Friday, 2 days before the race:
Alison, Mitzi, Lisa and I started our race weekend off by heading to Ft. Worth on Friday. The race wasn’t until Sunday but we thought what the heck – let’s make a weekend out of it J We made it just out of South Haven before stopping. Where do you stop just outside of South Haven? Why the State Line Tavern of course!! We stopped for a quick beverage, but they were closed. Seriously – closed on a Friday afternoon at 3:00?? So we climbed back into the Tahoe and off we went. Once we got close to Ft. Worth, we drove a few miles out of our way to grab dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We will ALWAYS drive a few miles out of our way for that place – so yummy!! We checked into the hotel and climbed into the elevator to head to our room. We watched as the doors closed, waited a few minutes, watched as the doors opened again and realized we were still on the 1st floor – yep, we forgot to push the button to take us up to our room. This is just another indication of “marathon on the brain” – that’s all we’ve concentrated on for the last few months. We got a good laugh out of that. We finally made it to the room for some much needed shut eye.
Saturday, 1 day before the race
Saturday morning was spent sleeping in and enjoying coffee at Starbucks sitting outside in downtown Ft. Worth. Ft. Worth has such a neat downtown area – we all would love to go back and really enjoy it!! We met up with Stormie early afternoon and headed to the Expo to pick up our race packets. We decided to drive some of the course after the Expo and check out the dreaded hill we were hearing so much about between mile 8 and 9. And when I say between mile 8 and 9 – it’s actually the entire length of mile 8 and 9. No kidding!! I was all for driving the course but really regretted that decision afterwards. Our running friends (Dawn, Anna, Jeannette, Sarah) who did this race last year failed to mention ALL the hills in Ft. Worth. Just picture 9th street hill but 3 times as long or Lincoln street incline 3 times as long and I’m not exaggerating. I was glad we trained with hills but was wishing we trained a little more on them. And we were missing the KU game to get stressed out by the course – WHAT?? We hurried back to the hotel to at least watch some of the game before going to dinner. ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!! After the game, we went to dinner with our families that made the trip to support us. There were 23 of us – isn’t that awesome?? My sister even surprised me and flew in from Ohio to support us. After enjoying a carb loaded dinner, we decided it was time to call it a night and get some sleep. We had to get up at 4:45 Sunday morning so we definitely needed to get to bed.
Sunday, RACE DAY
Rise and shine at 4:45 a.m.!! While trying to decide what to wear for the race, I couldn’t help but remember what Dr. Anders told me – “don’t overdress, don’t dress for the weather at 7:00 a.m.” I was so glad I listened to him as I would’ve regretted wearing what I was planning to wear. We walked outside the hotel to catch the shuttle and were met with screaming fans – my family. Yep – they were up early to see us off. We caught the 6:00 a.m. shuttle and we were off. After doing some last minute Mother Nature stops, we headed to the start line. Our fans were already there waiting for us with their signs. We didn’t have to wait outside too long before the gun went off and we were starting our 26.2 mile journey. The 5 of us started out together and it felt like old times – love running with these girls! Around mile 2, we split up and got into our comfort zones to run this race. Alison, Stormie and I were feeling great and enjoyed seeing Stormie’s family at mile 3 – we didn’t know they would be there so that was a welcome sight! When I saw Shawn at mile 5, I dropped off my gloves and jacket. The weather had warmed up a little and it felt great! Just after leaving mile 5, we were making a slight turn when I went down. Yep – went down as in fell down. Who falls at mile 5.5?? Geez!! I still feel like an idiot. My foot hit one of the rubber reflector things that stick up in the middle of the road and down I went…hard. My hands and right knee took the brunt of it. I said a few choice words then tried to walk it out. I wasn’t sure if I could even finish and even said “I can’t do this” then caught myself and said “I can’t say can’t”! That was one of our rules – we will not say can’t. After what felt like forever, I started running again and felt ok. Stormie quickly called Rob and told him I fell and I needed Kleenex, wet rags, Band-Aids – the works LOL! When we saw him at mile 8 he was ready for me, but I was good by then and off we went. Really - who falls at mile 5.5?? I can picture the image that Rob must’ve had in mind of me – face, hands, arms, legs all scratched up but to see me you wouldn’t know that I fell unless I showed you the palms of my hands. I wasn’t going to share this story but Shawn tells me all the time “It’s all about the stories” and this one was too funny not to share. Anna joined us at mile 8 just in time to climb the monster hill to mile 9. She was such a welcome sight and full of energy to help us up that hill. She ran with us until mile 16 (I think) then she handed off to Maria. When Maria joined us, she ran with Stormie and I could hear her talking “so how do you feel”, “do you talk or not talk” – Alison and I just laughed!! Maria was so excited!! She ran with us to mile 20 where she gave the final leg to Dawn. Yes, THAT Dawn that wouldn’t let me walk during our training on the 18 miler. I remember thinking when I heard she was going to run the last 6 with us “what if I have to walk – she won’t let me”. Again, it was great to have a fresh face and she did her job of helping us through those last brutal miles. We saw our families at mile 23 and Shawn asked how I was feeling – all I could was shrug my shoulders. I think I hit my wall just after that but it was short lived as when I hit mile 24 I knew I was almost done. The last 2 miles were somewhat tough because they were the last 2 miles, but also because there were more hills. Why do they do that? When we rounded the corner and saw the Expo Center we knew we were about there. Dawn said her goodbyes and let the 3 of us finish together. We were met by screaming spectators. It felt like they were all yelling for us!! Stormie – do you remember me telling you “Stormie – they are cheering for us, come on!!” I’ll never forget the feeling of turning the last corner and seeing the finish line. I was scanning the crowd for our families and saw some of mine right before the finish. We all 3 joined hands and finished together – tears and all!! I completely forgot about how tired my legs were and how I was probably going to lose a toenail. All I remember feeling is sure elation of what I had just accomplished with my MARATHON MAMA’S. Getting all the congratulatory hugs from our families meant so much to us – especially Shawn who hugged me tight and told me how proud he was of me…awwwww – love him! I want to thank our families and friends that made the trip to support us – Shawn, Janet, Susie, Cheryl, Sarah, Julie, Jamie, Preston, Rob, Brayden, Ethan, Sherry, Clay, Casha, Caden, Erin, Ellis, Trudy, Dawn, Anna and Maria – we love you!!
Do I plan to do another one? No…maybe?? Do I think everyone should do one? ABSOLUTELY!! It’s not easy, but if I can do it you can too. Just remember – you don’t start out running long distances. Give yourself an attainable goal and stick with it. YOU CAN DO IT!
I’ll never forget this weekend full of so many emotions with my favorite girls. We did this together and will laugh and relive it for a long time. Love you all!
- JB
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