My Marathon Memoir

It all started with a suggestion from my friend, Steph.  "Hey Leah, you should train and do the Publix marathon with us in March!" I responded with a quick ..."There's no way."  I remember the few short minutes after this conversation thinking to myself...easy for you to say, you've already done one and then like a ton of bricks.....what is stopping me?  I knew I would stick to the training schedule...my strong willed personality would benefit me in this case.  November 2011 rolled around and I decided to make it one of my goals, I found a training schedule-printed it out and plastered it on the fridge.  I had been running pretty regular and thought...why not?  With very little persuasion, I strung Bonnie, my sister, along for the ride.  I must say the accountability of having a running partner was great and for me it was a necessity.  When we got to the LONG runs, we became a threesome...Steph, Bonnie, and myself.

We ran, ran, and ran some more- clocking lots of much needed miles.  Bonnie had a bad twist of fate when on a 16 miler one Saturday afternoon, she fell and broke her foot.  Devastated, to say the least!  Her attitude was exemplary from day one- yes it was very obvious she was upset about being out of the race, but she held her head high and continued to encourage us both every step of the way.  Did I mention I love her? We will do it TOGETHER next year!

Only thing missing is Bonnie!

Race day has come and gone and here we are.  When asked how was the race?  My first response is either...rough, horrible, hot, very hilly, much worse than what I thought....but always with an added-  yet the best thing ever and I am so glad I did it.  The best of times and the worst of times.  It was very interesting the changes in my mental state.  It makes me laugh every time I think of the different phases.  Jason had my "marathon mix" ready on his ipod...including 2 or 3 sermons to choose from.  I decided to start with music to get me going and save the Word for when I really needed it.

About to head to the starting corral-Court, Lou, Steph, and me.

Phase 1... The temperature was great...at 7 am that is- it felt amazing and so did I. Excitement, butterflies, full of adrenaline and going strong.  We were rockin and rollin maybe at mile 4 or 5 and I saw people losing their breakfast...I was taken aback...thinking- already? This was my first "OMG" moment.  But I was feeling great...didn't stop for water until hydration station at mile 6.  I had to find the balance between good hydration for this soon to be hot and humid day and managing my mouse-like, delivered two babies bladder.  Using the "happy cans" was not in my intentions.  Still in good spirits with my praise and worship music blaring, I passed a homeless man at a street corner and I prayed for him. 

Phase 2...I was pleased with my time at mile 13...it was on target for my usual.  I remember thinking...not bad and giving myself a little pat on the back and a "I can do this...just stay focused".  Several hydration stations later....it was inevitable I was headed for the "happy can".  This was around mile 15 or so and my legs could use a good stretching anyway.  The balancing act over the seat served as a great beginning to stretch the quads.  The good news...there was tissue and an added bonus... hand sanitizer....cha ching:)  Relief and on the road again!  I slung back a couple of sports beans and a glass of luke warm water provided ...good to go! 

Phase 3...The sun had long been out by now and I've got 3 words for ya....HOT....HILLY...HIP PAIN!  I had fully prepared for it to be cool weather and then boom...it is totally summer in March.  Yay us!  I was  warned about the hills in this course but never thought they would start at about mile 18 or 19 and persist until mile 25.  Yay us! My only concern going into the race as far as ailments go was my left knee- I developed some tendonitis about a week before the big day so I took the week prior to the race off.  I wore a knee brace and prayed for the best.  Little did I know I would begin to feel a knife-like, deep pain in my right hip with every step of my right foot.  Forunately, my knee concern was quickly forgotten.  This new pain would stick with me until well after the race was over, like the next day.  I had to walk limp up most of the unending hills.  Unsure if it hurt worse to walk or run I kept going.  I began to take advantage of any type of nutrition that was offered along the way orange slices and ooh yay (so I thought) pretzels, the salt would be good for me.  Well, you know that saltine cracker trick where you shove as many in your mouth and try to eat them with no water?  Yeah, thick and pasty...the woman told me there was water up ahead,  it seemed like a small eternity, however. Growing more and more frustrated, I needed silence.  The earbuds were removed and I contemplated maybe taking advantage of the sermon but decided my attitude was not worthy of God's word right now.  Silence.  Every corner I turned....another hill.  My frustration became anger and holding back tears, well not so well, I stopped.  I prayed for strength and peace in my Spirit.  I told myself out loud..."you are making it worse with all of the negativity" I decided to use all of my energy I was wasting on complaining and being ill and finish the race.  I plowed through the heat, pain, and hills and ran on.  Thank God for the few spray stations that were added at the last minute. 

Phase 4...There is light at the end of this tunnel!  The hills were still coming and the race officials knew it was getting hard for everyone, or so it seemed.  As I was running by, they would say...it's gonna flatten out in about a mile or so, or only 1 or 2 more hills.  I swear if I heard the latter one more time I would have stopped and punched them square in the face.  LOL!  I then saw the infamous mile marker 25 and there it came...a gust of energy out of nowhere.  I finally rounded the corner where the runway to the finish line was located and my emotions got the best of me.  Crying, shaking my head back and forth (for whatever reason?), I spotted Jason, Ms. Elaine, and Wayne (Steph's Mister) on my left and I had arrived!  In utter disbelief, I was numb...hot, sore, and any other descriptive you wish!  I savored one last spray station! (below)

Praise God!

My inspiration!

About to cross!

I met my love on what seemed like a never ending journey after receiving my medal.  I have never been so happy to see his baby blues and dashing dimples;)  First thing...shoes had to come OFF! I hobbled back around and cheered Steph across the finish line.  Remember those 2 young, spry girls in one of the first pics...well they were well rested by the time I finished. 

We did it!!!!!

We all crashed and then celebrated with a huge meal at Fogo de Chao!

GOOD TIMES!  SEE YA NEXT YEAR GEORGIA PUBLIX MARATON (WITH BONNIE IN TOW)