As you know, Lisa and I were at the beginning of the blog and quietly slipped out. With both of us having Plantar Fasciitis, and I having bone spurs and still sleeping in splints every night, we knew if we trained for this marathon, it would more than likely put us at not running at all (my foot specialist stated it was in my best interest to not do a marathon). However, I never gave up on wanting to do it. I remember having a discussion with Ann Shinliver regarding training and long runs when preparing for a marathon. She said you didn't necessarily need them. I was all for her advice! Why hurt over and over again when you could just run it and only hurt once? Well, every time I asked Lisa, she would immediately say, “No, I don’t want to do it.” After asking her several times I thought I’d try some others in our running group, knowing I couldn't keep up with JB, Alison, and Stormie and under no circumstance was I going to have them slow down their pace for me. Not saying these girls are slower than the others, but we have been training together for a half marathon and I knew what pace they were keeping. I asked Carmen, DeAun, Cassie, Melissa, and got a “No!” from them, even though I know they all could run one!
Then one day, approximately three weeks before the marathon, Stormie emailed us about the marathon and raising money for PPMD in honor of Ethan. I knew I could help her raise money, but I WANTED TO RUN FOR ETHAN! I sent Lisa a text message telling her I felt like I was letting Stormie down. She replied with a why?. I asked her if she’d read Stormie’s email. She called me shortly thereafter and said, “FINE, I’ll do it!” I didn’t know what to say. I was SHOCKED, EXCITED, AND THEN NERVOUS!! I went to her house that evening and together we checked out the Cowtown Marathon website. Knowing we could run at least 13 miles, we calculated how much time we’d have if we had to walk the last 13 and be done by the time they closed the course, which was at 7 ½ hours. The next time we ran, we joined our girls in training for the last 6 miles of their 20 mile run. When they left, Lisa and I timed ourselves walking a fast paced mile. Took that number and determined we could finish in that time frame. Then we had a question for our leader, JB. We needed to figure out how they were registered, as a team or individual. I sent her a text message telling her we were working on signs and wondered if they had registered as a team. She said, “No, we had to have five members and we were short two!” Ouch!!! Once again, I felt horrible. A week later (two weeks before the marathon), Lisa and I told the girls we were joining them in the run. They were totally surprised and shocked and Lisa and I were then even more nervous, knowing we couldn’t back out now. So, Lisa and I signed up, putting an estimated finish time of 6 ½ hrs (a number higher then we wanted to finish at), but our true goal was to finish under 6 hrs. I was sure hoping my training of 203 miles versus their 435 would get me through this run.
The days prior the run, I found myself doubting I could do this over and over again. Running is such a mental game for me. I was always fine if I knew a few days in advance how many miles we would be doing. This way I could plant it in my head and I was okay with it. So, I told myself, if I can plan to run 12 and do it, why can’t I plan to run 26.2 and do that as well. I convinced myself that was what I needed to do and I believe it helped. Then I had my support group. Oh my, what a difference that makes! Days prior to leaving for the run, we were given goodie bags full of items we would need to accomplish this feat, well wishes and words of encouragement thru facebook, email, and texting. Family, friends, and Wellington
Right before race time, we saw several of our supporters who were so encouraging. Then we joined hands for a prayer and we were off!
Mile 1: Went very quickly as you overlooked a massive body of people running down the street. You always get caught up in the pace of others and JB heard me say I could tell I would soon be getting a side ache. Running faster than my usual pace and with no wind in my face, I’m bound to get one.
Mile 2: Sure enough, not stopping when I should have, I ended up with a piercing side ache. After walking 3 blocks and turning in a different direction, it soon went away and thankfully, never came back.
Mile 6: Could feel the pain starting in my right knee. Yip, runner’s knee! I can’t tell you if the pain ever went away or if I just got use to it.
Mile 9: Lisa and I had made it up the hill of mile eight. I was telling Lisa how proud I would be to finish this run under 6 hours when this girl next to me says, “You should already be proud of yourselves”. It literally brought tears to my eyes. I looked at Lisa and said, “That sounded like JB talking to us”.
Mile 14: Lisa started feeling more pain in this mile from the constant use of the same muscles so we started walking a little more, but still kept a good pace. Between 14 and 20, we continued the run walk strategy. As we neared a corner we saw some of our support group. As we got closer, Ethan pushed himself up off of the curb to give us a high-five as we jogged by. This gave us a boost of energy and reminded us again as to why we were there. I kept reminding Lisa that if we kept our “practice” walking pace, we would still meet our goal. I kept encouraging her, and she stayed strong and kept moving forward. I’d give her a gentle squeeze across the shoulders or a high-five to let her know how proud I was of her. She wanted me to go on without her, but NO WAY was that going to happen!
Mile 20: Yeah, it’s Anna and Maria here to cheer us on! Even better, Maria joins us for our last six miles. It was so nice to have her along and I quickly let her take over encouraging Lisa to finish hard. At one point between mile 20 and 24, I went to give Lisa a hug and she snaps at me, “DON’T TOUCH ME!!!!”. It was at that point Maria asked if we would be friends after this. Lisa wasn’t sure and made the comment she wanted to ride home with Maria. I THINK she was kidding, but I’m not 100% sure (we did ride home together, in case you were wondering).
Mile 24: Here comes Dawn! Dawn was working on getting her 13 miles in for the day so as Lisa, Maria, and I walked and jogged, Dawn ran back and forth. It wasn’t bothering me at all, but I wondered what some of the other runners were thinking with this gal running around, going the wrong direction, this late in the race. It was nice having her and Maria with us. Two strong runners, full of energy and advice! What more could two marathon want-a-be’s ask for?
Mile 25: We were just nearing mile 25 and I was SO anxious to get to the finish line. I started jogging around and backwards when I said, “Lisa, I really think it feels better to run then walk” and a girl in a group running next to us says, “I don’t know what world you’re in, but you’re not in the same one I’m in”. Made me laugh!! As we got within a half mile of the finish line, we saw Clay and Caden and I was so ready to run it all the way in, but Lisa wasn’t quite ready. But once we turned that last corner and saw the balloons and arch over the finish line, we were off! I was SO EXCITED!! We gave some high fives and crossed that line SIDE BY SIDE with a final time of 5:34! We had beaten our goal by 26 minutes and we were thrilled! What a tremendous experience, I truly enjoyed! I was so proud of Lisa for enduring the pain and not giving up. She did a great job and if she wouldn’t have done it with me, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity to RUN FOR ETHAN. Thank you, Lisa!
I couldn’t believe how beautiful the weather was for us. I was never cold and never broke a sweat. Although some might have said it was windy, I always like a breeze when I’m running.
Lisa and I had come up with the idea of using the 26 letters of the alphabet to help us get through each mile, but we didn’t end up using it. Stormie had made each of us pace bracelets that included 26 names or encouraging words. Lisa and I would share our words and then visit along the way.
Another thing I like to do on my half marathons and this marathon, is count my miles downward instead of up. My first goal was to hit 20, and then I was so excited to get into the teens. At mile 13 I felt great! Couldn’t believe how different I felt compared to my last half marathon. Next it was mile 12. If we made it to mile 12, counting downward still, we will have run further than we ever had before. Then came 9, we were in the single digits. Yes!!! All the way counting down I kept getting more and more excited, knowing we were going to do this and I felt fine. I was so pumped!! I’m sure Lisa got tired of me asking her how we were doing on time, but I so wanted to beat our goal. At mile 6, Maria joined us. Yay!! She took over encouraging Lisa so I didn’t end up dead J Thanks, Maria!! Mile 2, Dawn joined us and mile 1 I felt like I could have ran the whole way in, even though I’m sure I couldn’t have. It was such an amazing feeling. The whole route (with the exception of all the hills) was so enjoyable. There were so many people along the streets cheering us on. It was awesome!
I can’t thank our massive fan club enough for being with us during this amazing day in Fort Worth Kansas
The Day After: I could definitely tell I had exercised my muscles, but didn't feel too bad. Had some pain in my right knee and heel and one toe on my left foot. My legs ached walking up and down my work stairs just enough to remind me why I did this marathon. I was thankful I could feel that pain in my leg muscles!
Thanks to these supporters/well wishers and please forgive me if I’ve left anyone out: Ethan, Rob, Brayden, Sherry, Shawn, Maddie, Julie (aka Debbie J ), Sarah, Susie, Janet, Cheryl, Clay, Casha, Caden, Erin, Trudy, Ellis, Jamie, Preston, Maria, Anna, Dawn, Lori, Debbie, Timmy, Ryan, Carmen, DeAun, Melissa, Jeannette, Jenn, Jenny, Andy, Marcia, Mary, Lisa Z., Lisa R., Karen, Dr. Gill, Dr. Anders and all of the facebook fans
Also, thanks to Dr. Will for getting rid of my cold before race day! I don’t think I could have done it without you. Many, many thanks to my friends and family who supported our fundraising for PPMD! May God Bless You!! Alison, JB, Lisa, and Stormie, you girls are awesome! I’m so proud to have been a part of “Team Higgie” and I pray they find a cure for our Little Ethan soon. I love each and every one of you!!!
- Mitzi
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