Wow!! It has been 2 days since I crossed my marathon finish line with my daughters. What an incredible and amazing experience! I am so excited to tell y'all all about it!
My husband, Christopher, two daughters, Aubrynn (11) and Addy (8) and myself loaded up and headed to Nashville, Tennessee a little before 9 AM. My girls were really excited, mainly because they thought they were going to meet Keith Urban! We stopped and ate Olive Garden in Tuscaloosa (War Eagle lol!) and arrived in Nashville around 4 o'clock Friday afternoon. The exit we needed to take to get to the Expo which was at Music City Center was one HUGE traffic jam so we didn't get to the Expo until around 4:30. I had been texting my friend Debi from Girls Run the 901, because she was going to be there working the Skirt Sorts Booth! I met Debi at the St. Jude Half Marathon in December and was so excited to see her! Hubby dropped off the girls and I and we headed into Music City Center! Christopher met us inside after parking and we took a lot of pictures outside of the Expo and headed into pick up my bib number and shirt.
We took a few more pictures and I did a little shopping before finding Debi!
I found her! She gave me great advice and said "Take it one mile at a time; you've got this!"
Those words would become part of my mantra during my race the next day!
After seeing Debi, we headed to the hotel to check in and eat because our dinner reservations were at 6:30 PM at The Row. It was only a block from our hotel so we walked to dinner! It was really good!! I filled up on biscuits, sweet potato fries and a smoked turkey sandwich. YUM! We headed back to our room for showers and pajamas. I read so many encouraging words on Facebook and Instagram and my sister posted this Bible verse on my timeline with the sweetest message.
She wrote: "I have watched you train, fall, and get back up. You have kept your eye on the goal, despite many setbacks! I'm so in awe of your determination! I pray you have the best race possible tomorrow. Keep your eyes fixed upon the finish line and enjoy! Love you!" This brought tears to my eyes and really topped off my motivation tank! All that day I kept picturing the finish line. I was concerned about my knee since I did not make it past 17 miles in training, but I was eerily calm all day Friday and race morning believe it or not. I slept surprisingly well Friday night (thank you Nyquil).
Next thing I know it is RACE morning! The strange thing was, I woke up with a praise and worship song in my head. I kept singing the same words over and over again, "All the earth is filled with Your glory, GLORY, we give You glory, GLORY." I had no idea who sang that song and knew it wasn't already on my playlist. My music on my playlist goes from Praise and Worship music to Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars, John Legend, Enrique Iglesias (oh yeah), Britney Spears and so on. I had to type in the lyrics of the song that was in my head and found out it was by Phil Wickham called "Glory" so I downloaded the song and put it on my playlist as I was getting dressed. I also followed the instructions from a video that Gelcys from Runner Unleashed, and taped my left knee with KT Tape my husband had bought for me a long time ago. I ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and banana. I prayed and kissed my family goodbye before heading downstairs to walk to the starting line. The weather was supposed to be rainy most of the morning, but wouldn't you know the rain had pushed on through during the night? Another answered prayer! I made my way to the starting line which was about a mile or so away. It was a good warm up for my legs. I was supposed to meet Debi and the Run 365 group at 5th and Broadway by 6:40. I was right on time, but the closer I got to 5th avenue the more people there were!
I sent Debi a message that I couldn't get through all the people and wished her luck. She was running the half marathon. She messaged me back "Have a wonderful race! One mile at a time. You got this." I turned and made my way back to my corral which was number 26! Coincidence?? I think not! I thought that was a very good sign!
It was 7 o'clock and time to start! We sang the National Anthem and the waves started moving through very slowly one by one. I don't think our wave started until about 7:45, but I was calm and patient believe it or not.
If anybody knows me, I am not calm or patient about anything, but that day I was. I had what I hoped was a good feeling about my race. It was our turn to start and I was with the 5 hour pacer group.
After we crossed the starting line we were running down town and could see all the fun places like... bars...restaurants, and such. I had my prayer miles memorized and started praying for my mile one person. Aaaaaand we started running hills which never seemed to end... oh for about 13 miles! Whew. I tried to stick with my 5 hour group, but only made it about 4 miles with them. I knew I needed to slow down and run 12 minute miles which was my original plan. I was also pretty hot, but it didn't really bother me because we had cloud cover. I ran, I prayed for my people on my prayer list, and around mile 5, I was hungry and I had almost drank all of my half Gatorade half water that was in my 20 ounce bottle. That bottle would be my very best friend as it turned out. I ate an Apple Pie Larabar at mile 5 and stopped at a water station and dumped two cups of water in what was left of my Gatorade/water mixture.. Oh dear, that was a mistake. First of all, I had not trained with the Apple Larabar. I always eat the Blueberry Muffin Larabars on my runs, but thought I would get tired of eating the same thing so I brought the Apple. You know what happened after I ate the Apple Larabar? I felt sick. My water bottle had hot water mixed with Gatorade, which also added to my EXTREME nausea. I was so sick by mile 6 and stopped and used the porta potty (number one thankfully NOT number 2). I stopped drinking the hot mixture in my bottle and took a piece of gum out of my pocket. This helped my stomach settle. I'm thinking I may have drank too much too quickly and the Larabar I had never tried before unsettled my stomach. I eventually poured out the hot mixture in my bottle and ran with it empty, stopping to drink just water at the water stations. I knew my husband and daughters were meeting my at the half way point with more Gatorade and fuel. The first half of the race went by rather quickly. The crowd support was simply amazing! I high fived so many little kids, saw a man that appeared to be naked holding up a hot pink poster that said "if you don't finish I will drop this sign" or something like that, I saw a group standing by drinking coffee and asked a man if I could have some! He kindly held his cup out to me. I passed a group dancing in the streets and one guy wearing a jester's hat started dancing with the runners! They were having so much fun. It was a nice distraction!
So I made it 10 miles, feeling pretty good, taking it slowly, and I kept waiting for my knee to start hurting. Making it 10 miles was a really big deal and I knew that the marathon runners would be splitting from the half marathon runners soon according to the map. Sure enough after 11 miles, it was time to split, and oh my word at the half marathon group! So many went to the right and so little went to the left.
This was a happy moment for me. I danced a lot during the split and felt like such a "big girl runner" if that makes any sense. Volunteers were passing out GU, which I passed on and started eating my Blueberry Muffin Larabar. It didn't hurt my stomach! My husband had text me to say they were standing right before mile 14. It seemed like it took me forever to reach them. I could tell by the time I did reach my husband and girls that I was physically tired. I had also noticed my knee was hurting. It wasn't hurting like it had during training, but it was there. My girls filled up my water bottle with cold Gatorade and water and Christopher gave me a mini Snickers bar. Best THING EEEVVEER. Hungry? Why wait? He gave me two more Larabars which I never opened. I told them bye and started running again. In the meantime, while I was refueling, the 5:30 pace group passed by. OOOOOH boy. Wow. I didn't let it shake me, but I knew the marathon cut off was 6 hours. I just needed to beat the 6 hour time limit! I stopped at the porta potty one last time at mile 15. I posted my picture at mile 16 on my Facebook page to give y'all an update and ask for prayer.
Boy I was tired. I walked and ran the rest of the race. Probably walking more than running, but my knee was carrying me through! I kept remembering what Debi had told me. "One mile at a time." My aunt had also told me "Take it one step at a time." I kept reciting this over and over in my head. I kept praying for each person I had assigned for that mile and the miles clicked by! I was pretty excited to hit mile 18, then 19, then omg 20!!!!
And then SQUISH. Um...what was that?? I felt something squish in my shoe and knew immediately I had a blister that popped. It happened as soon as I made it to the 20 mile marker. I stopped at the curb and sat down, (OOOOOOOUUUCH that hurt to sit down), pulled off my sock and shoe (why am I so dirty?? I had grass and dirt all over my legs), and sure enough, it was a blister on my baby toe on my left foot. I yanked the skin off, put my sock and shoe back on, and kept going. It caused very minimal pain and my bad knee was running LIKE.. A.. BOSS. Starting at around mile 17, there was very little shade. I started getting really hot. I finished the drink my family had poured me and just kept refilling it with water at the aid stations. It was hot water, but it was something and it helped. We ended up running around a park during miles 21-24 and there was a pond. It relaxed me to see water! I felt calm and peaceful and prayed for my family. Prayer miles 22-26 belonged to my husband and three children. Just before we made it to mile 23, I met Bridget! A super cute blonde from Oakland California. She was running and walking and I was running and walking and kept catching up with her. I was probably super annoying her, but she would turn and smile at me each time I would catch up with her. We introduced ourselves and she asked where I was from and about my family. She said this was her second marathon and if she pushed herself, she would get a PR. I texted my husband at mile 23 and told him "OMG this hurts" and I read messages from Kristina (Live Laugh Love Run) and Gelcys (Runner Unleashed). I told them I was at mile 23. Almost done! I was thankful for the conversation with Bridget. I was exhausted and it helped to talk to someone those last grueling miles of the race. She kept saying "It is so HOT! Don't you think it's hot?? And humid!" I said "Yes, it is very humid." We started running together at mile 25 and I made it to almost mile 26 before I had to walk again. Bridget turned around and said "Come on!! We're almost finished!!!" Talk about motivation! I started running again and could see my husband smiling and waving! I turned into Tennesse Titan Stadium and my girls squeezed through the fence to run the last tenth of a mile to the finish line!!
We held hands and lifted our arms as we crossed the finish line!! Oh what a moment to be able to share with them!!!! I was finished! I did it!! By the grace of God I finished my first marathon!! I got my medal and a bottle of water and sat down to wait for my husband. My daughter took this picture of me with my glorious marathon medal!!
Someone handed me a cold, wet, towel! Oh thank you! We had to walk to meet my husband and had our picture taken.
Christopher was so kind to give me a piggy back ride part of the way back to our truck.
I was ready for a shower and food!! I had a wonderful celebration dinner that night at Ruth Chris.
I would like to dedicate this race to the patients of St. Jude Children's Hospital, and my I Run 4 buddy, Sophia. I knew when I started running, that I wanted to run for others. I want to run for those who can't. This marathon will always be so special to me and I would like to thank my husband, my children, my family, and my friends who encouraged me, supported me, loved me, prayed for me and believed in me. First, I had to believe in myself and everything else fell into place. God and His Son get all the glory for this accomplishment. I could not have done it without Him. He was with me every step of this journey and I know He has big plans for me. God bless you all and thank you all for being here, following my journey as well!
