Last week Acalias and I traveled early to Kentucky. We enjoy hanging out with my college roommate Rebecca (Wach) King so we were excited to spend some time with her and her family. Becca has a quote hanging over her doorway that says " It takes a long time to grow old friends", which is very applicable to our relationship. I always joke and tell her that she's such a good friend even after being my roommate for two years! Meaning she knows all my weaknesses having lived with me and she still loves me. We have so many great memories and it's so fun to reminisce, it's the closest thing to family out here on the other side of the country.
We enjoyed Becca's family, Acalias clung on to her 3 year old Coleson and we visited the zoo, the discovery museum and several parks...all luxuries that don' exist in our small town of Bridgeport, WV.
Trying to get pictures with Acalias these days is ridiculous.
At the Zoo with Becca and her kids
I had to swing by the expo to pick up my bib # and race bag goodies. I always find the stuff they sell interesting, I took a few snap shots of some of my favorite shirts.
Sometimes it feels good to just run to run, not for competition.
I love this saying. I really do work out a lot of stuff in my head while I run.
I am "one bad mother runner" for sure!
On the day of the marathon, I hitched a ride with the local members to Louisville. I tend to get anxious on race day but hitching a ride calmed my nerves because I didn't have to drive in the big city and find parking. It was also nice to talk to other runners and learn about their training techniques and learn about the course. Unfortunately we weren't the same past and like most runner's we set goals to PR (personal best record) for each race. I love that running is an individual sport and I don't need to rely on anyone to help me reach my goals.
Pre-race. Happy as can be!
Church members I rode up with.
It's funny how we all had the same color on.
There were 18,000 runners, it was by far the biggest race I had ever participated in. I couldn't even make it to my corral (divided spaces for pace) I had to start with the 12 minute milers but in all honestly I don't think I was the only one stuck in a slower corral. I tried to push my way forward but the crowds were too thick so I decided to wait it out and talk to the runners around me.
Me and Teri, a girl I chatted with before the race.
We were squished like sardines!
Once the race began I tried to pass up other runners but it is difficult with so many runners, I jumped up on the sidewalks trying to pass the crowd but I didn't get much further. I decided to relax and run my race, the timing started once we crossed the finish line so I was still able to hit each mile at my goal. I set three goals 3:55 super awesome, 4:00 great, 4:05 a good race. I set those goals oblivious to the course so next time I set goals, I will study the course more thoroughly.
I felt like I flew through the first 10 miles, looking back over the chip timing I was running 8:56. I had planned to monitor my heart rate at 165 but that flew out the window with all the adrenalin I was running 168-170 but I felt terrific! The marathon looped back so I saw the amazingly fast Kenyans glide by me. I want to look like I'm running effortlessly some day too. I slowed down a bit once I hit mile 12 because it was a gradual incline up a 3 mile hill that seemed to last an eternity. There was lots of trees and the cool breeze felt great.
Once I hit mile 20, I was nervous that I would soon hit a "wall" and my pace would slow down to a crawl like it did in my first marathon. I was fine, I kept thinking " 6 miles is nothing, I run that just fine on a daily basis." I had arranged for Becca to bring me a Snickers bar at mile 20 but she was no where in sight and I wasn't as ravenous as I thought I would be. I saw a the great big hill that everyone warned me of at mile 22 and took it slow and steady. The hill was followed by a larger hill that was too steep to run up. I walked, knowing that walking it expended less energy than running it and I was walking it faster than I could run it. At mile 23 1/2 my phone began to ring (I had my Bluetooth and talked a little throughout the race...lame I know but it was useful in tracking down my roommate). I was nearing the peak of the hill and knew I didn't have enough breath to speak so I ignored it. After several minutes I see Becca and her husband with my snickers bar, I gasp and tell her that I couldn't eat it. She ran along side of me telling me that I'm doing well while she opened the candy bar and handed it off to me. I took one huge bite and kept running. I had to keep positive, I thought about the cards, phone calls and texts I had received to wish me luck before the marathon. I took pride in passing people up rather than being passed up like my first marathon. I kept a steady pace and as the crowds thicken I pushed my self to finish strong and boy did it feel great!
I did it! I finished 1hour and 31 minutes faster than my first marathon in 2009 (5:37:03)!!!
Time: 4:06:30
Overall place: 766/ 2120
Gender place: 182/ 789
Division place: 36/ 126 9 (25-29 year old)
Pace: 9:25
The medal...one of the many reasons I like to run marathons!
(stole this off the web, hence the blurriness)
I plan to run all 50 states before I die...unfortunately most races are on
Sundays so maybe I'll just just settle for two marathons a year.
We'll cross that bridge later:)
Special thanks to my family away from home, so glad I had great roommates in college!
