Sunday, December 21, 2008

I ran the Thunder Road Marathon - 12/13/08

On 12/13/08, I ran my 8th marathon. I have really loved the training this time around. Just in case you have never trained for a marathon, I am listing my long runs. This is to show the hours of running that goes into a marathon. 26.2 miles is a long way. I have learned from past experience that this is a daunting distance...not to be taken lightly.

08/22 10 miles - 1:25.48
08/29 11.94 miles - 1:47.00
09/05 10.3 miles - 1:32.46
09/12 12.52 miles - 1:50.31
09/19 10.23 miles - 1:29.55
09/26 14.00 miles - 2:05
10/03 10.20 miles - 1:28
10/9 16 miles - 2:21.29
10/17 13.1 miles - 1:56.05
10/24 18.11 miles - 2:40.00
11/01 DOWD 1/2 - 1:51.28 - PR!
11/07 20.55 miles - 3:04.54
11/14 10 miles - 1:25
11/21 22.82 miles - 3:21.36
11/28 13.5 miles - 1:57
12/05 9.13 miles - 1:15

The day b/4: I have included a post from my BT site, where I post all my workouts: Everyday I start my morning with a time where I get with God and read the Bible and pray. I do this b/4 I get my children up for school. I have come to love this time with the one who saved me from my sins. He always has a word of encouragement for me.
My time alone with God today was on, "Do not worry". If you have been keeping up with my posts, you know how anxious I have been about this upcoming marathon. I normally deal with real stress well, but this has me worried. I enjoy running, but in the big picture, does it really matter to God how I do in this marathon....Well I open up my Bible today and there is a big, "Yes it does matter. I matter to Him".
Matthew 6:33 - 34 says - But seek 1st His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own.
Now I do not skip around in the Bible to find what applies to my life for that moment. This was the verse that was planned for me to read TODAY....Do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow is my marathon and the God of the universe placed this in front of me. He told me He cares. He told me not to worry.
Now I choose to do as He has asked and not to worry. I choose to trust in Him no matter what happens. Does that mean everything will go my way tomorrow. Maybe, or maybe not. The promise is not that Everything will be perfect. The promise is that He will be there running right beside me, no matter what comes my way.

The Morning of: I love to run! That much is clear. My goal for this marathon was to go sub 4 hours. My training pointed to the fact that this was in my reach. Everything came together perfectly for this run. I woke up at 0500 to spend some time with my savior. He promised me that He would run this race and the race of life with me. This does not always mean that everything will always go my way. This means, He will be with me, no matter what.

Most of my family came to support me for this run. My family has never seen me run a marathon, so this was very exciting for me. My mom, dad, sis, brother-in-law, nephews, girls, and husband came to cheer for me. I also had some surprise friends show up on the course.

My mom and dad walk with me to the start. My mom is giving me last minute instructions b/4 the race.

My sweet girls take one last picture with me b/4 I line up at the start.

The race: I started the race. I was excited, just running in the moment. Miles were going by quickly. Saw MK from Run For Your Life around mile 2ish. I yelled to her and she screamed. I was trying to run slower than normal. I knew I was around 1 minute behind the clock time.
I hit the 10k mark around 54 min clock time....feeling good!
Saw my family around mile 11 and Matt, my husband, snapped this picture. I am the one in the distance with the black tights and white shirt. Still feeling good.....I am on Kings getting ready to turn and go up Morehead. Ahhhh...Morehead.
I hit the 1/2 mary point at 1:55...remember the clock is ahead of me. I saw Ron, who trained me for my 1st marathon. I hold him responsible for this obsession with running. Ha ha! I was OK at this point. Still taking sips of Hammer Gel every other mile with the H2O on the course. Then I drank my G2 at the miles I did not take the Gel. Still, by mile 14 I am so thirsty and feel like my hips are going to fall out of their sockets. This was weird. I am "only" on mile 14...that should be no big deal. I knew I had to press on though.
At mile 16ish, I see my family again. My dad actually gets on the course and runs a bit with me. COOL! He ran track in high school. He broke and held track records for the area he lived in. He ran around a 6 minute mile...FAST!
This is so AWESOME! In this picture, you can see I am going uphill and I am acting like I am holding a gun to my head....they thought it was funny...I really wasn't kidding
I'm not going to lie...this is a hard course. Very uphill. I could tell the hills were taking their toll on me. Pain is fear leaving the body...so what am I so afraid of?
I hit 16.2 at 2:24.
I think this part of the course is very bad for the mind games. I see Jessi somewhere around here. SWEET! After running through the city, I LOVED that, there is nothing until around mile 21. So I tried not to let the mind games take me out.
Hit mile 20 at 3:02. WOW! This is the fastest I have ever hit mile 20....I MAY make it. Saw my buddy Bree at in NoDa. This is right b/4 mile 21. She said she could tell I was hurting. I was.
At mile 21ish, I see Matt's GAP shirt in the distance. I am so tired and thirsty...I wonder if he would carry me the rest of the way. He is such a steady person. A wonderful, supportive husband. I run up to him, throw my H2O belt, hat, and gloves down and stop running. This is the 1st and only time I stopped moving during this race. This was the 1st time I stopped running. I told him I needed a Propel and he got me one. He was with my BIL and Dad. He said he thought I was going to make it sub 4....I chose to believe him, and started running. I saw my mom, sis, nephews, and girls down the road....WOOT!
I run on. I think I get a little 2nd wind at this point. Start feeling OK...not really good...but OK. I hit mile 25 and I see my buddies Amy and Steve...with their children. Then I look up and see the city skyline. I am running over 277 on Central. I realize I won't make sub 4, but will PR. All the hard work and the race and how tired I am hit me and I start to cry. I am not an emotional person..and have never done this....WOW gotta suck it up and finish this thing out!

At mile 26, a guy on a bike rides up to me. It is Jeff.......He just finished an IM not to long ago. He escorts me to the finish line. I feel like a superstar with the escort....oh wait, I am Spot in Big Mama's Attic....I am a star....LOL! I finish at 4:05.17 chip time...HAPPY!
Shiny stuff around my neck!
Hang'n with my sweet girls.
My biggest fan! Matt...my husband!

My buddy Bree...we ran our 1st marathon together..and several after....
Getting my grub on with the family!

2 comments:

Hope said...

Spot the dog. . .you rock and you roll and you run. And sometimes you have the runs. . .I'm glad I could support you in the race. It was good for me. I will post my report later about how I stood in the street and held your maalox.

AtomicTime said...

Wow! Great report Christa. Just think of all the extra cookies you can eat over holidays now.

Happy New Year!

Marc
www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/ibikefar