Gulf Coast Half Marathon Recap

Hey!! It's time for a little recap of the Gulf Coast Half Marathon I ran on March 1 in Gulf Shores, Alabama!  I hit a BIG PR that day finishing with a time of 2:14:50!  I had run a half marathon the week before also in Gulf Shores at the Sea Turtle half with a PR of 2:18:19 so that's two weekends in a row to have a personal record.  That is highly unusual for this mother runner!

My oldest daughter had a soccer game in Hurley, Mississippi at one o'clock the Saturday before the race.  I had everything packed in the truck so my girls and I could leave straight for the beach after the game.  Packet pick up ended at Lulu's restaurant at 5 o'clock.  I stopped to get the girls something to eat  after the game and we headed for Gulf Shores.  My son stayed with my mother and my husband had to work so they were going to drive down late that night.  The girls and I made it to Lulu's just in time to pick up my packet and we had our picture made before heading to my mother-in-law's beach house where we would be staying.  

We made it to the beach house and the girls changed their clothes and we headed to Tacky Jack's to eat.  We stayed on Fort Morgan Road, which is about 20 minutes from the town of Gulf Shores.  There are a couple of small restaurants on this road with Tacky Jack's being one of them.

 I ate a shrimp po boy and french fries for my pre race dinner lol!  I usually eat whatever I want the night before a race.  I don't follow carb loading rules, but I did drink about 100 ounces of half Gatorade and half water.  This is the most I've ever drank the day before a race, but I did so well at Sea Turtle, I thought, why not drink a little extra and see what happens?  Since I have a heart valve problem called Mitral Valve Prolapse, my cardiologist told me to always drink half Gatorade and half water the day before a big race.  It will keep me hydrated the next day and keep my heart from getting out of rhythm.  He also said it would keep me from getting so tired.  I don't think I was drinking enough before some of my half marathons in the past.  Since I added more fluids the day before Sea Turtle and Gulf Coast, I could tell a difference dramatically.  I just did not get tired at either race like I usually do.  So the girls and I ate and went back to the beach house for showers and headed to bed around 9 or 9:30.  My husband and son got there around 1 AM.

I woke up at 5 AM on race day and ate my usual banana and peanut butter and jelly sandwich before heading back to Lulu's to start the race.  I wanted to run 2 extra miles to get in a 15 mile training run, but my stomach is always so upset right before a race, I just didn't have time to run the 2 extra miles. As it turned out, it was a good thing I skipped the 2 miles!  I saw my buddy Shana, whom I met in Memphis at the St. Jude Half Marathon in December and we saw each other at the Sea Turtle race.  I saw my friend Tammie that I had connected with via Facebook and my Sole Sister Katie page!  I also saw Katherine who has a Facebook page and I recently found out she lives right up the road from me!

Shana and I chatted until the gun went off.  I started the race pretty fast like I did at Sea Turtle.  I ran half a mile and it was time to go over the BRIDGE.  This is the bridge that you have to go over as you get closer to Gulf Shores beach.  I call it the Lulu's bridge.  I managed to run all the way up and not walk and hit the one mile mark on the bridge at 9:51.  I was like, okay, that's pretty fast for me and I figured I would settle down after heading down the bridge and back onto the road.  Well, I didn't really slow down for the next 3 miles.  This race was flat and I was feeling good.  I finished mile 2 at 10:14 and 3 and 4 at 10:18.  I remember thinking, "you better slow down or you'll be tired at the end," but then I thought what if I DON'T slow down??  Miles 5-7 flew by as we ran around Gulf State Park and it felt like we were running down hill!  I started worrying we would eventually have to turn around, but this was not an out and back course so I was very, very, thankful.  Miles 5-7 I finished in the 10:20 range and mile 8 was my slowest mile at 10:53 because I walked while I was eating my Blueberry Muffin Larabar (I don't use gels).  During mile 9, I remember feeling really good and started picking up my pace.  There was a lady who had been running in front of me off and on walking and running.  She would walk and I would pass her and then she would run and pass me.  This had been going on almost the whole entire race!  I passed her at mile 10 and dropped her and I was so happy to not see her running by me any more!  I'm sure the same thing has happened to y'all at a race!!  I finished mile 9 at 10:10 and mile 10 was 10:25.  I knew I was going to have a big PR after 10 miles!  I saw my sweet family at close to the 12th mile and I crossed the street and kissed all of them.  My girls had made signs that said "I love you, Momma."  After I saw my family, I really started to hustle.  I finished mile 12 at 10:12 and then it was time to go back over the Lulu's bridge.  It was so hard!  My legs were getting tired and they burned like crazy, but I did not walk!  In fact, I was passing people!  I am so thankful for all of the hill training I had done at the lake at this point!  I flew down the bridge with only a little over a half mile to go!  I made a few more turns back into Lulu's and I could see the clock! It was on 2 hours and 14 minutes with the seconds ticking by!  I started sprinting to the finish line and I could see my friend, Shana, cheering for me!!  My official time was 2:14:50, almost a 4 minute difference from my PR the week before!!  I could not believe it!  

I was so excited,  I burst into tears!  I could see my family waiting for me after I got my medal and water.  I finished mile 13 at 9:29 and the last .16 at 8:25 pace.

I cannot tell you in words how good I felt at that moment.  I'm so glad I have these pictures to see how I felt!  A picture is worth a thousand words.  All of the really hard moments in my running journey led to this accomplishment.  I had suffered knee injury after a really great time after my very first half marathon in November 2013.  I had to take off a month at the beginning of 2014 and basically lost every bit of fitness I had worked so hard to gain all year in 2013.  I learned I had melanoma skin cancer in February of last year, during the time I was out from running due to my knee injury.  I could not even run to help with the pain I was experiencing with this diagnosis.  I was so worried that this would end my life.  After that came back all clear (praise the Lord), I really tried to get my running back on track and what used to be easy, was now difficult.  An 11 minute mile was a struggle and I remember running my first 5k of the year in March last year and how hard it was.  It's been a long road back to get to the place I am today in my running journey.  My message to you is please do not give up!! You will have some really bad runs and some really bad races.  It would be easy to walk away, but don't take the easy road.  I was so exhausted after the St. Jude Half Marathon in December and dizzy that I had to go to the hospital to have a CT Scan of my head.  I'm not even kidding, I felt so bad that I thought there was something seriously wrong with me.  Do not judge yourself and what you are capable of off of one or two bad races.  The reason I have improved so much is because I just kept trying.  I may be a lot of things, but I am not a quitter.  I have pushed myself on every single run, especially after Mississippi Blues in Jackson.  I went from a runner who didn't care about time, to a runner who started setting goals.  I started caring again, therefore, I started working really hard.  I was also matched with my running buddy, Sophia, on February 7.  My running has also greatly improved because of her.  I feel like my miles have taken on a whole new meaning.  I have to work hard for her and for myself!  So keep getting out there and keep trying!  You will get better and better I can promise you that!  Glory to God Almighty and His Son for this sweet victory and precious moment!  

I will never forget this race and I am so thankful to my husband who supports me and is proud of me and for my children.  I work really hard for them and I could not do this without them.  I hope to set a good example for them!  Thank you for reading and following my journey.  God bless you all!

Double Bridge 15k race recap

It's almost been 2 weeks since the Double Bridge run!  This was my very first 15k and it was awesome. The race took place in Pensacola, Florida and my second time to race here!  My friend Pam and I drove down to Pensacola on Thursday, Feb. 5 to pick up our race packets.  We got a lot of free stuff including an extra long sleeved T-shirt! 

On race morning, Feb. 7, my alarm was set for 2:50 AM.  I don't think I have ever gotten up that early for anything!  4 of us were meeting at Pam's house at 3:30 so we could get down to Pensacola Beach to catch a bus to the starting line and had to be there by 6 AM.  Whew!  It was me, Pam, Katie M,, and my stepmother Beverly.  We made it there quickly and smoothly in time to hit up the restrooms and see a beautiful beach sunrise.  

The beach is my happy plane and where I feel most at peace.  We caught the bus and rode 9.3 long miles to the starting line.  By the time we got there and waited in line for the porta potty, it was time to start!  It was so crowded and hard to get into the corrals aaaaaand my music wouldn't work.  I have wireless headphones and I could not get my phone to sync with the headphones. Just when I was about to panic, they started to work and it was our turn to start.  But first, we take a selfie!

I had on a throw away jacket and shed it quickly.  The first couple of miles were through town, but some parts I could see the water to my right.

 I turned onto the first bridge after about 2.5 miles and it had a pretty steep incline.  I was super excited that I was able to run all the way up the bridge without any trouble.  It was a long 3 and a half miles on the bridge with the sun beating down on me, but I was thankful I wore short sleeves.  It warmed up really quick on that bridge.

My pace was pretty consistent in 10:40's and 10:30's and I was so excited to get off that bridge after mile 6 and get some water.  I did not run with my water bottle at this race to see how I would do and I did get thirsty.  I ran almost 2 miles on Gulf Breeze and it was back onto the second bridge.  Thankfully, there was one last water stop before the bridge and all I could see was this steep incline going up, up, up, just to get on the bridge.

 I was bound and determined not to walk so I ran all the way up the first incline and it curved to the right.  Then I realized, this bridge was a major incline.  I'm pretty sure we ran steadily uphill for almost a mile. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but it sure felt that way.  I checked my time and decided to try and finish in under an hour and forty minutes so once that bridge started going downhill, I started running faster!  This is the first race in a long time that I was able to really pick up my pace at the end and semi sprint to the finish line.

 I was thrilled my watch said my time was 1:39:15 and my official time was 1:39:09.  I had reached my goal!  I got a really nice finisher medal and met up with the other gals since they finished in front of me.  We ate muffins and took pictures and even took one on the beach!  

This was a great race and even though we had an early start, it was definitely worth running at the beach!  I hope we can do it again next year!

Take the leap yoga challenge!

When I think about yoga, the first thought that comes to mind is tricky. Yoga challenges me and makes me feel more flexible. 

That’s why I am SO pumped to participate in prAna’s Take The Leap 30 days of Yoga Challenge with Sweat Pink. I plan to Plank my way to a stronger and more flexible 2015! 

For me, the biggest challenge when it comes to yoga is balance. Taking the Leap with prAna and Sweat Pink is a great way for me to face/ conquer / achieve / find balance. 

My favorite place to yoga is my house  because it is so private lol. 

Here’s a photo of me in my very best side plank. 

I tag Liz from Bitching Runner and Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin.

I want these fabulous bloggers to share their very best yoga pose photos, this fun madlib and of course, I challenge them to join me on this fun 30 day yoga journey

Come on y’all, Take the Leap with me!

Join prAna’s & Sweat Pink’s #TakeTheLeap 30 Days of Yoga Challenge and be eligible for a chance to win $500 worth of new prAna gear from their latest collection as well as gift an additional $500 worth of prAna gear to the person of their choice... because isn’t giving as important as receiving? They just launched their new Spring Collection so you best get on it!

If I win I would gift the $500 gift to my mother because she deserves it. 

Join the Take the Leap with prAna and Sweat Pink Facebook group / event which we’ll use for updates, sharing,and inspiration: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1525412337742204/

and event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/423377431152799

And join the challenge on Instagram, Twitter, and your blog using the hashtags:

#TakeTheLeap

#prana

#sweatpink

And of course, tag @prana @FitApproach

YOGA ON! 

Want to play? Just copy/paste the above and fill in the blanks where I have bolded & italicized and make it your own. Or use this link for the template!

Mississippi Blues Recap

Time for the Mississippi Blues Half Marathon recap!  This was a very fun race for me because I got to go on a girls' trip with 3 of my running friends to Jackson, Mississippi!  We left on Friday, January 9 at around 12:30 in the afternoon.  Pam was driving, Lauren, Katie M. and then me.  We arrived at our hotel at the Marriott around 3:30 or so, checked in, and brought our things to up to the room.  We left and starting walking to the expo.  We walked a few blocks in the wrong direction which was okay because I had no idea where we were going!  We turned around and started going the right way and could see starting and finish line signs.  We saw a big screen display in front of the Jackson Convention Complex that said "Mississippi Blues Marathon January 10, 2015."  We kept waiting for the sign to change so we could take a picture of it.  It was so funny all of us had our phones out ready to snap a picture, but it would not change back!  It finally did though!

We walked inside the complex, signed a waver and found our name and bib number on a very large board. We headed upstairs on an escalator to collect our packets.  We got our numbers, we got our vest....wait what?!  No T-shirt? Aw man!  I had seen a post from the Mississippi Blues page that had pictures of their T-shirts.  We all were asking about shirts and the volunteers said they were sold out. Gasp!  I didn't have anything to packed to wear home because I always wear my race shirt home.  I wasn't sure of what to do with the vest.  I bought a hat and some socks and then spent $37 on a shirt that said "Would you mess with a woman who runs 13.1 miles for fun?"  Oh dear.  That's not the type of shirts I like.  That was all I could find in my size. I think I bought a 13.1 stick on tattoo also...not real sure where that is LOL.   Needless to say, we were all a little disappointed when we left the expo, but we found someone to take our picture in front of the starting line sign!

We got back to the room a little after 5 and plans were to meet Liz Ferro in the lobby at 5:40 for dinner at the Parlor Market.  We had reservations there at 6.  Liz is the CEO and founder of Girls With Sole, a Non-Profit organization that provides free fitness and wellness programs to girls who are at-risk or have experienced abuse of any kind.  There was an article in this month's Runner's World Magazine about Liz and her work with Girls With Sole!  We were all so excited to meet her.  Lauren was our connection to Liz.  Lauren had raised money for Girls With Sole so she and Liz were Facebook friends meeting in person!  So we met Liz in the lobby and Lauren and introduced ourselves.  We headed out of the hotel in the cold, dark night in downtown Jackson.  We chatted on the way and arrived at Parlor Market in no time.  The restaurant was really nice.  It was dark with candlelight on the tables.  Our table was close to the bar and the kitchen.  We could see the chefs preparing the food and we were starving!  This particular restaurant served duck and quail which I am sure is wonderful, but the eve before a big race the majority of us usually ate pasta.  Our waiter said they had pasta with tomato alfredo and duck which sounded okay to me.  My friends asked if we could possibly have chicken in our pasta instead of duck and the waiter left to go check.  We asked Liz what she ate before race day and she told us a hamburger.  She said it was always something she could eat that she knew wouldn't make her sick.  So when the waiter returned and told us there was rabbit in the pasta, we all ordered a hamburger except for Lauren.  I think she had salmon.  We talked while we waited for our food and I really enjoyed hearing Liz's stories about her Ironman races and that she had been running for 25 years.  The Mississippi Blues Marathon would be her 40th marathon and she was running 50 states for Girls With Sole and Mississippi was number 26!  So amazing!  She had also written a book called "Finish Line Feeling" and had brought Lauren a copy.  I ordered it off of Amazon at the table.  I know, I know, but I love books!  Liz was so nice and funny, but she asked us questions too, like how did we all meet each other and how many kids did we have.  We laughed a lot, but we told her personal things that either had happened or things that were going on in our lives at this particular time.  She inspired me so much that night and I am so happy I got to meet her!  We got our hamburgers (they were HUGE) and a basket of fries.  We were starving and the burger was wonderful.  After we finished eating we talked a little more and I asked the waiter to take our picture.  We headed back to the hotel and called it a night.

I didn't sleep much that night, but before I knew it was 5 AM and time to get ready for race day!! I was so excited!  We all got dressed and ate our prerace food.  We decided to wait as long as we could to head to the starting line since it was 20 degrees outside.  The four of us headed down the the lobby a little after 6:30 all bundled up in our tights, hats, gloves, and jackets.  There were so many runners waiting in the lobby!  We got someone to take our picture and we headed out into the cold, eating our gels (GU or goo).  We made it to the starting line around 6:50 so we only had to wait 10 minutes for the race to start.

 There were no corrals like in Memphis, but there were pacers holding up there signs.  We huddled together taking pictures and trying our best to keep warm.

 Next thing I knew we sang the National Anthem and it was time to run!  I had on a big thick sweatshirt jacket which I didn't really want to throw away, but I had cleaned out my closet recently and didn't leave myself any old jackets.  I shed my nice Nike jacket after the first mile.  It was still pretty cold though even after I had "warmed up" a mile.  I had gloves on, but since I was holding my water bottle, my right hand was freezing.  I would have to carry it in my left hand to give my right hand a break. I had on a headband to cover my ears and a hat, two shirts, running tights and compression socks.  I wasn't too cold and never got hot at all.  My water bottle eventually accumulated ice on it.  Now that's cold.  The first part of the race wasn't too bad, but there were hills from start to finish.  I need to run it again so I can count them!  I would slowly run up the hill and run at normal speed downhill.  I wanted to hold an 11 minute pace as long as I could, but that lasted only a little over 4 miles.  Pam and I would run together off and on and she would talk to me, but with these new headphones, I couldn't hear what she was saying!  There is a button you can press to turn the music down, but since I had gloves on, I couldn't turn it down.  I just smiled and nodded.  One time, I thought she said it was relaxing to run with me. Naw, she hadn't said that lol!  I think maybe one time she said I would be a good pacer (is that right Pam?).  After 4 miles, I had to start walking uphill.  I knew if I tried to be a hero and run up all of them, that I would be worn out at the end.  Pam and I stuck together and we walked up hill and ran downhill and ran the flat parts. We high fived a lot of people and kids and I tried my best to pant out "thank you" to the volunteers.  We made it to mile 7 before we knew it and we were running by Interstate 55.  

Miles 7-9 were the best part of the race because it seemed flat.. for a little longer to give us a break.  Mile 9 was one of my fastest miles at 10:58!  Then I start slowing down again because there were lots of hills from miles 10-12.  My music stopped at mile 11 and I didn't feel like getting my phone out of the pocket of my water bottle.  I took my headphones out and I had passed a couple of volunteers when I heard a lady shout from behind me "I s### my pants!"  I don't know if she was yelling that to a volunteer but I didn't look back.  I just started laughing hysterically and Pam turned around and said "huh?"  She had not heard her, but I couldn't stop laughing.  I'll be honest, I laughed a lot during this race.  I had to laugh because it was such a hard race, I mean, one hill after another!  We all knew it would be tough, but wow!  Pam and I really picked up our pace after mile 12 and finished the last 1.2 miles at 10:29 pace.  Yay!  We had made it and were so happy to be finished!  We headed to the food tent after getting our medals and metal wraps or whatever they're called.  I didn't get on at St. Jude and when I got one at the Blues it fell, so I didn't keep it.  Ah well, it didn't take long for me to start getting cold again.  We went to the food tent and I ate a piece of pizza and a banana. We had our picture taken with our new awesome bling and headed back to the hotel room.

 Katie M. had finished in 2 hours 5 minutes, Lauren had a PR of 2 hours 18 minutes and Pam and I had finished in 2 hours 30 minutes.  I was super happy about my time and had decided before this race that I would run it for fun and not overdo it.  Pam and Katie ran the First Light Half Marathon the next day for the back to back challenge!  How awesome is that?
I know I always say this, but this was one of my favorite half marathons.  I think all of my half marathons are my favorite!  Each one has been different and a new experience.  I learn something new at each race.  I am itching to sign up for another one soon because I feel like if I can run the Mississippi Blues, then I can run anywhere!  Having a girls' trip was super fun and I hope we get to do it again one day!

Highlights from my year 2014!

It is time to wrap up 2014!  I cannot believe this year is already over.  I have one goal for the year 2015 and that is to run a marathon!!  I need to take plenty of time to prepare and that will include getting back into strength training.  I plan on going back to the gym and using machines as soon as possible.  I will have to be at the top of my game to run for that far and for that long! I would like to run a couple more half marathons before it gets hot again, but my ultimate goal for 2015 is to run 26.2!

Here are some highlights of 2014!  I started the year on January 1, running my first 12k which is about 7.5 miles with one of my running friends, Katie.  

If I could go back and spank myself at this race, I would!  I was already injured and ran on a hurt knee from beginning to end.  I still finished in an hour and 20 minutes, but I should not have tried to run that far on a hurt knee.  My running pretty much went downhill from this point and my mitral valve prolapse symptoms started flaring up.  I had palpitations every day for a week after this race and chest pain.  I still tried running on my hurt knee, but eventually the pain became too much.  I went to an Orthopedic doctor at the end of January and he told me to take off from running for 3 weeks and to start walking at week 4, then run by week 5.  During this time I was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer on February 19.  That was the worst day of my life.  I thought that I could possible die from this and that was a scary place to be!  

This verse from Isaiah got me through my darkest days, especially while waiting to see a surgical oncologist.  I had surgery to remove inside the margins of where the melanoma was located on February 27 and found out March 11 that the melanoma had not spread!  I was going to be okay!  I am so thankful for praying family, friends, and a praying church that prayed over me during this difficult time.  I had been running and walking after my surgery and ran my first 5k of the year with my friend, Pam on March 15.

It was really hard and afterward, I felt like I had a hangover.  Running had become so hard for me!  Every run was a struggle.  I had a tough time running 11 minute miles and that was very frustrating for me.  My family and I went to Disney World for spring break the last week of March and I had almost decided to quit running.  

Thankfully, my sweet husband encouraged me to keep trying and told me not to quit.  We got home for our trip and I ran a local 5k the next day.  I had not run in 2 weeks and I placed first in my age group.  It was a really small race and everybody won something, but it gave me the confidence I needed to keep going.

As the weather continued to warm up, I ran a couple more 5k's in the spring.  We ran the color run as a family minus my sweet son.  My Addy finished her first 5k at the Color Me Rad on May 3.

I decided to train for my second half marathon which would be the Hotter than Hades Half Marathon on June 21.  I trained for this race for 2 months and getting those long training runs done was so hard in the heat.  We as runners can run in colder weather and not feel so tired, but running 10 or 11 miles in the heat will show you what you are really made of.  My husband and I traveled to Greenville, Mississippi on June 20.  He drove the half marathon route so I could see what to expect.  We ate the pasta dinner at St. Johns Episcopal Church and got up around 4 AM to make the 6:15 start time.  

The race went really smoothly for me and they had fun water stops at every mile.  It was hot from the beginning to the end.  I started pouring sweat only half a mile into the race and my husband met me at mile 6 to refill my water bottle.  Finishing this race was a huge accomplishment for me.  I felt like this was my comeback race!  I finished in 2 hours and 34 minutes and I was soooooo happy!  

My husband had Shipley donut holes waiting for me in the truck.  We even went fishing that afternoon. It was a wonderful trip!

Sometimes when you achieve great victory, that is when the devil starts to attack.  I had the worst panic/anxiety attack when we got home from the half on June 22.  It had been a long drive home with bad weather and the boat tire had a blow out.  I haven't really felt like myself since that happened.  I struggled to keep my emotions in check and we tried to go on one last vacation before school started back and my son got terribly sick.  We had to cut our trip to Destin Florida short so I didn't quite feel ready for the school year to begin.  All 3 kids were starting school at 3 different schools this year.  It has been a little overwhelming, but we are making it!
My husband and I bought bikes in July and we trained for our very first team duathlon!  Our time was 70 minutes and we placed 13th out of 23 teams!  

Christopher rode the 10 mile bike ride and I ran the 5k portion of the race in a little over 28 minutes!  I was so proud of him and for our ability to work together as a team!  I started a running streak on my birthday, August 12 and set a goal for a 5k PR.  I needed to beat 27:26 and almost had it at the Run Like a Diva 5k in Peachtree City, Georgia on September 6.

I finished in 27:43 in 72 degree heat and humidity.  I was so proud at how far I had come since March when I was running a 31 minute 5k.  I had one more chance for a 5k PR at the Dancing Martin 5k in Leakesville which is right up the road from us and where my daughters go to school.  I finished in 26:18, but the route only measured 3.01 miles.  

This is me and my pastor Bro. Cregg and we both placed in our age groups.  He was right behind me the whole race!  So I still say my 27:26 time from September 2013 still stands as my 5k PR.

I ran the Pink Pumpkin 5k for Breast Cancer awareness with my youngest daughter, Addy and she finished in 43 minutes smoking her previous color run time of 45:59.

Team Shepherd ran another 5k on November 1 in Leakesville and my oldest daughter finished in 39:50 and my husband and baby girl Addy finished in 41:01!  That was a fun morning for us!
In the meantime, I had been training for my 3rd half marathon, the Pensacola Half Marathon which was November 9.  I had asked my brother, Jamie if he would like to run it with me and he said yes!  I booked our hotel room and headed down to Florida the night before the race.  Had dinner with two of my running friends and their families and Jamie didn't get to the room until 3 AM!  We got up at 5 to head down to the starting line at 6 AM and we started the race at 6:30.  My brother and I started strong and we ran together almost 3 miles when Jamie had to make a "pit stop."  I showed him where the porta potty was and I ran up a hill and waited for him to come out.  Well, I never saw him come out!  I waited and waited then started to think maybe he had by me.  I ran and walked for about 2 miles not really knowing what to do!  I was so worried about him, but by mile 6, I was running a steady pace.  I didn't have any music so I was thankful for all of the bands, crowd support, and even Elvis.  I even got "power" from a little girl dressed up as Elsa from Frozen.  Before I knew it, I was finished with the race.  I saw the clock time was at 2 hours and 48 minutes and I was kind of in shock!  

My watch said 2 hours and 40 minutes!  I tried to smile for the finish line cameras, got my medal and made a U turn to go wait for my brother.  I thought he was behind me!  I got some water and plopped down in the grass to watch the other runners finish when my phone started ringing.  It was Pam, my sole sister, asking me where I was and that Jamie was by the Subway tent!  I was so excited and relieved.  He had finished in 2 hours and 37 minutes.  My official time was 2 hours 46 minutes and I did not care.  I was so happy to see him and he was happy too!  We took our picture with our medals and started walking back to the room, chatting the whole way.  I loved seeing him feel proud of himself with his accomplishment!  He had only done a couple of 5 mile runs before running his very first half marathon!  I will always look back at this race with wonderful memories and a very happy ending!

 My last race of the year was the St. Jude Half Marathon in Memphis on December 6.  We had formed a team and registered for this race in May.  There were 5 of us on the team, myself, Katy Roberts, Lauren Kropf, Tina Fritz, and Pam Pitts.  We were running in honor of Jaxon Schoenberger, a 6 year old little boy from Ocean Springs, Mississippi who had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in March.  The tumor, sadly, metastasized to his spine and Jaxon passed away on October 31 right before his 7th birthday.  I had met his parents at a wedding several years ago and got to meet Jaxon at our first fundraiser at Newks in June.  I will never forget him and actually got up this morning thinking about him.  My girls and I had our own fundraiser at our family restaurant, Rocky Creek Catfish Cottage, where we raised $545 in donations and the restaurant donated $1000 to St. Jude Children's Hospital.  All together our team raised $11,485 for the hospital. I will never forget this special race.  My husband was kind enough to bring me to Memphis and even though this was the hardest race for me physically and mentally, I ran my best half marathon time for the year at 2:27:06.

It's been a great year and I am now training for the Mississippi Blues Half Marathon coming up January 10!  I just ran my 10 mile long run on Friday and this week is taper week.  I plan on running and walking this race since I had a hard time recovering from St. Jude.  I have had a wonderful Christmas holiday with my family and looking forward to slowing down a bit this week.  Thank you for reading and happy new year to you all!!

St. Jude Half Marathon Recap

What a wonderful weekend we had in Memphis!  I am so thankful for my husband, Christopher, for driving me up there to such an amazing and rewarding event!  We had a long drive up there.  We left here Friday, a little after 9 in the morning and did not get to the expo until almost 4 o'clock that afternoon.  I was prehydrating so I had to stop and use the restroom A LOT.  I always drink about 60 ounces of half water and half Gatorade the day before a half. 

 The expo was a little overwhelming.  There were so many people and the lines were long to buy merchandise. I picked up my bib number and I was so excited to get another shirt!  We ended up getting a few shirts for the kids, a sticker, key chain and a headband and that was about it!  We ran into my teammates, Pam and Lauren and we took our picture by the St. Jude Heroes Ford Explorer that had our names on it. 

 When we left, it was dark outside and we still had to check into our hotel.  We valet parked at the Westin Hotel, checked in and had a really hard time figuring out how to use the elevator!  After a few minutes of going up and down, and getting stuck for a few seconds, we had to get new keys to use in the elevator.  We finally made it to our room and we were so tired.  We decided to eat the pasta dinner they offered downstairs which wasn't too great, but we were too tired to go explore Beale Street.  We finished our dinner, went back to the room, showered, snuggled and watched a movie.  It was "Walking Tall" with The Rock!  I love that movie!  There was a lot loud music playing and we could feel the booming and bumping in our room even on the third floor!  I rested, but did not sleep much.  The music finally stopped around midnight.  

Before I knew it, it was time to get up!!  It was race day!!  I was so nervous and excited!  I'd gotten a text from Debi Minnick (Girls Run the 901) to meet at 7:40 at the corner of 4th and Union Avenue on the steps of Autozone Park which is where we finished the race.  I was finally going to meet some very special friends I had connected with via Facebook, Debi and Cecilia Jones (Mommies Run) and see Angela (Race Addict), whom I had met back in June in Greenville, Mississippi at my second half marathon.  I got dressed, ate my banana and forced down my peanut butter sandwich.  Those are so hard to eat, but they do not give me any stomach issues like the Ezekiel bread and almond butter.  I didn't have to wake Christopher up until about 6:45 thanks to the 8 o'clock race start!  I looked outside my window and could see the 5k runners lining up.  There were so many of them and they looked COLD!!  I could see the St. Jude flags blowing in the wind and to think I almost wore shorts!  I thought the weather would be warmer, but my weatherbug showed the temperature would drop instead of warm up.  At 7:15, we walked out of our hotel and the huge crowd of 5k runners were heading out.  We waited for them to clear out and headed up the street by the Fedex Forum (I cannot remember the name of it) toward Union Avenue.  I sent the ladies a text asking exactly where to meet and Debi answered immediately. 

 She told me she was headed that way and had a pink flower in her hair.  Christopher and I walked right to Autozone Park and turned to the right and headed toward 4th street.  As soon as we stopped, I turned around to watch for the girls and I immediately saw Debi with a pink flower in her hair!  "Debi!!" I shouted and we both started squealing and hugging!  She called out to Cecilia and I got a hug from her too.  I introduced them to my husband and he took our picture, he kissed me bye and told me good luck.

I got to meet so many Run365 members and got to take a group picture with them! They were all so excited and I was so excited to be there!  Debi, Cecilia, Angela, and I took a picture and I met Danielle from Runningluv.

 I remember asking Cecilia if this was her first marathon and she said it was and I remember talking to Debi about being undecided on which marathon would be my first and she told me I needed to run the full there next year.  We hugged and parted ways.  I headed for corral 9 where my teammates and friends, Pam and Lauren would be and I was also supposed to meet my friend Shana, whom I had also connected with on Facebook thanks to my page.  

I ran right into Lauren and I started trying to text and call Pam because we couldn't find her.  My phone was not working very well, but we ended up finding her almost when it was time to start.  The three of us took a selfie and waited for our turn to start.  

I texted Shana, but we could not find each other with the sea of people.  Corral number 9 started around 8:10 or maybe even 8:15 and we were off.  Mile one started off pretty smoothly around 10:45 pace, not too slow and not too fast.  I was trying to keep up with Pam and Lauren and Pam tripped over a cone after the first mile marker looking for Lauren!  Scared me to death!  Miles 2 and 3 were a little too fast for me, around 10:22 pace, but I did get to meet Shana around mile 3 and her husband!  She came running up beside me because she saw my red pony tail swinging!  We chatted for a minute and she introduced me to her husband, then ran on up to hang with him.  We hit the mile 3 marker I believe on Beale Street.

 There were so many people and I high fived as many people as I could!!  Mile 4 was still pretty fast for me at 10:21 and I was trying to keep up with Pam and Lauren.  We started running through St. Jude Hospital.  I didn't see as many children as I thought I would.  I only saw one little girl in a wheelchair, but I continued to high five kids and the rest of the crowd.  Now, my watch said I finished mile 5 at 9:39 and I'm not sure if that is correct.  The weather was cold, windy, and clowdy so I don't think the connection was very good with my Garmin.  I do remember being really tired after I finished mile 6 at 10:59.  This is when I started walking so I could refuel with my Blueberry Muffin Larabar.  This is also where I lost Lauren and Pam.  It took me .2 miles to get that Larabar down so mile 7 was finished at 12:21.  This was the first race I could feel my mind start to mess with me a little bit.  That had never happened to me before and I almost sent my husband a text to tell him how tired I was and to pray.  Somehow I managed to keep going.  My legs were already feeling sore and that has never happened to me so early in a half which clearly means I started way too fast.  I know someone was praying for me because I slowly started to pick up my pace and the mental block started to go away.  Instead of thinking about how tired I was, I just kept running.  The course was so hilly, I felt like I was going up and down hill so much and not getting much of a break from it.  We ran through a park and mile 8 was finished at 11:20 and mile 9 at 11:18.  I started taking walk breaks at every mile marker and I must have taken 2 walk breaks because mile 10 was clocked at 11:56.  Oooooh weeeee I was tired.  

Mile 11, I finished at 11:27 and sent my husband a text saying I only had 2 more miles left!!  Even with all of the walk breaks, I managed to run 11 miles in exactly 2 hours.  Mile 12, I finished in 11:37 and mile 13, at 11:10.  My watch said I ran 13.1 miles in 2:24:40 but my official time was 2:27:06 at 13.34 miles.  My goal was to finish in 2 hours and 25 minutes so I was very happy and I was so excited to cross that finish line!

 I almost forgot to stop and get my medal and I didn't get one of those blanket thingys either.  I was so ready to hug my husband and tell him how hard this race was for me.  I bumped into Pam and Lauren and they finished about a minute ahead of me!  We all started talking about how the race went for each of us and it was definitely a tough one. We took a finisher picture together and started to head out of Autozone Park...which meant walking up stairs.

 Ouch!  My quads were pretty mad at me.  We slowly made our way up the steps and to the food tents.  FOOD!!!  I was starving!  I usually don't eat much right after a race, but I sure did that day!  We got our plastic bags and the volunteers gave us cookies and fruit.  I ate a banana while waiting in line for PIZZA!  I ate about half a piece of pizza and saw what looked like hundreds maybe thousands of boxes of DONUTS!!

 We were so excited and took lots of pictures with the donuts!  I called my husband who had just made it inside the park.  I was so happy to see him!  I asked Pam to take a picture of us and he took a picture of me with the girls.

 We parted ways and headed back to our hotel.  I was so cold and my sweet husband gave me his jacket.  I don't remember much about our conversation back to the room, but I was so happy to be with him.  He never saw me at the starting line.  We watched some of the marathoners pass by.  They looked so tired.  I do remember him asking me "Are you sure you want to do that to yourself?"  At the time, I thought "NO, no I don't!"  But you know we change our minds!  I bumped into my other teammate, Tina and her family on our way back to the room and we congratulated each other and hugged.

Wow, what a race... I remember getting emotional as I ran closer and closer to St. Jude Children's Hospital.  I remember the lump in my throat and being a little sad that I did not get to see many kids, but maybe I was running too fast!  I remember the mental toughness of the race from miles 6 and 7.  I wish I could say I focused on the kids and for Jaxon, but I didn't and I couldn't.  I started to pray and I asked Jesus and God for help.  I sometimes say "if You'll get me out of this I will never do it again!" And slowly but surely, He pulled me out of my mental fog.  I know someone was praying for me, and come to find out it was my Mother and my girls.  God gave me the strength to finish what I started.  I was so thankful when that race was over, but I still think I will come back next year...maybe for the full?!  This was the hardest yet most rewarding race I've ever run.  It was an honor to run in memory of Jaxon and for all of the children of St. Jude.  It has been a blessing to be a St. Jude Hero and part of "Team Jaxon."  Our team raised $11,485 for St. Jude Children's Hospital!  So awesome. I sure hope to raise even more money next year.