26.2

On April 19, 2014, I completed my very first marathon!!! It was held in Louisville, KY at the KY Derby Festival.  This race is always the weekend before the KY Derby which is the first Saturday in May.  But for some reason this year it was 2 weekends earlier.

Lets back up a bit.  I pulled my IT band three weeks before the race.  I was running my last long run.  20 miles.  I was at mile 8 and started feeling some pain in my right knee, on the side of my right knee.  Then by mile 9 I was DONE!  It hurt to run, it hurt to walk, it hurt to look at it!!! You get my point, it just really hurt.  I was devastated.  The longest I had ran was my 16 miles.  And all I could think about was the marathon that was 3 weeks away.  This was on a Friday and the following Monday I went to see my chiropractor.  I visited her 3 times a week.  She stretched, massaged, did therapy, and taped me for 3 solid weeks.  At home I stretched and iced off and on all day.   Three days before the race I ran 3 miles and it was okay, so I said I am doing it.

My taped up knee. Kinesio tape is the bomb!

One of our many night runs!

The day before I went back to the doctor and she taped me up good and gave me some extra tape.  Jessica, our hubs and I headed to the Ville.  We stayed at the Hyatt on Fourth Street.  The rest of our running crew was coming up later.  We waited for them before we headed to the expo to pick up our bibs.

Chris and I on 4th Street

After doing so I was kind of freaking out....like this shit just got real! I am running 26.2 miles tomorrow and the farthest I have ever ran is 16.  My mind was going in 10 different directions!  I was terrified that I couldn't finish.  I was terrified that I would let Jessica down, all my running buddies, my husband and all my friends and family.  Chris was proud of me.  I had heard him tell his friends that his wife was training to run a marathon and he said it was a sense of pride.  My Mom and her best friend was coming up to watch me cross.  I couldn't let them down either.

Mom and her best friend came up to cheer me at the finish line!!! I was so happy to see them!

Chris at the finishline to see me cross!

That night we hung out on Fourth Street Live for a while and ate at Hard Rock Café.  We headed back to the room and I laid out all my gear: clothes, shocks, shirt, shorts, fuel, tunes, etc.

There was a group of us running.  Some the Half and some the Full.  We decided to dress as SuperHeroes.  And our shirts landed us a 30 second spot on the Louisville News!!!! We were interviewed and shown on the night news!!!

Before the race at 4th street

I was feeling good until mile 10. Which is a very crucial part of the course. Mile 10 is where the race splits...the Full goes to the right and the Half goes to the left. 3 miles to go or 16 miles to go.  I was hurting, lots of pain in my right knee.  I was by myself, as in all my friends were running their own race.  I text Chris.  He didn't respond which was probably a good thing.  So I made the right hand turn.  Headed for 16.2 more miles!!! I was very slow, but continued to run/jog.  The hilliest part of the race is in a park.  It is awful.  I walked up the hills, that was a huge relief and I saw several others walking as well. After getting to the top it was all down hill from there.

I met a girl from Chicago, and we still stay in contact to this day.  She was my saving grace! And I hope to think I was her's as well.  We were battling the same problem!

At mile 20 my PIC from my work sent me this text.  I was in tears at this point. She has no idea how much I needed it at that particular moment!!! I just put my head down and pushed on from that point on!!!!

Finally I saw the mile marker for 26 and it was almost over!!!!! I did it!!! I ran 26.2 freaking miles!!!!!!

When I got home I took an ice bath and believe it or not it felt really good.  We live about 2 hours from Louisville so the ride home was rough with my legs cramped up.  I needed to stretch them out so bad!!

***I started this post almost a year ago and I am so glad that I finally finished it!!!