Bucket list item #9

Two weekends ago, I ran my first marathon. I've wanted to do that for a long time. Like ten years. (It's actually #9 on my bucket list.) But...I got married, and then our life became having beautiful babies back-to-back and working and moving all around the country, surviving graduate programs. So the marathon got shelved. But finally...we are done having beautiful babies. We are done struggling through graduate programs. We do not foresee a cross-country move in our immediate future. And so when a good friend persuaded me to just think about running one with her...I did.

And I'm so, so glad I did!

At first, I was concerned about fitting in the training--all those hours and hours of running!--with two babies still at home all day. When I trained for my half marathon a couple years ago, honestly it took quite a toll on David and the kids. He was great about it, but...I still wasn't anxious to repeat that kind of strain. This time around, though, I listened to my good friend Holly's training-advice-for-moms-with-little-kids, and ended up amazed. It was virtually painless on the Family Time Scale. (Only on the Family Time Scale, though. It was NOT virtually painless on the How Much Do My Sore Quads Hate Me Today Scale.) WAY better than the half marathon training was. I did a lot of my runs early in the morning. (I don't mind waking up in the 5's to run. I draw the line at the 4's, though.) I did almost all my long runs on Fridays and swapped childcare with a friend. That gave me the entirety of my weekends free, when the whole family was home. Loved that. So did Dave.

And in the end...I did it! My goal was to run every step--no walking. In the back of my head, I thought it would be awesome to come in under four hours, but I wasn't super set on that one. I just wanted it to be a good experience. And it was. I did run every step. I gave it every ounce of everything I had in me, and left nothing behind, so I was totally pleased. Our official finish time was 4:01:07.  It was a GREAT first experience. 

Random Things About The Training And Race:

* I ran a total of 603 miles over six months, to train.

* I am not a calorie-counter, but apparently I burned 76,882 calories during those training runs (that's 64,581 calories more than I would have burned if I had kept sleeping instead of waking up to run)

* I went through 2 pairs of shoes

* I ran it in my Vibram Five-Fingered shoes--love those things!!

* During the race, when we hit our first mile mark, some guy in back of me yelled out super loud, "SWEET!!! Good job everybody! We're one mile into hell!!!!" I laughed out loud and decided I liked that guy.

* People were lined up along the streets for much of the race course, cheering and holding up signs. My favorite one said, "Smile if you're not wearing underwear!!"

* Mile 22 is where my body slowly started feeling like it wanted to stage a mutiny against me. I was so thankful for a cheerful running partner who helped me keep pushing through it!

* I got choked up when I finished. Yep. I did.

* Net physical damage: two nasty blisters, four hours of not being able to empty my bladder (it was very weird and sort of hilarious), poor sleep for three nights, CRAZY sore quads for three days, one random super sore spot on the top of my right foot, one small chafing scar from my sports bra, and one upper respiratory infection. 

TOTALLY WORTH IT. In every way. The feeling I had when I crossed the finish line was delightfully happy. Peaceful, surprised, deeply grateful, and satisfied. I am sure I will do it again sometime. I loved it.

Right before leaving for Myrtle Beach. Kai was napping, so he's not pictured. :)

There was a big clock at the runner's expo, counting down hours til the start of the race. Seeing the clock was the only time I felt nervous!

Holly and I met up with our husbands around mile 12. Dave restocked my gels and Nuun electrolyte drink, took my long-sleeved shirts from me, and snapped a quick picture, then we were off again!

Just barely finishing. That is my short-sleeved shirt tucked into Holly's jacket, around her waist. She carried it for me for the last five miles. When I stripped down to my tank top, I was about to just throw my shirt on the ground. Holly saw me, and said, "No, wait! I'll take it. You love that shirt! You run in it all the time. You don't want to throw it away." I argued that it was just a shirt and I didn't mind chucking it b/c I didn't have it in me to carry it for five miles. She insisted that she would. THAT is a true friend. Days later when it was clean and I was folding it to put it away, I thought how much I really do love that shirt. And how good to me Holly is, for carrying that stupid thing for five miles.

Done!

Hooray!

Best. Wingman. EVER.

Back at the hotel and VERY ready for a shower!

Showered. Exhausted. Hungry. Happy. And also, for the record, we only wore our medals for the pictures. I felt weird just walking around in it. So I didn't. Not my style. I was happy to just know I had done it.

We came home to signs, balloons, and doughnuts from friends!! Such great friends!

A good-luck gift from a good friend. Energy-giving facewash, and a LOT of Mr. Goodbars, since...I may or may not have a recurring problem eating all the Mr. Goodbars from those bags of Hershey's mini candy bars. Every time. 

My Aunt Andrea drove all the way from Atlanta to stay the night with our kids, so we could experience the marathon sans-children. She wins the Marathon Weekend MVP Award, hands-down!!

Home. The kids were SO sweet when we walked in the door. They swarmed me with hugs, then Eli excitedly asked, "Did you do it?? Did you do your goal?? Did you run the whole time?" LOVE those kids of ours!!!



What's on your bucket list?