Stop staring at my a$$ - san diego marathon part I

I am now officially a marathoner! Thank you everyone for your support and loyal (hint!) readership. I'm still waiting for some pictures so I thought I'd do a piece meal update.

The plan ride there was very unique. I have never known so many people personally on a plane (alliteration coincidental but doesnt make me any less cool) on a single day. With the exception of the first class seats, pretty much the entire plane was ours. There was a lot of ra-ra-ra and everyone was chanting "go team!".

trivia: how can you tell if a plane is carrying marathoners? As soon as the captain turns off the seatbelt light, everyone makes a bee-line for the loo. oh and when you're done, you just get back in the line :)

Sitting next to me was Ilana, a tnt mentor and a good friend. We talked Dave Matthews and the conflict in the middle east. It was a very enlightening conversation until my happy pills kicked in. Everything is a blur beyond that :) I think I dosed off for a bit.

Cut to the day before the run. I discovered a little late that I had been given a girl shirt. The plunging neckline and the form fitting shape still causes uncontrollable laughter amongst the fellow runners(namely Fawad) The only replacement was a triathalon shirt (sleeveless). Thanks to my macho-men-dont-need-sunscreen policy my arms are like crispy strips of bacon (turkey and halaal)...

We woke up at 3 am to get to the course before the city woke up. Didn't get a whole lot of sleep but that was too be expected. The run started out fun. As the clock started, the gun shot echoed and they began playing U2's "Its a beautiful day" and it was (initially!). There was a lot of energy and a lot of excitement. I was just done with my 4th of a total 9 restroom breaks on the course so everything looked set.

Now the rock 'n' roll marathon gets its name from the fact that there is a band almost every mile to pump you up (re: hanz und franz). The first band was appropriately dressed in boxers pyjamas and bathrobes and with coffee cups in hand (this was around 6.30 am) they bid us good luck.

The first couple of miles through the city (downtown area) went by pretty quickly. I tried to absorb as much as I could. San Diego welcomed us with open arms and a hearty cheer. It looked like everyone was out rooting for us. I had noticed the restroom lines were growing progressively longer so i decided to christen the bushes with my 5th.

Up until now I was running with Fawad, Sam (my mentor), Melodie and Claire. My servicing nature's call cost me around 15 - 20 minutes (this number may be different depending on where I tell this story - detail embellishments are a necessary evil). I caught up with Sam twice after this one. I think I should probably drink a little bit less now :) I saw Sean (tnt mentor and responsible for tntmarathon.com - thanks Sean!) a few times as well.

Runners are pure geniuses when it comes to T-shirt slogans, some of my favorites:
- stop staring at my ass. and naturally you have to start staring in order to stop
- wine bottle - 26 ounces, marathon - 26 miles, coincidence? I dont drink but it sounded funny :)
- superman and flash were also running putting to rest all doubts that superman although invincible and a veritable super-man still has his ass handed to him by mr. speedy. its the cape that does him in
- there was a guy without shoes dressed as tarzan. paaainful
- winning is a habbit
- front [SYN], back [ACK]

Stay tuned for some more updates, heroic stories, pictures and the exciting conclusion!

Here are some numbers:

- 20,000+ participants
- 6,000+ team in training people who raised a whopping $ 12 million for LLS
- The washington/alaska chapter raised over half a million buckazoids

aaaaaaaite?