Woke up once at 1am. When the cell alarm went off at 4am, I was very groggy. Karen picked me up at 4:45am. Ate breakfast of banana and yogurt on the drive. So glad Karen was driving 'cause I was still very sleepy! :) Got to Field House packet pick up...same 'ole purple bag...same gigantic race shirt...that's it!!! NO freebies, NO coupons, NO gu, lame! :) Saw Catherine, got a quick hug. Met RAD at the hotel lobby where we also saw Wendy & Matt Clark, Emily & Brian Hansen, SueM, DonnaP (Karen's cousin), Fly on the Wall AND Maynard who looks AWESOME, ripped and ready for a GREAT race! :) :) :) Looked around and didn't see Teena nor Kelli. :( Walked to the start where we saw Bill Mandler. Then I looked over to the sideline and saw Teena. Our whole group rushed over there to get a hug from my SSF! :) :) :) Then it was time to start the race, NO National Anthem nor count down...nothing...lame! :) It was cold...good sign. I was sleepy...bad sign. People were passing me left and right...no hurry! :) :) :) Catherine ran by and RAD went with her. Donna ran by, Karen and I visited with her. Found out Donna's birthday is 2 days after mine. Her son is leaving for Rome, Italy on a mission next Wed. She is Karen's "long lost" cousin, so lots of catching up and fun chats. Matt ran by and started taking our pictures while running backward. He's such a good guy. I sure miss him and Wendy and their cute little family. Then a guy in green GrandSlam shirt ran by and I hollered: "Is that you, Zimmerman?" He said: "Oh, didn't recognize you from behind." I introduced him, Brent, to my running partners. RAD waited for us at the turn off up the first neighborhood! :) What a GREAT friend to stop and wait! :) The four of us stayed together like peas in a pod and chatted away the miles, enjoying the sunrise, the wild purple flowers (that match RAD's outfit), the hot air balloons, the beautiful mountain scenery around us. Met a girl, an organ transplant co-ordinator and talked to her about Easten, a 4 yo boy who recently received a new liver.
On the Rail Trail, hubby's first cheering spot, Karen and I gave him our jackets. We stopped and loitered around at every buffet table...pretzels, gummy bear, M&Ms, banana, Gu products! Girl in print skirt is running to celebrate Easten's new liver. Smooth, RAD, Karen & Donna drinking and not running! :) An almost Smooth Sandwitch! :) BrentZ in the green shirt. Didn't notice Brent was behind us. Chatted with him a bit.,,wondering why he'd slowed down so much! We walked the inclines. Then he peeled off to use the park bathroom and we never saw him again! :( We pointed out the "shoes tree" to the 1st-PCM-timers. When they asked why the shoes tree, we just made up stories! :) Saw Scott and Maynard just before the turnaround tunnel as they were flying down. It was so fun to high-5 them. Met shirtless tatooed guy from South Carolina. He told us he has a stress fracture in his femur. I was so proud of him running in this high altitude with a sf. RAD said we better not let him beat us. :) Met 19 yo BYU student, Sydney Chartrand, from California, majoring in Public Health. Very fun to learn about her college life...wish I could line her up with my Bryan. :) She was running with a friend who's running PCM on a whim...fun kids!
Here's cute Sydney on the Deer Valley loop. Just before mile 18 marker, at the open mall sky bridge. RAD sat down to humor us. It was getting warm. Told hubby: "forget being a paparazzi, BRING the ICE!" :) I never looked at the Garmin except couple of times, on the uphill to check my heart rate to make sure it stays low and when Karen asked about the time (around 3:59) because she was running Garminless. We shamelessly walked the 8th St. up to Empire while RAD, the QUEEN (in this case Empress) of Hill sprinted up that thing! What a hoot! :) Told Lowell I'd call him when we reach Lowell Ave (mile 18.5). So I did! :) He was running the Hobble Creek Half missing out on all our fun! Told RAD that Toby should be finished her Half by now so she texted her. I can talk while running but NOT texting! :) :) :) Super excited to find out Toby ran a 2+min PR! WaHooo!!!! :)
Got caught by the Paparazzi while exiting the PoP (2nd one of the day). Why is it when you run slowly you need "to go" more often?...blame it on the buffet tables. :) A pop/buffet stop is not complete without another pose for an "almost Smooth sandwitch"! Notice RAD grabbed all the buffet necessities for me. That girl can carry so much that she ought to be a juggler in the circus. We then filled our bras and skirts with ice that hubby brought. When we started running, RAD's ice "pooped" out of her skirts...the funniest sight ever...we were laughing our heads off! :) Mile 19 split took 15+ minutes! Holly FUN!!!! :) Donna left us at this buffet. Met Larry Macon who has run like a million marathons. RAD invited him to run in her birthday marathon 2014 at Myrtle Beach! :) Running through the golf course neighborhood was SO FUN this year. It was always torturous on this winding rolling part of the course. (Most runners felt the effects of the previous undulating 18 miles of uphill and then a steep half mile of downhill to this point). I remember vividly that I cramped up bad here in 2008 and sadly watched my competitors passed by. Not this time, we checked out the garage sale, RAD yelled "FOUR!" to the golfers who turned and looked...silly RAD! Tatooed guy leapfrogged with us. We finally passed him for good...determined not to let a guy with a sf beat us! We also passed Sydney and an Asian girl who started with us. We gave encouragement to fellow runners who are either battling with ITBs or it's their first marathons. We even saw one girl resting on a patch of shady grass thinking she had finished her half but she was DNFing her Full. We understand their pain and anguish as well as the "dig deep" feelings. When you run at a 5 hr marathon pace, you get to meet and cross paths with many people with inspiring stories. RAD and Karen stopped to use the PoP at the soccer field buffet station. I stopped to eat and asked for ice cream or popsicle. The two EMT guys whom we've met earlier on the Rail Trail (where RAD forewarned them about my tachycardia) saw me and asked: "still no tachycardia?" I told them I had my own personal crew who know CPR... :) I jogged along thanking the EMTs and soon heard fast steps coming from behind, Karen and RAD caught up. My legs felt pretty fresh at mile 24 when my sister-in-law called. She had no idea I was in the middle of running a marathon. Then RAD and Karen spotted hubby with about a mile to go. At the last cheering spot, he said he'd see us at the finish and I pleaded for him to run us in. He wasn't dressed in running clothes. It was getting really warm. He had thought that we'd be trotting along at 13mm pace in the last mile. Well, RAD had a different idea...that girl had me "sprinting"! :) Soon after the mile 26 marker, hubby had to let us go (dang, would've been sweet to finish the run with him by my side...but he couldn't keep up...that mile was the fastest one with the last 0.2 at 9:18). We joined hands with Karen's daughters crossing the finish with our arms raised in joy! I was extra elated to see that we finished under 5 hours. :) :) :) My shins started to cramp when I stopped. No flowers for the ladies this year, another lame! RAD made sure we got our last fill of the buffet! :) THANKS a million, Rachel! I couldn't have finished this without you! You made it SO FUN and got us to sub-5 to boot! You spread so much JOY and LOVE through this journey! I LOVE every second of this day with you! :)
Super super happy to see Teena who ran an AWESOME Half and then waited around for SO LONG to watch us finish our run! THANKS SSF! It means SO MUCH!!! :) **************** A few thoughts 3 days later: (I know I'm slow...but I've been super busy with family stuff). I've been lovingly advised to either not run or be super careful if I do run this marathon. I figure a difficult uphill marathon course actually makes for a better training run than say a fast downhill half for me. What can be more safe to run in a marathon with support, not to mention great friends such as RAD and Karen to share the journey with, than to run a 20 miler alone? My plan was to take it easy and never let my heart rate climbs above 160 (my average heart rate was 154 with the max at 171 in mile 26). I had a lot of fun, it strengthened our friendships while we made memories along this journey. We made new friends. To me, each run is a gift, each marathon has a risk. I don't know when/what/how my tachycardia will show up and if it is causing myo-fibrosis or leads to persistent a-fib. I am just so so so so grateful for the ability to run and treasure each and every friendship and the memories we make...that's the reason I run!!! I am SO SO SO SO BLESSED to have such WONDERFUL running friends! :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
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