Monday, May 17, 2010

No words, just Tears!

Well, Marathon day came and went....a lot of emotion!!
My mom came with me to get my running kit the day before the race, and she started crying and said, "I am so proud of you, I want to do one too!" We picked up Hailey and Emilys kit too, so cute. The kids k was the best part, so many kids so much energy.
Mike put KT tape on my IT Band injury. I tried to go to sleep, to be honest, this was the moment I had been waiting for since November. 716 miles in training later, poof, it is here.
Am I ready? Will I get removed from the race because I don't look healthy enough to finish? Will I make it to mile 17 before 11:30 before they start removing people to get the canyon open again? Can I do this?
I woke up from a very restless night at 3:30 AM. I ate a banana and a half of bagel and went to the bathroom so many times, which was a blessing, and tried to drink so much, to hydrate myself before I dehydrate myself later on that morning. I was getting dressed and to my surprise Hailey was up too, she got up to get her kit ready and catch her bus up the canyon...what? Hailey was so sad that they weren't busing the kids up the canyon too. She and Mike took me to the bus loading spot at 4:30 AM. We said goodbye, and he said see you at the finish! Tears came, didn't fall. So many runners, 5000 to be exact, and 97buses, so motivational and emotional. We had all worked for the same goal, many for different reasons, but we were all hoping to do something special that day.
I was on bus 2, and we headed up the dark canyon. I talked with a nice girl about all our nerves, and we had a few laughs, and talked about our kids and husbands, the band of support behind us. While talking I ate a half of a bagel.
We got up the canyon at 5:30 AM, I looked out the windows, and bonfires everywhere, and pottys. I was so excited to be there, and feel so alive. I had been debating all night and all morning what to run in, I ended up taking off my long sleeve, and the tights. I ran in shorts, two tanks, and a jacket to begin with. The sun came up, and it was light and so beautiful. It was so amazing to be with so many people who share the same crazy dream.
Well, 6:50 came and we lined up by by our pacer flags. I got right next to ten and felt good about that. I ran with the same girl for about the first four miles, and that was great. We ran passed this cute couple blasting from their car "Hear comes the Sun", the were holding hands and waving. So cute, tears came, I held them back again. Trista the girl I was running with stopped to take off some of her clothes and told me to go on. I did, and soon found a cute couple running together with her husband coaching her, I said "good advice, I am going to keep up with you," and then they stopped to go to the bathroom. I kept going. I kept my eye on one girl that I wanted to get up with. I did and I ran with Harmoni for the next twelve miles. We could not believe we were out doing this, and how fast it went. I quickly learned her story, she was running it for her mom who had polio as a child and now cannot walk. She was so nice. We found more people to run with and all of a sudden we had a team. I ran with Jeff who was older and had ran about 100 marathons, but this was his first in 30 years. We found Jen, and Raelyn, and we motivated each other, talked to each other, made each other laugh, and coached each other. I felt so great at mile 20, I left my team. Was that mean?
I ran down the canyon passing people, and feeling so great. At mile 23, I thought to myself, I got this. Then the crowd began, it was so emotional for strangers cheering and they don't even know you, just supporting you on the biggest day. I cried and the crowd said good job, and I said you are making me cry. I got to mile 24 and this was the hardest for me. I ran through though and had a great time. I saw mile 26 mile marker and decided to walk a block so I could finish strong. I finished with Sarah and Annie yelling my name. It was an out of body moment, I really didn't know what to feel. I just wanted to see my family who helped me train so good. They called Sarah and quickly made their way through the crowds, and we hugged. Then we had to go over and watch Hailey and Emily run her race. Hailey did so good, she ran the mile in 12 min and 30 sec. Emily ran it in 10 min and 15 sec. I ran the marathon 26.2 miles in 5 hours and 4 min. I was sore and tight.
We went to El Matador as a runner family, and had a great meal. I went home and stretched and took a bath. I iced and stretched the rest of the day. We had a family BBQ that night, it was so much fun to talk and relax with all of my family.
They all were talking about running the marathon relay! Did they catch the runner bug?
I had the best experience, awesome weather, beautiful mountains, and no wild life, no pain until mile 21, I started feeling it.
Will I do it again? I am not sure, but it was the best feeling ever, and I would love to feel that again.
Thanks for all the texts, phone calls, and coming up to watch me. It was such a special day for me, and I believe you all had a big part in it.
Thanks to you, I am a marathoner!!!!
Pictures to come, I promise. I just don't know how to do them.