holy $@#% we ran a marathon

Who woulda thunk that Anna would ever do something so crazy. Tom, sure, but me? Phew. I can't even believe it. But we did it, all of it, and it was awesome.


Here's a play by play of how it all went down:


7:00 am, Sunday morning. It's raining and 55 out. Perfect for a long run. 5,000 athletes gather, cheering, pumped, ready to race. We count down from ten to one in Spanish and then cross the start line in a crowded pack.


Mile 1: Energized, feeling the thrill of starting something magnificent.


Mile 2: From the mile markers, realize our nike+ipod pedometers are mis-calibrated. Laugh about it for a minute, then realize this means that all through our training we've been running a lot shorter runs than we'd thought we'd been (they're about 20% off), and that our times are about a minute longer per mile than we'd thought. Oh. That means our longest training run was actually only about 16 miles, instead of 20. Hmm. This could be hard. Whadya do.


Mile 3: Tom rolls his ankle in a pothole. He limps for a while, but he's okay, keeps trucking.


Mile 9: One-third of the way, feel awesome and am enjoying the race and smiling all the way. Think to myself, I'll look back on this and remember this part the best. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city, and the energy of the runners is contagious.


Mile 13: Half way. We've been running 2:20, longer than we thought the first half would take. Of course our ipod said we'd already done 15, in which case our times would have been pretty good by our standards -a personal best for me at least.


Mile 14: Tom speeds up and pulls ahead of me. I think he's slightly crazy but am filled with admiration.


Mile 16: I slip on a banana peel at one of the water and fruit stations. Almost pulled a hammy, but did no harm, and had a good laugh with some nearby runners about slipping on banana peels.


Mile 18: Start to feel my legs. Not bad, but I know that they're starting to get tired. Eight miles to go yet, but with eighteen behind me, I know I'll make it.


Mile 20: Fight the urge to eject fluids from both ends. Feeling a little queasy.


Mile 21: Catch up to Tom again, he's gimping but still rockin.


Mile 22: My ipod says, "congratulations, you just completed your goal of 26.2 miles!" Want to stomp on it, but don't have the energy.


Miles 23-26: Pure hell. At least we were in hell together.


Mile 26: The finish line is in sight! We give it our all, sped on by the crowd's cheers.


Mile 26.2: Tom and I cross the finish line together, hand in hand. 4:49:57. Done. Thank god. My ipod tells me I just ran 31.4 miles. Sweet.


Overall, the race was awesome, and I'm so glad we were able to do it. Kirby and Patrick ran all over town to cheer us on at various points and take our pictures. They are so cool to be here for this, and their support meant so much. Now done, I'm feeling 20% proud, 30% grateful, 10% sore, and 40% glad it's over. It was great. I'm not sure I'll ever do it again, but it was really something special. My legs are so tired, but my eight toenails held up like champions, and only one ankle bothered me a little bit in the middle of the race. We both came out in good shape, no chaffed nipples or thighs, no knee problems, not even a blister. Granted, we have to use our hands to climb the stairs up to our hotel room, and we're walking kind of funny, but I feel great overall. I didn't even do my signature post-long run barf. Amazing.


An enormous thanks to all of you who sent us your love and energy during the race and sponsored us with Karma Miles. I thought about each of you through the miles, recalling the good times we've had together and thinking sweet thoughts about your awesome contributions to your communities. You were my inspiration, and you rock. Keep up the good work.


Now we will reward ourselves with delicious Argentinean steaks and good wine and beer and a week or two in Patagonia, the prettiest place I know. I hope we can will our legs into doing some good hikes. Those mountains are calling.