My Marathon

the mile by mile

Many days while I was training I would dream of being able to write down my actual day and have a post in my journal called, "My Marathon". It is just as exciting writing about it as it was running it.

We left the day before to stay the night in Baltimore. I met Jeff at the parking lot of the Temple after work so he didn't have to drive all the way home. While I sat in the parking lot waiting for him I was talking to my brother Ryan and telling him how incredibly nervous I was. I was kind of a wreck. I had had the flu the week before and had missed my last long run of 8 miles from being sick and the last time I tried to run I could not do more than 2 miles. So my biggest fear was just not finishing. I had given Ryan my big sob story and after he let me finish he said, "ok well there is no question you are going to finish" I can not begin to explain the rush that went through my body when he said that. It meant so much to me for him to have that kind of confidence in me and I decided to believe him. He then sent me this text message about 10 minutes later that I memorized and replayed in my head at about mile 2.

Kristi, I know that whatever happens you will not only make us, your girls, Jeff and yourself proud but also God. He will be your biggest cheerleader.
Ryan

Jeff and I were excited to have a night with just us, as we stayed in Baltimore the night before. We went to Little Italy and had a yummy carb loading dinner at Sabatino's. I really have no idea the science behind eating pasta before , but Jeff did and everyone I know who runs does so that is all that mattered.

Jeff and I didn't talk much during dinner, I think we were both so nervous. I was excited to feel justified to eat as much pasta as I wanted, but could barely eat a thing I was so nervous.
The silliest little things get me so excited. Like when we were walking out the door and the owner says to us, "good luck in the marathon tomorrow". I was so excited that just by looking at me he thought I could actually run it.
Jeff and I had fun getting all of our gear out the night before and figuring out how to hold all of our goo and gear we wanted to have with us. my friend Emily G. had called me the day before and gave us the tip of safety pinning the goo to the shorts. We must have looked so funny in our hotel room running around practicing to see how it felt.
The next morning the alarm clock went off at 6:00 am and Jeff and I looked at each other like, "here we go!" I just have to say again what a bonding experience this was for us, the fact that neither of us had done this before was such a blessing. We NEEDED each other!
We had hoped to order room service that morning but we left too early and so thank goodness my neighbor had sent us with some bagels. We each had half a bagel and one caffeine goo packet. I don't think this is suggested in any training but it was our plan.
Before I put my shoes on I wrote myself some encouraging notes on my feet in a pink sharpie, which will be my new tradition before any more marathons or long runs. (traditions are not just for holidays) I had loved the idea of Shawna B. having her kids sign her shoes but since they are my only running shoes I went for the skin. But if the kids would have been with us I would have had them sign my feet too. I had also put three pink beads on my shoe laces to remind of my girls while I was running. I wanted to make them so proud.
I wore these Balega socks that were sent to me by my sister in law Melissa. (she does look like the girl on the Nike ad) Jeff was very superstitious on what socks he would wear and advised me not to wear socks I had not trained in. I had trained in ones similar to this and the fact that my sister in law, who is very fast on her feet, had touched them I knew they would give me good luck and they did.
Jenn had said she thought I would have worn pink and honestly if I could have found a pink running outfit I would have! I had looked for months. I didn't even know what I was going to wear until the night before because all of my shorts during training had caused chaffing and so I was a little worried. But I did wear a pink polka dotted grosgrain ribbon in my hair. I had many people screaming on the side, "go girl with the pink ribbon!"

Before we left the hotel we knelt and said a prayer together, I had Jeff say it because I was so nervous. Again, an awesome experience for the both of us.
The morning was a little cold but so nice. My friend Emily had also given me the tip to bring a long sleeve t-shirt I could wear during the race until I got warm and throw it off the side of the road. I was so grateful for this tip! When I ripped it off at about mile 2 I felt like Brandi Chaistain and actually kind of cool. (yet I looked nothing like her)

the big question and concern of the day is going to the bathroom. I was lucky that when I got up I was able to go right away and get almost everything out of me. Jeff waited until right before the race and so we stood in line at the porta potties (chanel they were no pot of gold). this photo is the long line, because everyone is dealing with the same problem. They have potties at different water stations to use. For the record I went to the bathroom twice on the road. Mile 6 and about mile 20.
The race started at 8:00 am. There were not as many people as I had imagined getting in line. Jeff walked me to the back which is where my expected finish time was. I was so nervous. He waited with me for a minute and then said, "do you want me to help you find a friend?" It was like the first day of school.
One of the big reasons I did this had to do with my word of the year. I had decided to not be so afraid of putting myself in uncomfortable situations and stretch myself a bit. As I stood there I thought, "what was I thinking?"
There was a guy next to me juggling 5 balls, that he did the entire race while running. Another guy jumping rope and another guy dressed up in a huge box the size of himself as a light box. (they all finished before I did) I was with most of the over 50 age group and just did a lot of listening and a little bit of crying.
Right before we started I said a prayer that I would miraculously be able to run this race even if my body could not. The amazing story of the day was how this prayer was answered.

Then the race started and they shot off a lot of confetti and had loud music playing.

First Mile.
The first few miles are all uphill. I did not know this ahead of time. I had so much anxiety and was so nervous. There were crowds around me and I think if I could have figured out how to get out of the group I would have. Then I started thinking

• about the fact I said on my blog that i have a secret and how i would then reveal that my secret was I had THOUGHT about running a marathon and ran half a mile and quit!
• Then I remembered Ryan's test message
• and the last words my sister in-law (the one who looks like the Nike ad) said to me kept going over and over in my head, One foot in front of the other. I said it over and over again.
• I told myself to not turn around and look back and see what was in the back. I was so afraid I was the last person.
• I then stared playing in my head all the names of people that I had actually told I was doing this (not that many people) and the excuse I would have to come up with each one of them why I decided to quit
  

A few weeks before the marathon I found out that music devices were not allowed and it said in the book you could be disqualified. This was not good news for me. I had my running mix down to a science of what songs would play at what mile. They were all feel good songs and most of them came from my "can't feel myself running post" that everyone shared their favorite running songs. I had bought almost all of the songs that Amanda:) had suggested and had thought of her on every run. So the night before in the hotel Jeff and I talked about my decision to bring my ipod or not. I felt the guilt of not keeping the rules. This was a testing my testimony of exact obedience. I chose not to wear it.I also had never ran with anyone during my training other than one time with my sister in law. I learned that I can not talk and run at the same time.

At about mile 2 a woman came up to me and introduced herself to me and asked me how I was doing. She was 51 years old and this was her 14th marathon. Yes 14! I surprised myself that I was able to talk back to her and not fall over. We talked for about half of a mile and then I lost it. I started to tell her how I was trying to get the guts up to quit for the past mile and was so grateful to her for coming up to me and saving me! I was crying in that kind of sucking air crying and not being able to catch your breath. I was so grateful to her. She said, "ok I got it, your welcome. now stop crying or you are going to faint"
I asked her what her number one advice would be for running a marathon. She said, "you enjoy every minute of this day and the whole experience" I took her advice seriously and did just that.

She then became my Bob Greene and I was her Oprah. She was a motivator. She told me I was doing a good job. She told me when to drink water, when to grab the gummy bears and to grab as many has my hands could hold and that I could always throw them down later. She told me to grab the bag of potato chips they were passing out and eat them now and save the banana for later when we were running along the Bay. She became fast friends with everyone around us and introduced me as the new girl running her first one. (keep in mind I was with all the runners over 60 at this point) The best thing was that she ran faster than I ever had and at our half point I was 2 miles faster than I had ever run and my half marathon time was actually only an hour off Jeff's time. I was so proud!

then the best part of the marathon happened for me at about my mile 7 and Jeff's mile 13. The course looped around itself and the fastest runners were now running past us slow people. I then realized that I might be able to find Jeff in the crowd. I was looking so hard to see if I could find his muted, grey shirt in the crowd (ha!) Then I saw him and I got so excited. He and I both got out of the running packs (his running pack was much larger than mine) and he came to me and gave me a big kiss and said, "you are doing great, I love you!" and in a flash he was back to his pace. I loved telling my new friend that was my husband and look how fast he was! i would run it all over again for that one kiss.

Then at the half way point another highlight and total surprise. I was one, way ahead of my time and if I had finished the last half in the same time would have finished at 5:40. But two, I came around the corner of the inner harbor and there sat a friend from church, Rachelle. She is 9 months pregnant and was waiting for me! Her sister was running it too. Rochelle had waited for me! I of course started to cry. I ran to the side and gave her the biggest hug and said as I was running, "thank you so much for encouraging me to do this and supporting me" I was on a runners high. Her doing that for me meant so much to me.

Then Mile 14 came and my knees were talking to me like never before. My Bob Greene asked me how I was doing and I said, not so great. We had only walked through one water station! I had never trained more than two miles of running without a walking break, so I was thrilled. She encouraged me again by saying this is your first one and this can be a tough spot for you. Just keep going and try your hardest. I kept repeating in my head, "one foot in front of the other"

I now started being 2 steps behind her and then 4 and then 8 then she was getting further and further ahead. I was constantly looking and the words I had written on my hand in pink sharpie. "you can do this!" I now had lost my running buddy at about mile 16 and I knew the 3 miles of hills were coming and I was scared.

I then came to mile 17. This was also emotional for me because the most mileage I had ever run was 17 miles in training. (my training schedule was 18) When I came around and saw this sign. (can you believe I took this cool photo with a cell phone!) I was so excited and then something just kicked me in high gear and I said, "you are going to finish this race!" I was on my own but had some familiar faces around me. There was the dad who was running with his two teenage kids teaching them to run their first marathon and kept calling his son "Champ" it was quite endearing. He would tell all of us around him, look at my kids they are doing it! all the while he was running backwards motivating his kids ( I want that to me someday with my girls)

Then the famous hills of the race started to come. They were through some of the roughest parts of town. I will never be able to thank those incredible people who sat on their steps cheering me on but they became my new Bob Greene. One lady at the bottom of the hill as the runners began to run up was yelling "it is all downhill from here"

The route went through the town of Baltimore and there were people on every street cheering and yelling for you, lined with people. Every intersection on the route (and there were many) had a police man there to stop traffic I thanked everyone for their time. And most of them would say "go 568 you can do this" I have to say I enjoyed seeing the entire intersection being stopped so just little old me could run on through. I found myself waving at the honking cars cheering out their windows for me. I thanked everyone yelling for me and loved waving at them all.

I met a girl at mile 18 from North Carolina who had blisters on her feet and said she was so hungry. I stayed with her for awhile and gave her some of my food. I gave her the same advice that was given to me and just enjoy the day.
Right as we got into this one park with this large lake there was a man that had parked his car on the side and was just sitting there to cheer on the runners. As I ran past him he said, "I have been waiting for you all day" This was a pretty awesome part of the run for me. No one in front of me and no one behind. I told myself that I wanted to finish running the whole thing. I didn't want to say I had run a marathon, but walked the last 6 miles. Even though I was going slow, I was running. (keep in mind in April I could not run longer than one minute) Jeff called on the cell phone and asked how I was doing and I said, "Great! I feel awesome" I was smiling from ear to ear.
As I came around the corner the marathon photographers were there and took some of these photos.

I was waving like crazy at them. All I needed was a red carpet.

I had practiced my arms in the air on my training so that came second nature to me.

At this point I was just giddy. I think I had about 6 miles to go. The neighborhood right after this park there was a guy on his front porch with a microphone and a huge speaker system playing and singing to the song, The Final Countdown. He yelled my number and said "come up this hill you can do it 568". If I honestly thought I could find his house again and had $100 I would put it in his mailbox. Jeff had remembered him as well (three hours earlier) and said how much he motivated him as well.
This bridge was tough for me. I had a bananna in my hand that had been there for a long time so I thought this would be a good time to eat it. I carried the peel for awhile and hated throwing things on the side of the road but finally found a good spot to put it.

I was now on the home stretch and called Jeff with a mile to go and to let him know I was coming. I had so many feelings rushing through my body and could not believe that my 6 month goal was now coming true.

I had always wanted to say I was a marathon runner and now I could.

But then another wonderful thing happened.

My Bob Greene was there at the finish line! She had waited for me! She had finished about 30 minutes earlier. She came and hugged me and I squeezed the guts out of her. How do I even begin to thank her for what she did for me? This woman saved me from quitting. She stayed by my side and kept me going. She told me when to go to the bathroom. She told me when to eat. She taught me to high five the police men. And most importantly she told me to enjoy every moment - and I did!


I was crying so hard when Jeff took this photo.
She lives just 10 miles down the road from me. I can't remember her name, but am hoping I can find her by her number. She is getting the biggest thank you card I know how to write. I will never forget her!


It was just a dang great day! And yes... I am hooked. I want to do another one as soon as I can. I loved it! It was great! It was hard. It was exciting. It was scary. It stretched me further than I knew I could be stretched.

I just had to add one photo of Jeff before he crossed the finish line and say he is Superman! I wish so bad that someone would have been there when he finished and I know he surprised even himself on how well he did. He always believed I could do this and supported me all the way!
And so my lesson and blessing at the end of the day had to do with not using my ipod. I can guarantee that if I had worn it that my Bob Greene would never have come up and talked to me. She would have gone right on past me. I believe I was blessed with her by my side because of my willingness to be obedient to the rules. Here I had prayed that my body would miraculously do something I didn't know if it could do, but that was not how my prayers were answered. I still had to do it myself, but I was given help to do it. This lesson will forever stay with me.
I want to be that Bob Greene to someone else that my friend was to me. I want to be the answer to someone's prayers that that woman was to me.

I had a dream, and it was big and it came true!


Kacey - I ended up with Brooks - the same shoes I had to begin with. The super feet made a huge difference for me.
I think the rest of the questions were answered in my post, if not let me know.
Song - Dram Big - Ryan Shupe and the rubberband. It is the best slide show song ever!