•8:40 AM
16 minutes ago
•5:16 AM
Well, this is it. The day I have been training for. I am so thankful to have made it through without injury, in one piece, still married, and all three kids survived my training. I am blessed to be able to run this with my sister.
I can't wait to finish this experience today and be able to say...I have run a marathon.
•6:43 AM
It wouldn't be like me if I didn't try to make this the most stressful weekend ever. I am going to San Antonio to run my first marathon ever. I have tried this race before but didn't make it through the training last time. I have made it this time. It will be great but I don't want to get nervous by talking about it too much this morning.
The other stress is where I need the focus this morning. I made an offer on a house. Yes, me, by myself. See we own a home in another town and we haven't been living in it for 5 years. We have renters and I am thankful for that but it's not the same as getting to live in your own home that you are paying for anyway. I know, I am rambling. So that loan is in my husband's name. This new home loan will be in my name. Yikes. I hope they accept. I hope this is God's plan and I am doing my best to let it be his plan for us and not mine or ours. I am so stressed about having this trip fall right in the middle of it. I know the trip will be expensive. I know the new house will be expensive. But I think I need them both. I think maybe, just maybe, I deserve them both. But I don't want to be greedy so I go back to praying about it and leaving what I can up to God. I hope that I will be able to see the path he has set before me and I hope I will be strong enough to walk it.
Just had to get these thoughts down before driving to San Antonio with them racing through my mind. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we deal with the stress of the marathon this weekend and the stress of the many, many other changes in our lives right now.
The other stress is where I need the focus this morning. I made an offer on a house. Yes, me, by myself. See we own a home in another town and we haven't been living in it for 5 years. We have renters and I am thankful for that but it's not the same as getting to live in your own home that you are paying for anyway. I know, I am rambling. So that loan is in my husband's name. This new home loan will be in my name. Yikes. I hope they accept. I hope this is God's plan and I am doing my best to let it be his plan for us and not mine or ours. I am so stressed about having this trip fall right in the middle of it. I know the trip will be expensive. I know the new house will be expensive. But I think I need them both. I think maybe, just maybe, I deserve them both. But I don't want to be greedy so I go back to praying about it and leaving what I can up to God. I hope that I will be able to see the path he has set before me and I hope I will be strong enough to walk it.
•7:00 PM
24thehardway-6 Hour Race in Pictures
Staging my bag at the campsite.
Last minute thoughts and motivation before heading to the start.
Campsite with nice signs that Kallie had made. We had a great spot for our awning.
What have I gotten myself into? About to start the race.
Darn mosquitoes. They were the size of a small dog.
This is my favorite picture but I wish my tongue wasn't sticking out.
First time I was able to think about having food. Even though it looks like I might not keep it down in this picture! Peanut butter sandwich and chips from the aid station. Oh, and see my blanket in the background that they had hung up to motivate me.
Trying to sit up straight for the picture but as you can see above, she already had the ugly shot.
Running strong now.
Looking much better now after a pep talk from "Arthur Itis". He was doing a 27 hour race.
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| Staking my flag. |
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| Congrats from Ultra Runner Woman. |
Mom and Shirley's sophisticated tally system
•6:44 PM
Finally have some time to sit down and finish up my race report. I was wanting to wait until I had some pictures to add and the time to comment on them.
The timing of the race was harder for me then I thought. I hadn't really gotten the breakfast I wanted but had instead had a kolache and a do-nut. Yes, that made my stomach upset before I even started. It wasn't my usually stomach issues but just an unsettled feeling in my stomach. I think I battled this feeling for 3 hours. My mom and aunt went to the start with me to get some pictures. Then they settled in at camp. My aunt said she probably wasn't as sore as she thought she would be mainly because she had to hop up every time I came around the loop. Sometimes they would be sitting at camp when they saw me and other times they would walk towards me on the loop. They were always ready with something I had told them I might need or want. Because of the stomach issues, I couldn't really get my food intake going as soon as I wanted. Just felt nauseous. It's fun to look at the splits and try to remember if I stopped at the tent and what I had. They had water, diet coke, candy, ginger, pretzels, and powerade for me.
I told them I wanted to be seeing them every 12 minutes or less. When I came around the first time closer to 9, they were really worried. What I hadn't told them was that I was going to run my first lap and then start my run/walk laps. I had about 5-6 good miles even with the stomach bothering me. Then I ran into some mental issues around mile 15. Nothing hurt and I wasn't having any trouble running. I was just having some mental/emotional issue. Who knows why or what it was about? I cried a little and then got up and got going again. They told me another girl I had been running near was also crying at that point so maybe it wasn't as unusual as it felt.
It was a different kind of race then I have ever done. People weren't racing each other, they were racing themselves. It was a hard thing but everyone was in it together. Except for a few serious record breakers, everyone else was run/walking. So chances are when you walked you came up on someone else or someone caught up to you. It was fun hearing their stories and their goals. Since it was a mile loop, you meet up several times and were able to check in with each other's progress and pain. My goal was 20 miles so once I got my 20 miles, I stopped at the tent to put on dry socks and change shoes. I lost 6 minutes on that lap! I walked the last 1 1/2 hours just to see how far I could get. I really think this helped prevent soreness because I really just wanted to sit down in the tent and never move again.
As the race crew monitored your progress they handed you a flag when you came through the tent on what they thought would be your last lap. I was able to make it all the way around and through the tent again with my flag. I crossed the timing mat at 5:58 and then walked what I guess to be about 1/4 of a mile more. At 6 hours, a shotgun went off in the air and we staked our flags at our stopping point so we could get credit for partial laps in the event of a tie. I ended up 5th because another girl also got 24 miles but crossed the mat at 5:56. Looking at our splits today, I was way ahead of her the entire race but she ran her last mile and passed me at some point on the last lap. Maybe I shouldn't have changed shoes!
Right as the race finished the rain clouds opened up and we had to quickly pack up the tent and get everything to the car before the storm got worse.
It was a great race. I really had a good time and am thankful to have had the support I did for my "20" mile training run.
I was going to do my pictures on here but I think I will do a second post with pictures.
The timing of the race was harder for me then I thought. I hadn't really gotten the breakfast I wanted but had instead had a kolache and a do-nut. Yes, that made my stomach upset before I even started. It wasn't my usually stomach issues but just an unsettled feeling in my stomach. I think I battled this feeling for 3 hours. My mom and aunt went to the start with me to get some pictures. Then they settled in at camp. My aunt said she probably wasn't as sore as she thought she would be mainly because she had to hop up every time I came around the loop. Sometimes they would be sitting at camp when they saw me and other times they would walk towards me on the loop. They were always ready with something I had told them I might need or want. Because of the stomach issues, I couldn't really get my food intake going as soon as I wanted. Just felt nauseous. It's fun to look at the splits and try to remember if I stopped at the tent and what I had. They had water, diet coke, candy, ginger, pretzels, and powerade for me.
I told them I wanted to be seeing them every 12 minutes or less. When I came around the first time closer to 9, they were really worried. What I hadn't told them was that I was going to run my first lap and then start my run/walk laps. I had about 5-6 good miles even with the stomach bothering me. Then I ran into some mental issues around mile 15. Nothing hurt and I wasn't having any trouble running. I was just having some mental/emotional issue. Who knows why or what it was about? I cried a little and then got up and got going again. They told me another girl I had been running near was also crying at that point so maybe it wasn't as unusual as it felt.
It was a different kind of race then I have ever done. People weren't racing each other, they were racing themselves. It was a hard thing but everyone was in it together. Except for a few serious record breakers, everyone else was run/walking. So chances are when you walked you came up on someone else or someone caught up to you. It was fun hearing their stories and their goals. Since it was a mile loop, you meet up several times and were able to check in with each other's progress and pain. My goal was 20 miles so once I got my 20 miles, I stopped at the tent to put on dry socks and change shoes. I lost 6 minutes on that lap! I walked the last 1 1/2 hours just to see how far I could get. I really think this helped prevent soreness because I really just wanted to sit down in the tent and never move again.
As the race crew monitored your progress they handed you a flag when you came through the tent on what they thought would be your last lap. I was able to make it all the way around and through the tent again with my flag. I crossed the timing mat at 5:58 and then walked what I guess to be about 1/4 of a mile more. At 6 hours, a shotgun went off in the air and we staked our flags at our stopping point so we could get credit for partial laps in the event of a tie. I ended up 5th because another girl also got 24 miles but crossed the mat at 5:56. Looking at our splits today, I was way ahead of her the entire race but she ran her last mile and passed me at some point on the last lap. Maybe I shouldn't have changed shoes!
Right as the race finished the rain clouds opened up and we had to quickly pack up the tent and get everything to the car before the storm got worse.
It was a great race. I really had a good time and am thankful to have had the support I did for my "20" mile training run.
I was going to do my pictures on here but I think I will do a second post with pictures.
•1:16 AM
First let me say that I hope this is like childbirth, while painful at the time you later forget that and are willing to do it again. The race lived up to its name, 24thehardway. As I type my blog sitting in an epson bath there are still runners on the course with 8 hours to go. Now that's crazy. There were lots of people trying to set records over the course of the weekend. One guy was running with a 40 lb packback, one lady was setting the masters record, another made up his own race, 27 hours, and still more. There were handicap, seeing eye dogs, and crazies.
We got to town Friday night and picked up our packets. Others had already set up their awnings so we found a great campsite and set our camp up also. Shirley started at 7:30 so we wanted to be able to focus on her race and not worry about setting up in the morning. After dinner we headed to bed early.
Saturday was a cold start so we bundled up and headed to the course. We had signs, glitter, and glow sticks. We hung our flashlights around the awning and got Shirley started. The one mile loop was wonderful because we were right on the course and saw nearly everything. As you ran across the timing mats your name flashed across the screen with lap splits, count, and times. Shirley finished with 4 laps. We left long enough to grab breakfast and let her shower. I changed clothes and we headed back for my 12:00 start.
My race report will have to be another post because the water had gotten cold in this tub and it's 1:15 am. Breakfast with my great aunt Sunday before heading home. Stay tuned.
Pictures: heading to OKC, campsite, and lap 1 for Shirley.
•8:02 AM
At the chiropractor for my last treatment before 24thehardway. Packed and ready to load the car when the rest of the group gets here. I thought I was finished packing last night but had forgotten my sports bra and a few other things so I repacked this morning. The original outfits were skirts from running funky but those didn't work out so I have had some anxiety about making sure I have everything now. Weather is calling for 30% chance of rain and cooler temps.
I can't wait.
