Marathon day! Woke up at 7:20AM, went down stairs to have breakfast. The breakfast was huge—danishes, toast, jams, Nutella, all kinds of meats, cheeses, lots of fruit (whole and sliced), eggs (scrambled with cheese in it), meat sandwiches, tons of bread, cooked meats, hard boiled eggs, cereals, yogurt, juices/coffee/tea/cappuccino maker—really way too many options. Emily stayed sleeping so I ate alone, but two other racers were at breakfast as well. They wished me Buena suerte and I wished it back. I ate 2 slices of toast with Nutella, 2 yogurts, some scrambled eggs, a piece of melon, peaches, banana and special k cereal. That should hold me over for 26.2 miles right? Lol. Then I went back upstairs, got dressed, and warmed up in the hallway. Got my bib on, put on anti-chaffing glide, took my picture, and was out the door. It was a bit nippy, 46 degrees to start. It was only 3 blocks to the starting line which was perfect and I was warm by then. I had to squeeze into line, there were so many people trying to fit in between the two fences. While standing and waiting for the race to begin, I met two girls from Sweden and the UK. They spoke English so we talked and motivated each other. Once the race started, it was about 5-6 minutes before I actually moved. It was a very slow process to inch forward. I was very warm by this point because it was like being in a sardine can with all the people.

Crossing the starting line, I prayed and was off.

1-5K: The first 3 miles was rough, I want to say the most rough. It’s hard getting into the groove. My Achilles was hurting a little and the pacers were all a bit off so I was confused the pace I was running. However, from training and knowing my body/breathing I could pace myself and keep it consistent.

Once I set my pace, it was just one mile after another was passing. The course was beautiful and I tried to keep myself observing and enjoying the area around me. I heard the crowd shouting “Vamos (Lets go),” “Animo (Energy),” “Si, se puede (Yes you can),” “Vamos Chica (lets go girl).” The crowd was so supportive, especially the women. They would run to me and make eye contact and cheer me on. It was very motivating and inspiring.

6-26K: I coasted very well here, beautiful course—buildings/fountains/palaces/tons of spectators. I try to remind myself that I need to take in the scenery and look around, not just concentrate on breathing. I saw Emily cheering me on at 20K. At 28K (almost 17 miles), I had an urge to stop. I think it was just a mental break so I talked to myself, prayed, and kept one foot in front of the other. One step in front is one step closer Danielle, you got this and God is here with you.

I had great snacks along the course too. There were drinks or snacks every 5K. Water, powerade, bananas, had goo packets at 21K. Felt very well nutritionally along my run. I even brought sugar orange slices on me in case.

At the split where the half marathon/full marathon runner part, the half marathon runners literally turned to us and cheered us on. This gave me goose bumps and inspired me. They stopped to make sure they made eye contact with us and clap for us. There were all minds of supporters: kids, pets, old and young. There were even a few strollers in the race, a few wheelchairs, a hand-pedaled bike, even friends/spouses who hopped into the race, ran a few miles with their significant other and then drift out.

36K: I saw Emily and Mariterra (step daughter who lives in Madrid) and this is where I took my first break and walked. Walked for about 1K and then picked it back up to 38, and from there to 41 I run/walked on and off then ran the rest. The people in the streets were cheering me on the whole time, people got really close to me while I’m running and were supportive. Sometimes I didn’t know what they were saying, but very motivating. The clean-up crew was just phenomenal-people were always making sure everything was cleaned up, even the runners would throw their cups in the trash rather than the ground. Runners would even run out of the way to throw out their trash in a garbage can.

The hills were hard. I got to one hill and I had to talk to myself, I was like “Are you kidding me?” I really couldn’t take anymore, but kept one foot in front of the other. A part of the race went into this forestry area. This was much appreciated because it was getting hot by the end of the race. It was such good oxygen and shade for a few miles.

Last bit was a little confusing---so many arches to run under, I think there were 5 for the last 1/2K—when I saw the first arch I thought I was done. But nope, there was another 4 to go through. I just wanted to be done. I finally made, goose bumps and all, thanking God for being with my throughout the whole race and making the finish line with no injuries. I finished in 4 hrs 52 minutes! I received my medal (boy it was much heavier than I thought-had to lift it off my chest because I felt so heavy to begin with) and then they handed me a bag of food-chocolate cake, granola bar/water bottle/powerade to refuel. I walked a little to get the feelings back into my legs, but then I just had to sit down. The only problem is that my legs didn’t want to take the weight of my body. I could see the floor and where I need to go, I just couldn’t get there. After a couple failed attempts, I finally just had to let my body catch me on the ground as I fell as graceful as possible. Oh did that feel good!! I stayed down for about 10 minutes and did some stretching then knew I had to get up and find Emily. I had no idea where her, her son and step-daughter were, and after about 35 minutes of searching I finally found them. We took some pictures and then were off to brunch.

They treated me to brunch which was just sweet. We walked to the restaurant which was my request so I could walk it out and keep blood flow in my legs. It was about 2-3 blocks away. My legs were already really stiff so it was a slow walk and it felts great to sit down. Brunch included a lot of food! First it was OJ served, then danishes (didn’t try them), the bread with jam/Nutella/cream cheese/butter/tomato paste. I had a couple slices and jam/Nutella. Then water and coffees came. Then entrees-I ordered a smoked salmon salad with a cream cheese rolled in sunflower seed glob---the dressing was delicious-a little mustard sauce yum!! (I learned meals come in 4 courses: 1. OJ, danishes, cheeses, eggs. 2. Toast 3. Fruit 4. Yogurt-dessert.) During brunch we had some little birds come and they got really really close. Of course I am not a fan and I tried to shoo them away, but Mariterra just threw a piece of bread far away and they left. Then it was time for desert: yogurt with honey and oats—it was delicious but way too much food. When it was time to get up, it was like my legs had turned off. Just flexing my quads was painful. I was very slow to get up and even slower to try to walk forward. It took about 10 min to walk back to the hotel. My feet felt fine, but yikes my quads were tight. I staggered a bit because I couldn’t control my legs sometimes—had impulses to straighten quickly and also bend quickly so I felt like I was jolting back and forth.

When I got back to the hotel, I sat in a cold bath then hot bath and then showered. I china gelled my legs and took it easy for the rest of the night hanging out on my bed. I rolled my legs out and finished my post cards then went to sleep because I was exhausted at 8:40PM. I realized I was pretty sunburn too from the run. I slept for about 3 hours and woke up at 11:40PM---I was hot, achy, had a headache. I called Alex and talked to him a bit and then went back to sleep.