I ran a marathon?!

and yes, I'm aware that this has nothing to do with branding

A quick bit of context since I haven’t written on Substack since 2024:

You’re probably subscribed to this list from my Telltale days— I still take on an occasional branding project, but somewhere between going back to the corporate world, moving to Iceland and then leaving Iceland, I accidentally became a runner and most of my online content now focuses on travel + running. If that’s not your speed, feel free to unsubscribe, but if it is, I’d love to have you.

Ok, now onto running content… because somehow I ran a f*cking marathon?!

When we moved to Iceland in August 2023, I couldn’t run a single mile and decided to challenge myself to train for a 5k which somehow turned into a full-blown running addiction and here we are I guess??? I’ll spare you the details of my running journey over the last 2+ years, but two weeks ago I literally did what I thought was impossible and crossed the finish line at the 50th Marine Corps Marathon. Here’s how it went…

On my shakeout on Saturday, I thought to myself “my legs have never felt this tight before” but strides + stretching help and I went to bed excited and optimistic.

I woke up feeling good but at mile 1, I still felt a tightness I’d never had before. I started conservatively and followed by pacing plan, and by mile 5, I was really settled into race pace and on track for a 4:38 finish— twelve minutes faster than my goal time. My splits were almost perfectly even, the crowd was electric, and I felt like I was going to absolutely crush my A goal (sub-5), B goal (>11:59 miles / no walking), and C goal (cross the finish line).

At 18, the tightness was getting worse and I started to hit a wall— just like everybody prepared me for. But a friend surprised me and re-energized me and I was back on track by mile 19 with an eight minute buffer to my 4:50 goal. I didn’t feel good, but I was digging deep and pushed hard for the next few miles. Ran into another friend and we ran together for a mile or so which was the best.

At mile 22, though, my right hip and right knee were done for. I could barely pick up my right leg and I really thought “I can’t do this. I don’t think I’m going to finish.” I called my sister in tears, three different people asked me if I needed medical, and a few different people sat with me while I stretched and cried. A sweet EMT that was trying to BQ but got totally off his goal too stopped and looked at me and said “I’m not going to let you not finish. We can do this.” We hobbled through the next few miles and I had my sister in my ear telling me to take it step by step and walk as slow as I needed to.

At 26.1 I picked up a fake little jog for my finish line pics (hahaha I have a feeling they’re going to be hilarious) and MADE IT across the finish line of my FIRST FREAKING MARATHON.

I cannot count the number of strangers that shouted my name, cheered for me, sat with me, walked with me, and ran with me those last few miles. If you need some renewed faith in humanity, go to the back of a marathon—I’m emotional thinking about how magical it was.

Cheers to my C goal and the literal hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I’m in the 1%!!!!!!

Despite the last few miles going totally ~not~ according to plan, I could make a forever long list of all the things that went *right* so here are a few:
1) a comfy race fit
2) the atmosphere was absolutely electric
3) ended up running into two friends running and one cheering
4) I replayed @mike.nicastro’s voice memo in mind over and over to smile when it got hard and it really did help
5) @oliviadeano on repeat
6) the blue mile
7) the hills kind of didn’t bother me? Like I almost didn’t notice them, whatever, I’ll take it
8) my pace felt so so good for most of the race
9) no rain
10) …see above but literal perfect weather
11) the shuttle + metro to the start line was so easy
12) fueling felt absolutely perfect
13) I got the coolest ever fleece finisher blanket for the 50th anniversary instead of a disposable one
14) no sunburn
15) no blisters
16) my hair stayed put + didn’t tangle
17) SO many strangers cheered for me, best rec ever from @iz.bufton to iron on my name
18) post-race pizza in bed was 💯
19) @altrarunning spoiled me a massive hotel room
20) bib pickup was hella easy
21) no bathroom situations PTL
22) my feet felt great
23) garmin + oura + phone stayed charged
24) I laid on the sidewalk for two hours after the race and it was the best
25) ubering home was worth every surge-rate penny
26) post-race massage
27) post-race mezcal marg
28) unbroken electrolytes
29) the banana they handed me at the finish line
30) my handheld waterbottle
31) running past all the landmarks
32) a marine putting the medal around my neck
33) I felt so prepared and I really don’t think I could have done anything better or differently (shoutout to @charathoner!!!)
34) I had over 100 texts from friends and family when I finished and have literally never felt more loved and supported

+ literally a 1000 more. It really was a magical weekend and a perfect first marathon 🫶

If you’ve read this far, I’m so happy you’re here. I guess this post marks the official transition of my Telltale email list into more of a personal list—a little space to write about honestly anything because I’ve missed writing + sharing. YAY!