Run, Robyn, Run! (Part 6)

As I am nearing the finish, I put it into top speed and gave it all I got it.  Darn it, I was going to run across that finish line!  I even managed to pass a woman as I got closer.  Take that, speed walker!



Just after crossing the finish line.  I call this my "Tiger Woods" pose.

I did it in 6 hrs, 17 minutes, 10 seconds.  I was #10,128 out of 10,270 runners who finished the full marathon.  I am sure I could've done it faster.  But I am proud of what I did and I am super happy that I met my two original goals -- not to be last and not to be swept.  No, I wasn't last!   There were 142 people behind me.  :) 

During this marathon, 2 people died and 10 others were taken to the hospital. So I am very pleased that I was able to finish.  And I managed to complete another goal I had.  If there was anything left in me, I was going to run up the Art Museum steps a la Rocky.  And by G-d, I did just that!

This weekend was everything I wanted the experience to be.  It was challenging, exhausting, exciting and rewarding.  I loved it all!  I have no desire to do another marathon, but its funny that I've already got a list in my head on everything I would differently. They say you run your first one to finish, and the next one for time.  I am only doing this once.  But I have to think that there are plenty of areas that I could easily improve on and make that finishing time so much better. 

Major kudos to my husband for sticking by me through the last 7 months, encouraging me along the way, and letting me have an entire weekend be all about me....other than when he had to stop and get a cheese steak.  :)

Run, Robyn, Run! (Part 5)

It's funny, you set your alarm so that you don't oversleep, but you end up waking up every hour throughout the night in panic you have.  The alarm clock in the hotel room was set, a wake-up call was arranged through the hotel, and I still had one eyeball on the time watching the hours pass.

The nerves are in high gear at this point and my hands are literally shaking as I get dressed.  It is a very unsettling feeling and I am a basket case going back and forth between being ridiculously excited that we are finally doing this and ready to throw-up at the thought of what I am about to do. 

I had studied the course many, many times and knew that the first water stop would be at mile 2.2 and then pretty consistently every mile and a half after that.  I made a game-time decision to not use my Camelbak and run the marathon without carrying any kind of liquid on me.  I had my Spibelt and used it to carry everything I needed; cell phone, tissues, GU, and used the handy dandy cords to hold my bib.  This proved to be the best decision ever.  It actually felt great running without that extra weight on my back and the numerous water stops were plenty. 

My corral was blue, group #8.  This was the last of the bunch, which meant that it would be a good 28 minutes after the race officially started before Jen and I could cross the starting line.  The temps started to warm up (the high ended up being 64 degrees) and didn't need gloves, ear-warmer headband or even the extra layer of the jacket.  It was a beautiful day!


Jen and I minutes before starting. 
I posted on FB that I was more nervous now than when I
realized I was about to give birth to Ian and the epidural wasn't working. 


As I passed through the official starting point, I became overcome with emotion and was fighting the ugly cry from taking over my entire face.  It had been such a long journey getting to this point and it was finally here.  Seeing everyone on the sidelines cheering, holding up signs, making noise, made it all very real.  It took until about a full mile in before I buried deep these emotions and focused more on the race and wanting to get it done. 

The race is best told in two parts.  PART 1, which was the beginning to mile 13.  And PART 2, which was mile 14 to the end.

PART 1: The beginning to mile 13.

The first 9 miles really flew by.  I couldn't believe how quickly the race was going and before I knew it, almost 2 hours had been completed.  Around mile 9 is when the big, nasty hill happens and I was told in advance to expect it and know that EVERYONE walks it.  No problem, I could handle that!  But this hill was a toughie and even with walking it, my legs were now starting to feel the effects of what I was out there doing.

The crowd support was awesome!  I could actually feel my body moving faster and run lightly because of all the cheering, the music playing, and reading all the signs they were holding.  I absolutely loved it when complete strangers would read my name on my bib and say, "Go Robyn!"  "You got this Robyn!"   I mean, how can you even think of walking when passing all this?  I don't want to let the people down and disappoint.



Loved all the signs!
Had to stop and take a few pictures of some of my favorites.



There's the juggler!  He, among many, passed me.

Jen's cheering committee and mine divided and conquered.  I don't think this was intentional, but each group picked different areas to cheer us on as we ran by.  I thought this was the greatest thing ever and loved getting to see people I knew twice the amount of time rather than if they were all standing together.

Here's two pictures of me just before mile 6.

I am feeling GREAT!  At this point, I'm tracking a 5:25 marathon and couldn't be more pleased.  There are still tons of people around me, running with me and I feel like I am part of something really big.

Approximately half the people running are only doing the 1/2 marathon.  I know that soon I will be seeing them head to the right for their finish line and the full marathoners (that's me!) will veer to the left to keep going.  I didn't realize just how many people would be leaving the course. 

I got to see Jeff, Lori and Ben one last time around mile 13.5.  I knew that at this point, I won't see them again until I finish.  It was not logistically convenient to make it to any of the other cheer zones to see me.

PART 2:  Miles 14 to the end.

As I start the 2nd half, I know that the both the men and women top 10 have already finished the full marathon, gotten their medals and made their way to food and a shower.  Me, however, I am just getting my groove, that is with finding port-a-potties and pooping.  Yes, my tummy decided to either react from all the nerves or the full strength Gatorade (which I was not used to drinking) and I had to go 3 separate times during the race.  Yowzer!  It is what it is, but I will always wonder how much better my time would've been if I didn't need to stop so much.

As the hours passed, water stations were starting to break down.  They still handed out water/gatorade, but now it was only 1/2 table doing so, instead of 8 or 9 tables full.  In fact at one point, a guy was standing there with a jug in his hand offering to pour me a glass.  Yes, it is comical to look back on this now, but at the time, it was discouraging.  The real insult came when an officer let two cars cut in front of me on the course.  The cars were not a risk to my safety, but having to run behind their exhaust and fumes was like kicking a person when their down.  Come'on people...have some respect for those of us still out there.

As I was hitting mile 17, I could hear the "party" going on at mile 22.  WOWEE!!!  A big band was playing, there was dancing, cheering, lots of enthusiasm.  By the time I swung around to mile 22, no one was left.  The band left to go home, the people dancing left.  There wasn't anyone left cheering. 

When I had to go to the bathroom a 3rd time to poop (around mile 20), I actually left the course and found a Burrito restaurant and walked in and asked if their bathroom had toilet paper, because as I announced to everyone inside, "I could really use some right about now."   It was a nice, clean bathroom and well worth the extra time.

By mile 20, I had enough and was really ready for this to be over.  I had been out there for more than 4.5 hours and still had a way to go.  Unfortunately I wasn't getting any faster, only slower, much slower.

As the miles wore on, the crowd of participants got thinner around me.  There was starting to be huge stretches of space between me and the other runners.    One guy even asked me to stop and take his picture at the mile 25 marker. Ha!  What was I going to do, say no?  Sorry, buddy, but I really can't stop right now.  This extra 40 seconds might make all the difference in the world for my ending time.  I even waited to see if he liked the picture or wanted me to retake it.

Instead of texting every time I hit another 5 miles to let my group know where I was, I was now texting pretty much every mile from 20 to 26.  I couldn't wait for this marathon to be over.  I was going to blow through 6 hours and it wasn't going to pretty.  At this point, I just wanted to finish. 

Stay tuned...part 6:  The BIG finish!

Run, Robyn, Run! (Part 4)

We drove up to the Baltimore area on Saturday morning, dropped the kids off at my in-laws and then Jeff and I continued to Philadelphia.  Ever since I announced I wanted to do this marathon (7 months ago!), Jeff instantly went into action and figured out where he would get his Philly cheese steak fix.  It would either be at Pat's or Geno's.  Since Pat's is a Pepsi place and Geno's is not, the decision was a no-brainer.  Geno's it is.  I decided to do some of my own research and find a place I could get a gluten-free treat to reward myself with after the race.  I found this sweet little bakery called, "Sweet Freedom Bakery".  The whole entire place is baked this way --  Here is a label from their box.

Hard to believe, but without any of the above ingredients, the items I picked out were incredibly tasty.  I really don't think you'd be able to tell it was missing any of this stuff.  I picked out 2 different kinds of cupcakes, 2 types of cookies, 2 slices of banana nut bread, and a Cinnamon sugar crueler.  Yum-O!  And how nice to know that I had this waiting for me once I finished the 26.2.

So before we even got to the hotel, we drove by Geno's for a cheese steak and Sweet Freedom for my baked goods.  I have some pretty awesome pictures of Jeff enjoying his cheese steak (finished within 2 blocks of us pulling away), but I am under a gag order from including them.  Just know that he enjoyed it.  The look of satisfaction on his face is now his ID photo on my phone when he calls.  If nothing else, going to Philly was worth it for him for this cheese steak experience.

The rest of Saturday went like clock work.  We checked into the Embassy Suites on Benjamin Franklin Parkway-- closest hotel to the starting line.  I had no desire to walk any more than necessary come race day.   It would take about an hour to explain the story on how I got us reservations at this hotel.  A few months before registration to the race even opened, this hotel was already booked solid.  Let's just say I got very lucky and they found a room for me.  Great hotel!

Had a quick lunch with my sister, Ben (BIL) and some friends my sister hadn't seen in a long time.  The restaurant was called Singapore Chinese and was located near the convention center.  It was a completely vegetarian, Chinese, and kosher restaurant.  Throw in Gluten-free and you'd have a home-run.  The owner was very helpful on what I could and couldn't eat.  Got some pseudo-looking/tasting sweet & sour chicken.  Very yummy. 

Afterwards, we met up with Jen and got our race packet from the expo at the convention center.



I'm still freaking out on the inside. 
It is all too real that it is happening!


Dinner that night was at Maggiono's.  We had reservations for 5:30pm for the 9 of us. The place was PACKED!!!  Even the line to tell them we were there and had reservations was about 30 deep. You literally couldn't move in the lobby/bar of the restaurant.  Crazy!!!  The food was good and we had a nice time at dinner.



Jen's brother and sister-in-law came to cheer Jen on.
My sister had another friend join us that night at dinner.
I guess I should give some background info and say that Lori
used to live in Philly and still has some pretty good friends
in the area. 


Now it was time to go back to the hotel and get a good night of sleep. Tomorrow was the big day and the moment I had been waiting for, for a very long time. 

Stay tuned for part 5....race day!

Run, Robyn, Run! (Part 3)

HONEY, LET'S GET OUT THE BIG BAG:
Friday night, as I was packing, I justified bringing just about every single running gear-type thing I own.  I wasn't sure if the weather could take a turn for the cold and I'd want my longer capri running pants.  I didn't know if a long sleeve tech shirt would be better than a running windbreaker jacket and figured I should bring both. If it was raining, the water resistant windbreaker would be the way to go. Then I saw my heavier running jacket hanging in my closet and thought that could come in handy too while waiting at the start line. I had decided long in advance a back-up pair of running shorts might be necessary. And of course, I had my special short sleeve tech shirt I had ordered to wear on race day. Also, I knew that I'd need options on my head and packed both my ear-warmer headband if it was going to be cold and the sun visor in case it was warm and the sun was out in full force.  Throw in a pair of running gloves, two pairs of socks, and of course, my sneakers and I was all set.  This was just the stuff to wear.  I also had to bring my iPod, back-up iPod, Garmin, Camelbak, 6 packets of GU, body glide, Spibelt, SweatyBand to hold back my hair, Cliff bar, bananas and bottles of Powerade to round out all the gear needed.  As a precaution, I packed band-aids, neosporin and advil* too. Whoever said running was a low-maintenance sport has certainly not met me.  :)

But here's the thing, by packing so many items that performed various tasks depending on the weather conditions, it helped calm me.  I wasn't worried about having to second guess myself on if I choose the right things to bring.  I'd just bring it all!

The only good thing about the weather being a tad on the warmer side was that it helped make the decision easier on what to put on come the morning of the race.

THE ONE THING I KNEW I WANTED TO WEAR:

"You don't have go FAST, you just have to GO."

At one point during the marathon, I felt this couple coming up behind me
and moved to the left to get out of their way.  The woman said, "Your shirt
says WE should pass on the left."  I replied back, "Its been so long
since I've seen the back of my shirt, I forgot what it said."  :) 

FUNNY MOMENT ALERT:

*Turns out what I thought was Advil in my suitcase turned out to be Junior Strength Advil.  OMG!  I didn't find this out until 6:05am that morning when I went to go take two.  Yikes!  The label only went up to 70lbs.  I'd have to take more than 6 at a time and I am not even sure it would be as potent as the real thing.   Good thing I had Jen on speed dial and she was able to provide me some of the adult strength pills.


Stay tuned for part 4....getting there.

Run, Robyn, Run! (Part 2)

In light of it being Thanksgiving today, I want to reflect on all I am grateful for regarding this marathon. 

I seriously could not have done this without the love, support and encouragement from so many.  How lucky I am to be so rich in this area.  I hope I don't ever take it for granted and forget what a blessing it is to be surrounded by all of this.

I am so fortunate to have the BEST. FAMILY. EVER.  If I didn't have Jeff's unwavering love and support, I know it would've been a very uphill climb to get to the starting line.  He always had faith in me that I could do this.  Countless times over the past 7 months, he would look at me and say how proud of me he was. Without question he jumped in, took care of the kids, and gave me all the time I needed to get the training done. I am so thankful for the husband and best friend that he is.

As soon as my mom heard I was doing this, she made it a point to call me from her place of work every Saturday to check in on me after I ran.  She wasn't completely on board with what I was doing, but she was one of my biggest supporters.

I am fortunate to have family that wanted to be there.  Without hesitation, my sister Lori said her and Ben (BIL) would be there to cheer me on.  Ben designed these very cool and hilarious shirts for him, Lori and Jeff to wear the morning of the race.  It was an awesome surprise when they showed it to me right before I started running.

My in-laws graciously took the kids for the whole weekend.  We dropped them off on Saturday morning on our way to Philadelphia and picked them back up on the way home on Monday.  It was wonderful knowing they were in excellent care, having fun and one less thing for me to be stressed over.

Tons of other encouragement came from my dad, stepmother, my other sister Meghan, and my sister-in-law Elaine.  While it did little to calm my nerves, it was nice to hear the faith they had in me that I could do this.  Hearing my dad's enthusiasm in his voice when I would tell him I ran "X" amount of miles each weekend there was a particularly long training run was always very cool.

The friends that wished me well, decorated my car with signs before leaving, left me cards in my mailbox were amazing. I am thankful for every single one of the messages, texts, emails, phone calls, in-person hugs, high-fives and more that I received leading up to, during and after the marathon.  It really helped to motivate me to go one step further, one second faster.

I'd like to give a quick list of all the other things I am very grateful for:

-The hotel we stayed at was only a 1/2 mile from the start/finish line.

-The weather was beautiful.  When we woke up the next morning, it was raining.  This so could've easily been the case a few hours earlier on the 20th.

-I was feeling good.  Ridiculously nervous, but not sick with a fever, cold, sore throat, and my legs didn't have any aches or pains.  This is a bigger deal than you would imagine.  You can't live in a bubble waiting for race day.  I am around kids and germs all the time.  I always feel like I could be catching something and get sick. Actually now that the race is over, my throat is starting to hurt and I am blowing my nose.  hahahahahha.  See what I mean?  There was a ton of pressure to try to remain as healthy as possible and not get a twisted ankle or anything of the sort.  I am thankful that I was feeling as good as I ever could on the 20th.

-Maggiano's having gluten-free pasta.  It made it easy to carb-load at restaurant that I was familiar with and didn't worry about getting sick from eating non-gluten-free pasta by accident.

-I had some tummy issues and I am grateful there was always a bathroom close enough nearby. 

-My ipod and garmin worked perfectly.  I am thankful for that.

-I am most thankful that I found amazing socks that prevent blisters.

And last but not least, I am filled with gratitude that I was in overall good enough health to run and complete this.  Two men (only 21 and 40 years old in age) died during this exact marathon and 10 others were taken away to the hospital.  It makes you realize how fragile life is and I feel fortunate to have been able to accomplish my goal and get to the finish line in one piece and still standing.

I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and you too are surrounded by your own amazing friends and family.  I know I've got the best anyone could ask for.  And for that I am forever grateful.  Love makes the world go around.  :)

Stay tune for part 3....taking it all with me.

Run, Robyn, Run!

So I did it!  I survived, more than survived and can't wait to share all the details about the weekend. I'd like to apologize in advance for all that I am about to write.  I have no idea how many blog entries this story will span or if it will even end up in a coherent, logical narrative.  But I am filled with so many emotions and feel the need to get it all written.  For years to come, I want to have the ability to look back and remember all the moments vividly that made up this amazing journey. As my friend put it, the marathon is the reward for all the training you did.  If you aren't interested in hearing about all of this, you might want to take the next several days off from visiting my blog.  ;)

Where do I begin?  The nerves started kicking in the week leading up to the big day.  As we got closer and closer to race day, I got more nervous. Not sleeping soundly was the first to go.  My funniest nightmare was that a freak blizzard was in the forecast and a good majority of the runners dropped out due to the bad weather.  However, not one to give up, I trudged ahead and ran it anyway during the blizzard.  It took me 2 days to finish.  Needless to say, I was checking the 10 day forecast, then the 5 day forecast, then the weekend forecast, and lastly the 36 hour forecast 7 or 8 times each day.  Not once did it ever show anything but a gorgeous day, with only a 20% of precipitation. 

As the week crept on, I'd get either instant nauseousness or diarrhea just by thinking about what was to come.  By Thursday, I was a mental mess and completely freaked out.  What did I get myself into?  Was this going to be a complete disaster?  Would I be wasting my family's time by supporting me in this craziness?  Who did I think I was that I could pull this off?  And then there was the Jen factor.  She got into this herself because I came up with this wacky notion to run a marathon.  Due to many factors outside her control, Jen's training had been anything less than stellar and I was worried that she was going to really regret doing this.  It was a lot of pressure and all these doubts filled my every waking (and non-waking) thoughts.  And last but not least, the biggest thing I had going against me, was that I wanted to know I gave it my all.  That I did the best I could do.  I didn't care how long it took me to finish, but I had to be proud of me.  Have no regrets. Leave nothing behind.  My two big goals was to 1. Not be swept by the bus.  And 2. Not be last.  If I could do that and not look for a reason, any excuse to not give it all I got, then it would be a big success.  And, yes, I accomplished that.  And may I say, I did it with a smile all the way up until the very end.

Stay tuned for part 2....being thankful.

Saturday, November 12th

Weather - 31 degrees and sunny.  Perfect weather in my opinion.

Clothing - Black running compression shorts, short sleeve tech shirt (purple shirt), red windbreaker, running gloves, earwarmer headband and Camelbak.

Nutrition -   Ate a banana before the run. During the run:  1 gu at the 3.5 mile mark and approx. 25 oz powerade/water mix.

Route -  Started at the intersection of Oak Green and Burke Centre Parkway, went down Ox to Main Street and turned around.

Distance Completed:  7 miles

Time:  Started at 7:45am, took 1 hour, 29 minutes

LAST WEEKEND TRAINING RUN EVER!   Yay!  Mentally, this is where I am at:  I am so over the running part.  I know I'll be able to finish the marathon in the allotted time given and all I want at this point is for it to be over.  I am no longer concerned about the speed or pace.  Just getting through it. 

Anything I'd do different?  No, I liked have the windbreaker and being able to take it off after the first mile when I got warmed up.  The gloves I took off too at the first mile and then put them back on around mile 4 for the remainder of the run.  Wearing the shorts and having the short sleeve shirt was the way to go. 

Mid-week runs - I ran 5 miles on Tuesday and walked 1.5 miles on Thursday at the gym.  I didn't have enough time to do the whole 4 miles and the next thing you know, I lost any motivation to run any of it at all.  Oh my!  My 5 mile run on Tuesday was one of the best running times ever for me.