My brother’s first marathon- my recap

Long Beach. I had no idea what to expect. It was my brother’s first marathon and I knew that no matter what we were getting across that finish line.

Since we were staying at different hotels I sent Joe a text to let him know I was on my way to the start around 5 a.m. We decided to meet at the portapotties since it was well lit and made it easy for one last bathroom break.

We made our way down to the start and shoved out way into the crowd right behind the 4 hour pacer. I figured that would force us out slow so that I could try to help keep an even split (goal) and if Joe had anything left in the tank we could try to pick it up at the end.

A few minutes before the gun went off I got to meet Sandy. We have been at so many of the same races and always miss one another. Really cool that we found one another in the dark in a large crowd!

Gun went off and away we went.

Goal was to go out nice and easy and then get comfortable around 8:50-9:00 pace. Based on Joe’s training runs I knew that would be a great pace and it could mean a finish right around that 4 hour mark. The weather was abso-freaking-lutely perfect and we tried to get into a groove pretty quickly.

Mile 1: 8:58

2: 8:48

3: 8:53

4: 9:01

5: 9:06

6: 9:05

As we past the 10k mark we celebrated being 25% done. We were right alongside the water and it was nice and flat. Beings that there is no such thing as flat in my hood this was a sweet change!

Mile 7:  9:02

8: 9:01

9: 9:00

10: 9:01

11: 8:58

12: 9:16

13: 9:05

We crossed the half way point under 2 hours and at that point it was looking like we had a solid chance of staying on track for that 4 hour finish. I remember we high fived and just kept chugging along.

Mile 14: 9:14

15: 9:21

I remember Joe telling me he needed the bathroom but when we passed the portapotties there was a long line. I knew he didn’t want to stop and wait as that could be a recipe for disaster. I think it was at 15 that he finally got to go to the bathroom? I just remember taking his water bottle to fill it up and then we continued on.

16: 9:32

17: 10:12

At mile 18 is when things took a turn. I knew we had been slowing down so I went into motivational coach/cheerleader. Seeing my sweet, hard working brother hit the wall was one of the hardest things I have ever gone through. I felt helpless as we rode the roller coaster of emotions. There was nothing I could do or say to make it better but I just kept trying. We decided together to move onto a 5:1 plan to try to help get through. Run 5 minutes, fast walk a minute and transition back to running.

Mile 18: 11:31

19: 10:47

20: 12:56

Around 20 I started to use my talk to text on my Iphone to let the family know where we were and how we were doing. I’ll give Siri some credit for doing a decent job of getting it right. Seriously, I talk to text messages to my best friend A LOT and Siri royally jacks them up.

21: 12:19

22: 11:40

Around 22ish there was a group of boyscouts handing out otter pops. We hoarded them! Every race should have otter pops. I’m serious. I think we talked about how good those otter pops tasted for the rest of the race.

23: 13:03

There was a hill at this mile and we ended up in a sea of walkers. Hills in the late miles can be soul crushing. I wasn’t going to let the hills destroy our race. We went into run the flat walk the hills mode and it worked. Well, worked as well as it could, right Joe?!

24: 13:19

The last few miles of a marathon are always hard. Always. I think these miles were especially hard because Joe wanted his legs to go so badly but the mental battle makes it tough. More than once we held hands as I told him we were almost there. He was almost done. He was going to be a marathoner!

25: 12:33

26: 11:24

.2: 8:39

This is when we saw our family. They were at 26.10 screaming and shouting and holding up signs. They were the motivation that pushed us through that last .10

We crossed the finish line together in 4:28. Joe did it. He battled through all 26.2. We hugged and cried and took pictures. We reunited with the family and celebrated a finish that was 24 weeks in the making.

My brother hated running. Loathed it. And now he is a marathoner. All it took was a little courage- and believing that there is so much more after that first step.

~

“But if what we hope for we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” Romans 8:25

Now it’s time to gear up for Boston training. I.can’t.wait.

Ready ready ready ready…ready to ruuuuuuuun

It’s pouring. Like real rain. Lightening and everything.

This is my view while sitting in traffic on the way home. I love the rain so if I have to sit in a sea of cars at least I get to listen to raindrops. In ridiculous news I saw 5 accidents within 4 miles. I’m not kidding. When it rains in these parts people totally lose their minds.  FACT: I am over my commute.

The rain is due to be gone by tomorrow and the forecast for Sunday is looking pretty darn sweet:

That’s right. It’s time for me and my baby brother to run Long Beach

After 24 weeks of running, running and more running he is SO ready

We plan on having a lot of fun. Yes, it is possible to have fun for 26.2 miles. Especially when you have a running partner like me who raps, rocks and can tell hilarious stories for hours on end. Like the time I called the cops on a kid I caught tagging the freeway. “Siri, call the sheriff.” Yes that happened. And I’m laughing as I type it. But really, if you are going to deface property don’t do it at 5:30 p.m. for everyone to see. Especially me, keeper of the peace.

But back to Long Beach.

If you are out there please say hi. Give a high-five. Run with us. Whatever floats your boat. We will take all of the motivation that we can get!

For now, I’m out. Need to catch up on Nashville and Parenthood..oh, and sleep. Yeah. I will be blogging from the LBC when we arrive on Saturday! WOOOHOOO! Run strong, run smart, have fun!

Oh! And just because it’s October, this is my favorite picture of my boy from 2007. I hope this makes you smile…

See you in a few days 🙂

Back from my blogging hiatus

My last blog post was 3 days before I started my new job. 3 days before my world as I knew it would turn into total chaos. 12 hours days. Long commutes. Inundated. Missing my family. Missing “normal” life. Missing…balance.

Then I took off for SF got to see my BFFL.

And  while I was there I ran this race

It was awesome. It was the first time I ran with a pace group and talked to people for the entire 1:40.

And then the kids started school and we had to try to find “balance” again. It’s been hectic. We still haven’t totally figured out our schedule but we’re getting there.

Just a few days after school started my BFFs (and their families) came to the rescue and we had a super fun weekend together. Best friends are like angels. Without wings. They restore balance with lots of love and much needed laughter!

And I ran a few more races

And had fun doing them.

But since then it’s been all business

My coach is a beast!

Long Beach is in 1 1/2 weeks. It’s my brother’s first marathon. And we’re running it together.

That’s right.

Look out world. There is going to be a whole lot of sexy on the race course.

And then there will be some downtime. Yoga has been back in full force. I need it. I have 2 big races coming up in April.

Boston is my A race.  I still can’t believe I’m in. I’M IN! Big Sur is my be one with nature race. I cannot freaking wait.

I’m going to need lots of mental and physical strength. It’s going to be tough. There will be lots of ups and downs and, therefore, lots of blog talk. That’s right. I’m back people. Lots of rad stuff is in store. Hope you’re ready.