Extraordinary Machine

It's a "Where's Stephanie?" picture.

As mentioned in the previous post, we went to Atlanta this weekend so I could take part in the Inagural ING Georgia Half-Marathon. Nick came along to play his typical roles as emotional supporter and cheerleader to help keep me going. Luckily, Nick and I were both able to get enough time off work to make it a 3-day weekend. Since we were arriving in Atlanta on Friday night, and the race wasn't until Sunday, we had an entire Saturday to explore downtown Atlanta.

First thing Saturday morning we headed to the Race Expo to pick up my race packet and get all the free stuff. The Expo was well organized and had tons of cool vendors like Mizuno, Saturn, Snickers, Cliff Bar, etc. After the Expo we were in dire need of food, and luckily we spotted some police officers who directed us over to the CNN Center's Food Court. Upon entering the CNN building we saw ads for CNN studio tours. Since we're avid CNN watchers and readers, we decided to purchase tickets for a tour to begin shortly after we ate a quick bite at Chic-Fil-A.

Of course, my true motivation for going on the CNN tour was my hopes of maybe catching a glimpse of Anderson Cooper. Unfortunately, I had to suffice with this poster of Anderson since we learned that he tapes his shows in NYC.

Outside the CNN Center was the Centennial Olympic Park. It is cherry blossom season, so we headed to the park to take some pictures and enjoy the atmosphere and the perfect weather. The Cherry Blossoms (sakura in Japanese) reminded us of our time in Sasebo, Japan.
Here's a great shot of downtown Atlanta with the Centennial Park in the foreground.

After spending the afternoon touring and walking around the sites, we decided to head back to the Hotel to relax before heading out for dinner. Now, we've got to tell you about our accomodations. . . which were amazing. We had the opportunity to stay at the Westin Peachtree Center located in the center of downtown Atlanta (and seen in the far left of the above picture). This is a 73-story, cylindrical hotel with great views and an even greater 'Heavenly' bed. We owe a great deal of thanks to my friend Melissa, also running the half-marathon, who hooked us up with a great deal on the room.

Following our catnap we were absolutely starving. Luckily our hotel was located directly across the street from the Hard Rock Cafe Atlanta. For those of you who don't already know, Nick and I have a tradition of eating at Hard Rock in each city we visit (with the last name Guittar, you gotta eat at Hard Rock). Our hope is to make it through all of them!

After dinner, we headed back to our room so I could gather my race stuff and make sure everything was there and ready to go.

I woke up at 5:15am to get ready. I didn't have to do much other than drink my Ensure for breakfast and make sure I went to the bathroom enough times not to have to use the Port-O-Potty's at the Start line or during the race. We underestimated how long it would take us to go down the elevator at 6:20am (race starts @7am). We overlooked the fact that there were other marathoners staying at our hotel as well. We still made it down to the lobby by 6:35am which we thought was enough time to walk the 4-5 block distance to the start. Mind you there are 15,000 participants in this race...which basically meant that MY start place was not where the start line was. The corrals wrapped around the street corner for a few blocks. We were so lost, we had no idea which direction we were going to run in. By this time, Nick and I had split so that he could get a head start walking over to the mile 2 marker to meet me later...photo opp. By chance, I ended up in the group that I needed to be in.

I didn't do my homework on the course purposely because I don't like to know where I'm at or where I'm going. I took a glimpse of the elevation chart a couple of times while training just so I knew to train for hills...which I didn't anyway BUT at least I knew to expect mile 6-7 which had a steep hill. I was a little scared when I overheard some runners at the Expo talk about the hills on the course but I figured at this point there's nothing I can do so "just do it!".

It was a great race. The weather was perfect for me. It was hilly especially towards the end. I felt bad for the Full marathoners because of the incline in the last stretch. I hated it and cursed it all the way up but I only did 13.1 miles (21K) ...so they had it twice as bad. I kept thinking "if this hill was flat I could kick its butt!". Surprisingly and I mean surprisingly, I kept my pace the entire race. I definitely experienced (or got reminded) of the tricks the mind plays on you.

After mile 10, I was hurting a bit. The declines took a toll on my knees and I was feeling it a lot! As you can see in the picture, I was signaling to Nick "Not so good" with my thumb. I really felt like I was running in slow motion, I had no idea that somehow my brain remembered and kept up my stride the same as it had before. I learned that I can do better even when I feel like I'm done.

As I ran through the last stretch of road towards the finish line, I heard sirens behind me and runners were told to move to the right. I thought an ambulance had to get through but I forgot that this had happened at the Nike Marathon race as well. It was the police and official car escort for the FULL marathon soon to be winner. Yes, I had not even finished my HALF marathon when Kenyan Joseph Chirlee RAN passed me. He crossed the finish line, running the full marathon in a record time of 2:19:17. As you can see below, he was too fast for the camera...amazing how they can sprint an entire marathon! The first female marathoner finished in 2:41:25.

I crossed the finish line, after posing for the camera a few times. Hopefully I'll get the token finish line photo (arms up in the air) this time. It was a personal record, I finished in 2:16:53 (reminder: I did a HALF marathon). In THEORY, if I were to keep that pace up in a full marathon I would beat my time by an hour and a half...not going to happen! But it's nice to imagine. I grabbed my medal, water and some ice for my knees and met up with Nick. I felt pretty good.

Once we got back to our room and I got in the shower, I remembered the words of the coach saying "the worst thing you can do is take a warm shower". I actually didn't remember until I did it and I started feeling every little pain in my legs. I asked Nick to get me some ice so I could take my ice bath. It is REALLY NOT as bad as it sounds IF properly done. I swear by it! It ensures that you are able to walk the next day. See, I'm still smiling!

Although I was a little stiff for the rest of the day (partially because of the long drive home), I am fine today SO it really works!

P.S. If you're wondering about the title...well Nick wrote part of the story and he named it. It's related to Fiona Apple's song and a little inside joke. I'm a "machine" when I run :)

P.S.S. A BIG Thank You to Nick who did an excellent job as cheerleader and photographer while I ran. He was so supportive, it made me feel "extraordinary".