Indianapolis Monument Marathon 2011

Last year at my first marathon I vowed I would never do another one. Ever. It was painful. My body failed me. And the training was long and grueling (18 weeks). But then a few months had passed and so did the memories of the pain. Kind of like childbirth. You forget how hard it was and want to do it again. February rolled around. Time for Chicago sign-up. I couldn't do it. But wait, maybe I could do it. I talked to my husband for hours about the pros and cons. Pros: it'd give me a great reason to stay in shape. Cons: it'd take a lot of time away from my family. Decision time and on February 13th I signed up for the Indianapolis Mon.umental M.arathon. Told Jaime I did it. She had a similar conversation with her husband. Then she signed up. It was official, we were going to run our second marathons in November.

We started training for the Min.i Marathon in February, ran the Mini in May, continued to train for R.agnar which was in June, then marathon training started in July. We've basically been training for 9 of the last 10 months. Phew. If you've been following my blog, you know that this 2nd marathon of mine was going to be my last. I am just ready to slow down my training. Ready to relax and enjoy sleeping in on Saturday mornings. Snuggling my family instead of bundling up at 5am for a 20 miler. I went into this marathon knowing this was my last.

Jaime picked me up Friday afternoon to head downtown to the marathon expo to pick up our packets and buy last minute necessities for the 26.2 miles. The anticipation and excitement (and nerves) started setting in. Did we carb load enough? Did we train enough? Did we sleep enough? Are we ready?!? Jaim dropped me off at home where I tried to keep my mind off of the race and remain calm. Easier said than done. I was a ball of nerves.

 Marathon morning was finally here and it was chilly willy. I ate my typical pre-race bagel and banana, took a shower, and packed gear for all types of weather. Jaime and her sister picked me up and we were off. We shared stories of pre-race nightmares, last minute fears and the game plan for the day. Quickly parked and found our way to the convention center to meet our running group, the Perfect Strangers. We put layers on, took layers off, used the potty, downed salt packets & last minute Gu, slapped on the BioF.reeze, checked our bags and took some final pictures:

 I swear by the end of this weekend I felt like I was one of their sisters. Jaime, Amy & Betsy...love these girls!

 Summer Perfect Strangers team (minus Meggie, Sarah & Meghan)

It was 15 minutes until the race started so we all made a bee line out the doors and into the cold. Walking to the start we all were laughing and in great spirits. Got into our starting corral and we gave last minute hugs, pace plans, and finally all of our gps watches got the coveted signals. It was time to start...and we were off.

Jaime, Betsy, Meghan and myself stayed together pretty much the entire first 13 miles. Was unbelievable to have friends to run with, as last year's marathon was a solo experience and painfully dreadful (and boring). I love, love, loved that this was a hometown race, as I saw SO MANY friends along the course (both in the race and on the sidelines):

Shortly after the start we saw our BoMF friend James running his first marathon. He had been featured on the news the day before and we joked about how he's become a local celebrity.

Next we saw fellow 12 Tutu/24 Tata R.agnar teammate Karie cheering us on in front of L.ucas Oil Stadium (go Colts).

Mile 1 we ran into our BoMF friend Danielle...she ran with us for a few miles.

Mile 2 we saw Meggie with her awesome Perfect Strangers sign right at the Monument.

Mile 3 we saw my good friend Lori cheering us on.

Soon after we saw Rob (fellow BoMFer) rocking his first half marathon.

Then we met a woman of 54 years old running her 191st marathon (11th this year!). She started running when she was 34 - she and her husband set the world record for the first married couple to run a marathon in each state in one year. Amazing. Truly inspirational.

Around mile 7 we saw Lori again and then Jaime's husband cheering us on.

Miles 8 through 10 were uneventful until we saw Meggie running through the middle of the road cheering us on (and nearly ran over!). My fingers were frozen sold at this point and I commissioned Meg to open a Gu packet for me and complaining how tight my hips were. So. Tight. Which wasn't a good sign so early on in the race. I knew I just had to make it to mile 12 where I knew Mike and the girls were waiting for me.

Mile 12 greeted me with my family. When I got there I gave some kisses to the littles and thanked my friends Lori, Katie & Rick for joining my family for the support.

Mile 13 we were approaching Br.oadripple and I saw 5 sorority sisters that I hadn't seen since college - I gave each of them a hug then kept going.

This next mile I saw the Moosbruggers chilling on their street corner cheering me on.

Around mile 14 is where I knew something was really starting to go wrong. My hips were so tight that I think my gait started to change. My calves started to cramp up so badly that I had to start walking. We ran into Beth from BoMF and her running crew here where I shared my pain with them. Told Jaime and Betsy to keep going, run their own race, I couldn't keep going at the pace we were at. So on they ran. They'd run about a mile then wait for me.

Got to mile 15 where I saw my family again, this time with our neighbors Matt, Jill & Sammy cheering me on as well. Mike gave me a quick calf massage and we were off again.

Miles 16-18 Jaime and Betsy continued to run, wait, run, wait and I was starting to feel guilty about them taking care of me. A medic rode by on his bike and I told him to keep an eye on me. I knew my calf pain was bad enough to be crippling, debilitating. I was worried. But I ran on when he said he'd keep checking back in on me.

Mile 19 was the last time I saw Jaim and Bets. And it was the mile that the medic learned my name instead of just my number. He fed me a mustard packet (he claims it helped with cramping). He could have handed me a bolgna sandwich and told me it would help...I would have taken it! I had tried bananas, Gu, chews, and water...nothing was helping. So I gladly downed his mustard pack. Shortly after this, I remember the one word that kept running through my head: deflated. I simply felt beat. I kept putting my head down and saying to myself I was deflated. And then I remember what my cycling coach in college told us all the time, "Do NOT put your head down! As soon as you put your head down you have given up!" So I kept my head up (thanks, Siri).

Mile 20 and 21 repeat above with medic. At one point he asked if I wanted to be taken away. I seriously contemplated it. Cried with him. Then decided I was going to finish this race even if it meant the sag wagon was going to pick me up after 6 hours on the course. I was going to do this. This was my last marathon. I could do it. (And thanks to Beth's husband Jeff for giving me some much needed pain meds somewhere near the IMA.)

Around mile 22 a man passed me who was also struggling but I could hear his mantra over and over, "I am strong. I am built to last." After listening to this I decided I needed a mantra. I repeated for the entire next mile, "I have two legs. They are strong. I have a beating heart. It is strong. I can do this."

I knew I had to make it to mile 23 where my good friend Karie awaited me to run a few miles together. See, Karie and I grew up together in elementary school. Sleepovers. Birthdays. You get the idea. We went to high school together and parted ways come college time. When the Facebook era came around we reconnected. We saw how close we lived to each other and I started following her blog. Knew she started running marathons and struggled with some similar issues and I just knew it was meant to be that she and I reunited. She ran R.agnar with us and ever since I've just loved having her as a friend. She is so special to me (she sent Jaime and I care packages last week and I wept reading her inspirational messages). So when I spotted from a distance her pink and purple tutu I immediately put my face in my hands and sobbed. It meant so much to me that she met me at such a hard mile. That she put on a tutu to run with me. I still get choked up at how good of a friend she has become and all that she gave me yesterday on that course. I did a lot of swearing. I did a lot of venting. We hugged numerous times. She told me stories...until she said, "Isn't that girl your friend? I read her blog!" I was near delierious at this point and had no idea what she was talking about until I heard a cyclist jump off their bike, letting it crash to the ground, and then realized it was Meggie.

Oh, Meggie. She had G.atorade for me. She had stories of all the other runners in our group for me. She had funny stories. She swore with me. She pumped me up. She ran along side us for 1/2 mile until she hugged me to let me go. I freaking adore her.

Karie ran a little more with me when James (my BoMF running buddy) came up behind us and gave me one last hug. I was so proud to see him finishing his first marathonn so happily. My, how much he has overcome in the last few years. If he could do it, so could I. Karie soon hugged me to let me finish my last mile alone.

Around mile 25 I saw aforementioned sorority sisters screaming "GO KEEL!!!" Gave me enough to keep going.

Then right before mile 26 I saw fellow Perfect Stranger Amy. She jumped in, pepped me up, shook me up (literally) and told me to finish strong.

I rounded the corner. Saw the 26 mile marker. Heard Danielle scream my name and shuffled my weak legs into the finishers' shute.

As soon as I crossed (and turned my watch off to a disappointing time of 4:38) I was wrapped in a foil blanket and greeted by my buddy James. He was smiling. Which made me smile. We embraced and that was all I needed at that moment. His hug told me all I needed to know. I finished.

I walked very slowly to bag check where I was greeted by Jaime and her sisters and our good friend Eric from BoMF (who just finished his first marathon!). Both were smiling and all I could do was smile for a few pictures, give a few hugs, then sit. I was proud of both of them. But I just needed to rest my legs. Called to tell my husband I survived. Then we changed our clothes and headed out to celebrate with our friends.

The next few hours are hazy. Actually, the entire remainder of the day was hazy. I fluctuated between awake and sleeping for several hours. Went to bed at 8:30 and slept for 11 hours. I. Was. Exhausted.

I woke this morning well rested and to a quiet home (thanks to my children who didn't even care about the time change...we all got an extra hour!). I reflected on the previous day and can only sum it up to this: I finished a marathon. And now I can breathe (and limp).

 Thank you to Sandi & Katie for your amazing signs!

 Mike massaging my calf cramps

 Hugging my close friend Jill

 Love Chris' sign..."Hot Legs"

 So happy to see James!

 Mile 15

Happy to see James again at the finish

 Finishers: Betsy, me, Eric, Jaime & Amy

Thanking my body for being so strong and not giving up. Thanking all my friends & family for their amazing support. I. Am. Done.