That's right, baby! I finished a MARATHON!!!
I can't believe I am even saying that. But it's true.
This is going to be long...but what an adventure.
Let's start at the beginning. Saturday was the Relay for Life. The Relay for Life is a 24 hour relay to raise money for the American Cancer Society. I came to honor those who have passed on and to those currently battling cancer. I came for Grandma, Monica, and Jenn who have lost their battles. I came for my Grandpa who is currently at stage 4 with prostate cancer. It has taken over and is in his bones now too.
A HUGE thank you to those who have donated through me to help me make my goal, but to ultimately to help find a cure for this horrible disease. Shauna, Kathi, Oralia, Stacey, Beth, Veronica, Jacoba, & Grandma thank you for making it happen.
Our team sign on the field.
I really just wanted to show up and support everyone. To be part of Team WACC (from my church) and give back. I had no goals in mind of what would happen that day. I just knew we would take turns walking around the track. One of the rules of the relay is that someone from the team has to be on the track (with their spirit stick) for the whole 24 hours because "cancer never sleeps".
My family walking
The first couple laps were very leisurely. My whole family was there. The kids were wanting to run ahead, but we were just walking today. I kept getting the feeling like it made me want to run, but I kept thinking that I would just walk so I wouldn't get sore or exhausted. We would take breaks and come and sit for a bit. Or help with one of the booths that our team was running to help earn more money. I helped with the ring toss game. Eventually my family left and I stayed and walked some more.
Trish and I
My friend Tricia came to support me and some other people she knew there. It was so fun to walk with her. We had a great time. Especially by the guys trying to get us to buy some "Ice. Cold. Pickles." We laughed so hard. Seriously? Pickles? I'm hot and I think I want a pickle? But the guys were so funny in their t-shirts with coconut bras on top dancing trying to get us to buy pickles. lol So, every time we went buy we did the little dance and said "Ice Cold Pickles". They loved it and kept looking for us to go around the track again.
My family came back for lunch time. We had a potluck with our team and Scott made some delicious brownies. WAY too good to not sample. Plus, I was walking so much. I could have one. ;) My mom was even there before I was. Somewhere in there I heard my friend (and teammate) Nancy talk about what her goal for the day was. She had done 20 miles last year and wanted to complete a marathon this year (26.2 miles). That got the idea in my head. For some reason I was thinking at one point that 7 miles would be cool to hit because I have never done that much. Then I started thinking 10 was a nice round number. Especially since the miles were coming so fast it seemed. Now I had a new challenge. The thought of her doing a marathon enticed me to think about if I had it in me to even try. So, I started thinking about it.
We did a few more laps and eventually decided it was time to go. I had just finished 6.6 miles. We had a graduation party to go to for a good friend. And we couldn't miss it. Thankfully I got a shower to get off all of that sunscreen/dirt/sweat. It had been so hot I think I re-applied 4 times and still got a little burnt. So, we went to the wonderful party and got a chance to relax. I told Scott that I thought I was going to go for it and try to do a marathon. I hadn't really fully made up my mind before that. Then I started thinking, why not? I have all night that people will be there walking. I'll just keep going until I hit it. On the way back to our house I decided to put it on my facebook status as well that I was going to go for it. This also gave me more motivation just knowing that others knew I was going for it as well.
(Yes, my pants had dirt on them from the track.)
I got back to the track at about 7pm. Initially I walked thinking I could do this all walking. I was feeling good. I started noticing some of my muscles feeling the walking though. Like maybe I was trying to walk too fast sometimes. I got the chance to talk to Nina for several laps as well. This was so wonderful.
It turns out that 3 of us (that I knew of) were going for a marathon. Nancy, Anna, and myself. Nancy was the first to accomplish this goal. She was way ahead of me when I got back. I got to walk her last laps with her. It was great! Then Anna and I took the torch (quite literally). Our spirit stick was a torch that lit up with a flashlight inside. She only had a few miles left to reach her goal. I got to see her finish her goal as well.
At some point I started thinking about the fact that this was going to take FOREVER if I walked the whole thing. So, with 10.6 miles left to go, I ran the rest of the marathon. It was invigorating. What was so amazing was that I didn't feel winded AT ALL. My lungs felt great. I had my inhaler at my chair just in case of course. I kept getting people cheering me on too. Most people were NOT running, so the random runner got cheers. That was fun. Even the pickle boys.
My mom and aunt (after the marathon was over).
I would come in to our team area to stretch, eat, and drink water. I knew I had to keep track of my blood sugar. Then I would go right back out to finish running. I don't remember what time it was, but my mom showed back up to support me. She told me she wanted to witness me finish a marathon. I was so excited to have a personal supporter. Then Aunt Maureen shows up too. How awesome is that?! Someone had to watch the kids, so Scott was with them. Probably a good thing too, cuz he was falling asleep at the computer while I was running. lol
The Luminaria Ceremony started and they turned off all of the stadium lights. ahh I was a bad girl and didn't watch the whole ceremony. I was so antsy to get back out there and finish this thing. One of the laps was where everyone goes around in the dark with just the light of the little bags (with glow sticks inside) all around the track were. They all had been decorated by a loved one and dedicated to someone. There was a huge word (spelled with the luminaries) on one side of the stadium that said "HOPE" and then a little later they changed it to "CURE" and then back to "HOPE" again. I was beginning to wonder if they would turn the lights back on again.
That's when I saw that Shauna was there. She came out to support a bunch of us (and in honor of her sister). Her nephew Evan was with our team walking in memory of his mom, Jenn. And her sister, Kristin, was there walking in memory of their sister, Jenn. Shauna and I got to walk a few laps together too. I'm now realizing it was sometime after this that I started running. Sometime during our walk they turned on half of the stadium lights back on again. Woho! (That was short lived.)
So, I started running. The middle of the stadium was filled with tarps and tents galore for people who were sleeping in shifts. Perhaps them and the neighbors needed the lights off. Because the lights suddenly turned off. Boo!! It was so hard to see while running on the track at night. Even with the light from the Luminaries. About half way through the running part my ipod stopped working. I hadn't needed it with the walking because I was usually walking with someone and talking. But the running was all me. Oh well, perhaps it was better this way so that not more than one sense was diminished. It was already hard to see, let alone only hearing my music.
The last 5 miles approximately were the hardest. I started needing to stretch more often and eventually my sciatica started acting up. I kept trying to stretch it out and keep running. That worked for a few laps. Then I needed to walk intermittently because I was pretty much limp/running. I could barely walk on my right leg, let alone run on it. So, I would stretch and get back out there hoping to be able to break into a run again. I did each time, but it became harder and harder. Since there was hardly any light, I could barely see my Nike+ Sportband readout of how many miles I was at. (Even with a glow stick on that wrist.) So, I had to stop by the light of the bathrooms to see it and calculate where I was at. 6.6 + whatever it said. This is hard to do when your mind isn't focused.
My mom and aunt kept encouraging me to keep going. Reminding me of how close I was. Trust me, there was NO WAY I was not going to finish this. I was determined. Even if I had to walk and limp to finish it. I did, however finish it running. I even told Scott that I wasn't coming home until it was done. :) Since I hadn't just checked the miles, I didn't think I was quite finished when I came to my mom and aunt holding up their hands across like a finish line. They were so cute. That was something I will never forget. I kept calculating it in my head thinking I still had a little bit to run, but each time kept coming up with over what a marathon is. I was right. I had done 26.25 miles!!! We took pictures to commemorate this special occasion. It was an awesome feeling. And a huge sigh to be done. Well, almost. I had to still walk to the car. lol You would think after doing all of that, that the walk to the car would be nothing. But as I was taking the picture I could feel myself starting to feel like I was going to fall over. Thankfully there was some quick sugar handy (licorice) and I ate that on my way to the car.
I finished at 1:50am. It took 7 hours and 15 minutes. My sportband has a pause button so that it was only calculating time that I was walking and running so that I could save the battery life. I already had to charge it while we were at the graduation. And that way it wasn't counting the time we were eating lunch as time it took to walk/run.
All done!! I'm holding the pole because I feel like I'm going to fall over.
Wow, I can't even believe it. I just started running in February. This is June. Even if you just account for the time that I was running (10.6), that's still way higher than I have ever done before. Ever since my friend,
Amy, challenged me to start thinking about doing a half marathon, that would be held this September, I started running more. At that point I was only at about 4 minutes running at a time. She challenged me to think beyond what I thought was possible. And to think that I feel ready to run one now. Of course, I will have to keep conditioning before then, but to complete a marathon just fathoms my mind. I thought I would shoot for a 1/2 marathon and always thought it was just crazy to ever think of doing a marathon. And now I have done one.
Just think about the things we think we are not capable of achieving. I challenge you to reach higher and farther than you think is possible. Set a goal higher and push yourself to get there. We are capable of doing so much more than we give ourselves credit for.
Go for it!
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