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| Mrs. Marathon at GOTR |
This weekend was a very busy one for me and Mr. Marathon. We kicked it off on Saturday with the Girls on the Run Spring 2014 5K and 8K. I had to be there at 6:30 in the morning to set up and start doing Happy Hair for the girls, and of course, I had to drag Mr. Marathon along that early as well. He didn't get out of it that easily! He decided not to run on Saturday to conserve his energy for Sunday (Rock 'n' Roll day!) so he was just a cheering spectator. I was a running buddy for one of my girls, so I ran with her, and boy, she kept me on my toes! We ran the entire 5K besides a brief moment to walk and sip water. I was so proud of her and all the girls on my team! It was a great atmosphere and a very special event. I am so thankful that I have been a part of something so positive and encouraging for these girls, especially because running is something I have become so passionate about. I just want to share that with everybody!
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My dad placed first in his age group!
And he let me give him happy hair! |
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| Half and full marathons were totally sold out! |
So then immediately after the run, celebration, and
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| Mr. Marathon and BRF at the expo! |
awards on Saturday, I showered the pink, green, and purple happy out of my hair and we hit the road to Raleigh, NC! There, we met up with Mr. Marathon's best running friend (BRF) at the first packet pick up stop. They received special packets for participating in the Team V for Cancer Research fundraising program (which we have mentioned on here before!). Then after picking up that packet, we both decided it would be super fun to get lost in downtown Raleigh, which was extra fun with all the road closures that had already begun for race day. After approximately 45 minutes of driving in a circle around where we needed to be, we finally got it together and parked for the official packet pick up. That was literally RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER ONE. Thank goodness the race course was clearly marked today, otherwise Mr. Marathon woulda been SOL (and I don't mean Virginia's Standards Of Learning, if you know what I mean..... haha!). After going through the expo, we made our way to our hotel with his BRF and then we went out for an early dinner at Olive Garden for carbo-loading. After dinner, we played some putt-putt to relax and mapped out our routes to get to the race, then went to bed as early as we could to rest up for race day.
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| The starting line at approximately 6:40 |
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| Splits, placing, and time |
This morning, the boys got ready and headed out at 5:30 AM. They sure did hit the 5:00 rush hour (doesn't that usually come in the evening?) and nobody was rushing AT ALL. In fact, it took them about an hour to travel 4 miles to the beginning of the race. For serious. Anyway, they made it to the starting line by 7:05, with 10 minutes to spare because the race was delayed. Because... of traffic! Surprise! The race began, and they were off! And I was still asleep, waiting to meet them at the finish. :)
This is when the rockin' and the rollin' really began. Mr. Marathon and his BRF stuck together for the first 8 miles or so, and then his BRF was feeling so good that he continued on a faster pace, but Mr. Marathon maintained a slower, steadier pace. While keeping his steady pace, he enjoyed the atmosphere of this race. Because it was part of the Rock 'n' Roll race series, there were bands at about every mile, so there was plenty of music to enjoy along the way, along with the awesome response from spectators. There were lots of people around every turn cheering on all the runners. That is something that he really enjoys. Also, the water stops were strategically placed along the course in the perfect spots, and there were plenty of volunteers manning the stops and the course, which was very nice as well.
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Finishing strong.... with chafed nips
(hence no shirt)
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He was feeling great from mile 16 to mile 19, but it finally started hitting him at mile 20, which was where he really had to start pushing it. This course was not as flat as he expected, and that was finally catching up to him. In his words, this was an EXTREMELY tough course. I asked him to rank it from Richmond (fairly flat) to Blue Ridge Marathon (mountains) and he said it leans a lot more towards Blue Ridge, if that helps you picture it. And this is why he had a hard time from mile 20 to the end. Needless to say, he had to walk. He waited until mile 25 because he did his math wrong and thought he had 2.2 miles left. Until people started saying "LESS THAN HALF A MILE TO GO!!!!!!!!!" and he was like "Uhhh, no, y'all are crazy I still have 1.5 to go!" He immediately figured it out. OMG. He pushed himself as hard as he could at the last stretch. He thought the finish line was just around every corner from that point (and it wasn't....). It seemed like he was running 6 miles still, but in reality, it was only half a mile. But he finished strong, with an amazing attitude, a huge smile, and chafed nips, but we'll focus on the amazing attitude and big smile! ;)
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| Finisher medal (left) and Team V medal (right) |
All in all, we had a fantastic, running-filled weekend. What we have coming up is the Blue Ridge Marathon (Mr. Marathon) in 13 days! Mrs. Marathon will be looking forward to the Running the Vines 10K in May.
Also, we want to congratulate Mr. Marathon's BRF for completing his very first full marathon! It was so awesome because he PR'd! ;)
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| Mr. Marathon and BRF rocking out at the expo |
