Marathon!!!

Well it seems to be holding true...here is my semi-annual post. I swear I hope to get better at this someday:)

Well, one week ago from today, I ran in my first(and probably only) 26.2 mile full marathon. We headed up north to Duluth on Friday, June 18th and were blessed to stay in my uncle David's condo at Superior Shores. Jen and Doug, Michael and Myself, and Deanna all rode up north together and got settled into our place. We then invited our parents over (they were up to watch us) for a great Pasta feed consisting of deep fried tortellini, stuffed manacotti, three different pastas to choose from with either white or red sauce, chicken and salad. I great pre-race meal if I do say so myself:) We ate dinner and attempted to go to bed early because we had to get up early for the race, though I don't think any of us slept much that night!

Up and at 'em at 4:45am the next day: Race Day: June 19th, 2010. Over the past 6 months, I have perfected my pre-running schedule, making sure I eat a bagel with peanut butter, and yogurt and granola, with 2 cups of coffee and one large bottle of water at least 2 hours before I start running. The runners: Doug, Deanna, and Myself, knew it was way too early for our own good so we more or less ate breakfast in silence, and pondered over what we were about to endure.

At 6:15am, Michael drove us to the start line of the race, where we continued to prepare and tried one last time to get all the fluid out of us so that we wouldn't have to stop at the race. We began lining up by times at 7:10am, and we found the 5 hour pace group and tried to stick around that group. After an emotional national anthem, two jets soared over the almost 6,000 of us who were lined up waiting to start running and at precisely 7:30am, the masses starting moving. The adrenaline was flying!!! I couldn't believe that I had made it this far!!!

We crossed the start line approximately 5 minutes later and for the next five hours, we ran our little hearts out! The first 12 miles flew by and were a breeze!! I wanted to run faster, but was aware that I needed a lot of energy for the 2nd half of the marathon. At mile 13, we saw our families, and even though it was only for a few seconds as we ran by them, it was a great booster knowing that they were there for us, supporting us, and cheering us on throughout the entire time we were running. Talk about motivation!

Thinking back, the miles all seemed to run together. The entertainment at times along the race was entertaining (people trying to hand out beer, others dressed as different fast food characters, and many people holding up signs that were fun to read), and at times the entertainment was a little too much to handle (stop with the cowbells already!!!), and the water stations were my saving grace ("I see balloons!!! I almost get to have a drink of water and walk for a minute!!!").

Doug, Deanna, and I all ran together for the majority of the race. Deanna started getting a cramp in her leg around mile 12, and at mile 20 she realized she just had to push through and run faster so that she could finish. Doug and I stayed together those last miles and thank goodness we did. I was hurting, sore, and tired with 5 miles to go and every step hurt. I knew I just had to press on, and I did. With one mile to go, we picked up the pace and ran for what seemed forever before we finally saw the finish line (they had us run around into a neighborhood and then around all these corners before we finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel!!!).

With 26 miles completed and .2 miles to go, we saw the bleachers, where our parents and families were going to be waiting for us! Huge smiles came across our faces and as we approached the bleachers we saw all of them standing, cheering us on, with cameras in hand. As I passed by the bleachers, my mom shouted out that Brady wanted to run with me to the finish line...about .1 miles to go. Brady came out on the course and ran alongside of us and got to cross the finish line with us...even getting a ribbon for doing so!!! What a great end to a fantastic marathon. That is something that I will never forget!

Doug and I crossed the finish line within 1 second of each other, and we beat our 5 hour goal. My final time was 4:55:23 and I was on cloud nine!!!! I can't believe I did it!! We relished in our medals that we got, smiled for all the pictures, and took advantage of the "runner benefits" including food (bagels, dippin dots, chips, candy, etc.) and drinks (we each got a free beer!). Unfortunately, my stomach wasn't feeling too well after running for almost 5 hours straight, but come to find out that it is pretty normal for that to happen. Other than that, I was stiff and sore, but proud of myself for doing it.

The rest of our time up north we spent recovering and relaxing (I had to walk down the stairs backwards for 2 days because my quads were so sore!). Thank goodness we got to spend a few extra days in Superior doing nothing after our run, though I wasn't fully recovered when I left...or even now a week later. It will take some time, but weirdly I'm excited to get out running again after my ankles heal (I've been having ankle issues all through training), but I think I'll stick to 3-5 mile runs, rather than 26.2 mile runs:)