What now?

Since my marathon is over I have felt lost on what to blog.  I started this blog to journal my journey to running my first marathon.  I never really thought about "after" I finished that goal?  So here I am writing as a MARATHONER and I feel lost.  Thank goodness I have a few races coming up which is keeping me mentally in the running game.  After my first half marathon, last year I took a longer break than I had planned.  This time I was better prepared and had a few things lined up for the next few months and plus having local running friends really helps a ton. 

I had a great run on Saturday with my best friend and we ran on Ruston, which is one of my favorite routes.  It was a perfect day and such a fun run.  They were setting up for the 4th of July so it was a happening place.  I love running with best friend and am really looking forward to doing more of that this summer.  We haven't done it much since I have been training, but now I am going to make sure that we do it a lot more.  An easy paced run with my BF is the best and so enjoyable.  I do most of my runs on my own, so anytime I have a friend to run with...I soak it up.  The best part was when we were finishing around 12:30 and I looked at her and reminded her that a week ago I had crossed the finish line!  Such a great thought.

I went on my first run the Thursday after my marathon and it was GREAT.  I couldn't believe how good I felt and was shocked that less than a week before I had ran 26.62 miles.  My legs felt great and I was thankful I had let my legs recover and rest.  Running without a marathon in my future is strange.  You adapt your life to this one goal for so long and now it's over and it's strange.  Plus I used to eat knowing I had a long run in the next week and now my longest run will be about 10 miles so and I have to remind myself that I can't eat whatever.  I don't want to go back to where I was weight wise.  I feel the best that I have in a long time and I want to keep moving in the right direction.  I wish I didn't like food so much.  I am closer to my weight goal than ever and I don't want to lose that.  I don't want to get lazy!  I want to keep moving forward with what I have worked so long for.

Next up is a 5k this weekend.  July 23&24 is my first ever Ragnar Relay which I am so looking forward to and then September is "You Go Girl" which is going to be ONE big PARTY that you are all invited to. 

Looking forward to the future and hoping to get a good weekly work out routine down now that my focus has changed.  

Today I am thankful for:

My husband, who is a GREAT dad!

Getting in a great run on a beautiful day.

The sun!

Watching Max enjoy his first day at Vacation Bible School.

Good Friends!

Random Marathon thoughts...and too many pictures!

What a difference a week can make!  Last week seemed to drag on forever and this week has FLOWN by.  My marathon was like childbirth...Like when I was pregnant and I could only focus on the birth on not much beyond that moment.  Everything (for that last 7 months), until last Saturday was about my marathon and I couldn't see much beyond that and here I am beyond it and LOVING every minute.  I loved running my marathon and knew that the whole day would be one of those days that I would look back on and miss.  I loved every moment from picking up my friend Jamie until I crossed the finish line to reunite with all my family and friends.  The memories I take from that day will last forever.  You never get your first marathon back and my friends will not be as excited for my next one... so knowing all that...last Saturday was a SWEET day that I will never forget. 

A few thoughts:

• I am so bummed that I wasn't able to spend more time at the expo.  There is a lot of great things to see and it takes more than 2 hours.
• I hate that I missed people.  I have read blogs and heard about friends who ran it and I never saw them...shoot.
• Having friends run in the same race, even if they are not your pace, is the best.  Just knowing that they are waiting for you at the finish line and experienced what you have is such a bonding thing.
• Meeting bloggers from out of town that I have been reading about was honestly the HIGHLIGHT of it all.  I am a total people person and love getting to know new friends so the whole bloggy, meet-up and dinner was the BEST.
• I loved that I ran to finish so that when my finish time was a minute over, it didn't really bug me (even though you and I both know that I ran 26.61 miles so actually I probably did run my marathon in under 5 hours) and just the fact that I ran a marathon is so darn exciting to me.
• The fact that I faced the imposable (well I thought) and I never have to do it again, if I don't want to...is the best feeling.  I will probably do it again, but the fact that I don't have to is a VERY free feeling.
• I can't wait to run with more of you and I hope I get to do so.
• Is so grateful for all the encouragement and support from my bloggie friends.  It has been so exciting to read your comments on my recaps...THANK YOU!

Are you tired of seeing orange in my posts? 

I think this is it for marathon pictures, but I had to give you the post marathon pictures!

Seeing my crew for the first time as a MARATHONER...BooYAAAAA!!!!

Hugs from my HALF marathon friend DIANA!

Dad and Beth

Diana and I (don't you love the sign behind us)

My sweetie.

My sweet support crew!

Look at that marathoner....

Max, Chase and Nat enjoying some freebies from the marathon.

I did it...

One my faves.  Mel congratulating me on my MARATHON

Thank you shoes...

Max sporting his RnR Shirt...

The reason I run...my boys!

Sweet baby Cole! 

My brother telling me how amazing it was that I did this...got a little emotional...

High fives and some emotions...

My brother and I

And there you have it! 

Marathon Recap PART 2: Miles 16-26.61!

Ok so lets finish this like I finished my MARATHON! I realized there will not be near the amount of course pictures from the 2nd half since I didn't have my support crew/paparazzi following me on the Alaskan way viaduct.  But there are plenty at the end to make up for all that...probably more than you care for! Who am I kidding, we are bloggers, we love pictures!

On with the race...We went through our 2nd tunnel of the race which was right before a decent incline. For some reason running through the tunnel I felt great. I'm not sure it was because we were out of the elements or what because usually the tunnels kind of creep me out but it was playing in my favor this round. I was hoping to see Mel and Marlene before heading in, but no luck. We started the incline and then I decided to try for another bathroom break to see if I could find some kind of relief, but NOPE, NOTTA...nothing was going to make my stomach feel better. Just kept pushing up the hill until we got to the Aurora bridge. While running down at mile 18 I kept thinking about my runs on the Burke Gilman trail below this bridge and how on those runs I could hardly imagine what it would be like to be up there running my first marathon and here I was on top of the bridge doing it. The view is pretty amazing from this bridge. I saw Madison and other familiar faces that I had seen on the turn around before. It was our turn to turn around and head back. Kate looked at me and said "We are headed back to the finish line"...that was a great thought. I knew I was going to finish and with only 7 miles left it wasn't that far away. I was for sure feeling tired, but very determined. We made our way up the other side of the bridge and was excited when I saw the TNT gals, Hannah, Michele and Yvette! So easy to see in there green, shimmer skirts. Seeing your friends during the race is so nice. I have said that a few time, haven't I? I got a call from my dad right as we were coming up to the top of the bridge and they were ahead a little ways. Kept climbing the hill and I saw I guy walking up on the shoulder with a Rock'n'Roll Foil blanket, really buddy you finished and now you are walking and being all flashy with your stupid foil blanket...not what I wanted to see while I still had 6 miles to go. Keep you and foil blanket by the finish line please!!! RUDE. Maybe I was a little moody at that point.  I took a gummy bear hoping it would help a little and it just made my stomach cramp more, not so great. We were coming up to the next band and I saw my Dad and step-mom Beth which was great. I gave them both sweaty hugs and was excited that they wanted to run with me!

Here is a foggy pic! Sweaty phone camera I guess?

They ran with me for about a quarter of a mile.  So glad we got this great picture of us.  My dad and Beth were so excited.  Beth kept saying what a great pace I had for being so many miles in...Glad I could impress them, but I wasn't going fast at all, just fast for someone who doesn't run much.  That will always be a great memory being able to run with them for a few minutes during my first full marathon.  SWEET!  Onto the finish...

Got to go through the tunnel again and was sad to see the ambulance taking someone away...not a great sight, but a great reminder of how serious a marathon is and to never under estimate the distance and the toll it takes on your body.  I was excited to come through the tunnel and to know that was it for the tunnels and we only had a little ways to go, 5 miles I think?  One of the bands was already packing up, what...is everyone supposed to BQ or what...stick around for us slower folks will ya?  No biggie, but don't make me feel any slower than I am.  We were coming up on Qwest field and I had always wondered what I would feel like since I had to pass the finish line and go out and back.  It was hard seeing the people turning the corner to finish and hearing all the cheers down below, but I was close...really close...only 4 more miles to go.  I got to see Steph with her sweet Sony camera/video which was great.  One of her pictures on her blog was not a great one of me, which is funny because I remember just smiling big time when I saw her.  She is a ton of fun.  Saw the turn around point up ahead but not before I saw Shelby coming up to mile 25 and she pointed at the 25 mile sign like "Look..I am almost there, almost done"...that was so exciting to see her just before her finish!  Then I saw Madison again...see how much fun it is seeing all these friends on the course, new friends.  Tried one more time at the bathrooms, but no use!  Kate refilled my water bottle with a little gateroade and water to see if that would help.  I just wanted to gulp the water, but knew that wasn't a great idea.  My stomach was feeling sick still and my body started to hurt a little.  I also got chafing at mile 23 in the least desirable places, lovely.  I was almost done so I tried not to think about it.  One lady came up behind me and said "Are you going to do this again?", um really you are going to ask a first time marathoner that at mile 23...don't ever do that.  That's like asking a mother giving birth while she is having an episitotomy if she is ready for another child!  Those are words that should never be asked toward the end of a marathon.  My comment was "Never say never" and I smiled.  I was not hating the marathon at all, I was hating my stomach feeling sick, but not the marathon.  I really thought that this could keep me from doing more marathons, but we will see...never say never.  Time to turn around and take one more hill at Mile 24 and then it was time to get to the FINISH line.  (tearing up)  Coming into sight of Qwest field was amazing.  I had done this short distance so many times and now I was closer than ever.  Kate and I kept looking at each other and smiling...we knew what we were thinking and didn't have to say anything...it was happening.  I got to see the Kansas City TNT gals one more time and then Steph right before I turned off the off-ramp!  I was coming down the ramp and saw my support crew/paparazzi and classic Andrea style ( she never sees me, even when I am right in front of her...it's comical really) she didn't see me until I was right by her and then she came and gave me the biggest hug and was totally crying.  She knew what a HUGE deal this was for me, so even though I wasn't crying (like I am now writing this) she was crying for me...it was so sweet...see below!  And Megs and Bec were taking tons of pictures.  They were AWESOME and captured some amazing moments.

I was done...almost done!  Oh my gosh!  My cousin spotted me on the viaduct as we were coming down...can you see me?

Can you see me...I am right behind the pink shirt. Kate is running next to me...

Here we are coming down...down to mile 26!

Me seeing my support crew...I love the next few pictures...they are so sweet!

Hugs...

Almost there...

I love this picture...just going into the chute....

As I turned this corner I couldn't believe how far the finish line was!  My friend, Diana at Done the Run was right there when we entered the chute.  (Race person was watching for shoe tags and almost pulled Kate off right before this picture, but we kept running)  Diana followed us down (outside of the chute) yelling my name...it was so funny!  Thanks for all the cheers Diana!  Then I saw my family.  They were all lined up and cheering for me.  I saw my mom, Loren, Cole, Max, Jason, Railene, Natalie, Chase and my dad and Beth.  It was amazing being able to wave and see them as I was finishing.  It was better than I ever could have orchestrated. SWEET, SWEET picture that will always be in my mind of them lined up cheering with smiles on their faces as I crossed the FINISH line!

Seeing my family for the first time at the finish!  Priceless...My brother did a great job getting these shots!

Finishing my FIRST marathon.  A dream realized!

June 26, 2010

Miles: 26.61

Pace: 11:20

Time: 5:01

Calories: 3242

*Tomorrows post: Post race Pictures and thoughts!

Marathon Recap - Miles 1-16

There is so much to say and I hope I don't miss anything.  I love what my friend, Julie at The Finish Line Diaries did...A week of Marathon Posts.  Great idea and I might need to follow suit.  Not sure I will be as organized but I also don't want you to be bored with a huge post.

So lets begin with RACE day since I know that's what most of us bloggers want to read about when someone has just ran a race!

Woke up at 4:17am, 3 minutes before the alarm was to go off.  I had slept great which was nice.  I love to sleep, if only there was a marathon for that.  I woke up feeling good and ready.  Got breakfast which consisted of a banana, 1/2 wheat bagel with PB and some coffee.   Took a warm shower, which I have to say is not normal for me to do, but I loved it.  Woke me up and got me going even more.  Tried to relax and think about the 26.2 miles ahead.  My dear friend Kate who was running the last half with me came over at 5am to give me a good luck hug.  Isn't she sweet.  She has ran 4 marathons and numerous half's and was a huge encouragement and support through this whole training process.  My sweet hubby woke up early to take me and my friends to the starting line.  First up was to pick up Jamie who is a local friend of mine and she was running her first half marathon and will be running her first FULL at this years Seattle Marathon!  Next up was Zoe (plus 1), Mel and Marlene.  Thank to Mel we had a shortcut to bypass the 28,000 people trying to get to the same place.  We got to the starting line with NO PROBLEM...Nicely done.

Good luck HUG from Kate!

Zoe, Mel, Marlene, Jamie and me

Next up was bathrooms.  Thanks to Brooks I got a VIP bathroom pass along with Mel and Marlene so we got to bypass the craziest lines I have EVER seen at a race for these great bathroom (it's all relative).  They had butlers walking around with silver trays that had gu chomps and mints.  The TP had the brooks logo...very classy.  Very much worth my BROOKS purchases (and Diana's...thanks DIANA) at the expo.  Highly recommend this if you have it available at your race.

Marlene and Mel enjoying VIP!

And me too...

After our VIP treatment we went over to meet up at Corral 6 for our bloggy meet-up.  We ran into our great blogger friends.  I was so excited to meet the Team in Training crew from Kansas.  Lucky for me they were in corral 18 with me...so nice having friends to start with.  It was so nice to meet so many bloggers face to face.  That whole thing made this so much more fun!  Many of us were running this as our very first marathon which was also so exciting.  We were all pumped

Great group shot of some of us bloggers.  So much fun have a group of friend running the same race!

Julie, Ashley and me

Me and Steph

Lorian, Hannah and me

Made another quick bathroom stop and headed to Corral 18 to get ready to go.  It was so sweet that a few of my bloggy friends came up to me before they left for their corral and wished me luck and gave me a hug...so sweet.  Thanks you guys!  I found my TNT gals in corral 18! Luckily they saw me or I think I would have missed them.  We were all so pumped.  It was great chatting with them as we were moving to the starting line.  It was great that they were about my pace so figured I could run with them for part of the race.  Always nice to run with others.  We were yelling, hooting and hollering...we were READY!

The corrals in front of us!

Corral 18 in the HOUSE!

Hannah, Michele Madison, Stephanie and Yvette

Behind us...that is alooootttt of People!

Here we go...That is the starting line!

Mile 1-15

And we were off!  I was so excited!  It started off kind of slow and there seemed to be so many more people than last year.  Madison and I were running the same pace so we started running together.  I was going to do the run/walk like I had trained in my long runs but was really looking forward to running with a new friend too. We were going at a very decent pace and before we knew it...mile 1 had come and gone.  It was so much fun because a gal yelled and said, "Hey Jill...I read your blog".  I had a bib made by Races2Remember that had my name and blog address and it also said FIRST MARATHON!  You kind of forget about it until people yell something. I loved it.  I ended up seeing her through out the race and later found out her name is Shelby...So shout out to SHELBY at Run Towards Him - Isaiah 40:31...it was great seeing you on the course.  She did a great job!   It was time to meet up with my support crew...we moved to the left and got to run into them...so fun seeing friends and family.

Andrea, Megs and Bec...Best support crew around!

High-Five's ROCK

Feeling good!

Madison and I...running our FIRST MARATHON!  Can I get a WOOT-WOOT!

The next few miles seemed to fly by.  We were on our first hill and I saw a GREAT sign that said "Enjoy your VICTORY LAP"..I loved that sign because I had heard that from my friend Kerrie and looked up and it was Kerrie holding the sign...NICE!  I wold have been so sad if I had missed her.  Kerrie has become a running buddy of mine so even though she couldn't run this one...it was great having her as a VERY supportive spectator!  THANKS KERRIE...You ROCK!  Because your running and it's so easy to miss people...I would start CLAPPING whenever I saw someone I knew to get there attention...it probably looked really silly but it was my first instinct.  So I would clap and yell.

Mile 3.7 (I think...) Feeling good!

We had a few more hills to go up and then it was down to the most beautiful part of the course.  We got to run along side the water with a great view.  The weather could not have been better.  It was overcast and in the high 60's...perfect.  Madison was running with Team in Training, which is an AMAZING group.  I have thought about doing a race with them because of the amazing stories I hear from people who have ran for them.  The support they have is unreal and every time you see a coach from TNT they would yell...GO MADISON...and they would do that to every TNT person and then each of the TNT runners would yell "Go Team" and there are a lot of them out there.  It was exciting to run with Madison and experience what a TNT runner get to experience.  Had our first bathroom stop at mile 6 because we thought there wasn't a line...wrong, but figured we had stopped might as well use the the time.  Got back on course quickly and we were keeping a very steady pace.  Ran into Diana's husband, James.  It was so funny because I did my yell/clap/yell and said "HI JAMES" and after I said that all the gals running around us yelled "HI James" It was cute and sweet.  So fun seeing people on the course.  Last year I didn't see anyone I knew so this was a wonderful change. We got to see my brother, Jason and his family around mile 8!  Thank you Jason for wearing a BRIGHT yellow shirt.  I saw him first and was so excited to see him.

My cute niece, Natalie!

Helllloooo FAMILY!  So good seeing you!

It was onto the I-90 bridge at this point and up a short, steep hill.  This was the first place that the half and full marathoners split.  They headed into the city while we headed onto i-90 bridge.  I had taken a gu a few miles back and was feeling good.  Trying to get so many people up a very small held made it hard to keep the momentum but both Madison and I made it up the hill and at the top ran into Mel and Marlene who had just finished the bridge, It was crazy, perfect timing.  Madison had her camera with her and has a ton of pictures that will have to come at  another time.  She got a great picture of this reunion..can't wait to see it.  This is where the race would get mental because you could see 2 miles ahead of you and there was a turn-around point so you saw all these people ahead of you.  It was awesome to run on I-90 bridge, but it was so mental so I just focused on people watching so I didn't have to think about how far I had to go.  Being able to see how far is no fun.  We got to the turn around point and headed back...nice.  As we were coming up to the tunnel I told Madison I had to start my run/walk.  I usually start this at mile 3-5 so I was really off my plan.  I felt bad having to let Madison run ahead on her own but she really wanted to run the whole way so we said goodbye but I knew I would see her on the course.  It was fun running with a new friend and getting to know her.  Great memories. 

I was hoping to see Diana from Done the Run.  We were really hoping somehow the timing would workout that we would both come into the tunnel together and run the rest of the way until we had to split up.  I looked and hoped but I never saw her.  This is when my stomach started cramping which worried me a little bit because it was only mile 12 and I still had a long way to go.  I stopped at the bathroom hoping that would give me some relief, but no.  Just wasted time!  Shoot.  I was heading into the city and I knew my support crew would be there with food and I was hoping that would help.  I started getting a little down at this point and couldn't believe how early that it was happening. The hard part is that I felt GREAT, my legs where feeling strong, I had no leg or hip pain.  The only problem was my stomach.  I came off the off-ramp and ran into my friends.  Had a drink of Gatorade, switched out my water bottles, had some pretzels and oranges. Hoping that would help my stomach.  Don't you love my sweatyband?  That thing didn't move at all during my marathon.  I'm SOLD on those things...they are the BEST!

Even with a crampy stomach...the oranges tasted great!

Pretzels!

See you all on the other side...12.5 miles to GO! 

Since you might be tired of seeing pictures of me and my orange shirt...check out the crowds at the finish line.  Majority of the runners, 24,000 of the 28,000 runners are HALF MARATHONERS.  So the finish line is very crowded at this point.

That...is a lot of peep's!

Next up was to meet my dear friend Kate who would run the last half with me.  I wouldn't say I was hitting a wall, but I was not feeling great and I still had a way to go.  The good part was that I was over halfway and I just had to suck it up and push myself.  I was so excited to see Kate.  Right after I saw her I ran into my brother and his family again...so GREAT! 

Mile 14.5 or so...Kate and I

We were getting ready to run onto the Alaskan Way Viaduct and some race officials were checking for the shoe tags, which Kate didn't have and they were pulling people off the course but luckily we got by them...whewww...Not sure what I would have done if they had pulled Kate off.  We were headed out to another tunnel and the bridge with the biggest hill on the course.  My stomach was not doing well!

This is getting way longer than I thought.  Tomorrow I will continue...Miles 16-26.61