Magnolia Half Marathon Race Recap

Wow, I can't believe it has already been almost a week since I ran the Magnolia Half Marathon in Meridian, Mississippi!  I ended up not getting the PR I was hoping for, but I am still very proud of myself for my ability to take on the Meridian hills like I did!

I decided earlier in the week to go ahead and book a hotel room in Meridian for last Friday night.  My original plan was to just drive up race morning, but I'm so glad I didn't do that.  My husband had been out of town so I thought having a hotel room and a big king size bed all to myself for one night didn't seem so bad after all.  I usually do not sleep well in hotel rooms the night before a race.  Does anybody??  I messaged Tricia Vaughn from over at MissSippipiddlin back and forth during the week because she lives up there and was also running the Magnolia Half. She was so nice to include me in their dinner plans for the night before the race and she also gave me directions to the hotel I would be staying at.  I booked my room at Fairfield Inn and Suites which was also where I would pick up my packet.  My children got out of school early on Friday so I was able to head on up to Meridian a little after 2 o'clock.  I made it up their in no time and found my hotel easily thanks to Tricia's directions!  I checked into the hotel, took my luggage up to my room, then went back downstairs to pick up my packet.  They asked me to write down what I wanted them to say as I crossed the finish line.  I wrote that I run for Sophia, the children of St. Jude, and for my children.  I headed back up to the room and sent all my people a text that I had made it safely to Meridian.  I had such a nice room; the hotel upgraded me to a suite for some reason!  I laid down and dozed off until about 5:30 and got up to get ready for dinner.  Tricia had to come pick up her packet so she said I could ride with her, her husband Greg, and her friend Leah to dinner.  We left a little after 6:30 and headed to a restaurant called Weidmann's.  I ordered the chicken alfredo which had mushrooms and broccoli!  It was delicious!  Leah ordered fried green tomatoes, but I passed on those.  I did eat some of Tricia's peanut butter and crackers!  Yum!  The food was great, but the company was even better.  I enjoyed getting to know all of them even more.  I actually met Tricia and Greg back in March at the Bring it to the Bay Half Marathon!  It was so nice to sit down and have a meal together.  It's hard to visit after a race because I'm usually TIRED.  We finished up our dinner and they kindly drove me back to my hotel room.  I headed up to shower and straight to bed.  I didn't sleep much, but if I can just lay down and rest for a few hours, that is good enough for me.

Next thing I knew it was race morning!  I got up at 515 AM and was out the door at 6.  I have to be honest, I didn't eat anything and drank only a few sips of Gatorade before the race.  I drink so much and eat a lot the day before plus I had had stomach issues almost during each long run while training.  I really did not want any tummy issues on race day.  I packed two small snickers bars in my flipbelt and planned eating the first one at mile 4.  Hungry why wait??  I arrived at the park where the race started and waited for Tricia to get there.  I sat in my truck with the heat on as long as I could.  I decided to wear a short sleeved shirt and it was about 43 degrees outside.  Brrrr.  I got out and walked toward the porta potties and immediately saw Leah!  I stood by her for a few minutes and decided to hit the porta potty one last time.  I also saw my friend I met through Facebook, Jennifier George!  She was there with her husband two daughters running her very first half marathon.  I spoke to her while she was waiting in line and I spotted Tricia up the hill at the starting line so started walking up.  We took pictures and I took one with Jennifier then it was time to run!  The gun went off and I took off up the hill.  That should have been my sign.  If a half marathon starts on a hill, you will be eating them for 13.1 miles.  The first 4 miles were rolling hills.  Looooong rolling hills.  My Garmin said I ran my first mile at 9:12.  I think it is full of baloney.  Surely, I didn't start that fast?  For the next 3 miles, I ran 10:11, 10:17, and 10:10.  I was feeling good, but I went ahead and ate one of my snickers.  I stopped at all of the water stops.  I drank red Powerade (Ick) twice and water the rest.  I remembered Leah saying the first 6 miles would be tough and my miles 5 and 6 were 10:24 and 10:12.  I looked at my watch to see I ran 6 miles in exactly one hour!  I was super pumped because I was on track to PR and maybe if I hustled finish in 2:10 which was my goal time.  Unfortunately I started to suffer a little during miles 7-10.  It seemed like I was steadily hill climbing during these miles.  There were so many ups and not enough downs to get a break from climbing.  My pace for those miles started to drop.  I ran 7-10 at 10:31 (big hill), 10:46 (getting tired), 10:53 (I took my first walk break at 9.5 miles because surely I could walk faster up the hill than I was running), and mile 10 I ran at 11:01 (tired just tired).   But then something happened after I finished up 10 miles of the hilliest course I have ever run... The Whip and the Nae Nae song game on.  Thank you Lord!  I started thinking about the dance moves instead of how much my legs were hurting!!  I even managed a couple of dance moves while running.  Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to take your mind off of what you are doing.  If that makes sense.  I think I ate my second snickers around mile 8 or 9.  I honestly can't remember.  Those miles are blurry. Back in March when I had a 4 minute PR, it was because I really picked up my pace for miles 10-13.  I managed to pick up my pace again and I was so thankful for what seemed like more down hills to the finish line.  Maybe it was just my imagination, but I ran miles 11-13 at 10:10, 10:15, and 10:22.  My 13th mile might have been a little faster, if there had not been a ginormous hill to climb at 12.5 miles.  I seriously could not feel my legs at this point.  I just had to stop and take a picture of this hill and made sure to tell the volunteer holding up a poster at the top that that was just wrong to have to climb a hill at the end of a race.  I had to cross over the 4 lane to get back to the park and I apologized to the police officers holding up traffic for me.  I was basically hobbling as fast as I could.  Thankfully, I made it across and that uphill we had to run at the starting line was a lovely down hill to the finish.  Thank you Jesus.  I said this a lot especially at the end of this race.  I said "hey!" to one of Jennifier's little girls who was waiting on her Momma.  I heard the announcer say my name and number and that I run for Sophia!  I started running faster just in time to see the clock hit 2:16.  I didn't care.  I was so happy to cross that finish line and thankful the race was over.  I saw Leah and she said she PR'd.  I knew when she passed me that I should stick with her if I wanted to PR.  Maybe next year I will have enough gas in the tank to tackle all of those hills!!  My legs hurt so badly, I sat down to stretch and talked to Jennifier's youngest daughter.  She said she was almost 7 years old.  I told her I had a little girl who was 8!  I decided to eat something so I grabbed a piece of pizza and went to sit in my truck a minute.  I took one bite of the pizza and it almost came right back up. Nope, can't eat that just yet.  I put my phone back in my phone case and went back to the finish line to find Tricia and Jennifier.  They had both just finished their race!  We took pictures and chatted for a few minutes then it was time for me to go shower and gather my things to head home.

 I told Jennifier she picked the hardest half marathon to run first and if she could run that one she could run them all.  Wow.  What a morning and what a challenging race!  I do love a challenge and I do remember laughing during the race because it was so hard.  Sometimes I laugh when I should probably should start crying!  I am so thankful for this race and the whole experience.  I can't say enough about the people up there in Meridian.  Super super friendly and nice people.  The volunteers and the police officers kept us safe and they did such an amazing job.  The wooden medal was just the icing on the cake.  My first wooden medal!  Even though I didn't get that PR I was hoping for, I feel like I trained the best way I could running hills every week all summer and through the fall.  Last year when I stepped up to the starting line in Pensacola, I already had a hurt knee.  This year I stepped up to the starting line injury free and did not experience any knee pain whatsoever during this half marathon!  Praise the Lord!!  I have been pain free for 7 months now and it is such a blessing.  I have struggled with so many different kinds of knee pain that I hope this encourages you to know it can go away and stay away!  My advice is to go get fitted for shoes and try to work on your running form.  I used to be a heel striker and now I run on the balls of my feet.  It takes practice, but for some reason since I have done this, my knees don't hurt.  Running the Magnolia Half Marathon showed me all of my hard work paid off, that I'm still a strong distance runner, maybe not the fastest, but strong.  I like the word "strong" better than the word "fast."  Two years ago, I ran my first half marathon in 2:18:56 and it was completely flat.  Two years later, two years older, I ran the hardest, hilliest course ever in 2:16:03.  Strong.  I like that.  Next weekend I will run the St. Jude Half Marathon in Memphis.  To get a course record, I will have to beat 2:27:10.  I'm still hoping to PR even though this course will be hilly too.  I'm going to run as hard as I can for those children.  Thank y'all for reading and for sticking with me on this journey!!  God gets all the glory for bringing me this far.  It has been such a blessing to not only run, but to be able to run pain and injury free.  Amen!!

My Jesus, family, running journey

"It took her awhile to figure out she could run, but when she did... It changed her life." 

I started my running journey on February 7, 2013 using the Couch to 5k program.  I had been a member of our local wellness center for a little over a year and saw fliers on the counter for the Hippity Hop for your Heart 5k benefiting the American Heart Association.  George Regional Hospital would be having it on March 30, 2013 and I simply said to myself "I think I want to run that."  I had a lot of trouble losing my baby weight after my third child was born on March 4, 2011.  I joined the gym when he turned a year old in 2012 and took classes which helped me get back in shape.  The next year I saw a couple of people post about the Couch to 5k program and I decided I would give it a try to prepare for my first 5k race.  I remember Day One of the program like it was yesterday.  I took my daughter to dance and tried to run and walk at the park in Hurley, Mississippi.  My chest started hurting and I had palpitations.  It was like my body went into shock, like "what are you doing to me??"  Needless to say, I only made it through 15 minutes of Day One.  Even though I had been taking classes for a year, I had not been doing enough cardio. I had never been a runner even though I played soccer in high school. I couldn't even run the whole two miles required for tryouts back then.  I was diagnosed with a heart valve problem called Mitral Valve Prolapse in 2004 that kept me from exercising for many years because I had so many issues with palpitations.  Any time my heart rate would go up, my heart would jump out of rhythm.  I didn't want to give up, so I tried Day One of the C25k program the next day and was able to finish!  I have such humble beginnings because I would run up and down my driveway which is .2 miles to the mailbox and back.  I remember the moment in week 5 of the program when I ran 20 minutes straight.  I will never forget that feeling.  It felt amazing!  I ran my first 5k with my family waiting for me at the finish line with a time of 34:36.  I was so happy! After that race, I was hooked!  

In 2013, I ran several 5k's and won many age group awards, one 10k, and I ran my very first half marathon.  It was the Kaiser Realty Half Marathon in Orange Beach, Alabama November 30, 2013.  I had a running coach and training partner for that half and finished with a time of 2:18:56.

My family and I had the best time in Orange Beach that weekend.  Not only did I finish my first half marathon, Auburn beat Alabama that very same day!!  It was the most perfect day.  

Shortly after my first half marathon, I injured my right knee. It was an IT Band injury because it hurt on the outside of my right knee.  I had planned to run the Rock and Roll New Orleans Half Marathon in 2014 and could not due to injury.  I ran on a hurt knee for over a month before heading to an Orthopedic doctor.  He told me no running for 3 weeks and after that time was up, I could start walking, then walking and running.  Then while I was injured and not able to run, I was diagnosed with Melanoma skin cancer February 19, 2014.

 I will never forget that phone call.  I was so devastated and felt like I had been given a death sentence.  My sweet husband had bought me a treadmill that month and I remember walking and running on it after my 3 weeks were up.  I am so thankful for praying family and friends during that time.  I received good news on March 11, 2014 that the melanoma had not spread!  Praise the Lord!  I am still so thankful for God's healing power.  I celebrated by running a 5k the next weekend and I had lost a lot of my speed.  I had built up to running 3 miles in a little over 26 minutes and I dropped back to about 30-31 minutes.

I would go on to run 4 more half marathons in 2014 and even attempted a running streak.  Wouldn't you know I got injured again!  This time it was the back of my left knee which started in September and eventually turned into runner's knee.  The pain shifted to hurting all over my knee cap and it was very painful to run by mid March.  My most memorable 2014 race was running the St. Jude Half Marathon December 4, 2014 in honor of Jaxon Schoenberger, a 6 year old boy who passed away on October 31, 2014 from D.I.P.G.  Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas are brain tumors that are highly aggressive and difficult to treat.  Our team had several fundraisers for him and raised over $11,000 for St. Jude Children's Hospital.

 I met Jaxon's parents at a wedding several years ago and did get to meet Jaxon in person at our Newk's fundraiser before his health started to deteriorate.  My two daughters and I put on a fundraiser at our family owned restaurant, Rocky Creek Catfish Cottage, for him also after he passed.  I will never forget that time in my life.  It was the first time I felt like I was making a difference by raising awareness for childhood cancer and teaching my kids the importance of raising money and running for a cause.

 

I ran two half marathons to start off the year 2015!  My knee had slightly improved, but I ran the Mississippi Blues Half with a knee brace, then the Sea Turtle Half in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  One of my favorite moments of this year happened at the Gulf Coast Half Marathon in Gulf Shores, Alabama March 1, 2015.  I PR'd the Sea Turtle Half by a few seconds finally beating my time from my very first half marathon.  However, I had a HUGE PR at Gulf Coast merely a week after Sea Turtle of 2:14:50!  Nearly a FOUR minute personal record.  That meant the world to me!  I had worked so hard and overcome two knee injuries and melanoma skin cancer!  Of course, my sweet family was waiting for me at mile 11 holding signs and then raced to the finish line to wait for me there.  I can't say enough about my husband and three beautiful children.  They are my number one fans and support me in everything I do.  

Next up was to train for my very first marathon which was the St. Jude Country Music Marathon in Nashville, April 25, 2015.  I ran so many half marathons from November to March, I had a great 13 mile base and built my mileage from there.  I ran my first 16 mile training run way too fast and my slightly injured left knee turned into a full blown runner's knee injury.  I ran another half marathon as a training run at the end of March and made it 17 miles total.  I crossed that finish line in a whole lot of pain and I was limping.

 I tried to run my 20 mile training run two weeks later and only made it 3 miles.  I threw in the towel that day, but I'm so thankful for the support of my Facebook friends, Joanna from Races For Awareness text me a lot that sad day.  I also got some great advice from Gelcys from Runner Unleashed on how to tape my knee with KT Tape.  I used it on a couple of short runs and didn't have any pain.  I rested until it was time for the BIG SHOW.  I also ran my first marathon as a St. Jude Hero and raised another $1000 for the hospital.  My husband and two daughters made the long trip to Nashville the Friday before the race.

 I can't say enough about Nashville and running my first marathon there.  The crowd was amazing!

 I assigned one person to pray for each mile for 26 miles and the last .2 was for me.  Praying for a certain person during each mile helped take my mind off what I was actually doing and focus on that person.  I got sick after running 8 miles and felt nauseated.  I'm thankful that feeling eventually went away, but after finishing half of the race, I was tired.  My husband and girls met me with cold Gatorade and water and a mini Snickers bar.  It was wonderful.  My taped up knee barely hurt me the entire race.  I believe it was not only the tape that helped, but a true miracle from God.  My knee hurt so badly during training in March and April, there is no other way to explain how I didn't have much pain at all during the marathon.  I could tell my training was lacking because of how tired I felt from miles 14-26.  I ran and walked most of the second half.  A blister popped at mile 20 and I had to stop and take off my shoe to see what was going on!

 That had never happened before, ever.  By the grace of God I made it close to the finish line when I saw my precious husband and my two daughters crawled under the fence to run and cross the finish line with me.

 This went down as one of the best moments of my life aside from my wedding day and the day that each of my children were born.  My girls will always remember crossing that finish line with me and it's a special moment that no one can ever take away.  I'm so thankful I got to share that with them.  It makes me wonder how many more finish lines we will cross together.

I am now training for half marathons number 9 and 10.  I plan on running the St. Jude Half again in December.  I originally planned to run the full, but I was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma and had to have two more surgeries, one on my forehead and unfortunately one on my leg.  

My surgery forced me to sit out from running a week and slow down training.  I didn't train for three weeks so I had to drop to the half.  After all of my knee injuries, I believe it was the smart thing to do.  

So we are a Jesus loving family of runners!  All five of us took part in our local 5k, the Dancing Martin 5k in Leakesville, MS recently on October 3, 2015.  My husband and I ran the 5k and all three kids ran the fun run!  I gave my son my bib and he was so proud.

 Oh, my heart just completely spilled over watching him!  I managed to finally get a 5k PR after TWO years of trying to beat my long standing time of 27:26.  I finished this 5k with a time of 26:51!  I was so excited!  It felt like I had made a major comeback after being diagnosed with skin cancer again!  My husband finished with a time of 35:02 and he doesn't run very much at all.  I thought that was amazing.  I was so proud of him.  We both won first place in our age groups and all five of us brought home medals that day.  

It truly was a perfect day!  We've done a lot of color runs and local races together but this was the first race all 5 of us participated in.  Sweet sweet memories.

 I am so thankful to God and my family and this gift of running.  All of this would have never happened if it hadn't been for that day at the Wellness Center when I saw those fliers on the counter for the Hippity Hop 5k two and a half years ago.  My husband probably will never be a distance runner, but I think I have three little running partners who may want to run half marathons or even marathons with me one day.  I wonder which one it will be?  I can't wait for them to ask one day in the future, "Momma will you train me to run a half marathon with you?"  and my answer will be "Yes baby, I sure will. Now which one would you like to run?"

St. Jude Country Music Marathon Recap

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!

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!