Where to begin? First I want to say, even though she ended up injured and unable to run, my sister was/is the best running partner!! We really push each other and help get where we want. As upset as she was about not being able to run in this Marathon she still went to the Expo with me and got up and got me to the starting line. She is awesome and I can't wait to do this again, WITH her! Second my husband and kids are AMAZING they sacrificed time to let me train and even if I did miss a few runs here and there without their support I would NOT have been able to finish this!
M-Day
Woke up to my alarm at 5:45 after restless sleep, as usual on race days. We left my fabulous and hospitable friends home and headed downtown to Indy. We waited in the Convention Center to stay warm because it was chilly outside.
While we were waiting we met a young gal named Carmen who was running her 3rd Marathon, she was from Chicago and this was the smallest one she had run. She said her goal was 6:30 as her previous 2 were around 7 hours. She had her husband and kids there but was fearful that they wouldn't be able to stick around because he may get called in to work. We wished her luck at the start line and I went on to find a friend who is in our local Moms RUN This Town Chapter who was running the half. Steph left at this time to go check out the starting line.
I ran the first 5 miles with Lisa, this was her first half and it was good to have someone to run a bit with, even if it was a short time. Her goal was to finish in under 3 hours and when we split she was on track to be around a 2:30!! You can imagine my excitement when I saw she finished in 2:39!! Way to go LISA!!
At mile 13 my family was waiting on me: husband, kids, sister, brother in-law and my dad. (My mom was supposed to be there but my 8 year old informed me that my grandpa had been taken to the hospital so she was with him. Totally understandable!!)
Around mile 17 I was getting tired, I knew that in another mile or so I would see my family again so that kept me going. They were FANTSTIC, they ran the Indiana Museum of Art parking lot with me and told me all the things I needed to hear. By now I was about 8 miles away and was projected to finish in 5:54 according to the timing mats. I knew I had to keep a steady pace to keep my time under 6 hours and I KNEW that would be hard.
During these miles I met some GREAT people, including a 68 year old named Carol who was running her 251 marathon and her 35th this year!!! WHOA!!! Her goal is 300 by her 70th birthday.
For some reason the fuel I had was not working, nothing was different than on my training runs. For some reason though it was not working for me today so I was hungry and hitting the preverbial wall.
Around mile 21 I started running 3/4 mile and walking 1/3-1/2 mile and when I saw the 24 mile marker and thought oh wow only 2 miles and the timer looked like I could actually make the under 6 mark...in my head I kept seeing the number 5:58:58.
Just a few blocks after mile 25 a finisher was standing and cheering us on and she said you've got this only 3 more turns. Was she kidding 3 more turns!!! I ran the rest of the way about the last mile and when I got to the finishers shoot my kiddos came out and ran me in!! So sweet and so emotional!! And my time? 5:59:02
Not what my plan was, but life rarely is:) I'm happy, proud, excited...
Oh, and Carmen from before the start, I ran into her on the way to the car with her husband and kids in tow, her time 5:58!!
Yay for Marathoners!!!
