up the second I stopped, so I'm walking like some kind of handicapped-alien-equestrian right now. My thighs are insanely chaffed to the point of bleeding, and I have cuts all over my back where my water bottle rubbed against it. But it's worth it. More than worth it.

After the race, I went out for lunch with my aunt, and then went to visit a different aunt, uncle, and cousin for dinner. So, I was well fed, which is of course the most important part.

Oh, and my aunt owns a framing shop and she's going to make a shadow box frame for my medal as a birthday present. 26miles on my 26th birthday with .2 to grow on. And I ran a marathon in under 4 hours. Definitely something to be remembered.

I got lost on the way back home because I was really tired and driving like an idiot, but it was okay. Me and my poop phone just sat in the car and meandered our way back to New Jersey.

Now, I have the day here before I head back to Louisiana for Thanksgiving. It's snowing here (the first snow!), so I have to say I'm looking forward to a week in the south. I'll take lots of pictures and be totally annoying about the warm weather. Maybe I'll even go swimming. Outside.

Splits, for my Type-A kin...

mile 1- 9:48
mile 2- 9:24
mile 3- 8:57
mile 4- 8:56
mile 5- 8:54
mile 6-7- 17:49--8:54.5 pace (interestingly, I missed the 6m mark last year too--it must be hard to see)
mile 8- 8:48
mile 9- 8:24 (downhill)
mile 10- 9:04 (uphill)
mile 11- 8:46
mile 12- 8:54
mile 13- 8:55
mile 14- 8:58
mile 15- 9:11 (ramp)
mile 16- 9:18
mile 17- 9:19
mile 18- 9:18
mile 19- 9:15
mile 20- 9:14
mile 21- 9:19
mile 22- 9:27
mile 23- 9:34
mile 24- 9:26
mile 25- 9:32
mile 26- 9:16 (and I felt like I was BOOKING it)
mile 26.2- 1:50

total- 3:59:47 (doing a little dance...except not, because I couldn't move...but I was doing a little dance inside my head)

After the race, I tried to call my aunt because I didn't see her anywhere...and she answered but I couldn't hear her. You know why? Because there was SHIT embedded in the ear piece. Gross. I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and it's fine now. But damn, that's disgusting. Kind of makes my desire for an iPhone all that much stronger, you know? I was thinking of getting myself one for my birthday, but having $400 to spare isn't exactly in my vocabulary these days. And, it's just a phone, poop-filled or not.

Oh, just some quick changes about the course from last year. They changed the direction of the out and back in the second half of the race, so the ramp you have to go up is at mile 14-5 instead of 22-23...that was awesome. They also made some small changes at the mid-point of the race because they never split the half marathon off before mile 13. So, the full marathoners had to do an extra little loop in the oval to make up for the distance of the half marathoner's finishing shoot, if that makes any sense at all. I have to say, it was pretty tempting to just call it a day when the half people sprinted off to the finish...I kept it in control though, and continued on.

Once again, it was a great race. I really love the course, and I love running through a familiar city. It couldn't have been better, really.