Fast forward several months. On facebook, I am a friend of SOJO marathon. It was national running day. If randomly chosen I could win a free marathon. The question asked was why do you run? I wrote To get me places faster. And to my delight and no ones surprise I won a free race of my choice. It was July, I decided to give Mike my free marathon race because a marathon was more expensive than a 1/2 and then I'd pay for a half in the hopes that we would train together for the coming race in October.
I can count on one hand how many times we ran together. I won't go into specifics except that Mike doesn't like running with me. For the most part, I didn't complain much about doing my training. I did a 12 week program that had me running 5 times a week. It was a lot. And I remember this isn't as fun as when I was training for my 1st 1/2 2 years ago with Camille. I had a buddy to talk to me, to run with and to make me go. BUT I signed up for the event and was going to see it though. I remember being discouraged that my miles per minute pace was not what would help me to beat my time 2 years ago. That was my goal, to come in under 2 hours and to do that---I had to run less than 9 minute miles and I wasn't. But I knew that race day I'd get lots of energy from others and that if I put in my daily training I could do anything!
Race day. Great friends helped us get to the races. Mike was dropped off at Coppertone Park just before 7 am to start is 26.2 miles. He had trained the course several times, bought new shoes that week, had lots of gou's to get him through the race and was ready to finish. He had no time limits for himself. He literally just wanted to finish. His boss even generously had given him a good luck gift prior to the event. So he ditched his phone which he used to track his time and give him music.
I took it since I didn't have a phone to track my pace because I dropped mine and it shattered and my new phone didn't fit in the running case and I hadn't bought a new case yet. Mike had set a pace tracker so that we could track him during his race. Brent and Julie came to get our kids to cheer us on at the finish line.
A friend dropped me off at the start line just before 8:30. It was already warm, I had over dressed. I was in pants. BUT too late to change that. Race started. I was originally by the 2 hour mile pacer but passed her, I never did quite catch up to the 1:40 pacer but was behind him. Probably a good thing because at mile 12 the pacer took a detour and all the racers ran almost 15 instead of 13. oops!! About 1/2 way though I could tell I was over doing it and was getting tired. And then the 1:55 mile pacer passed me and I got nervous. I kept looking back to see the 2 hour pacer and luckily never did see her.
I'm super happy about my split pace!!
By this time, we figured out that Mike's tracker wasn't working but knew that at his half mark (the start for the 1/2 marathon) he finished at 2:05, so he had a couple hours to go. They had lots of booths and activities for fans aka kids. They also had a massage table. During the last couple of miles, my knee started to hurt, So I waited in line for a massage while the kids did the climbing wall, the fast pitch machine and the bounce houses--all while snacking on oranges and bananas and chicken sandwiches and ice cream sandwiches. The massage was very relaxing but all the therapist did was talk and try and sell me a repeat massage! I really just wanted him to shut up so I could enjoy the race!
We knew Mike had to be getting closer, Brent walked up a mile or so along the Jordan parkway to look for Mike to give us a warning that he was coming. Later we learned that at mile 12 Mike had blisters on his feet, that he was running on his toes to avoid pressure on his blisters and that he was tired and probably a little sick to his stomach from so many gou's! He said he did a lot of running and some more running and walking. He even asked for advil because the 4 he took during the race he needed more. BUT he was persevering and coming to the finish line.
Jack and Lexi ran across the finish line with him. I greeted him with a giant hug and congratulations that he did it! He finished 26.2 miles!!Thanks Madison for the sign!
And then some after race pictures from Grandma. Thank you for coming to the race and spending a long Saturday waiting for us to finish. We are so grateful to have you and the children greeting us at the finish line, it really makes all the difference and the hard work.
Yes the next day. We both walked like penguins. Ok really for several days. BUT it was worth it. 2 weeks later, Mike still has blisters but a nother new pair of shoes. He didn't wear the pair of Brooks that he bought the week of the race. He won a random prize and traded in his medal rack holder for a $50 off a pair of shoes. Know it's my turn to find some new shoes. These did the trick but I'm ready to retire them. Until next time!
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