the upside down turtle

Route 66 Mock Marathon

2009-11-21T15:08:00.044-06:00

Summer/Fall 2009 RunnersWorld Training Season has been a blast! I am so proud of my "Like a Virgin" group training to run their first marathon as well as others who are training to run the longest race of their lives. Here are some pictures from the Route 66 Mock Marathon 11/7/09.

First, some pics from the "Like the Virgin" group, who are popping their cherries at the Route 66 Marathon this weekend.

Shawn and Ricky

Pam and Hilarie

Rebecca

Jamie

Arena and Jamie stretching but they didn't learn that from me.

Several others from my group escaped my camera: Felix, Carmen, Mike, Christal.

Other Runner's World Members who Rocked the Mock 22/13.1

Wade and Jason set up the 9/12 mile aid station

Curtis' mug is always a treat

as is Yao's smile!

A lovely group that included recent Kansas City Marathon finishers! Wow they have lots of energy to run so far so soon!

Thirsty Guy drinks a warm beer at mile 9.

David, a prodigy, keeps adding miles on by the half dozen or more at at time, and the lovely Stacey. April ducked out of this picture.

Patty, who is truly an amazing runner and one of my biggest inspirations. Larry, who invited this guy anyway, and some TATUR estim8ur finishers. You all are fast! Maybe trying to get away from Larry.

Some more of my favorite RW folk, Rock Star Ed and Trail Zombie, who is wearing the official race shirt, along with BOMB Heidi who may even learn my name someday. I guess for now I will settle for 'pink sports bra girl'.

Vanilla Bean, A.K.A. Kim, is enjoying a banana at mile 12 while Swade and Harris discuss firing up the grill for some more hot links.

Tom meets up with his sister to run it on in.

Kay is all smiles as this is her longest run to date.

YAY! Cheryl only has 10 miles to go!

The volunteers of Mile 9/12 aid station. Jason, Lisa (me), Sally, and Wade. Sally was also at mile 6 until everyone passed by.

Back to the Start/Finish for a few more pics and celebration.

Cold beer was a popular form of rehydration

Head TATUR Brian and TATUR Dave making sure there was some water and gatorade
available for the few who replenished their fluids the correct way.

Rachel's birthday was on the day of the Mock and we just happened to get a pic before the cake was all gone. She still looks so young!

Eat a cupcake, get a fabulous birthday cupcake ring. Have to replenish those lost carbs.

Charlie finishes in style. Never a frown on this guys face when he is running.

It almost looks as if this picture was taken before the race, as Ryan looks like he hasn't run a mile.

Overall, it was a great day for this year's Mock Marathon. Whether you were a volunteer, (Sally and Terrie work the registration table) . . .

. . . ran the whole thing in toe socks (Andy swears by these) or barefoot (Dustin, ouch!) . . .

. . . even though you did not get an official time, you could do like Glowstick, A.K.A., David, and write your time on your bib. . .

. . . a good time was had by all. We missed Coach Kathy as she was in Greece running the original marathon at the time of this training run. She would have been proud of everyone.

Good luck everyone on the Route 66
Marathon or Half Marathon! Who says running cannot be fun?

A special thanks to RunnersWorld for the FREE training. I know I speak for many others out there when I say I could not do it without you guys. When we are all out there together, it makes the aches and pains tolerable and leaves me craving more.

The Stanky Leg

2009-05-19T12:50:00.001-05:00

Please visit You Tube and rate this video of Jason ;) Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0SIei-j0Kw

old news just discovered

2009-04-12T17:31:00.004-05:00

jason and i achieved marathon maniac status in december 2008 but i just noticed by googling myself (you should do so periodically) that we made the december 2008 newsletter and so did tz! tz is mentioned on page 20 and jason and i are mentioned on page 23 and our picture is on page 24. tz, why no pics? atleast of a blister or something! jason and i both have one star, the bronze level, but hope to move up soon. tz has 4!

bobby, another maniac, just informed me that he is in the february 2009 newsletter. yay!

flip the turtle over and give her a hug

2009-04-04T21:51:00.008-05:00

so since you have been on here i have renamed my blog. i never told the story of the first name "conquering the hills" because i never got a round to it. (actually i do have a 'round to it' wooden coin somewhere but anyway) if you have run with me you know i am not great at hills. i am a true tatur and do walk them whether i am running road or trails so i am obviously not conquering them in this way. but i do have a larger upper anatomy and this is what my blog was named after. despite the sisters in the way, i still trudge on. well, i was sitting in moe's burrito joint the day after the little rock marathon i was watching a cartoon and there was me! on tv! what is slower then a turtle? an upside down turtle. he just needed some help to get going to then he accomplished his goal. this post is dedicated to my new blog name and my new journey.

today i joined some friends near stillwater for the lake mcmurtry race directed by my dear friend, trail zombie. he did a great job and managed to really get his head ripped off by only one runner. i am sure he will have a great race report in the next few days.

my husband jason signed me up for the 50k a few weeks ago without really talking to me about it. we were however on a quest to get 2 marathon maniac stars by getting six marathon or ultramarathons in 6 months and this race would make 5 with 6 weeks to go til deadline. so today i set out to run a 50k. now just yesterday i was home from work, at urgent care, getting an abdominal xray in the attempt to further investigate my pain and bloating i have had for the past 6 weeks. this scan revealed some mightly full intestines but no obstructions. and just wednesday i took a laxative!! no, i did not eat a truck load of food! my body just didnt fully evacuate. so yesterday i treated myself to first a unsuccessful liquid glycerin suppository followed by a unsuccessful enema. well that was off on a tangent, back to the race.

i had the usual cramping that is becoming chronic and i was able to get thru little rock 26.2 so why not this? i didnt feel to bad but just never got into the race. the course was the next best to sunmart. i love seeing my friends on out and backs! it is so encouraging. also the aid station workers on this loop were awesome. thanks bill and ed. you were awesome! i completed my first 12k and was rather disappointed with my time ~1:57. my feet hurt and i was tired. just after this i started my second loop and got to see the first 12k runners completing their loop. the fifth person i saw was my dad which was cool. he ended up winning the masters division and got a cool wooden box with a engraved plate and very nice compass inside. cool prize tz!

the second loop didnt go so well. this is where i saw a bunch of people which was the best part. i even got a kiss from jas since he was so far ahead of me and passed me going the other direction. christin did an awesome job at her aid station as well. thanks for all your hard work! just like the first loop, i walked alot and never got into the race. could never pick up the pace. my feet were hurting worse. i started thinking about how my dogs were in the car and they may be getting to hot. i was also thinking about how i needed to concentrate more on my marriage then my job or anything else in my life. i didnt care about my second star anymore. i just wanted to be done. the last two miles i mostly walked. as i was about to cross the finish line, i saw my dad and step mom standing there. since i was just thinking about family and what was important to me, and my family was standing there that i dont see very often, and my dogs were in the car, and the food smelled good (thanks for cooking dana!), it was an easy decision. i would quit. i shed a few tears, felt like a loser but got over it. i could spend time with my dogs and my parents, spend more time with my running family as we waited for others to come in, and i could get off my feet. i completed the 25k with a miserable 3:54.

i got to hang out with sandra alot and get to know her better which i really enjoyed. she ran the 12k and did awesome! she also did a great job watching my children while i ran to get more ice for the water and then running tz out to the aid station to deliver more food. while at the aid station, i got to see jas along his last loop and give him a kiss for encouragement. then, hanging out back at home base i got to talk to curtis, bill, michael (who won the whole darn thing) , randy and others i dont get to see very often. jas came in and i was so proud of him. he pr'ed with a 6:45!

we hung out til the last 5ok runner came in, cleaned up the site although i am sure the wild animals are going to tear thru the trash, have a feast, and make it look like we cleaned nothing. we then went to mexico joes for more fun and fellowship.

on the way home i noticed my dad called. he thanked me for the fun he had the night before at dinner and at the race. he was also wondering how jason did. i called back to let him know that jason finished and did great! i thanked him for being there at the finish when i decided to quit at the 25k since i was so upset. he said that 'there was nothing to be upset about' he said that i was 'not genetically made to run this distance' (50k). he said that i was a 'big lady and big ladies usually have health problems and trouble running these distances'. he said that 'if i was training you i would discourage you from running this far. a 25k was good but for someone your size a marathon distance is pushing it and anything further was just no-mans land. you are just asking to get hurt'.

i pretty much remained silent the rest of the conversation until he was kind enough to get off the phone. i was upset after this and jason was left to pick up the pieces. i did not cry because i have shed tears over this before. when dad found out i was training for my first marathon he said 'you 'are not built like a runner' and 'if i was your coach i would not train you for this'. this offended coach kathy! she has trained so many people, including me to reach my goal. thanks to her and the support of my running family i have run 3 marathons and one ultramarathon in the last 5 months since i started training in june 2008. before that i ran 2 days a week on a treadmill for 2-2.5 miles at a time. so somehow it is possible and i even i am trainable. this upside down turtle can be flipped over and finish a race. today was just not my day, not my race.

so i am going to take my BIG ass to the free state trail marathon in lawrence 4/26 and maybe even find another race before my deadline of may 15 for my two stars and i am going to finish my race, damn it! because i have real family right here that will support me along my journey. i love you all. and you show me what it feels like to be loved. especially when i need it most.

pictures from today to follow . . . when i am not so tired

watch what you eat at RW

2009-03-10T06:50:00.009-05:00

hanging out at dave and buster's for michael whitten's b-day was lots of fun. a nice break from running with running friends, eating a huge meal, and then a little cross training with the jump rope game and dance game. some even played trivia but i am not smart enough for that. it proved difficult to perform well on these games after the appetizers, fries, hamburger, and then the donuts. while my dinner was well lets just say i would order something different next time, my dessert was better. the presentation was good. and the powedered donuts were excellent. the sauce was great. the darker colored donuts, however tasted burnt.

but none the less, these hungry folks will surely share any left over grub. and being the sweetheart that i am, i shared my $7 donuts. roman (right), one of my favorite people at runnersworld was there to share. i wish roman would hang out more. i just dont see him enough. being the crazy runner that he is, running marathons untrained, etc., he understands that we need lots of good food to keep us going and sometimes we get so hungry, so desperate for food, ya know like when you are out on a 50k trail race, and will eat about anything. well, this led to my favorite quote of the night.

'you could lick all the powder off that donut hole and someone at runnersworld would still eat it'. . . roman

The buzz word is . . . FARTLEK!

2009-02-24T21:13:00.025-06:00

i have seen it on the runners world blog and then on an email (from tatur dave maybe?)... the word fartlek. but before that, i saw this sign along the course at psycho wyco run toto run and have been asking people what it means. my dad, the experienced runner that he is, explained it to me and since i wouldnt be good at it, ignorance was bliss. it was funnier without the knowledge. for those of you still in the dark, an example is what the military does when the guy in the back runs to the front of the line of runners and this process continues. since i will never catch the guy in front, i will keep giggling to myself like a naive kid about what i think fartlek might mean.

so this is how we spent our muddy valentines day.
the taturs were few but i represented with my many chins along with jason, janeen and kate. janeen set out to do the 20 miler while kate set out to do 10 miles and jas and i just thought we would see how it went and decide how far we would go while on the course.

psycho wyco lived up to the hype. it was trechourous as promised and had a difficult change in terrains. since we were running on a bridle trail, the hoof prints had froze in the mud making for fancy foot work. these pics cannot even capture how many times i said owwch! the guy oat the top of the picture is trying his best not to cuss.

The course, while beautiful, had many (slick) hills with an overall change in elevation of over 5,000 feet in just one 10 mile loop!

at times it was so steep, it was difficult to even walk up the hills. this sign reads "steep grade. use lower gear". i may have used a few choice works here.

the terrain changed from frozen hoof prints, to icy rocks uphill and icy downhill to very slick mud and back again. after i fell flat on my ass four times within about 1/4 of a mile while descending down icy rocks i walked scared at a slow pace for about two miles before running again. i used many trees to climb these hills and wonder if the older (70+?) man behind me ever finished. the snail pace only extended my time on the trail but i eventually passed under the gates of hell.

perhaps this guy never made it out last year.

jas however enjoyed himself and is ready for the 50k next year. in fact, he plans to run the psycho psummer 50k including one lap with our dog malibu. malibu has just started training and ran 3 miles with bobby's bunch on monday. i will be there to cheer them on.

so the rumors are true. this is a very difficult course as the name suggests. jas and i ran one 10 mile loop each. he finished in 2:02 and i crawled in about 2:46 or 8 or something. these times were about the same to our times in dan man which was not as hilly but just under 3 miles longer.

*** janeen did awesome finishing her 20 miler in 5:04 on this tuff course! yes she was in shorts and i havent seen her since to find out how many times she fell or if she has any bruises.

aid stations get a 'C' compared to sunmart, dan man, and aid stations i have worked at. there were a few jolly ranchers, frozen m&ms, soup, water, non-gatorade sports drink and coke. the food after the race was less then ok. some corn? soup that looked like vomit, some bean soup, and luke warm hot chocolate was all that was there to comfort you in the 25 degree weather. one of the sponsors, dynamic earth gave out some awesome gear with door prizes including free trail running shoes and icebreaker wool sportswear.

it was real. it was kinda fun. but it wasnt real fun so i will not be doing this race again. i will save my energy to cheer jas on.

btw, jas or my times are not posted online since we both signed up for the 50k but did not complete it. :( my first DNF!

let's demand michael post

2009-01-31T21:59:00.005-06:00

so rumor has it that michael whitten has a blog but it is taking him like a week to write one post. atleast that is about how long ago i found out he had a 'blog'. what is the deal? michael i know you have some enlightening stuff to say and you can write more then one post. so publish already. as you can tell with my post about erin, my patience is thin. well, not really, but i love my friends and want to learn more about/spend more time with them. make sure to post some great pics like bobby and ken. please feel free to razz michael on my page so we can all enjoy.

i would also like to mention that i really wish patty and charlie had a blog. i just dont see them enough and i really enjoy their mentoring.

Calling Kidney Bean a.k.a. Erin

2009-01-05T21:19:00.005-06:00

Ok Kidney Bean! You have had 2 months off since Route 66. Quit babying your knee. Yes the weather is cold but get yourself some layers and get out there and run! Please, by all means, start slow! Run with Chrissy as she gains back her strength and trains the newbies. For no other reason, do it for Team Bean! and me because i am selfish, damn it, and i miss you!!

yes, i stole this picture from your blog page.

to make a long story longer . . .

2008-12-21T17:49:00.006-06:00

okay so since i have posted just 3 weeks ago, i have two more marathons, well one ultra and one marathon, under my belt. i guess you can say i have some experience. i still feel new to the game. just lots of activity in a short period of time and a few lessons learned.

sunmart was just awesome but i didnt really realize it until it was over. jason and i could not get to huntsville texas until late friday since i had to work. so we missed the pasta dinner and our dear friends trail zombie and his wife dana were gracious enough to register me and pick up our packets. hats off to you both and we owe you dinner. without you i would not have run this race and had this memorable experience. breakfast was awesome and i was a little scared to eat so much before a race. i ate a pastry, scrambled eggs, bacon and two small cups of orange juice. they had a lot more food to select from. it was very impressive. the weather was cold but i decided to run in shorts, a long sleeve tech shirt with a short sleeve tech shirt underneath. the cool thing about sunmart is after the first 6 miles or so, you pass by tent city where your drop bag is so you can change, stash your crap, re-body glide up and keep on goin'. jenni was with me for the first 24 miles or so. we talked during the beginning which helped keep my mind of the mild pain i had but this was difficult due to the need to concentrate on my steps and the need to conserve on breath. so i switch to my ipod and this helped me as it did on the marathon. another aspect i really enjoyed was that we were running opposite others in both the same race(50k) and the other race running certain parts of the course after the turn arounds. so you get to see both those in front of you and those behind you if timing is right. this was a lot of fun and very encouraging. the terrain varied along the course as far as sand, rocks, lots of tree roots, dirt, hills. i think the sand was the most difficult especially uphill. at all the aid stations i ate a lot. there was a fabulous selection of food as noted in trail zombie's pics about 10 posts back. while i did do my gu packs just as i have done in all long races, i chose to also eat mostly sweets instead of the salts and this proved taxing later on in the race. my hands begin to swell about mile 25/26. i have never had this happen before and was a bit scared. at an aid station i could see jason 'almost up ahead' and my goal was to catch him. i think i did about mile 28/29 or so and we ran/walked the rest of the way together. we walked mostly bcuz i was worried about the way i felt and the swelling of my hands. i later learned this was lack of salt and found a way to prevent this revealed later on in this post. the comradarie of all the TATURs at the race was awesome. even those i had never met before were cheering for jas and i at the end. i love when people bond together. hanging out waiting for bobby, ken, dana, kathy and others to come in was a great time. the food after was awesome. (see ken's blog for his turkey leg pic). this is one race i would HIGHLY recommend and will do again and again. sunmart gets an A+ !

so the thursday before sunmart i dropped by the store (runnersworld) and ran into marvin and chris. marvin mentioned that the two of them were going to baton rouge so chris could ful

fill his marathon maniac requirements. so i had to ask what that was about. they told me to go to marathonmaniacs.com and check it out. so i did. then i told jas. then he was determined to do this. we looked at the list of races coming up. we did not want to travel outside of driving distance so what was left? white rock one week after sunmart. what the hell are we thinking? ok, no problem, registration is closed until the expo. i work when the expo opens so by that time the full marathon will fill up right? jas' mom happens to live in plano and his step dad was available to register us right when the expo opened. no excuses. we are going to get this craziness done.

white rock was a marathon i really don't care to do again. if a group goes i will go.

usually sunmart and white rock are the same weekend so i will chose sunmart. and i am not really up for the double challenge so i will support those that are next year if it falls on the same weekend. it was windy and 70 degrees. unseasonably warm and we had not run in these temperatures for some time. jas and i started off good for having so many recent miles on our legs. it took about 9 minutes to cross the start line. it was so packed i thought it was never going to thin out. i decided to use this race to experiment with my new idea to keep my salts up since my hands swelled at sunmart: soy sauce packets. i LOVE soy sauce so at about mile 9 and 16 i downed a packet of soy sauce with some water and wow it was yummy. i will use this trick again so i dont have my water retention problem again. we finished the first 13.1 time in about 2:35 or so. after that it fell apart. jas got a sharp pain on the top of his left foot that made his shoe really uncomfortable. being that we had 4 hours to finish and two goals to accomplish (finishing and marathon maniac status) we decided to keep going. the next 3 miles or so were run/walk miles. he was holding up but still in pain. he kept telling me to go on but i wanted to stay with him. we had to finish this race. we felt dumb at this point for even starting this race but since we did we were going to finish and i wanted to do so together. he is a lot faster then me so i wanted to actually run a race with him. i am finding when i start to get fatigued i need to run. walking just draws it out and i actually feel worse when i walk. but i did not want to leave him. i felt worse as i went on just because i felt like i was freezing up. his pain was getting worse and we were walking slower. just the look on his face was agonizing. time was closing in on us. at mile 22 he said that he did not pay for us to both not finish this race. so i decided to go on. i ran the entire rest of the way but was already very tense from all the walking. i probably ran no faster then 11 maybe even 11:30 miles. being disappointd with my time i havent tried to calculate my pace from my splits. i finished with a chip time of 6:06:41. i stood at the finish line blankly just hoping jas would cross before the deadline. since i am not that experienced i wasnt sure if they were gonna pull the plug at 630 chip or gun time. 630 gun time passed and no jas. now when i crossed the finish line i was told there was water and food on the left. but i was not suprised to find a few bottles of water and NO FOOD. i guess this is going to be what i need to get use to since there was crap for food at the end of route 66. who are the people that are in charge of these races? do they not realize that the people that come in at the end need food and drink just like those who finish first? then i went back to the finish line. i was talking to a volunteer and then i saw jas. i got so excited i started crying. they were still announcing names even though the clock was over 6:30. the volunteer handed me the medal and told me that i could out it over jas' neck. i was crying harder. he was going to finish even though he was in so much pain. i was so proud of him! some how he found the strength to run the last mile. we were finished with this race and completed our requirements for mm club.

we can be found on the Marathon Maniacs Insane AsyLum as members # 1242 and #1243.

our next race is 'race into the new year' in tulsa followed by the TATUR 'polar bear plunge' on january 1. our next race maybe psycho wyco in kc in february. for right now

i need a break!

lists of stuff (the 8 post, kinda)

2008-12-01T22:33:00.006-06:00

attempt at being tagged (bobby, i will do your picture post next)
all are in no particular order

some shows i sometimes catch
1. the office
2. law and order
3. cops
4. amw
5. conan o'brian
6. reading rainbow

places i can get sick on
1. in the raw (tulsa)
2. miss addie's (muskogee)
3. the canebrake (btwn wagoner and tahlequah)
4. pomodoro's (nyc)
5. the burger joint (nyc)
6. ron's hamburger's (tulsa)
7. jamba juice (better cities)

stuff i did yesterday
1. woke up after a good nights sleep on nyquill
2. took the dogs to the vet, they estimated my total at $165
3. worked, nothing to exciting, day before at work was very eventful with one patient leaving in ambulance, another with retinal detachment, another almost leaving in ambulance, another that got hit in the eye with a closing binder?!?
4. picked dogs up at vet, daughter had UTI so total $170 for antibiotics
5. went to run group, ran to fast then to slow with jas
6. went to eat with friends from run group yaah! but felt sick right after eating. could not even finish my tea!
7. fell asleep on the way home - jas was driving
8. took nyquill, went to bed

things i look forward to
1. crossing the finish line at sunmart as an ultramarathoner
2. erin running with us again
3. chrissy running with us again
4. losing weight
5. having permanent help at work
6. my own goofy challenge medals
7. wearing my new shoes that i bought in september to the TATUR christmas party
8. someday earning the bunny slippers

things i love about fall
1. leaves changing colors
2. different wardrobe
3. fireplace
4. jason's frito chilli pie (to die for)
5. not running in 100+ degree weather
6. taking my dogs places in the car without it being to hot
7. cuddling with jas

things on my wish list
1. for my dogs to never age
2. to own a betsey johnson store
3. to not have to wear a heavy coat at work all day
4. patience
5. free time
6. liposuction
7. wisdom
8. mets to go to the world series
9. jas and i to be happy forever
10. a sasoon t-shirt

my first poll (please vote!) and more misc marathon ramblings

2008-11-22T19:47:00.011-06:00

please vote in my poll above.

i know it is a little late to add thoughts on the marathon. it seems so long ago. but now i am using this as kind of a diary so these are a few things i dont want to forget. not sure if i made it clear in my last post but this race was the first time i ever ran with an ipod. the first song i heard was 'die another day' by madonna. at the time this was very inspirational for me. i knew at that time although my shin was hurting i would make it to the end. this song title now seems sad because of the young boy that died on the course. moment of silence and reflection.

i also forgot to add my comments about the balloons. when i first heard of these pace objects at the expo, the thought of them started getting into my head. i only recently bought a garmin which i had planned on running with because i felt bad asking others - namely linda and coach bean 'how fast are we going?' for the last 5 months. i was frustrated to learn during one of our training runs that brian thought that the instant pace was garbage since if you just moved your arm to fast you could get an artificially fast reading. the average pace was ticking me off because
i want to know what my pace is NOW! my first phrase as a child was 'have it now!' which still rings true today. well to a point. it did take me awhile to buy this garmin. so i am finally content with the lap pace - average over the last mile. to make a long story short - TOO LATE, i left my garmin in the car the day of the marathon. i was so worried about getting my trash bag on (see www.runnersworldtulsa.com slide show) to stay warm. once i realized that i forgot it, (at starting line, with about 2 minutes til gun time), i had to rely on what else - the balloons. for some reason what i pictured was a big red helium filled object with a large white typed print that read 5:00. this image reminded me of that party favor you get as a kid with a large red balloon with the yellow string that you punch repeatedly. just asked jason and he called it a 'knucklepuncher' if that helps anyone follow. in my imagination they would float high like it was the Macy's parade on but on a much smaller scale. so when i saw these small yellow things on a stick of all things (things 'on a stick' bother me) with hand written black marker i was disappointed. this was going to take concentration just to find them. all that registration money for the race and sign up fees they charge their runners for training and this was all the globo gymers could come up with! maybe my expectations were to high. so the anxiety that these dumb balloons had caused me had temorarily gone away. i became more upset that i forgot my garmin but it was time to go. for the first half of the race i appreciated the 'balloons on a stick'. after i lost the 430 and kept looking back for the 445 and after that group past me i was hating these yellow things. but the fact they were there at the end and i was racing them i appreciate yet hated them at the same time. so i am glad that my RunnersWorld Tulsa trainers do not concentrate on pace. i like running based on how i feel although i am still working on saving more for the end. i plan to work more on negative splits in the future. maybe the sticks cost so much and since we dont have them kathy can give us free training? no. i think she just has a good heart.

in my last post i also forgot to mention some of the other things marvin said to me. during the short time i ran with him i learned what a great coach he is. he told me 'keep your head up. drop your shoulders.' and other pointers i cant remember now. this was really encouraging, helped me relax, and probably allowed me to finish my race sub 5 even though the help was so late in the race. i was looking at him out of my side vision and he wasnt even looking at me. he said ' i am looking at your shadow'. i didnt even see my shadow. if i remember correctly, if i started at 8, and this was almost 5 hours later, it was almost 1 pm. we were running west on 18th just before the boston turn. our shadows would have been behind us. either marvin has eyes behind his head or maybe he really is an angel. regardless i would love to hire him as my personal trainer bcuz somehow he knew what i was doing wrong and how to correct it.

i did really miss my fellow team bean members during the race because i have never run a long run without at least one of them. i did want to ask if anyone wanted to try to run together but this was to touchy of a subject. i didnt want anyone to feel obligated to stop when i stopped, whether to walk or use the restroom. what if i needed to stop for good or one of the others did? i wouldnt want anyone else to feel like they had to take care of me but i wouldnt want to leave one of them. so this is why i bought the ipod and by no means did this replace my friends. i think i could have done even better (faster) if one of them was by my side. when jenni was right next to me for the first several miles i felt strong. we barely talked as we were both listening to our music just knowing that she was right there helped so much. i am a little scared to do another run of this length without my friends around me. and i dont just mean beaners but any of my friends.

my sadness or post race depression has worn off now and i am excited and proud of my marathon. i have been told several times by various people that i should be proud of my sub 5 time for my first time. i am finally starting to glow. i feel so much closer to my running friends now then before and plan to hang out with them for as long as they will let me.

photo courtesy of, well stolen from, marathonfoto

there will be a day that you can no longer do this . . today is not that day

2008-11-18T10:56:00.007-06:00

wow! i did it. i ran my first marathon and now that it is over i almost feel empty. almost the same feeling i use to get after finishing the longest run in my life at the time 12 miles, 14 miles, all with my dear running friends. sometimes afterword we would go out to eat, BBD, Queenies, or sometimes we would just go home. either way i would think to myself 'i just endured so much pain yet had so much fun talking, joking while running with these people and now i am just going to go home'. even those days i knew the journey wasn't over. i knew we would all do it again just as i know that now. dont get me wrong. i am not a negative person. maybe i just default to sentiment rather then accomplishment? i am very proud of all of you! months and even weeks ago it seemed like such a amazing feat. now it is a memory.

i started off strong. even keeping up (but just behind) with my husband jason until the dreaded jenks loop. for the first two miles my left shin hurt so bad but other then that i felt strong. i was warmer then i had hoped to be with the disposable hand warmers in my gloves helping more then anything else. as the first 10-12 miles went by i was happy and even impressed with my pace. my half time was 2:16:55 but was jenks ever going to end? by the time we were done with this loop i was in a different mindset and had totally lost sight of the 4:30 balloons not that i expected to keep just behind them, more on the balloons and their sponsors later. up until now running with my ipod (for the first time ever, sorry kathy i tried something new) had really motivated me. the music really helped keep my mind off of what i was actually doing. i dont think i could tell you more then two songs i heard after the jenks loop. it was great to see bobby and ken as i was leaving jenks and this keep me going for a little while. coach bean passed me about mile 17 but i was stopped for water and he ran on by with his water. he was in the zone and didnt notice me. he looked very strong. after that my goal was just run to the next water stop and then you could walk again but i didnt make it. i walked about every 100 yards for awhile. not sure why. didnt hurt. just wasnt into it. then i saw the 4:45 balloons grrr. patty was with them and i was so glad to see her. she has always been an inspiration. i really wanted to stay with them and did for about one and a half minutes. their pace felt like a sprint. had to walk again. about mile 19 is when the spaghetti warehouse pains hit. the pains that are still with me today and that is why i am home from work and finally posting a blog. (jas ate the same thing, was also sick, but i have been sick longer due to my slow gi system and also the raw hamberger i ate right after the race). at this point i hurt pretty bad but not enough to stop. i actually ran more from mile 19-22 then 17-19. i was looking for a portapotty but when i saw one was at one of the moments the pain wasnt as strong. just keep going. thank you candance for moving from place to place to cheer us on. i appreciate you more then you know. i walked every hill thru the neighborhoods and was glad that they were integrated into our training runs (kathy says 'told ya so'). i knew they were there and when they would end. i just wish i woulda ran or at least drove that jenks loop. talked with a guy from ft. smith, ar that wasnt feeling much better then me. havent checked yet but i think he beat me. about mile 25.5 i saw the 5:00 balloons about 50-100 yards back and then marvin appeared like an angel. i was walking even though i didnt have much left to go. my tummy hurt so bad. started running with him and told him of my pain. he said that if i walked he walked. i said 'no. go on' and started walking again. he stopped so i started running again. i then said 'please go, i think i am going to crap my pants'. he said that it was 'worth it to crap your pants to beat 5 hours' i agreed but after a few more steps told him to 'go on please' which he did. the balloons were getting closer. i ran the last 0.2 miles and beat the 5 hour mark :) i was happy and for some reason i didnt feel as much pain. maybe this was my small version of a runners high. i feel jipped and want the real one! jason was at the finish to hug me and this also made me forget the pain.

it was so good to see so many of the runnersworld group after the race. being around people that actually appreciated what you just did was awesome. one of the best moments was watching bobby cross the finish line. a job well done! i was especially glad to see chrissy who i had not seen since before she got sick. i have really missed her. i am excited to have her back soon!

i have so much more to write about but am getting tired. hubby is asking me to come to bed. . . just to talk. i am sick remember.

i am so thankful for the friends i have made for life.

thank you to everyone who helped me achieve my goal. there is no way i can repay any of you. i especially want to thank coach kathy. somehow she made a runner out of me.

so when jenni text me today and asked me 'how far we are suppose to run today?' i felt kinda lost. where is that paper, ya know, the schedule with my blood, sweat and tears all over it? oh nevermind. it doesn't tell me anymore. another reason i felt like 'wow, this is over. now what?' (read kathy's email). but that does mean maybe we are suppose to be experienced to know by now? this is a journey, not a destination. i figured not to far. i just replied to jenni, 'i dont know. the furthest i will be running today is to the bathroom'