M on the track in Autozone Park right after the race.
D and M after M changed in to dry clothes.
Courtney ( 1/2) and Mike (full) who both ran personal best times.
M and Courtney. Courtney was a huge help w/ my training.
At around 9:30 on Friday evening, I climbed into bed w/ my Tylenol PM, water,
Runner's World, and
The Shack. Read a few articles and a bit of my book and drifted off to sleep with relative ease (IE: Tylenol PM takes effect). I was abruptly awoken by my sweet Tahoe running around the house barking. You have got to be kidding, dog. I have to run my first half marathon in the morning. Shut up! I drifted back off and woke again to realize that dog and David were no longer in the room. My sweet husband had spent the night on the couch in the keeping room with the dog, who turned out to be sick, so I could rest. (While "keeping rooms" were supposed to be the warmest place in the house to sleep in the old south, ours is
FREEZING!)
My alarm went off at 5:30 am. I asked God to let me push myself as hard as I possibly could today but to know when to stop if needed, grabbed my BlackBerry from the nightstand to read the most encouraging email I've ever received that my brother sent me the night before one last time, and hopped out of bed to get ready for the big day. I remained fairly calm until I couldn't find my race number, which I knew I had placed somewhere carefully the night before so I could find it quickly. Luckily, I found it rather quickly so not too much energy was wasted freaking out about a lost number. My stomach was of course giving me fits, but we had to go so we hopped in the car and off we went.
I went to my corral, which was pretty far back, but that is okay. I was there, and while I would run slower than most, I would run the entire course. After about fifteen minutes after the Elites started, Corral #11 was finally ready to go and away I ran. The race went fairly well for about the first nine miles. At nine miles, I hit a rough patch where energy seemed to be fleeting quickly. I will train better for my "rough spot" next time now that I have experienced it. As I'm running around town, my sweet husband had waited for me at mile 3 for over an hour and never saw me. He grew a bit worried that something had happened. He never heard anything from me so he headed to the stadium. He knew my estimated time of arrival at the finish line and started watching for me, and I didn't come, and didn't come. (I forgot to tell him that I would probably start about 15 minutes after the "official" clock because I'd need to start so far back so my time would be off by 15 minutes on the official clock.) Finally, I made it, and I was so excited to see a face I knew for the first time in over two COLD hours. (All of my friends run faster than me so I'm all on my own on race day, but that's okay!)
My race was dedicated to a little guy Cole Kasper, who's family moved to Memphis to be near St. Jude for him to receive treatment for cancer. He had a 35% chance at surviving and has been declared cured by his doctors. How AWESOME is that? If you aren't familiar w/
St. Jude, it is an out-patient hospital that treats children for cancer, and they never ask for a dime more than the parents' insurance pays. Through work, I've had the privilege of meeting several of the families who are in town seeking treatment at St. Jude and they are amazing.
My soreness today doesn't even begin to compare to the pain these little kiddos are going through. And I can only hope that these children and their families receive as much encouragement and support in their battle with cancer as I received from YOU while training for my first half marathon. I will take a couple of weeks off and get back to running!
A little tree with a HUGE bow! (I got a bit impatient this year looking for the perfect tree forgetting the large bow that was ready to go on it. Oh, well.)
M and D before church. The service was WONDERFUL!
Millie tries to be a present.
Mom and Dad
D and M
