Recap of the race. *big smiles*

It was fah-reeking cold this AM at the start. Myself and Amanda were in the same corral - T.
She was hoping for a 2:30 finish, and I my elusive 2:40. My PB so far is 2:41 at the Indy Mini last year. My PB for the Freep course was 2:49 and change back in 2004. This year - well you will have to read on and see.

So as we were waiting for the gun to go off, we kept warm by bouncing up and down and talking with our corral neighbors about the course (I seemed to be the only one in that area who had run this race before).

After listening to Gov. Granholm (moley moley moley moley mole) declare that in 2007 she will be running the marathon with us (OH JOY!) and hearing Mayor Kilpatrick announce that he will in fact NOT be running the 2007 marathon with us (big shocker!), we were allowed to start on our merry way.

Six minutes after gun-shot we crossed the start line. At mile 2 I started to experience quite possibly the worse shin splints EVER. I told Amanda to go ahead and take off as I would need to slow down to be able to recover from this. She would go on to finish in 2:20. That girl has speed!

A side note here - this is exactly what I was fearing. I had shin splints in the first quarter-mile at the Flying Pig marathon back in 2004, and it took me a long time to recover. I had a pretty bad run-in with a police car (meaning he literally ran me off of the road) and was about one-second away from being disqualified due to time. NOT GOOD. 26.2 miles of hell and torture. S0 imagine the fear that overtook me when this happened.

I ran through the shin-splints all the way to the Ambassador bridge (mile 3-ish?). I actually forgot how steep that darn bridge is. Some how something amazing happened on the bridge. As I ran up it, the shin-splints went away. I popped some of my Clif Shot Blocks and plodded on through tot he other side. Thank you clif bars for making a great product. It saved my tush out there today.

WELCOME TO CANADA! The water station is right in front of the strippers, and you have strippers and poker chips waiting for you at the finish line!

I love the border crossing entertainment. He was actually funny.

It was at this point when I felt that my pain was completely gone, and that I was on mark for a 2:40 finish. At about mile 7 (near the relay team check-point #1) I decided that I really should use a porta-potty prior to heading through the tunnel. I was cold, nervous (just a lil) and had been hydrating for days. My bladder is only so big, you know? So I stop and decided that the 5-10 minutes depending on how the line flows is worth not having to pee my pants in the tunnel.

And for the most part I was right. It ended up being 6 minutes according to the clocker for the relay exchange. I started off again - felling amazingly refreshed.

I busted butt through the the tunnel where upon its sight I started to cry. It was good... I needed it. I saw the demon I had been dreading since last year. I stared it down and plodded through, busting out just over an 11:00 underwater mile. (woo hoo!!!)

I kept on running through mile 10 when I got hit with a crazed head-wind and decided to walk a bit because anything beyond this point was gravy as far as I was concerned. I did a little run-walk from miles 10 -12 where my friend Jeremy caught up with me. We ran up until he had to split off to complete the last half, and right as I saw Comerica Park I started to cry like a little wuss. I grabbed his hand for support and just cried as we ran. He asked if I was OK, and I told him that just seeing the field made me so happy. He completely understood why. He raised our hand to the camera man (where did he come from?) and then we split to finish our respective races. He would go on to finish in just over a six-hour marathon. Way to go Jer!

I ran through to the tunnel entrance at Ford Field, where I experienced this second wind which blasted me through and onto the 50 yard mark at 2:51 and change gun-time, 2:45 and change chip time. (Chip time is what my actual time is. The gun time is from quite literally the gun that starts the race. I started 6 minutes away from the start-line, so my time is recorded based on chip, not gun. FYI.)

HELL YEAH YOU HEARD ME. I came thisclose to getting my 2:40, but this race was not about numbers. I felt the best I ever had out there today. I had my run. The run I have needed. I got a chance to reflect on why I run, and to see all of the TNT people out there really made me realize that I was doing this for the right reason.

So my new PB for the Freep course is 2:45. And I am so proud I can barely contain it. I know I would have hit the 2:40 without effort if I would have ignored the call to the restroom at mile 7, but you know what? Screw it. I ran my race and I was estatic at my time. I took the numbers out of my head - which was hard having people discuss pace and hearing my time being shouted out as I pass checkpoints - and I loved it.

Here is to a great 2006 season - thank you all for believing in me and cheering me on. I am taking a few day soff from running, but wil then start up on my training for the PF CHangs RNR AZ half which will take place Jan. 14th 2007.

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

- Runnergirl.

PS - Way to go Steve Runner, and all the others who ran MCM today!