Last summer, two friends I had met at MOPS asked me if I would want to train for a marathon with them. I've always wanted to do a marathon, but didn't know if I'd convince Matt to let me do it at this time in our lives. After a couple weeks, he said I could do it. Though, he still didn't think it was a good idea. I wasn't completely sure, but figured it was a good time, since I'd have others to train with, so I signed up. I was nervous! Training went okay. The time commitment was really tough. Matt's work got really crazy....busy time of the year plus switching companies (twice!) made for a very busy schedule for him and lots of stress! That didn't always make it easy for me to have time to run, and while I did it out of necessity sometimes, I didn't really like asking people to babysit so I could run. I also had to overcome some breathing issues, that I've always had, but was never pushing myself as far as I had to during marathon training. But after 18 weeks of training despite some obstacles, I did it! I completed my first full marathon!
So how was it? Painfully incredible. It did hurt, to say the least, but it felt amazing to cross the finish line. What an accomplishment! I started off feeling great. When I hit about mile 16, I could feel the pain starting to come. For some reason, I stop sweating. I did it a few times during long runs in training too. Still trying to figure out the problem there. But anyway I stop sweating and that's not good. So starting at mile 16 I hydrated every mile. At mile 20, I was hurting and definitely losing my pace. I wasn't feeling so great and certainly didn't want to have to stop when I was so close, so I was careful about what I did and made sure I finished. It's hard to describe, but I could actually feel the formation of my quad inside my leg, like it was trying to pull strength from other parts of my body. Yeah, it hurt, but I kept going. I was SO happy to see the mile 26 sign, but had no idea how long that .2 miles could actually be! It felt like forever! I was actually able to end in a sprint to the finish line....definitely adrenaline working there. I finished in 4 hours and 6 minutes, which is approximately a 9:25/mile pace. I immediately got some water and sat down in the grass. When I realized I was in the way, I crawled, not walked, to a new spot. =) I sat there for several minutes drinking water before I even attempted to get up. Then Laura and I headed up the stairs to get some food. I was SO hungry! And SO SO glad to be done!!
Will I do it again? Yep! If you would have asked me during the marathon, I would have said absolutely not! Funny how quickly you change your mind once the race is over and you are done. Maybe it's the realization that the pain is only temporary. But you still may ask why in the world I would choose to do it again after I just wrote about how painful it was. Well, here's why...the circumstances in which I trained were not ideal and I know I could do better under different circumstances. My goal was to come in at 4 hours. I know I only came in 6 minutes after that, but I really think I could beat that 4 hour mark with a little better training. So here's what I want when I train for the next one:
1) I will be in better shape when I start training. I hadn't run more than 6 miles in 2 years when I started training. I had been pregnant and just had a newborn, so I hadn't totally gotten back into the long runs. In September 2009, I ran my first half marathon, then took a break from running, got pregnant, had a c-section, and had only ran up to 6 miles when I started training (9 months post partum). Our first "long" run of training was 8 miles. If I had been running 8+ miles regularly before I started training, I would have been a little more ahead of the game.
2) I will be more committed to fitting in all my runs. There were 4 runs a week in the training plan I followed. I only did 3, and some weeks, only 2. With Matt's schedule, it was just too hard to get time to run. Things were chaotic! He leaves at 5:30 in the morning and has no set time of getting home in the evenings. I also am the one who bathes and puts the kids to bed, so there were very few time frames in which I could fit my runs. Considering I trained only about 75% of the way and still came in at 4:06, I am confident I could do 4 hours with fully training. Though I will be older when I do my next one, so they could play a factor too. I'm thinking I will need to wait until my kids are all in school to be sure I do not have to rely on anyone else to watch my kids while I run. But I will still continue to run, and if I feel I can 100% train before they are all in school, then I will.
Am I glad I did it? Absolutely! It was an amazing experience and I learned so much. I think having done one will definitely help me when I go to do my next one. I also am so glad I did it because of the marathon we ran and the cause we raised money for. We ran the St. Jude Memphis Marathon. I had heard of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, but it was not until this experience, that I truly understood the depth of what the hospital did. It is amazing! I am very glad it was the cause I ran for and proud to have been a part of the 4+ million dollars raised that weekend. The kids are such inspirations to us all. I'll write more about St. Jude in my rundown of our marathon weekend....
We left Friday morning and headed to Memphis, stopping at Subway for lunch. Once we got to Memphis, we picked up our race packets and then headed to our tour of St. Jude Hospital.
So how was it? Painfully incredible. It did hurt, to say the least, but it felt amazing to cross the finish line. What an accomplishment! I started off feeling great. When I hit about mile 16, I could feel the pain starting to come. For some reason, I stop sweating. I did it a few times during long runs in training too. Still trying to figure out the problem there. But anyway I stop sweating and that's not good. So starting at mile 16 I hydrated every mile. At mile 20, I was hurting and definitely losing my pace. I wasn't feeling so great and certainly didn't want to have to stop when I was so close, so I was careful about what I did and made sure I finished. It's hard to describe, but I could actually feel the formation of my quad inside my leg, like it was trying to pull strength from other parts of my body. Yeah, it hurt, but I kept going. I was SO happy to see the mile 26 sign, but had no idea how long that .2 miles could actually be! It felt like forever! I was actually able to end in a sprint to the finish line....definitely adrenaline working there. I finished in 4 hours and 6 minutes, which is approximately a 9:25/mile pace. I immediately got some water and sat down in the grass. When I realized I was in the way, I crawled, not walked, to a new spot. =) I sat there for several minutes drinking water before I even attempted to get up. Then Laura and I headed up the stairs to get some food. I was SO hungry! And SO SO glad to be done!!
Will I do it again? Yep! If you would have asked me during the marathon, I would have said absolutely not! Funny how quickly you change your mind once the race is over and you are done. Maybe it's the realization that the pain is only temporary. But you still may ask why in the world I would choose to do it again after I just wrote about how painful it was. Well, here's why...the circumstances in which I trained were not ideal and I know I could do better under different circumstances. My goal was to come in at 4 hours. I know I only came in 6 minutes after that, but I really think I could beat that 4 hour mark with a little better training. So here's what I want when I train for the next one:
1) I will be in better shape when I start training. I hadn't run more than 6 miles in 2 years when I started training. I had been pregnant and just had a newborn, so I hadn't totally gotten back into the long runs. In September 2009, I ran my first half marathon, then took a break from running, got pregnant, had a c-section, and had only ran up to 6 miles when I started training (9 months post partum). Our first "long" run of training was 8 miles. If I had been running 8+ miles regularly before I started training, I would have been a little more ahead of the game.
2) I will be more committed to fitting in all my runs. There were 4 runs a week in the training plan I followed. I only did 3, and some weeks, only 2. With Matt's schedule, it was just too hard to get time to run. Things were chaotic! He leaves at 5:30 in the morning and has no set time of getting home in the evenings. I also am the one who bathes and puts the kids to bed, so there were very few time frames in which I could fit my runs. Considering I trained only about 75% of the way and still came in at 4:06, I am confident I could do 4 hours with fully training. Though I will be older when I do my next one, so they could play a factor too. I'm thinking I will need to wait until my kids are all in school to be sure I do not have to rely on anyone else to watch my kids while I run. But I will still continue to run, and if I feel I can 100% train before they are all in school, then I will.
Am I glad I did it? Absolutely! It was an amazing experience and I learned so much. I think having done one will definitely help me when I go to do my next one. I also am so glad I did it because of the marathon we ran and the cause we raised money for. We ran the St. Jude Memphis Marathon. I had heard of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, but it was not until this experience, that I truly understood the depth of what the hospital did. It is amazing! I am very glad it was the cause I ran for and proud to have been a part of the 4+ million dollars raised that weekend. The kids are such inspirations to us all. I'll write more about St. Jude in my rundown of our marathon weekend....
We left Friday morning and headed to Memphis, stopping at Subway for lunch. Once we got to Memphis, we picked up our race packets and then headed to our tour of St. Jude Hospital.
Here we are on the bus to the hospital.
Outside the hospital posing next to the statue of St. Jude. I am so glad we got to tour the hospital. It really put things into perspective and added to the meaning of our run the next day. I thought many times about things that were said during the tour, kids we saw, the info we learned. It was a great motivator!
Everything in the hospital was kid friendly, everything! It was a pleasant, colorful place to be. Our guide said kids often don't want to leave. This was their Gingerbread House and all the lollipops were decorated by patients.
Everything in the hospital was kid friendly, everything! It was a pleasant, colorful place to be. Our guide said kids often don't want to leave. This was their Gingerbread House and all the lollipops were decorated by patients.
There was a lot of artwork, poems, writings, etc on the walls. All of it was done either by a patient or a patient's sibling. They were heartbreaking and heart warming all at the same time.
We stayed with a family Laura knew who lived a little outside Memphis. Their home was gorgeous and much nicer than staying in a hotel. The family also very kindly took us to dinner that night. Here we are waiting for our pasta dishes to come, so we could load up on our carbs.
This is my first bib to read "Marathon" without "Half" in front of it. =) Still crazy that I actually did it!
This is my first bib to read "Marathon" without "Half" in front of it. =) Still crazy that I actually did it!
Waiting for the race to begin. This is the day we had been training and waiting for. While I was nervous no doubt, I wasn't as bad as I thought I would be. At least, my stomach didn't hurt as much as usual. I think I was just ready for it to start, so it could be over.
And we DID IT! It was such a surreal feeling. I mean the pain my body felt proved I did it, but it was still so weird that I actually just ran 26.2 miles. In the process of doing it, it felt like forever, but once it was over, it was like "It's done?". I don't know, it's hard to explain. The important thing is that we all finished!!
Laura and Leslie were set on Chick Fil A for lunch after we finished. I had never eaten there, but it was good. I think anything would have been good at that point. I couldn't finish all of it though. My stomach was pretty messed up. By the way, we did not get to shower, and I think it's safe to say we were all exhausted.
We stopped at Lambert's for dinner on the way home.
I didn't get home until about 9 pm, but when I got home, all the kids were up waiting for me, along with my mom and Dean & Tina. They had an ice cream cake (my favorite!) waiting for me and a sign hung up. It was really sweet! I think Matt was hoping I'd be home earlier, but it was great for all of them to stick around until I got home. I did enjoy a piece of cake and visiting. I had definitely missed my kids! Once they went home, I took a much needed shower and went to bed. My bed never felt so good!
This was the next morning before church. I wanted to remember how young my kids were when I did this because honestly I think it makes it much harder to accomplish. They were great cheerleaders through it all and certainly make me want to be a better person and do my very best in all I do. 
No comments:
Post a Comment