Glass City Marathon Report – Part 2

This post is a continuation from Glass City Marathon Report – Part 1. Thank you for your patience with this very long post!!

Leg 5 – Jamie

When I ended the previous post, I was passing through Relay Exchange #5, where my friend Jessica was handing off the relay bib to my son, Jamie.  Here’s Jamie, patiently waiting for me to round the turn.

Once he got the hand-off from Jessica, he fell into step beside me.

I really didn’t know what to expect from him when I caught up with him, but I was so tired (this was mile 20.9, as you may recall), I didn’t say anything.  He, however, was eager to talk. As he attached the belt around his waist, he said, “So, Dad told me I should say something to make you laugh, but I got nothin’, so you’re out of luck.”  Which, of course, made me laugh. Or at least chuckle. 😛  I told him it was okay, that he didn’t have to talk, and he asked me how I was doing.  I told him that I was really tired, but I was okay.  Which is funny, because I wasn’t really “okay,” but he’s my kid and I didn’t want him to worry about me, lol!

Although I was tired, I did take a moment to look at Jamie and gauge his mental and physical state.  He seemed very alert and was running strong. As we made a turn away from the exchange area and headed on a bit of a straight away, he pointed to a turn up farther up ahead, saying, “Okay, Mom: once we do that turn up ahead, it’s just a long, gentle slope to the finish.”  I was stunned—I had no idea he’d studied the elevation map! (I later learned that his dad had gotten him there an hour early, so he’d used the time to sit in the car and study all the maps I’d printed out!)

We didn’t say much for a while, but he was looking good.  By this time, I was faltering a bit more, but in my head, I knew it was only about 5 more miles, so I just kept telling myself that it was all mental from here on out and I knew I could do it. I counted the seconds as we walked through the water station at 21.2, and although it was getting harder, I tossed my cup when I got to 15 and started up again.  Jamie was right there beside me.

Soon, we left the preserve and made it back to the University Parks trail, which would make up the bulk of our remaining run.  My watch beeped for the 22 mile mark, and by that time, I was getting a bit surly about my Garmin…based on the location of the flags that marked each mile, I knew it was off by about .4 miles.  Dude, that’s a long damn way when you’re exhausted!!  Plus, I knew that made my average pace totally wrong, but I wasn’t sure how wrong.  I continued doing my mental math, and when I hit the true 22.2 mile mark, I could see I was at 4 hours, 12 minutes and some change for total time—that meant that 12-minute miles were out, since I still had 4 miles to go.   Still, I felt that I could at least be confident about my lap paces, if not my overall pace, and I was below 11:30 for the last several miles.  (In fact, other than mile 17 [11:54, but included a bathroom break!] and mile 18 [11:32, not sure what happened there], I was sub-11:20 for every mile up to that point!)

My watch was reading an 11:10 average, and though I knew it wasn’t right due to the distance being off, I knew it was in that neighborhood.  So, I just convinced myself that I didn’t have to run any faster—I just had to keep going at the pace I was currently at.  And I honestly felt like I could do that! Despite the pain in my legs, I suddenly felt mentally (if not physically) exhilarated.  I vividly remembered my first marathon, when I was so exhausted that I walked at least 5 or 6 times in the last 4 miles, giving me average lap paces in the 13-minute-mile range. Even in my tired state on Sunday, I knew that 11 was better than 13, ha ha! 😉

Because I had my handy cheat sheet, I was looking forward to the next water station, only .8 miles from the last one at the 22 mark.  Um…except that there wasn’t one. :/  I don’t know if I was delirious and missed it, but I never saw a water station in that area. Neither did Jamie, so I’m pretty sure there wasn’t one.  But honestly, that was the only “miss” of the race, in my opinion, so I won’t complain. (Rest assured, though…I was complaining in my head a lot at the time.)  It’s hard to remember now, but I think what happened is they combined the ones at miles 22 and 23.3, because there was another at 23.8, and they probably figured they didn’t need 3 that close together.  A little warning might have been nice, though. :p

As we continued down the trail, Jamie started calling out distances to me.  “Only 3.3 to go, Mom.”  A little later: “Only a 5k left, Mom.” I was so impressed that he was doing math for me even as he was running his own challenging race. 🙂  As we approached an aid station around mile 23, he even asked me if I wanted a shot block, bless his heart.  I told him I was good, and I stopped to walk and get some water.  I counted as I walked, but this time, it was harder to get going when I hit 15.  Jamie didn’t have that problem, though…he must have been counting the seconds, too, because when I failed to start at 15, he reached over and gently tugged on my arm.  “Come on, Mom, you gotta get going. You can do it.”  I was torn between being proud of him for being mature enough to coach me…and being mad at him for making me run again, ha ha!

I couldn’t say no to him, though, and we started running again. By this time, Jamie was just about at his half-way point, and he told me that we were averaging about an 11:23 pace.  Though I was tired, I’m still a mom, and I was worried about my boy, so I asked him how he was.  He looked over at me in surprise and said, “Fine.”  Ha, I’m not sure if he was surprised that he felt so well or surprised that I thought to ask him. 😉

As we got closer to the aid station near mile 23.8, we came to a bit of a decline.  I didn’t even notice it, but Jamie did, and he said to me: “Loosen up and let gravity take you down the incline.”  This was something the pacer in my first half-marathon had taught me, which I later used to help Jamie get through his first Kona Run and all his 10ks since—it amazes me that he remembers these things!

As we headed down the trail, the wind was a bit stronger than we expected, coming almost right in our face.  I even heard Jamie grumble about it. But then he said, “It’s okay, Mom, we can do this.”  Soon, we were coming up to the aid station at mile 23.8, and my legs, especially my left IT band and both of my quads, were really hurting.  I remembered what Renee had said about mid-run stretching being really good for you, and helping you get through the toughest parts, and I decided that it was time.  I told Jamie as we approached the aid station that I was going to stop and do some stretches.  He asked me if I wanted him to get me some water, and I said no, just be near me when I stretch.

We had to cross a main road just before the aid station, and as soon as we were across, I stopped near a tree and did my full IT band and quad stretches.  I would estimate we were stopped for a little over a minute as I did four stretches, which included leaning on Jamie for support to stretch my quads.  A minute is a long time when you’re cutting your goal as close as I was, but at the same time, I just felt in my heart (and my legs!) that I wasn’t going to make it if I didn’t stretch.

Jamie stood patiently by as I stretched, and when I had to balance on one leg to stretch each quad, he allowed me to lean on him, and even steadied me when I got wobbly. He asked if I was ready, and although I didn’t want to, I knew I had to start running, so off we went. At that point, we had 2.4 miles to go, but in my head, I was rounding it down to two miles, and two miles is always my “that’s nothing” distance at the end of a long run. 😉 It didn’t quite feel like “nothing” at that point, but I felt confident that I would get it done and not have to stop and walk.  I remember when we started up again, my watch (which had hit mile 24 just before we stopped) was reading about a 17-minute mile, but later, I would learn that I managed to get that mile under a 12-minute pace (11:58!).

As we approached the 25 mile mark, I knew we were going to see the last aid station.  I asked Jamie how he was feeling, and if he thought he could make it through without stopping, because at that point, I didn’t want to stop.  I was so so so so ready to be done at that point, and the idea of stopping with just 1.2 miles to go seemed both impossible and insane.  He replied, “I’ll need some water, but I can keep going.”  True to his word, he grabbed a cup of water and choked down a drink as I ran by.

After he tossed his cup aside, he looked over at me and said, “I love you, Mom.”  Yes, my 13-year-old, often surly teenager told me he loved me. 🙂

Not long after, we made the turn off the trail and into the University campus.  “Do you hear that?” Jamie asked and pointed to our left.  Sure enough, we could hear the crowds cheering from the stadium, where the finish line was.  “Almost done, Mom!” he said cheerfully.  (In my head I was thinking, “How the hell is he so cheerful?!”)

Now, if you’ve ever run a race of any distance, you know that, as you get close to the finish line, every turn feels like it should be the last one.  I have been frustrated by many a late-race turn in my life, fooled into thinking, “All I have to do is get around that bend up ahead and I’ll see the finish line!”

By the time we hit the U-T campus, my brain was close to being fried, and of course, my watch was totally off, but I wasn’t exactly sure by how much, so I began to think every turn was my last one.  Well, guess what? It wasn’t.  I counted them after the fact—there were TEN turns in the last mile of that race!!  That’s just cruel, dude.  And totally hope-crushing.  I didn’t know exactly where the finish line was, so with every turn we made—around the campus, through parking lots, in front of the building where we’d picked up our packets the day before—I groaned when I realized we weren’t there yet.  Jamie, bless his heart, heard me, and with each groan I made, he piped up with quiet encouragement.

“It’s okay, Mom, you can do it.”

“You’re almost there, Mom. “

“You got this, Mom.”

At this point, he’d already run 5 miles of his own, at his fastest pace in almost a year, but there he was, still encouraging me.  What an amazing kid.

There was one turn where I actually didn’t groan.  It was right at the 26 mile mark, just after we passed the Savage arena, where packet pickup had been.  There, just to the side of the course, to my astonishment, were 3 young ladies—singing!  And singing well!  The best part—they were singing a song about running. 🙂

http://youtu.be/Avht5p_VDzo

They were so awesome, and it was just such a wonderful surprise and joy to hear them, after running all that way, singing me to the finish line.  I didn’t have the energy to call out to them, but I did smile and give them a thumbs-up as I went by.  (More about them later.)

After we passed the singing girls, we had yet another turn, this time onto Stadium Drive. This put us back at the original starting line, now mile 26.1, and I could hear my name being called as we came closer to the stadium entrance.  My four relay runners were there, cheering us on!  By this time I knew that I finally was close, and I turned it on a little more, with Jamie right next to me.

As we passed my four relay friends, I was surprised to see them fall into step behind me—they were going to cross the finish line with us!  Finally, I could see the finish line, and I pushed as hard as I could—I was doing a sub-11 pace now, but to my astonishment, Jamie suddenly pulled ahead of me.  We were so close to the finish line, and he was leaving me behind! (What the hell, Jamie?!)  I had no breath left, but I called out to him as best I could. He didn’t hear me, though, so I heard my friends calling his name, too.  But still, he kept going.  Finally, I dug deep and pulled out the “mom voice:”

“JAMIE!!!”

At last, he turned around, and for a moment he looked confused.  “Run with me,” I gasped. “Don’t leave me behind!”  He looked sheepish and immediately slowed down to run with me.  (Later, he told me he got caught up in the moment and just assumed I was beside him, ha ha!)

I grabbed his hand and raised it up to cross the finish line.

Behind me, I could hear the four relay runners, cheering us on.

Jamie and I crossed the finish line with our arms up, and I was so very, very happy to be done.  The first word out of my mouth when we crossed was, “Water!”  I found a bottle and then was quickly handed a medal.  A very cool medal, actually.

Or maybe it was just cool because it means I ran a marathon. 😉  After taking a drink of water, I hugged Jamie and said (more than once), “I’m done!” and “You did it!” My team found us and congratulated me, and then JJ found me and gave me a big hug.  I found my husband and got a hug from him, too.  Everyone asked me how I felt and I just kept saying, “I’m done! It’s over!” 🙂 JJ proudly told me, “Mom, now you can say you’ve run two marathons!”  And I answered, “I sure can!” Of course we got a group picture.

I’m rather surprised to look at that picture now and realize that I look pretty good for having just run 26 miles!

All my friends started asking me about my time, and I told them I wasn’t sure but I was pretty confident I met my goal.  I knew the official clock said we were around 5:02, but although I didn’t actually remember what my watch said at that point (for once, I wasn’t looking!), I knew from the many checkpoints during the race that my start time was about 4 minutes after the official race start.  So therefore, a 5:02-something on the clock should be fine.

Thankfully, my husband was pretty on the ball, and he had Jamie’s phone, which of course had the exact tracking app on it.  Within seconds he had pulled it out and was announcing my time: 4:58:03!!  Woo hoo!!  Yes, I did give a shout of joy when I heard that. 🙂  It was an amazing feeling of relief to not only be done, but to know that I had actually met my goal—and that all my friends and my son had helped me get there.  As you can imagine, I was pretty elated at that point. 😉  I think I said, “I did it! I did it!” about 1000 times, ha ha!  It didn’t matter to me that I was way off from my “goal pace,” which would have put me at a 4:50 finish…all that mattered was that I’d beaten my 5-hour goal, something I hadn’t been able to do with my first marathon.  In addition, I was happy to realize that, while I didn’t feel fantastic, I didn’t feel nearly as awful as I did after the first one.  I could breathe, I didn’t feel the need to collapse on the ground, and I was even able to walk to the food tent.  That’s a major accomplishment, I assure you!

My husband and JJ had to leave for a hockey game, but the ladies and I, along with Jamie, made our way to get our glass mugs (sweet!) and then our post-race food.  I don’t like beer, and Jamie didn’t get any either, obviously, but a few of our relay runners did.

We stayed in the post-race area for a while, and I did finally get a chance to sit and rest, as did Jamie.

Eventually, we headed back to the cars…in my case, veeeeeeery slowly. 😉 That’s when I saw that the singing girls were still on the course—they stayed and sang until the last runner crossed!  What dedication.  I thanked them profusely for their support and encouragement and told them that they are amazing singers!  There are actually 4 of them (one couldn’t be there) and two are sisters.  Their dad was there with them, and he was beaming as he told me that they are a singing group called J4V (Just 4 Voices) and they’re going to be BIG very soon, he promised.  Based on not just their talent, but on their caring hearts, I don’t doubt that for a minute!  So of course I had to get a picture with the future awesome group, J4V.

I’ll say I knew them when. 😉

Once I finally got in the car, I asked Jamie if he thought he could make it through his brother’s hockey game.  Yes, even though I’d told everyone I wouldn’t make it to the game, I knew I could see part of it, so of course, I had to try. 😉 Jamie wasn’t too thrilled about it, but then I promised him a post-run reward, and he perked up.

Yes, I let him have Starbucks.  Decaf, though!  What can I say, he likes the café mochas, and how could I deny him anything after his amazing performance? After we got our drinks and I changed into clean clothes, we headed back up to Michigan.  On the way down 475, I started to tell Jamie how proud I was of him and how well he had done, both in running the race and especially in supporting me, and I got a bit choked up at that point.  I was so proud of him!  He kind of brushed it off, but I could tell he was proud of himself.

After the hockey game, I took him and JJ out for the dinner I’d been promising him for weeks:

Yes, just like after my half-marathon last year, we went to Bagger Dave’s.  I could care less about wings and pizza and all that stuff, but I do love me a big hamburger with all the fixings!

At home, we watched a RedBox movie and then, blessedly, I went to bed.  All in all…it was a pretty awesome day.  🙂

On Monday, I did absolutely nothing. Okay, that’s not entirely true. I drove the kids to school, and then I went and got a little post-marathon reward.

Who doesn’t love a cinnamon roll as big as your head the day after a marathon? I could only actually eat about two thirds, and then I gave the rest to JJ. After that, I sat around and mindlessly watched TV (I love the CBS crime dramas, like Hawaii 5-0 and all the NCIS versions, as well as the new shows Scorpion and Battle Creek), started on the world’s longest race report, and then took a nap.

After some more mindless television Monday night, I got up on Tuesday and actually had a productive day. Well, productive in that I pampered myself ridiculously. 😉 First came a makeover, then a massage, and then, my first ever pedicure! My wonderful relay teammates had even surprised me with a gift card to the salon, so most of my day was actually paid for! 🙂  I had bought a new dress on Saturday, and at the urging of the nail tech, I went crazy with my toenail color.

I was so proud of the fact that I still had all my toenails after training for in running a marathon, I felt like I might as well go crazy and really show ’em off. 😉 After that, it was a shampoo and style, and then I headed out to meet two of my four relay running friends for a very fancy dinner.

Renee and Jessica couldn’t make it, but I’ll have to make it up to them another day. Meanwhile, Ann, Toddra and I had a great time rehashing the race and just chatting about everything and nothing. Dinner was delicious, and of course I ordered dessert, which I then promptly forgot to take a picture of. It was a chocolate cheesecake, and I sure you it was beautiful and delicious. 🙂

I spent three days eating pretty much whatever I wanted, but Wednesday was a return to reality. I had to go back to work, and I figured I’d better get back to somewhat normal eating, before things got too out of hand. I do kind of miss all the desserts, though. 😉

Now for my thoughts on the race:

I would have to say that it was, well, just about perfect. The race was very well organized, and public safety did a great job keeping us out of harm’s way, despite having to cross many major roads. In addition, the crowd support was incredible, especially for the kind of neighborhoods we went through. I was shocked at how many of those people gave up their neighborhood and even took time out of there Sunday to support a race. The medals were awesome, the mugs were sweet, and the post-race party was good, although I didn’t really enjoy it, since I was kind of tired. 😉 Overall, I would give that race and nine out of 10, and the only reason it’s not a ten is because of that one water station that wasn’t where was supposed to be. But considering they had 19 other water stations on the course, which was very, very helpful, I should probably give them a 9.5. 😉

As for my personal experience, well, I trained five days a week for this marathon, with the sole purpose of coming in at under five hours. In the end, I met my goal, with a little bit to spare, and that’s all I can ask for. Although it might have been impressive to finish with, say, seven minutes to spare, I don’t think I would’ve felt as good at the end without my stretch breaks. And, that’s really what I wanted most of all: to feel good at the end. When I was done, although my legs hurt, my aerobic capacity felt good, and I could move and talk. After running 26 miles, that’s pretty good! 🙂

For my relay team, my biggest hope was that I wouldn’t fall apart on the run, and that none of them would find themselves in the untenable situation of either having to coach me through a really difficult time, or carry me to the finish line. 😉 I’m happy to say neither of those things happened, and in addition, I’m thrilled to know that they all had a good time and enjoyed themselves. Despite being stuck in a car for four hours with strangers!  In fact, Jessica later texted me and pointed out that they realized that all of us were moms of only boys–we have 15 boys among the five of us!!  How funny is that? 😉 I’m so glad I had them there to help me; each team member offered me something unique, because each of them has a unique personality, and it all added up to me having an amazing race experience.  I’m so grateful to them all for putting in the time and commitment to help make my second marathon my best yet!

And finally, as far as my biggest concern, that ended up being the biggest triumph of the day. Bigger than me finishing a marathon, even finishing it within my goal, or with four great friends. No, I think more than all that, the most successful part of the day was Jamie’s performance.

As I mentioned in my post last Saturday, I had my doubts. I worried that I was asking too much of him…not only did I ask this 13-year-old to pace his mom in a marathon, but do it in the hardest leg (the last 5.3 miles, when she so badly to quit), and get her across the finish line–preferably under her goal time. Oh, and run 5.3 miles of his own at the same time! I made the decision to ask him to run with me back in December, and I knew that it could turn out to be great or it could go horribly wrong.  And yet, I found out that he has much more strength, determination, and character than I ever could’ve imagined. He encouraged me, supported me, and wouldn’t let me give up, all while running his own 5+mile race at an 11:30 pace!

On Sunday, I discovered my 13-year-old son has an amazing amount of mental toughness and maturity, and I’m glad I gave him this opportunity, because I discovered that, in giving him this challenge, I gave him the opportunity to excel. My little boy really is growing up…and I couldn’t be more proud of him!!!

Thank you so much for reading (and for being patient while I finished it!)!