2010 OKC Memorial Marathon was Awesome!

Getting ready to head out to pick up my FIL...

Joshua snuck one in on me...so sleepy!

Posing for a better shot...

Oh what the heck, I'll show you just how I was feeling! Super pumped!




The blurr...Tony and I actually were running at a 9:40 pace until we hit mile 9.
Just so you know we did the Jeff Gallaway method. Which in short is a run/walk method of 2:1. This was a challenge for me to switch over to this method because I am so competitive and I want to feel like I am competing to my best and use to that did not involve any walking. But, during our 4 months of training for this I had one month that I battled several different injuries. Completely frustrated I tried Quatam Energetics and switched over to the JG method.

Tony's socks were messing up on him so we stopped for equipment failure a couple of times, which slowed us down a good bit. We stopped at a Medical Station after we passed the 13.1 mile marker so Tony could get his huge blisters on both feet doctored. Back on track we continued to slow down as we reached Lake Hefner. I slowed down but still kept a pretty decent pace trying to see if Tony could push through a bit because we had already done 22 miles two weeks ago and we did great.

Plugging along at a slower pace, I was telling myself it will be okay and we will stick together no matter what our time ends up being, but in the back of my mind my little competitive devil kept telling me, "Hey, that person passed you again, and again, and again." and "Well, there goes that 10 minute mile pace." But, I said lots of prayers and saw lots of shirts that said, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" and I just said, "Lord, you decide what we need to do cause I REALLY want to finish after training for so long and you know what my heart desires, but I can't leave my FIL behind for my selfish gain."

At mile 14 Tony would get further and further behind during our walks cause his poor little feet hurt worse walking than they did running. I suggested we run a 4:1 and he didn't like that idea.

At about mile 15, Tony started cramping up and we stopped on the side of the road. While I was stretching him some rescue workers came to deliver Poweraid and pretzels. They left and we kept stretching Tony. He got back up and going and looked me in the eyes and said, "Go, I'm done. I can't finish this. You can do this." I told him I felt bad that he wasn't going to be able to finish and he said, "That's okay, I was doing this for you!" That broke my heart that here I was pushing him to do this and he was doing it to do with me, but he wouldn't get to finish and he felt like he was letting me down. We discussed how he would get back to the finish line since we rode together and I left him behind. Seriously, probably one of the hardest things I have ever done.

I took his watch to time myself, but forgot my Gu and sport beans. Dang it! As I am settling into a 4:1 interval, I start having this panicky feeling. I was worried about Tony. I was worried he would cramp up real bad, not get back safely, and the worst was that he would have a heart attack while I was selfishly finishing this race. I started having a hard time fully expanding my diaphragm which is still happening and I have a runners cough now too.

As I am serpentining through the last of the neighborhoods, I see several familiar faces. For that matter the whole race felt like an Edmond/OC event. I felt like I knew so many people down there. Those that I didn't know were amazing too. They would call us out by name(on bib) asking if we needed anything. They would cheer us on with smiling faces and servant hearts. I was overwhelmed by the community coming together to remember those lost in the OKC Murrah Bombing in 1994. I was in awe at how many people train their bodies to be able to accomplish such amazing feats. I was hurting and wishing I had Tony to talk me through it.

Down the last half mile stretch to the finish line cannot be expressed with words. The simple words Finish Line were enough to get me to kick it into high gear and finish strong. I could hear so many Friends shouting in the crowd cheering me into the finish. I literally thought my heart would burst from the amazing feeling I felt.

I very shakily wobbled into a medical station to get my knees wrapped with ice after grabbing a bottle of water to drink. I couldn't find my family. I didn't hear them in the crowd cheering me in. I was worried about Tony.

I finally found Joshua by using a friend's cell phone. Here was our conversation.

Me:Hey, where are you guys?
Joshua: We are over by where you started.
Me: By the TAP building, did you get to see me finish (please remember I just ran 26.2 miles and I was severely needing to see my husband at that moment so things didn't come out quite right)
Joshua: Now, don't get mad. We didn't get to see you finish, but we are real close to you now.
Me: I don't want to argue. Your Dad didn't finish with me and we need to find him.

We found each other. Took a few pictures. Waited.

Finally, we got a call from Joshua's mom saying that Tony was at the TAP building waiting on us.

Tony walks up to the massage tent where I was waiting with a medal on...

AHHHHH!!! I was so happy! That totally made my day SO much better, Tony finished! I was so happy for him and glad that he was okay!

Stressful, but joyful and accomplished day! WE can do ALL things through the Christ who gives us strength! Tony had stopped again after I left him to try to stretch again. He came upon another cramping soul that needed a good stretch so he offered to help her out twice. That was just the rest he needed to be able to get back in the race. Wow! What a day!

BTW, Joshua explained later that he missed my finish because he tried to catch us at Grand, but the iphone app told him the wrong pace for us. So, he barely missed me. Good intentions, sweetheart! I do appreciate all your efforts and for putting up with me! Love you!


So proud of Corban! He did the entire 1.2 mile Kid Marathon. Joshua said many times Corban would ask for him to carry him, but did it all by himself. Way to go Champ!

Awesome Training buddies...Summer has the better picture of us so I will let her share it with the world!





The top of Tony's poor toes. Believe me, you did not want to see the under side. His blisters were the size of match box car and the the blood that seeped out had bloated his poor toes a bit. Bloody socks and all.




Things to consider for next year:

1. Make sure I plan ahead for my once a month friend comes to visit, so I don't stress out about her coming in mid-race thus needing my FIL to carry fun items for me and me wearing strange stretching boy short undies under my built-in short undies that kept creeping up and I inevitably gave those runners behind me half moons every mile or so...just in case. (No issues this time, but again, another prayer that God answered.)
2. If I need to purchase any running gear prior to race, do it before the weekend of the race or it will all be sold out or be down at the EXPO center.
3. Doing a 4:1 instead of a 2:1.
4. Make sure I train with the same people again because they are truly the reason why I loved doing this!
5. Convince more people to join TeamOC!

After all this training, I do believe I am ready for a new challenge...


Getting a pedicure for these nasty feet!