Akron 13.1 - Recap - Part 2!

As promised...

Watching a Marathon, or any race for that matter, is humbling to say the least. You see a race in a whole new perspective. It is motivating. Encouraging. Inspiring. Amazing.  I teared up at the start. Seeing the first runners come down that hill. Seeing the elite runners pass by. The wheelchair racers. My friends. My family. People of all sizes and shapes. The pacers. Some running a short 4 miles (relay), some running 13.1, and those running 26 point freaking 2 miles. Watching them all pass by knowing that some are running a 5/min mile, some running a 12:30/min mile, and some walking. But seeing, and knowing, that they are out there, moving, taking each step with drive, for a cause or just because, made me smile. Smile so big I would tear up!

 

 

 

 

Boss Lady rockin' it with the pacers!

K2 and QuietOne smiling at mile 3!

MarathonMom at mile 8

SpeeDee at mile 8

Dad at mile 8! Trying to tell sis about his keys!

At mile 8, my sister and niece had these signs!  Love my family's support!

 

After they passed me at almost Mile 10, I hightailed it to the finish line! It was about a 6 block walk but the streets were still packed with spectators and people cheering! IT WAS SO COOL!!  I had already scoped out how to get into the "Finishers Field" so I hoped that by flashing my bib I would get in with no problem! And I did! SCORE!  Now to race to the finish line area to wait for the girls and my dad to cross! The text updates on my phone were keeping me in the loop of where they were but I wasn't sure how off the timing was...until I got the text that Boss Lady had finished and I totally MISSED IT!  And then SpeeDee's came and I missed hers too. Damnit.  Okay. 3 more to wait for. Eyes peeled.... 

Then I see K2....

 And then QuietOne finishes...

I connect the girls and make sure they are in a central location and that they are all okay and I'm back to the finish line to wait on my dad.

The time was passing for his estimated finish...and I am starting to panic....and then I see him...

And I start to cry and get excited at the same time. I tell the people next to me "That's my dad! My dad is finishing!"

He looked so tired. I wanted to jump across the barrier and run in with him. I wanted to cross that line with him. Hand in hand. Father and Daughter. Next year I tell myself!

 And tears are streaming! He did it! He did it!!! 

 

I still get teary-eyed looking at this picture!

While waiting on the girls and my dad to finish, I did get to see some pretty cool runners finish. Finish the MARATHON that is.

After I got dad settled, I went back to await MarathonMom's big finish. She was due any minute!

 She was still smiling so I knew things were good!

 But it was this moment that made me the happiest.

And taking this picture... Two people in my life that I look up to for their strength and perseverance....looking up to me as I would later be thanked for getting them thru the end of the race and just being there to get them everything they needed without having to think about it.

Being there for these 6 individuals is the best thing I have ever done. They have supported me in all my races. Been at the start line with me and watched me finish in the end. It was such an honor to take them to my hometown race, to see them start, see them run, and most importantly, see them FINISH. See. Them. Finish. That is something I don't get to do under "normal" circumstances.

 

The blue line this year didn't get run by me and my two feet.

It was run with my heart and soul. My thoughts, prayers and eyes for 13.1 miles and 26.2 miles. I may not have "Conquered the Blue Line" by physically running, but I conquered it by running with my heart and soul and will not let one injury define my ability to conquer it in the future!
I had the time of my life at the blue line this year. It was truly an honor to be a part of this experience with them. And while some of them may have ran it before, the excitement of them doing it again was all the better!

Next year, I will be there. And I WILL CONQUER THE BLUE LINE.

 

Run. Strong.

-t- 

Akron 13.1 - Recap

So, Akron Marathon was almost a full 4 4.5 weeks ago!  I'm slacking! I have written this post 4x...in my head...each time getting a little shorter until now...and I'd like to think it's going to be short and sweet...

As you know, I registered for this half, my favorite race, last year. I was injured 12 weeks prior to race day. Stress fracture. But I was still going. Just not running. But don't think that I didn't have thoughts of actually just doing it. Or trying to do it. So much so that I had to call Training Planner to have her talk me off the ledge of packing my running gear that I would need to run the race. Tears. Big crocodile tears. She talked me down. Reminded me of my goals (SpaceCoast). Told me to not even pack it. So I didn't.  No regrets.

L-R: QuietOne, K2, SpeeDee, Boss Lady, me!

Friday morning Boss Lady (Amy), SpeeDee (Deanna), K2 (Karine), and QuietOne (Beth) (now all to be known as "the girls") all convened at my house for the 3 hour drive to Akron, Ohio. Rubber City. Home of LeBron James. My roots.  I would chauffeur this group for 36 hours. I was to be their tour guide, race prepper, food-finder, shopper, cheerleader, and best of all PHOTOGRAPHER!

And photographer I was!  Check out these EXPO pics....

 

As you can see...lots of photo ops!

SpeeDee ran for me!

After the Expo, we wanted to get a drink and small snack before we headed to the hotel, so we stopped at this cute little place across from the Expo because they had a rooftop deck! I failed to take a picture, but I did get a pic of our drinks!

  

On the way back to the hotel, we needed to make a quick pitstop at my dad's for MarathonMom's (Deb) camera. And I wanted to brag on them by showing off their medals...

some of dad's medals

some of MarathonMom's medals

Admiring MarathonMom's Boston Marathon poster

And then we headed to the hotel after to check in and unwind for a minute. Then back out to get some grub! Panera for SpeeDee and QuietOne (and me); Outback for Boss Lady and K2! And a little shopping at Marshalls...more on that later!

Once back at the hotel and dinner complete, we settled in and I watched the girls get ready for their big debut on on the Blue Line. 

 

QuietOne reviewing race day clothing selection!

Race morning was here before we knew it!  Everyone was up and dressed. Meeting in the lobby. Looking for a toaster. Getting coffee. Bananas. In car and headed to dad's!  Traffic was out of control! Opening the Marathon Relay to more runners allowed for lots more cars. I wish I had gotten a picture of the traffic! SpeeDee and I both commented that the traffic was worse this year!  But dad and MarathonMom knew exactly how to avoid it! 

On the walk to the start line, of course there was talk of what SpeeDee and I have named "Poop Alley", so of course, we shared this information with the rest of the crew. And lo' and behold, as soon as we approached it, they understood without further mention and a posed picture was in order:

Who smiles while grunting? THESE GIRLS! Too funny!

Soon it was time for the group pics... and then off to the races!

Love my girls!

MarathonMom and Dad

I just love the smile on my dad's face!

Then I was racing, literally, for my spot to see them at the START, Mile 3 and Mile almost 10! What. A. Crowd. Sidewalks were blocked. Volunteers wouldn't let me cross. Thankfully, I had my bib pinned on, so I jumped in Corral A on one side and out the other! Race to meet my mom and Terry and get ready to snap! 

And those pictures will be in another post... Which I SWEAR I am going to write and soon as this one is published!

Stay tuned!

Run.Strong.

-t-

Just got real!

I received an email the other day from SpaceCoast for the 1/2 at the end of November.  And it hit me. I need to be training. And running. And more running. Since the SFSF (bleep bleep Stress Fracture) I've had to ease back into running again.  Basically it's like starting all over, except the mind is louder and ever present. 

I've been following a Run/Walk plan. You know, run for X number of minutes, walk for X number of minutes. And repeat for X number of minutes. The plan also calls for cross training and even a long run that is calculated in miles and not minutes, but, still has the run:walk ratio spelled out. I am digging this "run for time, not miles" plan. 

Of course, it has been tweaked just a little for me by Dr. Pat: run 3x and 1 XT vs run 4x and 2 XT. Since I don't want to overuse my foot and to avoid the risk of re-injury and seeing as I'm still in "recovery mode", it makes sense. I'm not doing speedwork. I'm not doing hill repeats (pretty sure FL is flat). I'm not doing tempo runs. I'm basically just running for time. And it feels pretty damn good. 

So as with everything else, the running hasn't been constant. I do what I can when I can. I've ran 6x in the last 3 weeks. I've gone hiking twice. And this past Sunday I did my long run of 7 with the self-understanding that if I got 5-7 miles in I would be okay with that. I got 7.66 miles. Gastrointestinal issues got me at the end. 

 It was a 9:1 run:walk. So I estimated a 15 minute mile (as a cushion only) and figure it to be 10.5 reps. Well, you can't do 10.5 on my watch so instead of rounding down, I rounded up. 11 reps.

Right about rep 8 (3 to go) I was telling myself I could quit. I'd done enough, probably. I said I'd settle for between 5-7,  so I was probably there.   But the reality was, I set out to do 7 miles. My phone wasn't ringing with the boy calling because he was hungry or bored.  Actually phone didn't ring at all. I really had no place to be. Browns weren't on tv. Laundry was started. The sun was shining. It was perfect weather.  Just. Run. It. Tami.  

And I did. And it felt amazing.  When my watch beeped that it was done I was shocked! I did it. And it didn't matter that the pace wasn't fast. All that mattered was that I ran 7.66 miles. And I felt great! 

Now, this morning, yeah I was kinda in some pain.  Some soreness. Stiffness. Chafing in places unmentionable. No pain. No gain. Or as BondiBand sums it up :

So that's where I am. 8 miles up this week for a long run. Easy peasy.  SpadeCoast 13.1 is just a few weeks away... Time to be challenged!

Run. Strong. 

-t-