Break It Down

So.... The marathon is over. I could not be happier. When I started the training process, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I figured that since I could run one mile, how hard could doing that 25 more times really be? Needless to say, mile 26 is not as easy as mile 1 :) So I thought I should break it down.... Please excuse the randomness of the order :)

15- most miles I had ever run before starting to train.
1- number of times that I did that
3- usual max I could run
6- # of knee surgeries endured prior- and the reason I am not a runner
10- minutes it took me to run an easy mile in the beginning
8:20- minutes it took me to run a mile easily in the end
5- # of stray dogs that randomly decided to join Greg and i on our training runs
1.2- average # of miles run by each dog that joined us
47- Gatorade's drank by Greg and I during the training
47- Gatorade's drank by Greg and I during and after the race :)
18- "# of weeks until glory"- as put by Hal Higdon... also known as # of weeks of self inflicted training pain
458- miles run in the 18 weeks- not including the marathon
138,336- distance in feet of a marathon
1,660,032- distance in inches of a marathon
2,1418,240- distance in feet I ran during marathon training
29,018,880- distance in inches I ran during marathon training
70.6- hours spent running for training
37- times I wanted to quit
Infinite- times I cursed Greg while running
Infinite x2- number of apologies given after cursing Greg
916,000- steps needed for Greg to run 458 miles (approx.).....
1,374,000- steps needed for my fabulously short legs to cover the same distance
8- blisters on my feet throughout the training
13- miles I now think are easy to run
10- water bottles I dumped on my head during the marathon
3- Gu's needed while running
4- times the Gu made me vomit while running
4- times I was knocked down by other people during training
4371- dog piles I jumped over while training
0- dog piles I stepped in while training
178- times I have circled the track around the park in Buenos Aires
3- toe nails lost while running the marathon :( (due to the wet socks from pouring water on my head)
2- times I cried while training
2- pairs of shoes worn out
18- ice cream cone rewards
90- age I felt the day after the race
67- age Greg felt the day after the race
2- days it took to be able to walk down stairs
3- weeks it takes for your body to completely heal
40- minutes it rained during the race
70- cost in pesos to enter the race
2:13:10- time it took for the winner of the marathon to run the race
4:18:15- time it took me to run the race
2:05:05- time spent relaxing by the winner before I could join him
4:32:08- average time to complete a marathon in the US... for a MAN
5:06:08- average time it take to complete a marathon for a woman
1- percent of people in the world that will ever run a marathon
Priceless- finishing it and having the medal to prove it!

And a quote from Lance Armstrong that I could not agree with more...

When Lance Armstrong ran the NYC Marathon last year, he was quoted as saying, "Even after experiencing one of the hardest days of the Tour nothing has ever left me feeling this bad...[it was] the hardest physical thing I have ever done."