R&R AZ Marathon - The Rest of the Story

Here is some more color to last Sunday's Rock & Roll Arizona Marathon that I chose to omit from my final race recap:

• My toes look like I stuck them in a cuisinart. I wore Saucony Kinvaras in the race, which I love as racing shoes. I've worn them in two marathons and one half, and feel they shaved a few minutes off my time in every instance. However, they don't protect my feet very well from the requisite trauma off such a hard effort. By my count, I had about 4 or 5 blood blisters and one completely black toenail. 
• The thing I'm most proud of is I didn't puke or have any stomach issues. This has been a problem for me before, but not this race. I believe my GI success was the product of a conservative diet the last few days before the race; especially my avoidance of my beloved Diet Dr. Pepper (I usually drink about a half gallon of this stuff a day). 
• I once tried to ask out Sally Meyerhoff, the women's champion, with a lame comment about moonlit runs without a mate. We met at a race expo for an all women's Half in New York. She was a featured racer and speaker; I was the creepy single guy at the expo for an all women's race. I actually had a legit, normal reason to be there, but the circumstances probably didn't help my chances. 
• I have no idea how I didn't bonk during the race. I only took one gel at miles 9 and 16. I guess the only thing propelling me the last several miles were my hopes and dreams. And maybe double rainbows.
• The only song I could hear in my head was 'Like A G6'. How does this motivate me to keep running? I have no idea. The song is about gangster subculture and getting drunk on bottles of Crystal:

"Poppin bottles in the ice, like a blizzard

When we drink we do it right gettin slizzard

Sippin sizzurp in my ride, like Three 6

Now I’m feelin so fly like a G6"

• My sister got a picture with  men's champion Josh Cox after the race, which made me insanely jealous. He's my favorite pro marathoner.

• My biggest concern during the race was my necessity to 'lighten the load'. It took a lot of intestinal fortitude to run by every port-a-john after mile 16.