Packet Pickup
Packet Pickup is one of my favorite pre-race day rituals. I love being surrounded by people who are just as excited, nervous and worried as me. As soon as I step into the expo the jitters show up. Nothing will calm my those jitters until I am about 2 miles in my run on race day. Jitters are normal and needed! I believe it is your body getting ready to do something simply amazing and epic! That is what I intended to do.. BeAmazing and have an EPIC day!
This packet pickup was a little different for me. Normally, I am all smiles but this year I got really emotionally. When they handed me my BeAmazing bib I started to tear up. I realized that this bib represents my race number but it also was a symbol of my 5 months of hard work and decication. It just hit me that my big day was really here and now it was my time to shine.
I shopped a bit. Got a sweet hoodie with Columbus Marathon on it, two 26.2 tees and a case for my phone to put on my fuel belt. I understand that having my phone with me is silly but I didn't want to miss a signal photo opportunity.
After the expo my runner partners decided that pancakes were an absolute necessity. Pumpkin pancakes, turkey sausage and egg whites sounded like the perfect pre-race lunch!
Here is a picture of us girls before we headed to breakfast! I am in a Lindsay sandwich.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think one day I would actually run for pleasure. I was bitten by the race bug when I ran my first 5K. I have loved running and racing ever since. So when Lindsay said, "Kathy let's run the Columbus Marathon." I answered with a happy "Let's do it."
Columbus Marathon
I felt like a kid waiting to open my Christmas presents while waiting in our Corral. I been excited about this day for a solid 5 months now. I couldn't believe that it was finally here. The jitters were extremely high but there was no time to doubt myself because I had 26.2 miles to complete. I never once questioned myself on why I was there or if I trained enough. I was READY to conquer this race, to finish with a smile and to prove to myself that I CAN DO ANYTHING.
There was 18,000 runners surrounding us at the start line. My favorite thing about race day is the National Anthem. As an high school athlete this was my time to really focus on the game. As an adult I still focus on what is about to happen but I also think about all the men and women who have lost their lives for our wonderful country. I always shed a tear when I hear this powerful song.
The race start at 7:30 a.m with fireworks and shots from a very loud canon. We didn't make it to the start line till 7:45. The moment I crossed the start line all my jitters had disappeared and my game face had shown up. The first few miles were very cold and were all about getting my legs ready for a very long day.
The first six miles flew by. I don't even really remember what happened during that time. Around, mile seven I started feeling a little tightness in my legs. I was worried because it was far to early to be feeling pain, eventually that pain disappeared around mile 10.
My cousin Diana was my focus for the first 13 miles. This was her first time ever running a half marathon, she walked the Pittsburgh half in May with me. I was so focused on getting her to her turn off at mile 13 (she still had .1 to go alone) that I didn't once think about the other 13.1 miles I had to go. She took off at mile 12 with a smile on her face and a very proud cousin behind her.
After Diana left us, it finally hit me I had 14 more miles to run. We had already been running for 2 hours or so which meant I had at least 2 1/2 more hours to go. The first half of the marathon was exciting! The crowd was loud, the music was awesome and the miracle children at each mile broke my heart...but they gave me the energy I needed to run harder. Mile 12 was dedicated to the babies and children that lost their battle. That was a very hard mile for me. My emotions were all over the place on race day.
The second half of the marathon was not as enjoyable as the first half. The crowd got smaller and there was less entertainment. I knew that getting to the shoe (Ohio State University football field) would be my main focus from mile 14-18.
I was still feeling amazing at mile 17 and so were my running friends. We were all very excited to run in the shoe...Honestly, I think I was a little in pain but my energy was so focused on the shoe I didn't think about my legs. I wasn't impressed with the shoe after all....we were on the field for less than 2 minutes but we did get a sweet picture. This picture is the only time I stopped running during the race.
After the shoe the pain really started to creep up. My feet and quads were on fire but there wasn't enough time to worry I still had 8 more miles to go. At mile 18.5 a group of guys were handing out shots of PBR and pretzels. I was the only one out of the group that took the shot and a handful of pretzels. I don't even like PBR but let me tell you that beer was the most amazing tasting beer ever at that moment!
I couldn't keep up with the girls around mile 19. I tried my hardest to keep up the pace but I knew that if I would I would probably not make it to the finish line. I wanted so badly to finish with the girls I trained with but I didn't want to hurt myself nor did I want to hold them back. I told them to go ahead without me and that I would see them at the finish line.
I knew I had 6.5 lonely miles to run but I knew in my heart that I could do it. I went into autopilot for at mile 19.5 till I saw my friend at mile 22.5. I have never experience this feeling before but I am glad I had it. I didn't feel anything, didn't think about anything...I was just running. I don't remember a thing about those miles. I just ran till I saw my friend Jill.
Being able to run with Jill for a few minutes was like having an angel running beside me. She told me I looked strong and that I could do it. I started to doubt myself before I saw Jill but her energy and encouragement allowed me to believe once again that in fact I was doing it. Thanks Jill for being there for me...when I look back on this day you will be the one person I will remember the most because you were there when I needed you most!
I knew I had basically a 5k left...easier said than done right? I believe I looked at my watch every single minute...it felt like I was moving but time and the rest of the world stopped. This is when I started going crazy...I did in fact start talking to myself. I felt like I was in a cartoon... I had the devil Kathy on one shoulder and coach Kathy on the other. The devil Kathy wanted to walk...she kept telling me that the pain was so intense that the best thing would be to walk for a bit. While coach Kathy screamed DON'T you dare walk..YOU KEEP YOUR ASS RUNNING. That conversation continued till mile 25.
Mile 25 was when all the emotions came out. I started to cry. I started to cry because I knew I was going to finish. I was crying because I was in so much pain and I crying because I finally realized that I had ran those last 7 miles completely alone. It is a very weird state of mind when you lose control of your emotions...one minute I was crying and the next I was smiling. I started to smile when I saw mile 26 for the first time and when the crowd yelled "Go Be Amazing" (YES that is what my race bib said).
I sprinted the last .2 miles into the finish. I have no idea but I flexed my muscles at the finish line and gave the camera a big ass smile. I ran my 2nd marathon in 4:46 minutes.
I did it! We all did it!
It felt so good. I had done it. The thing I had worked so hard for. I had gotten up before the sun for months. I had pushed myself to places I didn't think possible. I had endured the actual race. I had just ran my second marathon without walking! I hadn't done it alone. I prayed my way through training and even more so through that race. Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible for me. Special thank you to my training partners, my cousin Diana, my parents and to my race angel Jill.
Mission accomplished.
Now its over I get asked, "will you do it again"? Yes. And to anyone out there who has the desire to do it, DO IT! If I can, I know you can. And it is all totally worth it. I am proud of myself. I worked at something hard and I did it again. Do something today to make you happy with yourself. Cut your hair, work out, eat some veggies, go to bed early..be happy with you! This marathon was one of the most challenging, painful, spiritual, amazing experiences of my life.
Believe in the Mission. Believe in the Possibilities. Believe in You and Be Amazing doing it!
"I've learned that finishing a marathon isn't just an athletic achievement. It's a state of mind; a state of mind that says anything is possible." -- John Hanc
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