Marathon Runner Extraordinaire Reports In!!!

Marathon Runner Extraordinaire Reports In-This time from Akron, Ohio. Waking up sore this morning was the sweetest reminder that my marathon was NO DREAM. I did run in the Akron Marathon and I did conquer! 9.29.12 Will always be a special date to me because it was the greatest day in my running career thus far. I set a new personal record by completing the race in 4 hours and 34 minutes and 20 seconds (4:34:20). It was a good running day for me, and I was able to push myself a little harder than I thought I would. I enjoyed the entire race and had many highlights that I don't want to forget, so you might want to skip ahead if you aren't interested in ALL the running details.

Me with my metal- The finish line is in the background.

Friday Night=Checking in for the race. Scottie was able to get off a little early on Friday so we could hit the road and start driving up to Akron. We meet up with Kelli and Whitney at the Expo and had great time getting our running packets, picking up our jackets, and taking some pictures while we looked at all the vendors.Then that night we stayed with our friends Hannah and Daniel.

 Me getting my running bib

 The supportive marathon watchers (The title Scottie gave to himself....I like it!)

 Fellow Marathon Runners- Kelli, Me, and Whitney

Me in front of the course map

After a sleepless night (I was super anxious) we got up and reported to the running site at 6am!
6am=showing up at the running site and having my hubby become an amazing documenter, taking videos and photos so we could remember how good we looked before the race started LOL.

 Me doing a gear check...yep I had everything

 Connecting with Kelli and Whitney. Here we are showing off our running bibs

 Me before the race starts

 Fellow runners before the race starts

 Me with my support Team! Scottie and Maddie

 Maddie stayed asleep for the first 2 hours of the race.

7am= The race started with FIREWORKS!!! I loved that part, and got way pumped up to start. I crossed the start line at 7:07. There were over 15,000 runners so it took a while to cross the start line!

Kelli and I getting ready to follow our 4:30 pacer with the fireworks in the background.

Mile 3= About 3 miles into the race Scottie was there to cheer us along. I was feeling great and getting comfortable with the pace we had set. Plus I enjoyed watching the sun rise while we were running, this truly was a beautiful and well thought out course.

Mile 9= The proud hubbies (and Dads) taking care of their daughters so we could run our hearts out.

In between miles 4-6 Kelli and I each took a turn holding the pacer sign. That was one of the highlights because we got to tell the running group a little bit about ourselves. Also before we met up for this 9 mile check point, Kelli and I decided to pick up the pace a little bit and we got a head of our pacer.

Me with the pacer sign

Running at mile 9.5

Mile 18= Miles 16-22 were all uphill and mile 18 was clutch because it was the steepest part of the race. Luckily for me my support team was there to cheer me on! 

 My marathon watcher making sure he hydrated and ate while strenuously watching the runners. LOL

 Maddie waiting for Mommy to make it up the hill

 Unfortunately, at mile 18 I had to part with Kelli so I could take a bathroom break. (5min total, waiting in line, taking care of business, and saying hi to my support team). I was still feeling really great at mile 18 and was thankful for the strength, energy, and knee pain relief the Lord was blessing me with.

 Getting ready to start running again after the pit stop (started using headphones). I am glad the guy next to me posed for the camera too!

 Saying goodbye and taking on the last big hill of the race.

One of the best parts of the race for me was when I was coming upon mile marker 23, but I thought it was mile 22. I somehow lost track of the mile markers and did a whole mile without even realizing it. Once I realized I was at 23 I felt confident that I would finish well under my goal and knew that I only had about 30 minutes of running left. I bunkered down and started pushing myself through my knee pain (left IT band started hurting in my knee around mile 22). In order to keep running and not have my knee freeze up, I had to run through the last couple water stations. I think spectators could tell I was in pain, because I started having random people call out my name to cheer me on (my name was on my bib)! It really helped and gave me motivation not to walk even though it hurt...BAD!

MILE 26= I had the best feeling when I came to this mile! I knew I had DONE it and that that finish was only .2 miles away.

 The finish line. The race ended in the Akron baseball stadium and it was fun to ran to home base with everyone in the stands cheering you on. I got to have a nice little sprint to the finish line with a random runner next to me. As we were coming around the corner he asked, "Want to race?" I was feeling super tired so I said, "No, you go ahead." Well while we were running to the end, I got a little adrenaline rush and started running my guts out and passed him. As I was passing he said "Hey wait a second" and we had a fun time battling it out to the end!

 The finish!!! I was overcome at this point in time and was honestly holding back tears! I just wanted to finish under 5 hours and I knocked that time out of the ball park...no pun intended lol. The  best part about this picture below was that I turned around in response to my sweet husbands voice calling out my name! I love you Scottie and appreciate you being so supportive and excited for me!

After the race. We reunited with the group and got some pictures.

 The proud Mamas with our babies. Check out the shirts we made for our babies. Frost's says, "26.2 Baby!" Reese's says, "my MOM is faster than my DAD" and Madison's says, " My Mom just run 26.2 Miles...What did yours do?"

 Love these girls

 Whitney, Kelli, Me. The proud marathon runners!!!

 Me with my support team!!! Love this family pic and that Maddie is smiling so well!

 Me with my biggest fan! Thanks Scottie for always being at every race and for cheering me along every step of the way. You are the best marathon watcher EVER!

 Me and Maddie. The back of her shirt says, "Run Mom Run"

 Me with my metal! All done...yippee!!!

This race left me craving another marathon! So I went home and signed Scottie and myself up for the Columbus Half Marathon in May!

I am including the videos that Scottie took from the race below. I like the 4th one the very best (even though it's short) because it reminds me of how sweet that last moment was before I crossed that finish line! Enjoy the videos and thanks for being such a good documenter Scottie!

 Mile 9.5- ahead of the pacer and feeling great! It was nice to get a little kiss from my man and sweet baby at this check point.

 Mile 18- Getting to say hi to my supportive family right before the steepest part of the race. It was nice having Scottie there to cheer me on, because there was NO WAY I was going to walk in front of him.

Sprinting To The End-the boy in front asked me if I wanted to race! This is great footage, but the camera was lame and cut out right before I crossed the finish line. I promise I did though:)

The End-I was in shock that I finished in 4:34. I was def a little emotional!
 

It was a great race, and I feel blessed to have accomplished what I thought was my "unrealistic goal".