Y’all.
I don’t want to get into why it has been almost an ENTIRE month since my
Marathon and I haven’t even begun the recap posts. It’s a long story and only for the faint of heart
;)
But here goes – as I start to reflect on one
of the best days ever!
I woke up Marathon morning feeling really
great! Not tired, not nervous. I had EVERY LITTLE THING laid out the night
before. Checked (literally) everything
off of the list with my mom watching as I did so & my dad watched ESPN in
the other room. We had practiced driving
to where my parents were going to park so there were no surprises on race
morning. (Oh and if you think I’m
insane, my parents live out of town and let’s be honest, they’re not the best
when it comes to unexpected road closures…then again, who is?!?)
In the car on the way to the race, my dad did
what most dads would do for their grown daughters while driving them to a
marathon. He put in the Ohio State
Marching Band CD and we blasted it! Most
people get motivated by college marching band music, right? And if you say no, stop, drop & watch
this:
I made it easily to the TNT tent. Easily did my bathroom stop (no lines,
what???) and before I knew it, we were lining up to start & we were OFF!
Mile 1: Uphill, but took it slow and
saw my cute parents for the first time cheering me on!
Mile 2: Started to flatten out, kept a
slow pace, conversation flowing
Mile 3: Saw my friend Jill for the first
time & was super excited – got a little pep in my step!
Mile 4: Flat, felt good
Mile 5: Turned on Battlefield road and
mentally prepared myself to just GET THROUGH IT
Mile 6: Saw Jill at the same place, got
some MAJOR pep in my step as I saw from afar she had made friends with one of
the Police Officers. Not surprised.
Mile 7: Tummy started hurting….which
was weird…took some Gu
Mile 8: Trying to keep this clean, but
first bathroom stop. Felt much better after!
Mile 9: TNT coaches joined Jenny &
me for a mile, Loved having them to run with!
Mile 10: Awesome scenery up by the
Capital building. I had only run in that area once before and was excited to
run in this beautiful area! Still
feeling good.
Mile 11: PARENTS! Got to see them TWICE here as Mile 11 was a
bit of a turn-around. My dad knew it was
me about 100 yards out and I could hear them yelling & their noisemakers as
I made my way towards them.
Mile 12: Saw Jill again – she’s the
best! J
Mile 13: Crossing paths with all of the
half-marathoners, feeling awesome as they all cheered us on knowing they were
about to finish and we had QUITE a ways left to go.
Mile 14: Still keeping it clean, but
second bathroom stop. Not feeling so great in the tum. Entered Shelby Park for
the next 10 miles (aka The Bermuda Triangle.)
Mile 15: Jenny & I broke apart a
little bit at this point, but we were still close.
Mile 16: Took another Gu, felt better
and re-energized. My goal was to make it
to 16 before I put in any music….MADE IT and put my headphones in right
away. Golly, I love music!
Mile 17: Feeling better than expected,
back together with Jenny
Mile 18: I mean, obviously feeling in
pain. I mean, 18 miles. Trying to make
it to 19 because I knew there was a water stop.
Mile 19: Made it to the water stop and
halfway through Shelby Park. There were
drinks, pretzels, snacks. Jenny wasn’t
doing well, I was hurting, so we stopped.
It took me just a couple of minutes to
realize stopping wasn’t in my best interest.
Within a few minutes I started to feel a SHOOTING pain creep up (or
down, not sure?) my leg to my knee and I knew it was a make-or-break
moment. I looked at Jenny and said, “Love
you gal, but if I don’t start back up I might not ever be able to.” Obviously being the best running buddy ever,
she was supportive & knew she needed a little more time, so we broke apart
at this point for the rest of the race.
It was a moment, but ya know…you just have those moments.
So there you have it – Miles 1-19
Pretty good.
Miles 19-26 recap to come soon!
Finally a recap! Love! :)
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