A Marathon PR-Almost 3 months later!!
I was just looking at my blog and realized I have never posted about the St. Jude Marathon I ran back on Dec 1st. Oops!! That was such a busy time of year with all of the holidays and travels, and I have just not had the time to sit down and blog recently.
Since I ran the race months ago, this will be a very vague race recap! The boys were thrilled to hit the expo, eat pasta at Macaroni Grill, and hang out at the hotel. Our little family has the night before a race routine down to the T, and it all went off as planned.
I had been worried about rain in the forecast, but it turned out to be worse than I thought!! It was sunny and HOT!
I was overdressed but just did not have a lot of other options with me, so I went with what I had. I remember last year's race being hotter than expected, and this year was even worse. I can't remember the exact temps, but I am pretty sure it was up in the 70's by the time I crossed the finish line. 
I ran into a girl from Jonesboro I knew and had run with before at the starting line (totally unplanned), so we ended up running the first 8 miles together. We had fun chatting and taking it easy. We parted ways between mile 8 and 9 and I was on my own for the rest of the race.
I just loved the first half of this marathon. I was right on pace where I wanted to be and feeling strong. I love running through the St. Jude campus and seeing all those sweet kids and families. I love running through downtown and seeing all the historical parts of Memphis and hearing the cheering crowds. I could tell exactly the moment when I knew the race was about to get tough. There is just something about passing that halfway point and realizing you still have 13.1 miles to go that gets to me mentally. And the sun was out and the temps were steadily climbing. I was hot by mile 3 and pretty uncomfortable by 13.1, but the race did a great job of having tons of water stations, Gatorade, and cold sponges/towels to help us stay hydrated and as cool as possible. I think I took a drink of something at pretty much every water stop which kept me from dehydrating. I held on pretty well but my pace tanked later in the race and I was just looking for that finish line!
Silas does a great job herding the boys during the race, and they found plenty of room to run and play and enjoy the warm sunny day:) I just love this picture of Tyson.
Jace found a lovely statue to play on.
The last 10k of a marathon for me is usually pretty sad. I really like to run, but I know that I just do NOT get in the miles in training to help my body feel ok from miles 20-26.2. The last 10k is just mentally talking myself through each mile until I finally see that beautiful finish line! Despite watching my pace slip away, I realized that I could still pull off a PR if I could just hang on and keep pushing. I love coming into that stadium and knowing that my family is there cheering me on to the finish. I crossed the line and was super glad to have completed my 3rd marathon with a smile on my face. And a new marathon PR to top it all off. I was disappointed that my PR wasn't bigger at first, but I am proud that I did the best I could on that given day and that is all I can ask for. It was a beautiful day to run, my boys are all proud of me, and I finished a marathon. I will call that a great day!
posted by Lauren at
3:14 PM
0 Comments
