I did the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on Sunday, June 3rd.

My goal was sub-3. Based on my training runs, I knew I’d finish close to the three hour mark – whether it would be just under or just over was the $64,000 question.

I knew that finishing at 3:00:00 equated to a 6:52/mile average, so my plan was to try to go out easy the first mile or two – maybe 7:00 pace or thereabouts, and then to gradually pick up the pace.

Reigning in the adrenaline at the start turned out to be much harder than I anticipated. I started in the first corral and everyone around me took off surprisingly fast. The energy at the start of this race is something special. That, combined with the normal pre-race adrenaline made it impossible to run a 7:00 first mile. The first mile passed in about 6:10. It felt effortless. Second mile was about 6:12. The first five miles averaged 6:19 – effortless still. The speed surprised and concerned me a little, but I felt so good I decided to maintain whatever pace I felt like running, with the hope that I could hang on through the last few miles.

I passed the 10K timing mat in 39:30, which is two seconds faster than my first 10K, which I’d done in March of ’06. I passed the halfway mark in 1:25:37 (6:32/mile), which is 1:21 faster than my first half mary, which I did in October of ’06. I passed 21 miles in 2:19:15, so my pace between miles 13.1 and 21 had eased to 6:47/mile.

After the halfway point, I began to hurt – no surprises there – I knew the last nine miles or so would be awful. Luckily I had no GI problems, no cramping, no dehydration, no bonking, no "wall" – just regular old pain, which steadily got worse. I told myself again and again, “the pain is only temporary – the memories are forever.” I knew I would never do a marathon again, so it was important to make this a good one.

The last five miles seemed interminable. The crowd, volunteers, cheerleaders, and bands were amazing – so inspiring! I’d never done a race where so many complete strangers cheered for me. I can hardly express the emotion of the last mile of this race. At about mile 25.5 I entered the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot, a beautiful and historic base where thousands of spectators, volunteers, and Marines cheered for all of us. The pain and emotion was so great I could only continue by yelling, cheering on other runners, and crying a little :).

I finished in 2:57:36, averaging 7:23/mile the last 5.2 miles and 6:47/mile overall.

This is a special race to me for many reasons. Among them – there were Marines and sailors who had been stationed in San Diego who were simultaneously running marathons in Afghanistan, Iraq, and on two carriers at sea. I often thought about my older sister, who, having been sick and not trained much, still gutted out a 3:47:46.

I couldn’t be happier with the experience – I didn’t enjoy the training much, but I’m very glad to have done a marathon, and even more glad I won’t ever have to revisit this goal. I love this event though, and look forward to volunteering at it in the future.