USC Marathon Team
Hi everyone!!
First, I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to the coaches and my fellow teammates on the USC Marathon Team - without you, I probably would not have made it this far. Ever since running cross country in high school, I have wanted to run a marathon, but never had the motivation necessary to train for it. You guys were my inspiration, my motivators, and most importantly, my friends. Getting up for those early morning weekend runs would have been nearly impossible had I not known that I would have at least one or two other poeple to run the same pace as me. Thank you to all of my friends who came out to support me throughout the race - you kept me going in spite of the pain.
The LA Marathon was quite possibly the most amazing thing I have ever done. In the days and weeks leading up to the race, I could think of nothing that was more important and couldn't wait for March 6th to finally arrive. The morning of the race, I was giddy with excitement and incredibly emotional. Just seeing the huge mass of people huddled together behind the starting line made me want to cry with happiness - when else can you see 26,000 people standing in the streets of downtown LA??
The first half of the race literally flew by. I think Major Jim was running near me when I looked up and realized that we were passing under the Mile 8 sign... it had felt like only a minute since we passed Mile 7! Normally I'll get bored after about an hour or so of running and keep thinking of how much longer I have to run so the minutes drag on and on. But during the marathon, there was SO much going on around me that I barely thought about how much time was left! I just jogged along watching little kids handing out orange slices and people standing in their front lawns to cheer us on, the whole time thinking about how amazing it was to see all of LA shut down for the marathon.
The first 22 miles were cake since we'd already run that far during training. But once I passed under the Mile 22 marker, I hit a wall. My quads started cramping up and I convinced Amy that we needed a quick stretch break. Do NOT take a stretch break that late in the race - starting up again was terrible and we probably would have felt better just walking for a minute or two instead of stopping to stretch. Running (yes, running) the last 4.2 miles was the hardest thing I have ever done, but I'm so glad I had Amy there with me. I could not have made it without her. Somewhere around Mile 24 we saw some of our friends who came out to cheer us on - their support helped us finish strong. For the last mile, Amy and I held hands to support each other, half crying, half laughing, excited to be so close to the finish line and amazed at all the people who had come out to support us.
The last .2 is a bitch (sorry, but it is). After passing under the Mile 26 marker, the finish line still seemed a long way away, plus some genius on the planning committee thought it would be fun to finish the race on a hill - and that hurt. As I crossed the finish line, with a time of 5:13:55, I was SO happy. All the pain I felt during training and the last 4 miles of the race itself were worth it for that moment alone.
Once we were done, Amy and I wandered around the finisher's area, taking pictures and chatting with teammates, unable to believe what we had just accomplished. I remember sitting with the rest of the USC Marathon Team for almost 45 minutes, with a huge silly smile on my face, just talking about the race and relaxing, unable to move anymore. I was sore for three days after the race and wore marathon shirts all of those days so people would understand why I had to lower myself with my arms to sit down and why I could barely bend my knees to walk. But it was worth it!
The day before the LA Marathon I thought, "one marathon and I'm done." But now I can't wait to run at least another marathon or two. I'm hoping to run either the full or half Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco this October and look forward to many more in the future.
Fight on!!
Nicole Cresalia
USC Class of 2005 :-)