5:37 and change. AKA The marathon recap!

Deeetroit Mar-a-thon!

Oh hellz yeah I rocked Detroit!  I ended up 7 minutes over my time goal of 5:30, not too shabby. At all.  The last two miles were ridiculous, but that is OK with me.  I finished happy, I finished strong, I finished.  And now, I get to do it all over again in January.

So, the recap.

Myself and my friend Annelise seeded ourselves behind the 5:00 pacer.  I wanted a 5:30 or better and was afraid of potty stops, so I figured seeding myself ahead of the 5:30 group would allow some time to be banked.  It worked out for the most part, but next time I want to run a pace I will just start with them.

The first 10 miles or so flew right by.  The bridge, Riverside park, the tunnel, Cobo, Campus Martius, it all just blended together into one large jog around Detroit with Annelise.  After we passed the break off point for the marathoners, the running crown thinned out.  I was expecting that.

Truth. 

Up until Belle Isle I felt really good.  At mile 19 I decided to stretch and gear myself up for then next 7 miles.   I started to get emotional and cry a little and I told Annelise that I will NEVER quit a marathon again.  The stretching actually brought on pain, so I was starting to feel nervous about the last bit of the race.  We decided to walk to a point ahead and that is when we saw the 5:30 pacer pass us.  Um, no.  I asked Annelise, "do you think that we can hang on to him?"  And then I just started to run after him.  Once we caught him I told him that I needed him and that I was going to attach myself to him and not let go.  I held onto that man until mile 24.

Gary got me through the wall, Gary got me through my personal wall at mile 23 - the mile I will never forget - and he got me all the way to the point my calf muscle just would not cooperate.  I started to walk and watched 5:30 slip away.  Typically this would have been at mile 10 or 13, so the fact that this was happening at mile 24 was great.  At mile 25 I called in the calvary.  I dialed Anne and she was wondering where I was.  I was crying and that made her bust into tears.  I told her that I was going to finish.  I was at mile 25 and had to walk as my calf had completely seized up.  I needed someone badly to assure me that I was going to finish this race.

Anne, myself, Jim rounding the corner to the finish line

Anne and Jim ran out to meet me at mile 26, and then ran me all the way in to the finish.  5:37 and change.  An amazing 20 miles ran with an amazing woman, Annelise, and 0.2 miles ran with my running club.

Anne and I running in to the finish!

I conquered the race.  I did something that just 7 years ago I told myself that I was completely incapable of doing.  I needed this.  I so absolutely needed this experience, and not just the 26.2 miles in Detroit that Sunday morning.  I needed to meet the people I have met in the past few years to clear my head of the bad things and lift me up.  To better allow myself to become the woman I was meant to be.  These people, the Annelises and the Annes and the Vickies and the Jims... it is these people that I love and that I know love me back.  I am such a better person for knowing them.






I have never worked so hard for a piece of medal on a ribbon before.  But this was not the end of a journey.  This was not the final destination.  This was the jumping off point.

In 1 week myself and Annelise are driving to Panama City beach, FL to volunteer at Ironman Florida.  In just over a weeks time, the day I have dreamed of for two years is becoming a reality.  We are signing up for 2012.  That day I became a bonafide marathon.  Soon, I become an Ironman.  

http://journeytoimfl.blogspot.com

It is happening.  It is on.  And I CAN DO THIS!

Back in the game.

Today my goal was to hit the gym for a 1-mile run on the dreadmill, followed by a quick UB and ab workout.

Funny thing about goals... often they change. Another thing about goals... change isn't always bad.

Enter the elliptical of death. *dramatic echo*

This is what I looked like, minus the sweatbands circ. 1980 I rock it old school yo, just not THAT old school.

The only thing I hate more than the dreadmill is the elliptical. In fact I have not once made it past 5 minutes on the contraption. I.Hate.Redundancy. I.Hate.Getting.Nowhere.

I enter the workout center (read: not the gym) of my complex, only to find every single piece of cardio equipment taken except for one lonely elliptical. "Newman" I say as my right eye twitches. It is cool because there is a little flat screen TV attached to every treadmill, elliptical, stepper, and bike in the joint. Niiice. However that still implies that I will be on one of them.

I walk right up to the elliptical and stare it down. I decide that I would do a slow 20 minute attempt figuring that I would be lucky to make it 4 minutes before I'd walk out in defeat.

Not so my friends! Not so in the least!

Not only did I make that 4 minute mark... it quickly became 5. Then 10. And there is where I hit the mile.

Wow. I just did 1 mile on the elliptical. 10 minutes and change... and I am not even winded. I love this thing! I better stop now before I hate it again I thought.

A funny thing about thoughts... you have the power to NOT act on them.

10 minutes and 1-point-something additional miles later I was done. Then I did a nice 5 minute cool-down just to stick it to it. I may have muttered something to the effect of "Kiss the rings bitch... I'm OUT!" as I exited the building...

I beat the elliptical. This is huge for me. I mean HUGE.

So October 16, 2007 at 6:05PM I broke out of my hibernation off season and got 2 miles done. I am back in the game! I am in training for Detroit. Oh no - not the Detroit Half Marathon. I mean the Detroit Turkey Trot 5k of course!

I am actually training for it. I mean for realzy. I have never trained for anything less than a half marathon, I just always sort of went out and did them. *snicker* I actually have just sort of gone out and done a few half marathons as well *cough* PF Chang's*Cough*... but I digress.

So this is not only going to be new for me, but I am going to really give it a try. No more 5k's as warm up runs to the main event. I want this 5K to be a great one! ;)

Have a great one peeps!

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RunnerEllipticalGirl

Oh the places I've Ran!

In my lifetime I have ran

Out on Mission Point Penninsula,
Through the ghettos of Flint,
On the "Bricks",
Through cemetaries,
Through open fields in Frankenmuth,
Over countless hills,
In downtown Chicago,
In Mexico,
Over the Detroit River,
Through Windsor,
Under the Detroit River,
Through Detroit,
In five metroparks in Michigan,
For 4 hours in a blizzard, alone, and without music,
Through many industrial parks,
Over miles and miles of trails,
Through hell,
With injury,
Wearing a skirt during lunch,
On the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
Over two bridges between Cincinatti, OH and Covington, KY,
With a flying pig or two,
In Boston and Reading, MA,
On the beach in Virginia,
Through the desert,
Past cacti and rocks and palm trees,
Through too many to count snow and rain storms,
On the hottest day of the year,
On the coldest day of the year,
On my birthday,
On New Years Eve,
On every day of the week.
First thing int he morning,
Last thing at night,
On a track,
On a treadmill,
On medication,
Sick...

In my life I have ran in more places and seen more things than I ever thought I would. Keep on running your journey! Take time to reflect all the places you have been and all the things you have seen!