Marathons Are A Family Affair

I can hardly believe this as I type it, but

I am a Marathoner!!!!!

Yes, a full-blown, 26.2 mile (or actually 26.5 by my watch), all out MARATHONER!!!  When I registered for the Kansas City Half Marathon, I had no intention of running the full.  I was going to run the half with my sister Layne, and try to break the 2-hr mark that had always slipped away by only a couple of minutes in the past.  I have always wanted to do a full marathon, but figured with the time that is necessary to train for one that it would be a goal better left until the kids were much older…after all, right now their schedules are cah-razzzyyyy!

But on our way to Kansas City on Friday, I was thinking about my eighteen mile run that I had just done a week or so before, thinking,

“that’s really  not that far off from the peak distance that full marathon training plans do…hmmmm….”

So I asked my hubby what HE thought about me maybe running the full instead, and he said, “Oh, yeah, I know you can do it.  You come in bouncing around after eighteen.”

Then I made a phone call to a friend who has several marathons to her credit, and Christy asked these two questions,

“What has been your longest run?”    18 miles

“What is your total weekly mileage?”     40-50 for two or three months

And she said she thought I could do it, no problem.  Her longest training run in her marathon trainings has been 21 miles and that I wasn’t that far off of that.  I mean, when you’re talking about running 26.2 miles, what’s another EIGHT.  Whoa.  Hard to believe that even makes sense to me, but somehow it does.

Interestingly, when I first had called Christy I had to leave her a voicemail because she was in a meeting.  It was probably an hour before she called me back, and we were already on our way to the expo to pick up our packets…which is where the switch would need to be made if I decided to run the full marathon.  As we were walking to the expo, I was still so unsure of what to do, so I prayed that God would give me a clear sign and tell me what I should do.  It wasn’t two minutes after my silent “Amen” that Christy called.  Thank you, Jesus, I sighed.

After our phone call, I also had another thought laid on my heart.  Remember when I told you about our One Month To Live Bible Study we were doing at church?  Well, I thought,

“Erica, if you only had one month to live what would you do tomorrow?” 

The answer: “I’d run a full marathon.” 

Again, Thank you, Jesus. <3

This of course wasn’t the end of the fabulous-ness, though…oh no!  Tyler decided that HE WANTED TO RUN THE HALF MARATHON!!!!!  After talking about it with him, it was a no brainer to me that he could do it even though his longest run in cross country this year has been a little over 6 miles.  I am so proud of this child’s heart and his dedication for the things he loves…but remember girls, his Mama is at the top of that list *wink, wink*!

So let me first brag on my kid… (sorry poor iPhone quality pic in early morning light)… HE RAN A 1:50 HALF MARATHON AND FINISHED STRONG!!!!

He did SO GREAT and I am so proud of him.  He said that he never quit running.  Wow.  How awesome is that?!

I next have to brag on my sister, Layne.  She ran her first big race and truly did it like a ROCK STAR!!!  She ran her first half marathon and BROKE TWO HOURS!!!!!  She finished the 13.1 miles in 1:59!!!  Gosh I am so proud of her. 

Before I go any further in this epic-ly long post, I have to say that while my legs were in Kansas City, my heart was in STL where my sweet nephew, Brayden, was in Children’s Hospital. 

They took him up on Thursday night because he had developed an abscess on his lower back that went from nonexistent to horribly infected in a matter of hours.  After being treated with iv antibiotics for 2 days, he was much better and they came home last night (Saturday).  I’m tellin’ you, I prayed for this sweet baby nonstop and I Praise God for healing our Brayden. 

My sister, Jessica, deserves the mom of the year award, for sure!  Can you imagine teaching 20+ Kindergarteners all day, coming home to notice this horrible looking spot on your 10-month old son’s back, driving 3 hours to STL at 6pm, sitting in Children’s ER until the wee hours of the morning, then being admitted to the hospital for treatment?  Um, yeah, she is pretty much a ROCK STAR and the best Mama any child could ask for.  No marathon can even compare.  Brayden is so lucky.  I can’t wait until he is bigger when I can tell him just how amazing his Mama is.

So on to the pre race pictures (Dang, this post may take DAYS to upload)…

Racers 11,000+ STRONG!The 2:00 pacer that Layne was going to try to run with…SHE BEAT IT!!My high-school cutie!   Me and one of my amazing sisters,

So the marathon went so great!  I tried to keep my pace slow at first, and was looking at the 4:20 pace band I had picked up at the expo.  But just the adrenaline and the fast moving crowd just swept me right along.  Layne and I ran together for a little over 6 miles (the course split at the 7.8 mile mark).  She was keeping a little faster pace, and I wanted to try and slow mine a little so after a little wave and a “Go, go.  I love you” we parted ways.  I felt like the mama bird watching her little chick fly for the first time;-)

I kept strong and steady up and over hills (yes, hills, but nothing like good ol’ SE Missouri Ozark hills), winding through shopping districts, industrial areas, and many beautiful neighborhoods.  I remember thinking how lucky these people were to have such a great running course right outside their front door, literally!  I saw many people sitting in their front lawns cheering on the runners while they were having their morning coffee.  How cool.

At mile 13.1 I sent a text to my hubby letting him know where I was.  This was our series of texts over the next two hours that’s probably the best description of my race:

Erica: “13.1 2:02:00 feel good love u”

Jack: “Ty ran in in 1:50 layne 2:00.  Love u dig hard I’m proud of u”

E: “Wheeeeee!!!!!” [clearly proud of Ty and Layne!]

J: “Love u. Run baby run!!!!!!!!!!!!!dig deep”

E: “16.6. 2:37:23. Tired.”

J: “U can do it u kicked cancers butt [I’m editing, hehe!] u can run this. let’s go we’re waiting on u at the finish line”

E: “I can’t cry n run at the same time!”

J: “Just run:-D”

E: “19 mi. 3:00:30 don’t wanna die in KC!”

J: “7 more just keep pushing you’re about here love ya”

E: “Wish I’d brought my inhaler. Wheezing.”

J: “Uve got a good pace finish strong. 6 more let’s go.”

E: “21 mi. 3:22”

J: “Good keep pushing you’ve ran further than u have ever ran. Go”

E: “23 mi. 3:47”

J:“You’re about here doing great. It’s time to dig deep let’s go finish this thing.”

E: “24.89”  <------Last text I sent as I made me way to the finish line strong!  I even sprinted at 11.3 mph at the end of 26.5 miles!!!  I had no idea I had that left in me!

I felt so inspired and strong every time I got a text back from him.  I knew that he believed in me and he was right:

IF I COULD KICK CANCER’S BOOTY THEN I COULD RUN THIS MARATHON!

Proud Runners! 

It was an amazing day!  We headed out to lunch with Layne, Brett, Ethan, and Caleb, then Layne and I went to Target for Katie’s Halloween costume (she’s a cheerleader unless she changes her mind while the men went the Cabelas to get some things for their upcoming elk hunting trip.  Then we started our 6 hour drive home. 

I thought I would completely pass out once we hit the road but I was still too pumped.  Truth is, I’ve still got a huge runner’s high goin’ on right now;-) 

We are heading to church this morning then going to spend the afternoon relaxing and hanging out with friends.  I will post my mile splits tomorrow, this post has already become epic-ly long!!

Love y’all muchly!

xoxo

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”  Hebrews 12:1