Goal Accomplished

Since I am writing this post, it must mean that I am still alive to tell the story, but barely.

Let's see, where do I begin...there are 3 words to describe the Big Sur International Marathon...hills, hills, hills. OK, so I didn't look at the course map or elevation before I signed up, nor did I read the many reviews warning runners that this is one of the toughest marathon courses. The only thing I saw was "the most beautiful course you'll ever run on"...and it was definitely that! Running right along the Pacific coast on Highway 1 from Big Sur up to Carmel with breathtaking views of the mountains and the ocean.

The day following the run, we drove the course to get some photos since I really didn't have a whole lot of time (or was in the right frame of mind) during the race to stop for photo ops. Here is one of the gorgeous views along the course...but all I could really see were hills.


Hurricane Point - a 2.2 mile uphill climb, or rather, 2.2 miles of pure torture on the legs to get to this point. The picture is deceiving...believe me, it was torture...almost as bad as waterboarding. On top of that, the road was banked (slanted) in many places since it was winding around mountains, so that made it even tougher to run on.


Bixby Bridge - the "resting" place after Hurricane Point. The scenery here was outstanding...again I only saw hills. They had a guy in a full tuxedo playing on a grand piano out here. That was pretty cool.

I'm coming in for the finish.


I made it! Official time is 4:23:48. My goal was 4:30 so I was quite happy. I found out that the first place guy finished in 2:32 which is the longest time since the marathon's inaugural year 24 years ago due to the fact that the wind this year was one of the worst...just my luck!


I look quite happy for someone who has just gone through torture. But what I was reeeaaaallly feeling was...

...THIS! Pure pain! The legs were extremely sore, not to mention aches in the back and neck. I felt like an old woman...and I maintained this feeling for the next two days!

So if you were to ask me if I would do it again...I would say to ask me again in a few weeks. It's still too early to make that assessment. This last photo still brings a twinge of pain to my quads.

Also, Scott and I celebrated our 12-year anniversary on this trip. The marathon was actually on the day of our anniversary. Luckily, we did some pre-run celebration on a wine tour through 6 different wineries. Hmmm....maybe this was the reason why I was so sore...