http://rgvironjourney.blogspot.com/2012/11/hitting-my-taper.html
Anyhow, as many who know us are super aware, Kristofor and I have been busily training over 30 full and half marathoners since about mid August. I said it Saturday, this has been the BIGGEST undertaking we have taken as a couple to date, and for me personally, its been more of an emotional journey than I anticipated when we started training on a hot August Sunday morning.
So over 30 men and women traveled to San Antonio on Saturday (some Friday), Bod Squad Running Shirts in hand and got ready for the annual Rock N' Roll San Antonio Marathon yesterday morning. Once again, Texas weather prevailed, and we (for the 2nd year running) were set to have temps in the low 80's with higher heat indexes and humidity for much of the race. Not optimal. But the show must go on right?! From about Thursday morning, until right before bedtime on Saturday night, I'm sure our team members were quite tired of the words KEEP HYDRATING coming at them from various forms of messaging and social media. Although we had trained in hot conditions here in the Valley, usually we are done by 8am, so relatively early. Since the race start time was not until 7:30AM, and many of our teammates wouldn't actually start running until around 7:45-8AM, the increasing heat and unrelenting sunshine was of some concern. Irregardless...here's what happened yesterday...for our team. I'll tell their story first, because truly, that is what this is really about.
Saturday in San Antonio, from the expo, all the way up into Alamo Heights, I literally couldn't swing my purse without hitting one of our Bod Squad Teammates. They. Were. Everywhere.
Expo...yup, found about 15 of em' shopping 'til they were dropping. Whole Foods. Yup. Couldn't buy my Justin's Nut Butter in peace because I had clients coming around every corner marveling at the Whole Food Mecca greatness. It was crazy. We were everywhere! It was so neat to see everyone getting their pre race jitters out, and I think a lot of friendships were strengthened this weekend just because of the trip. Many of our teammates shared rooms and bathrooms for 2 days. So I can imagine I'm going to hear some stories this week in the studio. But Saturday, Bod Squad was everywhere. Ready to run. Most of the Full Marathoners got together Winter Texan Early to eat dinner before heading to an early bedtime. I know a bunch of the half marathoners dined together as well. As we settled in on Saturday night, I could feel the anticipation around us.
4AM Sunday came early, and my phone started going bazerk quickly. Last minute questions, directions were given, and some mild panic attacks ensued. A large group of us made it to the parking lot at the AT&T center to line up for our first team port-a-potty experience. That was festive, and educational. And then we loaded buses for the start line, and quickly got in line for the second team port-a-potty experience. By 6:55AM, we had dozens (literally...dozens!) of black and pink shirts assembling to take our Pre Race Picture at Corral 10. Here we are...
And that's not even all of us. I bet there's at least 8 missing! Nervous energy was all over, not just from our team. And as we all left each other to go to our respective Corrals, I had an excited gut feeling that by the team these faces would see each other again...nothing would be the same. I wouldn't be the same.
Fast forward 2ish hours later. I'm at the finish line, sitting on the curb. And across the line, I see our very first finishers, Joe and Judith Moreno, husband and wife power couple, 13.1 done, hand in hand. These two have trained at the front of the pack with Kristofor for the past 10 weeks, and their commitment to our team and to each other (I have a soft spot for couples that run together...) has been inspiring. They did every training run side by side. Fast. Not but a few moments later, I saw the beautiful fresh faced, didn't look like she had just run 13.1 miles but had very quickly, Monica Benavides. I hugged her tight. I was so glad to see our team across the finish line. I wish I could have seen all of them. But I felt them all around me. There were just so many people. The race crew literally kicked me out of the finish area FOUR TIMES. I hid behind a tractor tire and was caught. When I saw Renea and George, I was met with a confused look (again...more later...), but a big hug and a few tears were shed. Heather George crossed, and then after a bit of a finish line hiatus (I got kicked out...and a stern warning...), I came back around the gates to watch some more. I saw Monica and Andrew Torres another running power couple grinding out the 13.1, and Monique Alvarez one of my 5kers from last Spring finishing the Relay. I got emotional. Our half team had met their goal. Here are some pictures...wish I had everyone!
Hour 3:40 rolled around. I had gotten a text that my husband had left mile 20 about 50 minutes before. I figured I'd see him soon. Not a minute after I checked the time, I see a bright yellow Crazy Legs shirt cross the line. Alex Jimenez, my Lorena's husband. I went rogue. I climbed THROUGH the gates and RAN to him. I think he was in a bit of a shock. I joked later that he won for the most "dazed and confused" finish. Literally, I slapped him on the back and asked "are you ok buddy" and all I got was a "yeah man...yeah man". It was awesome. Alex was a first time marathoner, and to blow it out like that in 3:42 is nothing short of amazing. I was so happy for him. Renea joined me in our covert op to not get thrown out of the finisher's area, and we waited to see Kristofor cross the finish. At about 4:07, he did, I knew he must have had a rough mile or 2 there at the end, but I ran to him and one of my favorite pictures ever was taken...
I was sobbing. He was sweaty. It was all good. Candid pictures like these are the absolute best. Together, Kris and I looked at the updates on my phone tracking the Full Marathon girls that were on the course. I can't remember being so anxious. I knew that all of them had crossed the 20 mile mark, but I had no idea what was going to occur in that last 6.2. No one ever does. That's where it gets interesting. So with no clue of where they were in that last 10k, Kris and I settled in to look for the black and pink to come in. Our friend and Crazy Leg Runner, Artie finished in the meantime, and all 3 Crazy Leggers (Alex, Kris and Art) were all marathon victorious and anxious to talk about the sufferfest heat that they had endured on those 26.2 miles.
Right after the 5 hour mark, I saw her. Long black pony tail whipping in the wind. Determined, "I'm going to eat your ass for breakfast" look on her face. April, crossing the line. She grabbed that medal and the look on her face said it all. She had made that course her BIATCH :). April balanced all of her training while being a mother of 3 very active kids. She was not immune to doing training runs in mid afternoon temps (guess that paid off!!) to get it in. We thought she was crazy for running 10 miles at 2pm in the 98 degree heat. Turns out she is a genius :). April is a runner that pushes me and my pace no matter what the distance. She is scary quick.
Not but a couple days before, she and I talked nervously about her knee pain, how to tape, and what was the best way to get through those miles should things start to hurt. She didn't let it get her. She literally FLEW on the first 20, and she finished so strong. She has some of the most wicked blisters I have EVER seen in my entire life.
We knew who had passed the 20 mile marker and in what order, but again, you never know what that last 10k will do, so it was a crapshoot as to who we could expect next. I sat anxiously with Renea as we evaded more race officials (more hiding behind the green tractor thing). And like a good sister, Renea said "I am not leaving until I see my sister cross that line." She didn't have to wait long. Because a soaking wet, bombshell in a pink hat crossed next. Melissa was my most consistent and 100% stick to the plan marathoner. She literally took every single word I said to heart. She trained so hard and earned every bit of it. She is an amazing runner and mother and wife AND trainer. Couldn't be prouder of her and how far she has come.
We settled in again to play the waiting game. And we knew Lorena had to be close as she had called her husband Alex from mile 23 with a report. She felt strong. When we saw those long legs approaching the finisher barrier, we all stood up...but we let Alex go first to greet his newly crowned marathon wife. Lorena is a fighter. She fought me tooth and nail much of the training season. I use the "fighting" term in as lovingly a way as possible. "LAST ONE STANDING". She has been my confidant and one of my biggest motivators. She started her training, learned some lessons, and finished up the 15 weeks definitely as our most improved athlete. She really really worked on her pace. She is a wife and mother and a very busy teacher, and she told me she would never do this again. Until she texted me this morning and said maybe one more time. Here are her and Alex after she finished....Before she busted out in her "tonight we skate..." move :)
Our girl Melissa, paced and paced waiting for her husband, Miguel who we knew was hurting to finish. She had talked to him on the phone, he was going to finish, but he was in pain. That's the thing about marathoners. You can't really kill us. Even when we feel like we are going to die....we rarely do. And our resolve to finish after ALL THAT TRAINING...is immense. Miguel crossed the finish line into his wife's arms, worse for the wear, but still...marathon finisher...
Our girl Vanessa crossed next. I told Vanessa before the race. Do not stop. I know she was worried. She had had a couple bad times at half marathons, but I KNEW that she could finish this. She had it in her this time. She told me she kept thinking about my "DO NOT STOP" the whole way, which makes me smile because my brainwashing worked :). Vanessa is a Mom and wife who got her runs in every which way she could. Treadmill runs, outside runs, runs with her husband, runs with us, runs on her own. She ran. In every way she should be able to say now that she is confident as a runner. Because she got through yesterday and was probably the most bubbly of the group. And she still went out last night with us. True Warrior. Her Marathon was her birthday present!
I'm going to say this before I start talking about Mo. I think it is absolutely truly amazing that ALL of our 26.2er's and Renea waited for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US to cross the finish line. No one left. We all waited to cheer each other on and hug each other. That was amazing. That is a team. Tired, salty, hungry, having to pee. We all waited. THAT IS A TEAM.
Ok, so we waited for Mo. I get emotional just thinking about it. Last October when I met this woman, she told me she couldn't run a mile. And she couldn't. We went to a heart walk even for the AHA and there, she and I shuffled along a 2 mile stretch. I remember the feeling of accomplishment I felt that day. I wasn't a coach yet. But she was my first pupil. Here we are on that day...
So 13 months ago, I met a woman who told me that she couldn't run a mile. I ran with her on her first full mile, and yesterday I watched her, and ran her in, as she finished her 26.2 mile. She is an incredible woman that has the heart of a lion and a spirit in her like no one I've ever met. She said from the moment she finished her 13.1 that she was going to do this. And she did it with so much strength and courage yesterday, through pain and suffering, she crossed that line.
Again, Raw emotion, candid photos. Best thing ever. This woman is the epitome of "you can do it."
And I absolutely couldn't be prouder of her and of all of the girls that came and ran the 13.1 and 26.2 this weekend. We arrived as a team, but we left as a family. We are all now bonded by those miles we ran yesterday. We are all going to be a part of each other's memories for life. And that is an amazing amazing thing. I've spent a lot of the day thinking about how lucky I am to have been witness to all of these journey's. Some of these ladies have been with us for a full year this month. They've run with us pretty much non stop. When we started the team, we selfishly wanted running buddies. We have a running family. Bod Squad trains together. That is our focus. We revel in the camaraderie and support we feel from each other regardless of how fast or slow you go. We had finishers in all time brackets yesterday from sub 2 halfers to 6:50 marathoners. They are ALL runners. ALL inspiring. ALL part of our team. Every single one of you counts to us. We are so proud of each of you, your hard work, your commitment, and most of all, the friendship that all of you have shown to each other. That is what makes me love our team the most. We are friends. We do genuinely like each other and respect each other. So to all of you that finished yesterday. Congratulations. You did it. You are amazing!
**Side Note: If you don't wanna hear me yack about myself...you can stop here. The above was a tribute to my girls...the below is my story from yesterday...
As I close, I'm almost reluctant to share my story from yesterday. I do not in any way want to take away from the amazing accomplishments of my teammates. They are the ones that deserved the attention and the accolade for pushing through and finishing their goals. I've gotten several messages via FB and text asking me what happened yesterday. And for those that aren't here, or who I haven't gotten back to, I'll keep it short....well, as short as I can.
Monday, my knee looked like this...
And that is my good knee that's swollen. I woke up Saturday AM and felt the discomfort. I'd not run in almost a week. Had no clue where it came from. I sat out practice on Sunday, but by 730AM Monday, this was what I was dealing with. 2 PT's looked at it. Both said the same thing. Nothing is wrong with your knee from the looks of it. Both said the same thing, looked like something in my body was causing the swelling. I have an auto-immune disorder that causes me some grief from time to time. Not sure exactly what it is (other than just the thyroid imbalance), but I've had routine flare ups of other weird new not so exciting things the past year. Trying to figure out what it is, what makes me have flare ups, why I get so tired etc. has been exhausting. I called my Dr. Monday, and she looked at the pictures I sent her (my eyes were swollen as well...), and agreed that it may be related. She put me on Prednisone, which I hate because it makes me puffy and I gain weight. She also told me to look into not eating Gluten anymore. I get blood taken tomorrow and see her this week, so we will know more then I guess. By Wednesday, my swelling went down, but on Wednesday AM, I almost threw up in my client Monica's hair, so I spent all Wednesday in bed. Thursday and Friday I was fine, but I got a little worried when it was clear the weather was not going to cooperate and we would be running in super hot temps. My other amazing Dr. told me to watch out because the medicine could give me an electrolyte imbalance. So I chugged water and NUUN all day on Saturday. I went to bed Saturday night, and woke up at 3AM. My body was giving me clear signals that it was not ready to run a marathon in the heat. A little freaked out, I sat on the couch, googled and cried. And like I posted on Facebook, I told God that I wouldn't run the Full.
I didn't tell a soul. I packed my fuel like I always would, did everything the same, played the game, and told no one. Kris has asked me why I didn't tell him. I said:
"If I told you I was sick, you wouldn't have let me run at all. And that would have caused alarm for everyone. If I ran the 13.1 anyways...you would have been worried then entire time you ran."
So I kept it to myself. I think he knew though. In our start corral, I was very solemn. The pictures they took of me (which are usually horrid anyways...) are awful. I look like I'm crying. Because I was....
There were moments where I tried to talk myself out of it. My pace was fine. I was right at the 8:30 minute mile that I had wanted to keep. That was what was hard. I could do it. But I knew there was a big big chance that if I pushed past the half...I could get out on the Mission Trail portion of the course, in the unabashed heat, and I could end up seriously risking my health, not of my outsides, but my insides. And I tell my girls to listen to their bodies. I am like a broken record with that shit (excuse my language...), so I had to listen to myself. I cried the whole way. Mile 2. Crying. Mile 5 crying. Mile 8 when I couldn't find Irma, Crying. Mile 9 when I saw Noah (Renea's 7 year old) and hugged him and kissed him for what seemed like forever, crying. And I must have stood in the median between the full and half split mark for MINUTES. Crying. Debating. Crying. I saw a familiar face from Harlingen and tried to stop crying for a few minutes, and I ran "happily" for a bit, but then when I got far enough away...I cried. Theres a picture of me crossing the finish line and I am full tilt chin quiver. I crossed, composed myself to talk to a couple of other Harlingen locals, then I sat down by the big tractor tire that I hid around later, and sobbed. The race officials kept trying to help me, and I yelled at one to just "GIVE ME A MINUTE." I took about 10 minutes. Then I saw Joe and Judith, and I sopped it up. Because it was time to be a coach.
So what does this mean for me? I've been wondering it all day. It can be said that I have other marathons and there are other races. This is all true. I've been told that today umpteen million times. But for me this race was a barometer for how my body would hold up given that I've had a lot of health up and downs since I ran Austin in February (and actually had my first indications that health wise something was amiss...). I wanted this race not to be an amazing PR but just to be able to cross the line and be able to see that I still had it in me. I know I do, but my confidence is a little shaken. Ive wanted to go for a Boston Qualifying time of 3:35 at Houston. I was trying for a little bit in between this weekend, and that didn't happen. I'm going to need to do some re-evaluating to see if that's in the cards. I don't want to start fast and then putter out and bonk at Houston.
I've reflected a lot today. I cried some more. I truly am thankful for this experience, the experience of seeing all of my girls finish, the experience of seeing the confidence in all these women grow. And I'm going to try and find a way to be thankful for my non-marathon. I'm going to be thankful for my half marathon and the 13 miles I did run. Because to be honest, I know I probably shouldn't have even done that. I've gotta find the silver lining. There's always a lesson.
They say when you run a marathon, it changes you forever. That is so epically true. You push your body to a point where it will not go normally. It has nothing to do with the mileage, it has everything to do with the inner struggle to keep going when everything physically tells you to stop. No one finishes and says they feel great. Everyone hurts. But when it's over, and the hurt is done, you can look back and marvel at how the mind and spirit can triumph over the muscles and the bones. I witnessed so much triumph this weekend. Even in my little bit of despair, I am going to hold on to that.
