I trained with my good friend Nancy who ran several long runs with me in the wee hours of the morning. I also ran long runs when Hudson was napping. Short runs with Hudson in his stroller or when pawpaw or daddy were hanging on to bubba. And also a few runs when Hudson was with nana and pops. I ran when I could and knew Hudson was in good hands.
How did the race itself go? I made Ashley nervous in the car but continuously screaming on the way to the race. Random screaming. Like, "WHAT DID I SIGN MYSELF UP FOR?" and "OMG AHHHH!" We lined up with the 5 hour group because I believe that was the last marker (haha). I had high (really high) hopes of finishing at 4:45. Boy was I off. LOL! It's ok though. I'm cool with it.
Cause every race should start with a duck face and a scared to death look.
We started off the run strong. Doing great running up Congress. I really enjoyed my sissy running with me. She's my partner in crime and anything fun. We split between mile 6-7 and it was a sad departing but I was lucky to have ran the beginning with her. She started me off strong. After Shelly pointed out to me that Congress was a faster incline than the 8 mile stretch from 11-19 I was quickly convinced that I was in good shape after mile 8. Eh hem...after passing the split I was thinking how lucky I was to not have to run up the hill that the half marathoners had to...and then...I ran up a hill I was not expecting to be there. What?!?! I thought I was getting off lucky. Boy was I wrong. I ran hills during training runs in preparations but what I should have done was run all my runs in my hills (our neighborhood is super hilly - more hilly than the Austin Marathon). That would have prepared me for the killer hike between mile 11-17. Once I got to 17 it seems to taper off and felt like I was running on flat ground even though there was a slight incline. At mile 20 I took some ibuprofen (good call sissy) and hit the gas. I sprinted (well what felt like sprinting) I then reminded myself that I had 6 more miles which could be well over an hour. So I slowed myself down. When I had 3 miles left I hit the gas again and was flying past people. I wanted to do this because I knew for sure I would walk up the last hill at the race. BUT I didn't. I put Sail on by AWOLNATION and while listening to it 3 times in a row I ran up the hill to be greeted by my mother-in-law who saw me at mile 2, 8, 15 and finish (as was Shelly and Pops). They helped me so much by seeing them. In fact, they kept me going strong. A driving force to keep on running. Or as Shelly told me, "put one foot in front of the other." And of course my sissy reminding me to "do it for Hudson." Once I got to the hill and started to run down I saw my wonderful family. Kissed my baby and sprinted to the finish line. I was so unbelievably happy to finish. I finished in 5 hours and 24 minutes. I'm most definitely happy with that.
Best part after finishing was taking a nap with my angel!
Thoughts on my experience? Was it fun? Yes. The beginning was haha. By mile 20 I was most definitely ready for it to be over. I joked by saying I'll never do another one again but there's more to that then just feeling super tired by the end or having a hard time during the race. And here's my reason why. That night and the day after (today) I could give Hudson my undivided attention. No stress of having to figure out when my next long run was going to be. How I was going to run a marathon and give all of the attention to Hudson that I want to give. That's what makes it hard. Every long run I was on I thought about Hudson the whole time. I wondered what he was doing even though he was sleeping. So...would I do it again? Maybe. Ask me in 10 years :). Do I think Hudson will be proud of his mommy one day? Yes. Overall it was an amazing experience to have done it by age 30 (another goal of mine - I have a lot of those haha). I can cross that off my list and fulfill another item. Check.
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