2015 :: Running to Honor our Heroes

Most of you know that I am a runner.  I ran my first "race" when I was probably 8 years old or so.  My Dad was a big runner and he got me into it at an early age.  I enjoy running because it's a physical, emotional, and mental release for me.  It also keeps me in relatively good shape and allows me to set goals for myself.

At the Runner's World Half Marathon in Bethlehem, PA

In 2013 I set a goal for myself: run a marathon.  In November, my older brother (slash trusty running partner) and I completed the Richmond Marathon.  It was one of the best runs of my life!

Richmond Marathon, November 2013

After that, running sort of got placed on the back burner because grad school and "life" became a first priority for me.  However, I have learned a lesson the hard way that my health and fitness cannot be put on the back burner.  I know that I deserved a little break after the marathon - especially because I hate running in the cold/snow, which is what we got that following winter - but I should have jumped right back into half marathons.
This all leads me to my new goal in 2015: run my second marathon. Even though I will be starting my first big girl full-time teaching job this fall, I have told myself that that is no excuse for not setting health and fitness goals for myself.  I need to learn how to balance my work life and my personal life.  I might as well start now.

When I got to thinking about what marathon I wanted to run, two came to mind.  The Richmond Marathon and the Marine Corps Marathon.  I loved running Richmond and told myself that I would love to do it again and try and improve my time on the course.  The MCM is appealing for two reasons.  The first being that it is the only marathon my Dad ever ran.  I have always wanted to run it because he has run it.  The second reason is that I love running in northern Virginia.  I have run a couple of races in various cities and have loved them all.  It's so gorgeous!
In the end, I chose to run the Marine Corps Marathon.  However, there's more. In case you aren't familiar, the MCM holds a lottery because it's extremely popular.  I entered the lottery earlier in March and later found out that I was not selected.  I was bummed and thought maybe that was a sign I shouldn't run it this year.

Next, I got on the MCM Facebook page and saw a mention of one of the charity partners, Fisher House, recruiting people who hadn't received a lottery spot.  I went to their website and read about their mission.  Fisher House has a network of housing locations across the nation where they offer free lodging for military families in order for them to be close to a loved one who is receiving treatment.  They also have a program called Hotels for Heroes, which is made possible by donated hotel points and provides free hotel lodging for military families, and Hero Miles, made possible by donated frequent flier miles and provides free airline tickets for military families traveling to be closer to their service member who is receiving treatment in another part of the country.

Long story short, I felt drawn to this cause and I wanted to help.  Yes, I was excited to learn that they still had spots available for their MCM team, but even more so I was excited about the opportunity to be able to run for more than myself and my own personal goals.  I will be fundraising and training for Team Fisher House and will make a difference for service members and their families.  I feel so lucky to have this opportunity and to combine my love of running with the chance to help others!
I would appreciate your support in helping me fundraise for Team Fisher House.
You can visit my personal page here!
I'll be following an 18 week plan by Hal Higdon starting in June.  Until then, pre-training begins! Wish me luck and thank you in advance for considering donating to my fundraising efforts!

Race Recap :: I'm a MARATHONER!

Wow. I can't believe I am saying that. I'm a marathoner. I had such an amazing weekend and an amazing race!!   Here's my race weekend recap of the Richmond Marathon!

Goodie bag from my sweet running friend/all around BFF Sara!   Friday
Friday morning we left around 8:30 for Richmond. I was both excited and nervous that this weekend was finally here.  The weather was beautiful as we drove up 81 and then hopped on 64 over to RVA. My brother, James, had flown in from Austin on Wednesday and he had a rental car to return so we picked him up at the airport when we got there and then headed to the expo. The expo was held at Arthur Ashe Center in Richmond right near the Diamond. It was pretty crowded inside, which made me get even more excited!

James and I had bibs 5103 and 5133, which we think is funny since we registered together, but oh well.  After we got our bibs we walked through the expo and bought a couple of things - Richmond-y shirts, stickers, running shirt, arm band, some gloves for the start, etc. I love attending the expos. There is always so much to look at, some fun things to try out, fun headbands, noisemakers for spectators, free food, etc! We walked around for about an hour, then had some lunch.    At 2:00 James and I went on a free course tour on a charter bus. Two guys that "work", I suppose, for the marathon (and have run it 5-6 times) led the tour and were really funny.  They knew a lot about the course, the race, and the city of Richmond so I learned a lot. I also saw this sign, which made me giggle:

"Marathon Day Special: But two 10 milers and get the third for 38% off!" Next we headed to the hotel to chill out and watch Pitch Perfect, which is slowly becoming a pre-race tradition, before going to carb load at dinner.  We ate a favorite near my Dad's house, Joe's Inn, and had a really nice dinner.  Steven finally made it down from PA around 7:45 just in time for some chicken parm! Bedtime was early - around 10:30 - but I knew I needed plenty of sleep! Race day was awaiting! Saturday I woke up at 6:00 and had my belvita breakfast biscuits.  I got these at the Runner's World Half and they're so delicious! They also don't upset my stomach, which is obviously important before a big race. Started our drive downtown and...POURING RAIN.  I was a little bit upset because all week long the forecast was perfect for running.  I don't mind a little rain when I'm running, but y'all it was POURING. That's not so fun. I arrived at the Marriott downtown around 7:00 to meet James.  We walked around inside to stay warm and to use the restroom one last time before the race started.

The white banner right beyond the traffic light is the starting line for the marathon. The race started promptly at 8:00 am.  We were in wave 4 and we started slowly walking forward - I thought we were just moving up to the line - but no, it had started! We were off to run 26.2!!   My race day goals in order of importance: 1. FINISH 2. RUN the whole time 3. Finish under 5 hours   Miles 1-4: These FLEW by. I feel like I blinked and I was already at mile 4. The first 2 miles it pretty much poured, so I was soaking wet, but there's not much you can do about that! I usually take Gu every 45 minutes, but I obviously need water.  I wasn't running with my water bottle because that's just one more thing I would need to worry about and I wanted my hands free.  The race had water & Powerade very 2 miles, so I planned to take Gu every four miles. Not exactly 45 minutes, but it worked.  I was maintaining a consistent 10:30 mile, which is right where I wanted to be. Miles 5-8: After mile 4, I knew I was going to see my family & Steven at mile 7 so I had something to look forward to. The race had official "party zones" where a lot of spectators could hang out and there was music and refreshments.Coming down the hill (in the second picture) I could see all of the spectators and I got super pumped. Sort of sped up, but then slowed down because I didn't want to miss my family. I saw my Mom first and got so excited!! She handed me a Gu, I waved to Steven & Jason who were trailing a few steps behind (traffic issues) and then a couple steps ahead my Dad was waiting to snap some pictures.

 Feeling good!

 Lots of runners!

James at a different part of the course - he was ahead of me a bit so my family missed him at mile 7. At mile 8 I took another Gu and took a swig of Powerade to start replacing some electrolytes. We ran along the riverside, which was sooooo beautiful.  Even down there, where I thought there would be no one to cheer us on, there was still some groups of people! It was awesome.  We met our first "hill" which a lot of people walked up but I powered on through.  The good thing about training in Blacksburg is that the hills don't scare me! :) There was a lady handing out pretzels in a bowl at the bottom of the hill -- I love that lady. Miles 9-12: These weren't too bad. I was feeling a little sore, but my breathing was perfectly normal - could have held a conversation- and still holding that 10:30 pace. Overall feeling good about how the race was going.  I didn't have my music in because the spectators were SO awesome and I got a boost just from hearing them cheer us on.  It was fun to just listen to the sounds of the race course.  Not to mention there was also 28 bands and DJs along the course!!  Another Gu at mile 12 and my next "goal" was to see that halfway sign! Miles 13-16: I saw the 13.1 sign around 2:20 so I was feeling good that I would finish under 5 hours.  However, I really had no idea how the last 10K was going to go because the longest I had run was 20 miles. I knew I was going to see my family around mile 16 so I was pushing through the drizzle and the rare quietness of the bridge back into the city to see them.  We ran over several bridges, which was pretty neat to look over and see the James River, but this one in particular was quiet other than the sounds of the cars in the other lane.  Some of them would beep and cheer us on! I saw my family a little beyond the 16 mile mark.  Dad handed me a Gu and I was on my way.

Miles 16-20: My next "goal" was to see that 20 mile mark.  I knew that I could make it to the 20 mile mark because I had done it in training.  I didn't take a Gu at mile 16 like planned because my stomach was feeling a little weird.  It had a lot of Gu and fluids rollin' around in it.  There were several junk food stops along the way and with them were some little cups of Coca Cola.  I took one of those to help soothe my stomach and that seemed to help a lot. Mile 17 had the first wet washcloths. These were awesome! It felt so good to wipe my face and my neck with a cool, wet washcloth. To be honest, around mile 18 I was feeling a little rough.  I don't know if it was the rain or what, but I was feeling a little tired. I took my Gu at mile 18 instead of 16. Finally I saw mile 20 and I knew it was starting to get real. The end was near. Miles 20-24: At mile 20 I told myself I only had a 10K to go. Basically only 6 miles and that was like ONE length of the Huckleberry Trail, which is where I did a whole lot of my training.  One length was nothin'. My pace slowed a little bit in these 4 miles to around 10:40-11:00.  The thing hurting the most was my FEET. The bottom of my feet were screaming at me, but I ignored the pain and kept myself focused on the goal.  I took my last Gu at mile 22. This was the only time I stopped running, to take water and Powerade after my Gu (which I took on the run right before getting to the water/Powerade tables). Once I passed the 21 mile mark, I told myself, "Okay, I can count on ONE HAND the number of miles left...YOU CAN DO THIS!"  There was also more wet washcloths in this stretch. Soooo nice. After that it got easier and easier to convince myself to keep going. 4 miles - that is nothing. That's an easy run. 3 miles - a 5K to go...I've run a million 5Ks...I CAN DO THIS!

Not to mention all of the signs along the course. Those kept me REALLY entertained. So many awesome signs. Miles 24-26.2: When I knew I only had 2 miles to go, I got so pumped.  I picked up the pace a little bit knowing that this race might be my only marathon and I wanted to make it count.  The last 2 miles are pretty much all downhill and that always encourages me to pick up the pace.  The crowd was really supportive around this area, encouraging us that we were already there...we had it done...our medals were waiting. Somewhere between mile 25 and 26 (don't remember a lot about this point) we made a right hand turn onto the final stretch.  This final stretch was DOWNHILL...and I don't mean a gradual decline, I mean there were people falling on their faces because it was steeeeep.  Anyway, I can hardly describe the feeling that I felt making that turn.  The metal side gate things were up, keeping spectators back, they were cheering and yelling and I felt ON TOP OF THE WORLD. I was a half mile away from my biggest goal. My Dad was halfway down this hill taking pictures, of course, and I think my face really captures how I feeling.   James coming down the hill, SO hardcore:

 He was about 10 minutes ahead of me

 So happy to see that finish line

I was so happy to see that finish line that I came barreling down at a 8:50 pace.
James finished in 4:30:12 I finished in 4:40:37 I met all 3 of my race day goals and WE'RE MARATHONERS!

 Legs/feet are on FIRE but so relieved to be done!!!

The race finished right on Brown's Island, which was a beautiful place to relax, drink some FREE beers, stretch, eat and talk about the race. I was so happy and thankful that my family and Steven were there to support me, along with all of my friends who were texting me!!

Overall, I am very impressed with this race.  Sports Backers and everyone involved did a WONDERFUL job with this marathon! There were record numbers of runners in all three races, amazing support along the course, and really there is nothing to complain about. Still TBD if this is a one and done type of thing or if I will run another.  Training takes a lot out of you, so it wouldn't be anytime soon.
Either way, I'm a marathoner!!