Sunday, May 19, 2013

There's always next time, right??

Start of race:  7:00 AM, 70 degrees, sunny.

You gotta love it when 8000+ runners are packing the street at the start of a race!  If you've never experienced a big race before (either as a participant or spectator), the start can be comical the first time you witness one;  the gun sounds, but no one moves (back by us) for a few minutes.   For those of us hanging back at the 10:00/mile starting "gate," it can literally take about 5 minutes to actually CROSS the starting line!  LOL.  (5 min. 30 sec. to be exact for me today)
Runners, as far as thee eye can see.....

Life was going pretty okay for the first 6 miles, averaging about a 10:10/mile pace
After some on-course texting with my family (LOL!-Gotta love technology, right?!?!), the first sighting of my cheering crew was at mile 6.8.

The day was heating up nicely (if you weren't a runner)....
It was heating up too much if you WERE a runner... starting to hit upper 70's...

So, I started slowing down my pace; now averaging about 10:30s (my realistic goal pace).

And no... I'm not saying "talk to the hand."  :D  I was simply waving a goodbye to my family after they met up with me at the Mile 10 marker.    The next planned cheering spot:  halfway point.

:(

But shortly after departing, a text came in from my sister that traffic and roads were blocked off, so they were going to jump ahead to mile 20 and wait.

Oh boy...  10 miles until some happy faces could greet me with some motivation.

Miles 10-15 were tough.  A lot of open areas;  head wind (maybe 10-15 mph at times?)), and.... HOT.  Officially breaking 80.  My pace was certainly slowing down, although I came into the 13.1 checkpoint clocking 2:20, which isn't a shabby Half time for me.

But after that......major slow down!  
Holding 11:00's when running.... with lots of walking breaks between running spurts.....

In the meantime, my crew diligently awaited, cheering on other runners and trying to pass the time as best they could...


Little did they know that they were actually sitting at about 19.3, so when I saw them after the water-stop, I was a bit surprised.  Mom caught me sucking on some ice cubes here. 


And little Candace was going to get her way---she wanted to run a little bit with me!
After about 200 meters, I sent them back to Grandma after final hugs and goodluck kisses, telling them I'll see them at the finish line.

I wish my iphone hadn't died!  Afterall, the ONLY reason I ran these 26.2 miles was for the final half mile!  All runners were able to run through the Green Bay Packer stadium tunnels, followed by a lap around Lambeau Field.  I WANTED PICTURES!  Whaaaa, whhaaaaaaaaaaa.....

LOL....

.... but then, working our way back through the tunnels, we were 200 meters from the finish line.

And even though I was welllllll off my goal-mark today, I am happy with the finish.  I simply slowed down and ran a smart marathon.  It wasn't worth killing myself over.   (I guess lady-in-blue here moved at the last minute.  It's okay Mom!!!!!  I appreciate all the candids from today!) :D

The AWESOME finisher's medal and finish line Rootbeer :)   And even a smile ;^)

My amazing girls!

 And.....the shake down....


Thanks for reading!!!!

Happy Sunday!

14 comments:

Kevin the Quilter said...

CONGRATS! KUDOS! SINCEREST COMPLIMENTS! WOOHOO! YAHOO! YIPPEE KAY-A! ALRIGHT! WAY TO GOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Beth said...

Wow! Impressive! It was really humid today too. Way to go!!!

the ark said...

You are AMAZING! Congratulations on crossing that finish line.
Tricia

Candace said...

You're my hero. What an awesome accomplishment

Amanda said...

Can you hear me cheering? Any marathon finish is huge, the time really doesn't matter. And technology makes a big difference ton runners and spectators. When my son ran hisnfirstnhalf marathon a few months back he was texting us and we were following his progress on an app on his partner's telephone that tracked him with the bar code thingy he wore on his shoe. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Linda said...

Congratulations on reaching the finish line, Amy!!!

Linda Lee said...

Proud of you Amy.

InfinityQuilter/Knitter said...

Congrats on finishing Amy (and being smart about not over-doing it)!!! Maybe next year I'll catch ya!

Deb A said...

Congrats Amy! Very smart to ease off and finish the race.

Andra Gayle said...

Way to go, Amy! Don't beat yourself up about the time! You just ran a marathon! Whoo Hoo! I haven't run since Friday and the rest of the week is not looking promising!

scraphappy said...

Any marathon that ends with you crossing the finish line is a good one. Congratulations!! So happy you had so much moral support. Knowing someone is there to watch and support is such a bonus.

Judy D in WA said...

WOW! Just WOW!
Congratulations. How wonderful to have family waiting for you and cheering you on........ WOW

Andee said...

WOW! That is all I have to say girl! And I too would have been thrilled to get through the GB Packer tunnels..love that your family came out to cheer you on too. :)

Joanne said...

Congratulations!!! You worked long and hard to get ready for this marathon and then reached the finish line. You should be very proud of yourself. Joanne