The trip up was good. The friend I was traveling with was a good companion and we had a nice time on the trip. I got to my aunt's house and spent the night with her. I had heard my mother was unwell and had been placed in the hospital so she was not able to make my race. I felt grateful, though, that I was already up there so I could spend some time on Saturday up in Madison with my mom. I don't always get to see her when she is unwell due to travel difficulties. She will be alright though...just needed some extra help. We had a very nice visit too. Drew pictures together and talked a little. She was happy I was doing the race and I said I would make a picture of me at the finish line for her.
My mom has always been my biggest fan!
I was up in Madison overnight and then my aunts got up at the crack of dawn to get me down to Rockford for the race. I decided on the way down to switch from the 10K to the Half Marathon distance. I figured that if I did the heart rate training and took my time I would do alright. I also now know that I can DNF if need be so I thought I would rather try to do the big race I had intended to then get to the end of the 10K and feel I could have done a few more miles.
Since the 10K didn't start until 7:15 but the Half started at 7am we cut it a bit close so I hustled over to the packet pickup and exchanged bibs, hit the bathroom and jogged to the starting line.
I had the pre-race jitters. Ready to get moving! I had also downed a 5 hour energy shot so that was working it's way through my system. My heart rate is supposed to be 135 and under on the Maffetone training but I went ahead and added a few points due to race jitters and the 5 hour energy so I tried to keep it 143 and below. We started out and I went slow...in fact for the first mile or so I walked a lot of it. I had to keep my competitive edge toned down as I saw people passing me by and think "long-term...long term...i want to be able to do this for a long time.....save my foot.....chill" And actually it wasn't too hard to relax. I had a nice time just getting to see Rockford. I hadn't spent much time there that I remember. It's a very nice town.
It was a very well-run race too. Some points I really remember: The icy cold sponges they passed out at mile 10; the ice chips at one of the aid stations; the guy on a bike handing out strawberry banana gu's; the awesome volunteers; the pretty course.
I met some people along the course too....that's what happens when you are not doing it for speed. You can take some time to get to know your neighbors. I saw an older guy just chugging along and he had a sign on his back that said "1,000 Marathon Larry". He had a Marathon Maniacs hat on so I said I knew Jen and he said he knew her too! I said she was a great runner. I met one lady who was starting to bonk around mile 6 so i gave her my last Gu so she had some nutrition. Then I was glad when the gu guy came around and gave me one at mile 9 when I was getting tired. My body felt pretty good. At mile 8 or 9 my right quadricep started to cramp a little. I took another salt tablet as I was probably sweating out all my electrolytes. I had taken two before the race but figured I would just go ahead and take another one. I met a guy who had run the Eagle Creek marathon. He said "you picked a heck of a race to be your first marathon!"
And when I came to the finish line there was my Aunt Donna aiming her phone at me, Aunt Gay with her camera, Aunt Melissa and my cousins Grace and Emily just cheering away for me! I felt like a million bucks to accomplish this with my family there! I ran up and hugged all of them in succession and then hugged a lady standing near them just cause i was that happy. Then over the finish line and Done! Yay! Did the whole length, no pain, had fun and finished strong!
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