I can't wait for the marathon

So, yesterday, I did 21 miles and thought it was gonna kill me. Today I can't wait to do the marathon. Oh my gosh, I've lost my tiny mind!

I actually feel remarkably good today, physically and mentally. It was a nice cool day, and I rode my bike into work, which was really pleasant. When I got downtown a couple blocks from my building, I saw the Pants-On-Fire-Mobile slowly driving by. Too cool!

I can't wait to do the marathon partially because I want to know if I'm going to like that distance. Maybe I'll hate it. But I loved 19 miles. And I love the idea of having an excuse to travel other places.

Oh. In the spirit of full-disclosure about seeing my coworker yesterday... We had emailed each other on Friday, also known as the day before my 21 mile death march, and I had sent her this obnoxiously cheerful email about blisters and walking routes. I mean, I was little Mary sunshine.

And I was so not little Mary sunshine yesterday at 15 miles when I saw her, all perky in her street shoes and clothes. I was definitely not perky -- I had run out of water and sport drink, I was tired and in pain, and while I was wearing my most cheerful walking skort, I probably had my own black cloud on a string.

I thought about how I had said that you need to put the blister pads on your feet when you first start to feel the hot spot, and I thought about the fact that I had about 5 hot spots that I had been aware of for about 7 miles at that point. (And I had blister pads in my pack). I thought about the fact that I was wearing a Portland Marathon training shirt, and that perhaps that had jinxed me -- why had I tempted fate? And I was afraid she'd pass me, which she did -- here I was, having trained for months, to be passed by someone who had started training last month? Well, yes. I reminded myself that weight does make a difference in speed, and she weighs at least 100# less than me. And, that I had been walking 15 miles at that point. And, who am I kidding, I'm just not all that fast.

I'm not the only one who had my butt thoroughly kicked by the 21 miler. A big thread has developed on the PFit forum about who was the most miserable. The strange thing is that everyone can't wait for the marathon.