Nashville Rock and Roll Marathon

We were up at the bright hour of 4:15 AM. That's 3:15 AM New Albany time. Ok folks. THAT'S even early for ME! I didn't sleep well. I saw the midnight hour and the 2:00 hour. OUCH! I was nervous as hell and knew I needed to sleep. That didn't help. I woke up to LOTS of texts, an e-mail from my wonderful hubby, and LOTS of Facebook messages. Those really helped. I was so over-whelmed by the support of my amazing family and friends. I thought about all that support when I was out there on the course.

We showered and lathered up. I swear by Body Glide. It IS the BEST stuff EVER!!!! Even with all that rain and all those wet clothes and shoes, I didn't end up with one blister and I didn't have any chaffing!!! WOW!!!!

We had our peanut butter bread and a banana. We were all set.

Our shuttle to the start line......

At the start.....we had nothing to do but stand around and take pictures so we did. It was not raining at this point. 

Let me just say how much I LOVE our outfits. They turned out to be such a blessing. We really stuck out to the crowd and people were cheering for us. They. were. great!!! We WILL have capes next time!

Nothing to do but stand around and take pictures so you get.....

our chips.....

and our Boston bracelets.

This picture seriously makes me laugh out loud. We were actually trying to stay DRY here!! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! It started sprinkling at this point and we were like "If we can stay dry, then we will be fine when it stops!!" ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!! AND it never stopped.......

They did a wave start. That means they start by releasing corral 1, then 2, and so on. We were corral 16 so it was about 30 minutes after the gun went off before we actually started. It was almost our turn......

Ok, a little about the race.

We started slow and steady. That was the plan all along. Slow and steady. We didn't want to start out too fast and then not be able to make it at the end. Since it was our first, we obviously didn't know what to expect. It was crowded so there was a lot of weaving in and out of people and making sure that we stayed together.

This is for me.....this is our split according to our watches.....

Total distance 26.67 miles
Average pace 9:48

Miles 1 and 2 9:54
Mile 3 10:11
4 11:00 (We stopped and peed behind a great big bush!)
5 10:11
6 9:37
7 9:48
8 9:43
9 9:34
10 9:21
11 9:29
12 9:28
13 9:32
14 9:29
15 9:36
16 9:34
17 9:41
18 and 19 9:51
20 9:47
21 9:46
22 9:42
23 and 24 9:59
25 9:55
26 10:09

I am very proud to say that we had a negative split which means we ran the second half faster than the first! We were so strong and steady the entire race. Now let's talk about the weather. It rained for 26.2 miles. Yes. The entire race it NEVER stopped. You know how sometimes it will stop raining for a bit and then start again. Nope. There were times when we were running down a hill and through puddles that were inches deep. There wasn't a dry spot on our bodies. Brutal. Back to the pictures.

Since Lori's family was there to watch, we got some great pictures and video. I don't have it all yet and I will post when I get more but here is some video they took. Her brother ran with us for a bit and took this video. I think this was around mile 10.


This is around the split. You turned left if you were doing the full marathon and right if you were doing the half. I remember this in other half-marathons I've done but I've never turned this way.......

Look at this beautiful weather.

Strong. I am still so happy with how strong and steady we were. After the half people left us, the crowd really thinned out. People were stopping to walk or slow way down. We still forged on. Slow and steady.

Honestly, I thought miles 15 and 16 were the toughest. My legs were started to get tired but I knew there was still a lot of the race left. People kept talking about this "wall" you hit around miles 18, 20, or 22. That never happened to me. There was a brutal hill at mile 25 and I was ready to be done. I think you get like that when you near the end of any race. I always remember feeling like that around mile 12 in a half. Around mile 25, I got so choked up. It was so emotional. We were doing it. All that hard work. All that training. All that planning. It was all coming to fruition! It was fabulous!!! I can't explain it. It was over-whelming!

This video was taken at mile 26. The finish line was down and around the corner but we couldn't see it yet.

AND WE DID IT!!!!! It was so great!!!!!!! I cried. We all cried. Our time was 4:21:37. We could have pushed harder and finished faster and now we know. It was definitely the perfect way to finish a first full. 

My legs were sore and stiff. Can you see the pain in our eyes?

We SLOWLY made our way back to our hotel room for a shower and lunch. By the time I made it back to my phone, it had exploded. The messages were so over-whelming! It took a while to get all caught up. I knew several people had signed up to received text alerts on their phones. Everytime I ran across one of the mats I said, "Hello family and friends!"

After lunch, we took a nap but not before we treated ourselves to an ice cream. My #1 weakness!!!!

We were all laying there quietly and I said, "Next marathon....." And we all three busted out laughing. We could hardly walk and we were all talking about the next one.....coming up....NOVEMBER 2ND!!!!! What an amazingly awesome experience. I am so glad I did it and I can't wait to do another!!!!

"I don't have time."

Ok.  I am not going to sit here and lecture you about having the time or making the time to workout.  It's a decision and a commitment you have to make.  BUT as I look back on my marathon training, I can't help but think of all the time I had to "make."  There was never a time when I was just sitting around with absolutely NOTHING to do.  I had to create that time.  There are a million excuses out there that you can make every single day.  We are all busy.  It's worth it and once you get started, you will feel the difference and crave it!  Make it part of your daily life and don't give it up for anything!

 TRUTH!!!!

 This has nothing to do with "time" but I love it.  It makes me laugh!

This is it.

It's almost here. We are going to do this. When we signed up last fall and when we started training after Christmas, the marathon seemed so far away. So far away. Like it wasn't real. Am I really going to complete all this training and then run this race? I knew it was going to be a lot of work. A LOT! I never skipped my runs/workouts before but this was serious. We weren't messing around and we didn't. We did all the training. We are actually over in total mileage. We are ready and I am super excited!! 26.2 miles. HERE WE COME!!!!

I like this. Mental Focus 85%. Physical Skill 15%. There is a lot of truth to that.

We had our last "long" run yesterday. (We did 8. Funny how that seemed to take like 5 minutes after our hours and hours of running over the past couple of months!) It felt great!! We are so ready for this.

Mark treated us to cinnamon crunch bagels. He's gonna have to stop this after the marathon. We won't have to extra calories to spare! Jess is so special. She was the one I captured eating it. Isn't this a flattering picture?? Your welcome, Jess. ;)

Afterwards, we went shopping for our race outfit. We have to look good. We laughed and laughed. Those poor people in the store! It was a good warm-up for next weekend!! Here are some pics. The final outfit is actually concealed. You'll have to wait until Saturday to see it!

We LOVED these pants. They were second to what we bought but they just didn't make the cut.

We are definitely counting down now. Jess said it best, "I don't want it to be over. There is something special about the "first." We'll never have a first again." She's right but I am sooooo super pumped!! Come on FRIDAY!!!

I love this sport!!

"Even without that special purpose, marathon running is a sport of goodwill. It's the only sport in the world where if a competitor falls, the others around will pick him or her up. It's the only sport in the world open to absolutely everyone, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity or any other division you can think of. It's the only occasion when thousands of people assemble, often in a major city, for a reason that is totally peaceful, healthy and well-meaning. It's the only sport in the world where no one ever boos anybody.

If you're losing your faith in human nature, look at marathon crowds, standing for hours with no seating, no cover, no bathrooms, to cheer thousands of strangers. Or look at our sport's volunteers, on whose shoulders the whole sport rests."

I love these things.....

60 POUNDS PEOPLE!!!

My friend shared this morning that she's lost 60 POUNDS!!!!  I am so super proud of her!!  How you might ask?  Jazzercise and watching what she eats!!!!!  It can be done!!  Make the decision to change and do it!!!! 

In her words:

"I love Jazzercise and all the instructors and my classmates. The biggest blessing is the love and support of family and friends and the "new" life I'm getting to share with (her husband.)"

10 miler

Daniel finished up the Triple Crown with the Papa John's 10-miler yesterday!!!  I am so super proud of this guy!!  He did so well with an average pace of 8:23!  The kids think he's a rockstar!!

In his words:  Wow, I felt really good during that race.  I could definitely do another mini.

 

Guess what I am feverishly trying to find?