<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"\n\tAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below\n\t\n\n \n\nI knew I hit an all-time low in my running career when I approached mile 22 and couldn't go another step without spreading Vaseline on my inner thighs. So when I saw a race volunteer in the middle of the road holding up petroleum jelly on a tongue depressor, like a hot dog vendor at a baseball game, I practically knocked her down grabbing it out of her hand. So this is what it's like to run a marathon!I never had any desire to run a marathon in my life \u2014 especially since running has always been my least favorite way to exercise. I did, however, run track in middle and high school (my mom wanted me to do another sport aside from cheerleading), so I was forced into developing interest in it when I was growing up. But it's my cousin Charity who actually convinced me to run a marathon \u2014 a full 26.2 miles \u2014 a few years ago.Since college, Charity has always been an avid runner and marathoner. Since we were kids, I always thought she was doing the coolest things. So, when she said, \"Car, you have to run the Nashville Rock n' Roll Marathon\" with her and her boyfriend Jeff, I thought it sounded like a good idea. Little did I know how much blood, sweat, and tears training for a marathon required. OK, maybe not blood, but definitely sweat and tears.When I began training at the end of January of 2009, I was working at Shape magazine and my hours ran late more often than not, so I could only really run late at night, around 10:30 p.m. And since it's not that safe to run around the streets of NYC at night by yourself when you're a girl, especially a tiny one like me (I'm 5' 2\", 100 lbs.), I begged my roommate Courtney to run with me. I also agreed to run the marathon with my friend AJ, so sometimes she'd come with us on our eight, nine, 10, 12, etc., mile runs. I didn't mind the training at first, but then it got more and more intense as the mileage I was supposed to run daily increased. I was getting over this experience. It wasn't until I had to run 20 miles the week before the marathon that I wanted to quit. Didn't I basically just run a marathon?\u00A0I remember asking myself.After two months of training, I found myself sitting at an Italian restraunt in Brentwood, Nashville on April 24, 2009 with 13 of Charity's friends and AJ. It was the night before the marathon and it was time to \"carbo load\" which is runner speak for eating pasta, meatballs, bread, etc., until you physically can't move, so that your body is fueled for the five-hour run you're about to embark on. I was nervous. I also wanted to throw up, but I couldn't tell if it was because of the nerves or because I had just finished eating my weight in pasta.On the morning of the marathon, Charity, Jeff, AJ, and I got dressed in multiple layers of clothing \u2014 it was in the low 50's when the race started and was supposed to get into the 80's by noon, so I wore running shorts, a sports bra, a tank top, a long-sleeve running tee, and a zip-up sweatshirt on top. We also gathered our running supplies: iPods, SPF sticks, which we carried in our zipper pockets and applied every two hours, and \"Gu,\" a gel-like energy shot in a foil pouch (it's flavored and has the texture of a liquid Power Bar \u2014 I wouldn't call it yummy). We then hopped on the shuttle bus to the starting line, pinning our numbers on the fronts of our shirts on the way. Once there, we piled into the corrals of other runners divided according to expected finishing time.\u00A0I remember being really nervous at that moment, thinking, Do you really think you're going to be able to run 26.2. miles? But I had to quiet that voice right then and there because the gun was about to go off. Charity and Jeff were in a different corral, which made me feel uneasy because I'd rather run in a big group of my friends \u2014 safety in numbers and all, you know?\n\tAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below\n\t\n\nThe next thing I knew, the gun cracked and we were off. The cool thing about Rock n' Roll races is that they have bands along the entire route, and since I love country, it felt glorious to run at my nine to 10-minute a mile pace to Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Sugarland \u2014 you name it, all the big acts were there. Time seemed to pass quickly because of the adrenaline, music, and hordes of people cheering us on. I really loved that energizing part of the experience. What I didn't love was the fact that as time passed, I: a) had to toss multiple layers of clothing in the garbage, since it was starting to get hot out (as in 72 degrees and climbing; b) I had chugged more energy drinks at the water stations than I would ever want to in a lifetime \u2014 the first five cups started out tasty, but after the twentieth one I couldn't stomach them even though I knew my body needed the replenishment; and c) it was now mile 13 (the half marathon mark) and my body was like, \"OK, we're stopping soon, right?\" Nope, definitely not.At this point I didn't feel weak, but I was most certainly getting tired. AJ and I kept running another six miles to the 19-mile marker, and I was starting to feel every joint in my body \u2014 not good. My thighs were starting to chaf and I could feel a blister or two starting to form. The skin under my iPod case that was wrapped around my upper arm was also beginning to rub and become raw. Ugh, I HATE running \u2014 I'll never do this again, I thought.\n\nWe had now slowed to 11-minute miles. AJ had strained her IT band during training and needed to stop along the way because she was in pain. But when I stopped running \u2014 whether it was because I felt like I was going to die or to give her IT band a break \u2014 I felt my joints instantly freeze up. So, I had to keep moving, even if I was just running in place. At mile 22, I finally had to spread Vaseline on my inner thighs with a tongue depresser (no joke) \u2014 provided by a volunteer that was in the middle of the road holding them up like an employee would promote cotton candy at a baseball game \u2014 to keep the skin from becoming raw. I've hit a new low, I thought. This is the worst.I remember looking around as we rounded a pond at about mile 24 and asking AJ, \"Where are all of the bands?!\" Not one was in sight. Also not a single spectator wass cheering us on like they had been the entire time because they all had migrated to the finish line. Rude! I thought. I wanted to die at mile 24, in fact I thought I was going to \u2014 each of my toenails felt like it was going to pop off, I had blisters at the back of my heels, my legs felt like jelly, I had developed a rash under my arms and on my thighs from the constant friction, and the skin on my upper arm was now starting to bleed where my iPod case was. I was majorly over everything about this race.Then, before I knew it, I saw mile marker 26 and had a moment of revelation. I AM GOING TO BE DONE SOON! I literally started to cry and became so overjoyed \u2014 I even started singing whatever was on my iPod outloud. I'm pretty sure AJ wanted to kill me at this point \u2014 she hadn't reached the enthused portion of her run just yet and her IT band was killing her.Finally, we were approaching the crowds and crowds of people cheering everyone on. The finish line was close! We had written our names down our arms before the race started, so that along the way people could call them out and hopefully give us a boost of energy. This oddly worked and I was so glad I could hear, \"Go Carly! You can do it!\" \"You're almost there, keep going!\" from the sidelines. But it wasn't until Charity and Jeff somehow emerged from the audience and were cheering us on that I got the chills. They even jumped onto the route and ran the last bit with us! I honestly felt like I had won the race \u2014 even though it took us five hours to complete.\u00A0After the race my body felt like someone had beat it to a pulp, but I was on such a high because I had actually finished, which was my goal. I didn't care how long it took me, I wasn't concerned with my chaffed spots, and my toenails didn't fall off (thank god!). I would never run another marathon, EVER, because I absolutely hated the experience, but I survived and I have this picture to prove it. That's me on the left along with my BFF AJ Nicholas \u2014 I'm only smiling here because the race was over. /div&amp;gt;I do have to say though that crossing the finish line might have been the best feeling ever, and the bragging rights that go with it for life are pretty sweet, too \u2014 even though whenever I bring it up I say I will never do it again. EVER.Follow Carly Cardellino on Facebook and Twitter.Photo Credit: Gallery Stock "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/news/a16324/what-it-felt-like-to-run-a-marathon/>