Marathon Madness

Well...I made it and I did it well!  On Sunday, January 15th, I completed 26.2 miles and my first marathon.  That same weekend last year I raced the half marathon in Phoenix and this year decided to up the ante and run the full.  Let me not get ahead of myself though and start from the beginning.

Brad, Quinn, and I headed out to Phoenix on Thursday and even though we were flying through Minneapolis in the dead of winter, we had no delays and got in early!  AMAZING.  We quickly gathered our belongings and our rental car and headed to Janelle and Nate's house where we were lucky enough to be staying for the weekend.  We spent an awesome evening with them and their daughter Katelyn.  Quinn and Katelyn really hit it off playing well together and "loving on" each other as well.

Janelle and I met back in graduate school and have been best friends ever since.  It's amazing to me how time can pass and distance can separate us, but our friendship somehow always remains strong.  Her friendship is one of the greatest blessings in my life and I'm so happy our families are now a part of this awesome friendship.

Katelyn and Quinn's Blooming Relationship

Innocent?  You Decide :)

Best Friends

The weather in Phoenix was absolutely amazing...low 70s and sunny.  We went up to Nonna and Papa's house on Friday and spent the day with them there.  They absolutely LOVED Quinn and he loved them as well.  His cuteness and persistent "Nonna, Nonna" even was enough to persuade Nonna to come out of her house and play in the garden alongside Quinn.  We all had a blast and spent such special moments making memories that we will keep forever.

Quinn and Nonna Gardening Together

True Love Across the Generations

Made Nonna's Day/Week/Month

Italians Only

Now the real reason we came to Arizona was for me to run in my first marathon - though getting to visit so many important people sweetened the deal.  The big day started just before 5am with some time for me to prep, eat some breakfast, and take care of a few other crucial facts :)  Brad and Quinn dropped me off downtown Phoenix around 6:30 leaving me with an hour before race start.  I wandered around amongst the other racers, visited the bathrooms 5 times (yes...5 times), and was in my corral ready to run minutes before 7:30.  It was at this point they announced the race had been delayed.  By the time we actually started, it was 8:05 and close to 60 perfect degrees.

The gun went off and 20,000 people started the pre-race shuffle toward the starting line under the slightly overcast beautiful morning.  I hit my stride and felt really good.  It had been over a month since I had run my longest run of 20 miles and I was wondering how my body would do, but once I crossed that starting line, I knew I was ready to go.

I kept repeating my race plan in my head - 9:05s the first 10 miles (this would allow for a bathroom break if need be), race pace the next 10 miles, and just run the last 10k knowing that once you got to the 5k I could lay it all down on the line and just go -- eat every 20-25 miles, hit every aid station for water, and gatorade every 2nd or 3rd station.  I was set.

The first 10 miles were amazing.  As per usual, I spent the first hour of my run going through the alphabet naming everything I was thankful for.  It makes the time pass so quickly and warms my heart to do so.  At this point, I was running 9:02s and feeling good about them.  I was so excited to show Brad that I had stuck with my plan when I came upon him at mile 13.3.  Brad, Quinn, Kristie, and Mel were all on the side of the road cheering when I entered the out and back loop portion of the course.  I was really looking forward to the next 6 miles because Brad had planned to run them with me.  It was really fun to have him by my side keeping me company.

After a 2 minute bathroom stop for me, at mile 19, Brad dropped off and I was on my own.  My pace had slowed slightly, but I was still averaging 9:07s with the bathroom stop.  Brad and I had discussed my plan.  I was now going to hold my pace (I only had to average 9:09s to make my goal time of 4 hours) until mile 23 then slowly start speeding up until I got to mile 25 which at that point there would be no more holding back.  I was confident.  I was set.  But then...mile 23 reared its ugly head and I cramped up so badly that I didn't even know if I could walk.  Thinking back to conversations I had overheard about cramping, I decided I better get some salt.  I walked the miserable 2/10th of a mile to the medical center, grabbed a packet of salt and dumped it down my throat.  It was the BEST tasting thing ever and somehow, my cramps immediately disappeared.

I started running sub-9s again and was feeling good when just before mile 24, my pace slowed to 10+ minutes/mile.  It was horrible.  I kept yelling at myself not to stop, to keep going, to put one foot in front of the other, that I wasn't going to let all these people see me walking.  And so I kept running (probably looking more like a pregnant 3-legged elephant than a gazelle).  I made it across the finish line in 4:05:58 (my watch said 4:04 - it had probably stopped at the bathroom break) dizzy, only able to walk slowly, and depleted, but I had finished.  While I didn't make my goal of sub-4 hours, I did finish in my goal window of 4 hours +/- 10 minutes so I was pleased.  I learned a lot about myself and about my body's needs.  1)  I have very salty sweat and need to be replenishing my salt stores and 2) I cannot possibly eat too much during a race and in future races, I must refuel better.  Though the first thing I told Brad when I finished was "I'll never do that again," by the time I got off the ground and had enough energy to walk again, I had changed my tune.

Quinn's Look Sums Up How I Felt

The best parts of the day were 1) accomplishing something most people only dream of or maybe would never dream of, 2) having my family on the course and at the finish line cheering for me, 3) having Brad, his encouragement, and his wealth of knowledge to run with me for 6 miles, 4) Quinn not wanting to let go of me after they met up with me at the finish line ,and 5) Jamba Juice and a nice warm shower.

At The Finish Line With My Family

Never Letting Go