26.2 COMPLETE!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


What a week so far!  I haven't even had time to sit, let alone write a blog about this weeks experience.  However, I have had time for back and forth competitive banter on Facebook with my husband and friends regarding this weekend's 26.2.  I know many have heard me recount the story of Sunday's now famed Rock N' Roll San Antonio Marathon.  If ya don't want to hear me tell the story again...then you may stop here....or fast forward to the bottom.  No hard feelin's :)


Sunday morning came bright and early, and I think this was the first time EVER that I got a good night sleep before ANY race.  5k, 10k, half, full, ultra....I usually am plagued with insomnia.  But, alas, that half bottle of Chateau St. Michelle Riesling I downed allowed for 6.5 solid hours of shut eye.


Side Note:  I would never endorse drinking alcohol in large amounts before a distance run...but ummm...It worked for me?


Woke up rested and stretched out all my muscles.  Did my usual pre-race ritual (I will not go into that here...if you are really that curious...email me...I'll be happy to share).  I ate a mini cinnamon bagel.  I drank a little bit of water.  I can tell you what I did not do...I did NOT put on enough sunscreen.  About 5:10am we headed out of our hotel room, and started the trek towards the AT&T center.  The traffic was insane.  Sooo terrible.  Thousands of people.  Finally parked and hopped on a bus, and made it to the start line at about 6:30am.  Hopped in a port-a potty line.  Good call on doing that early, those por-a-potty lines were insane.  Did anyone else notice the "Occupy San Antonio" group camped out around Corral 20-25???  I was so confused.  I posted on Facebook that I thought they should help Occupy a Water Station...ya know...help was needed.  6:45 came and went, and 7 am started the final stretching.  It was at 7:15 am that I slurped down my very first PowerBar Gel (I use the Tangerine 2x caffeine...AKA Jetfuel).  Kristofor and I got in the middle of Corral 12 at about 7:20, and before we knew it, the race had begun. 


We didn't actually start until around 7:45am, and I can tell you then, I knew the race was going to be interesting.  Why?
1.  There were SO MANY PEOPLE.  And by mile 1, there were already SO MANY walkers.
2.  It was humid.  Like Ridic Humid.
3.  It was hot-ish.  Even early.  It was not cool.


Regardless, Kris and I both started off just as planned, pacing right with the 4 hour 15 minute finish pace group.  About mile 1, we passed the pace group and decided to get ahead and give ourselves a "surplus" for what was to be a long, hot race.  Many times, I had to slow us down, not because I was tired, but because I just knew we had to watch it.  I once looked down and saw we were at about an 8:15min mile.  We tried to stay between 8:45 and 9's.  The miles before the Full and Half Marathon split flew by.  But at about mile 7 or so, my knee really started to hurt.  I didn't want to say it out loud, because then I would be acknowledging it.  But I was in pain.  I kept repeating in my head "you are strong, you are trained, you can do this."  Literally over and over...and then I would turn up my music.  By mile 9, I started to wonder (to myself) if I would be able to finish.  The pain was a lot, and I didn't want to seriously injure myself.  I was still moving quickly; if I slowed down, it actually hurt more.  I started to think, "if I can make it to the 13.1 mark by under 2 hours, I'll be ok.  If I have to drop then, I'll be ok.  At least I finished a strong half."  Then something happened.  At about mile 11, a song came on my iPod, and I don't remember  which one it was (which is strange), BUT something happened inside of me (cheezy I know), and I just started to loosen up.  I think I had been making the pain happen, I think I was still carrying the "I know my knee might hurt" burden.  And at mile 11, I gave it away.  And I sped up some more. 


By mile 13, I had gotten about .10 miles head of the mile markers.  This happened because of all the weaving in and around the traffic of other people.  When you are going from side to side passing people, eventually, you end up running more distance.  I started just counting the actual mileage on my Garmin.  We passed the 13.1 mark at about 1:59.  Kristofor told me that we needed to slow down, we still had a lot of miles to run.  And by that time, the clouds had peeled off, the sun was shining, and the heat index was well above 90 degrees (I'm guessing).  Around mile 15 we stopped briefly for a bathroom break (I didn't go...), and when we started again, I plugged my headphones in and turned it up.  I also sped up.  Usually in races, Kris and I take turns leading (usually he leads...), and I for the next 2 miles, I thought he was right behind me.  When I turned around at mile 17 and he wasn't, I was torn.  Should I slow down?  Do I wait?  How far back is he?  Is he hurt?  A million things went through my head.  I looked back one more time, and I made a decision.  I kept going.


Side note:  Last year, we ran our first marathon, step by step together.  It was a MUCH MUCH smaller race.  And it was our first time. We finished hand in hand.


I can't really tell you what went through my mind in those last 8 or so miles.  I almost feel like I was in a different place.  I remembered reading something about running in hot HOT weather.  The article had said to imagine that you are running in Antarctica.  I didn't imagine that in particular, but I definitely channeled myself into thinking it was cold.  I ran through every single water hose on Sunday.  And there were lots.  I also poured an entire 2 bottles of water down by back and over my head.  I was given a sponge filled with ICE COLD water at mile 22.  I held on to that sponge almost until the very end.  Every time I started feeling sluggish, I popped another PowerBar Gel.  I had one at mile 8, mile 16, mile 20, and mile 23.  I took in almost 600 calories and a whopping 235mg of caffeine during that race.

I looked at my watch at mile 23, and I knew my margin to get to my goal had become slimmer.  Before mile 19, I was pacing quite a bit ahead of where I wanted to be, but post mile 22 (which was surprisingly also Kris' toughest mile as well) I really started to feel the heat.  And I knew that I was sunburned.  And all I wanted to do was get out of the sun.  I kept running, and I was amazed that when I slowed down, my "slow" pace was faster than my "fast" pace last year.  At mile 24, I started to enter back into the downtown area, and I could see the buildings.  More than once, I threw my hands up in the air, and I know I wasn't just thinking shrieks, I was actually SHRIEKING out loud.  I saw an older couple towards the last 1.5 miles and the woman said "come on little one."  I began to cry and yelled "I'M REALLY GOING TO MAKE IT!!!!"  Meaning that I was going to make my time.  As I turned left to head into the Alamodome parking lot, the 4:15 pacer passed me and said "COME ON HURRY."  I looked down at my watch and I was at exactly mile 26.  I crossed the 26.2 mile mark as I entered the tunnel, and I stopped my Garmin....

I took this photo right after I finished.  10:38 was my current pace at the moment I hit 26.2.  From what I can estimate, when I crossed the FINISH, I had run 26.33 ish.  Which is why my "official" time for this race was 4:15:24.  24 measley seconds over my goal.  BUT, I don't count that, because I had run further.  Which is why I am so happy I had this watch (thanks babe) to stop it when I hit the mark.  To me, this is MY time.


Immediately I started getting texts from family and friends who had been following me and Kris' progress.  My first question to our friend Javier was "where's Kris?"  He told me that he was about 15-20 minutes behind me.  I started to worry that he wasn't ok.  I was told to leave the finish area, but when I got the text that he was about to finish, I snuck around to see him cross.  He was overheated from the heat, and just glad to be done.  His first words were "when did you finish?"


Now let me tell ya (and many already know)...it's been quite fun to ride the "I beat my husband in the marathon" train this week.  Simply because, I NEVER beat him at anything.  He finished unofficially in about 4:39.


Side Note:  If you know my husband, you know he is not only an amazing runner and athlete, but he is also brilliant.  He is the guy you always want on your trivia team.  He is more of a grammar cop than I am.  And he is a FAST runner.  I hope we have very smart, well-spoken, athletic children one day :)


So, it's been fun to bask in the glory of my win this week.  In his words "it's not a competition unless you win sometimes" and by golly, this week is my week!  BUT, I'm very proud of him for beating his own Personal Record, and for finishing such a tough race.  I can tell you, when I finished, I passed more super fit "fast looking" male runners.  I finished with a bunch of females.  I think the heat really affected the male population.  This race definitely has made us reconsider ever doing another Fall TEXAS marathon.  The unpredictability of the weather is a gamble for sure.  Which is whyyyyyyyy.....


We are signed up for our next race.  And this time, for the first time (for me), I am doing this race for a cause.  We will be running the Austin LIVESTRONG Marathon on February 19th.  And I will be fundraising for the LIVESTRONG Foundation.  I have pledged to raise $500, although, I hope to raise much more.  Kris joined the LIVESTRONG team this Fall for his triathlon, and I'm excited for us to do this together!  If you'd like to get more information on what the LIVESTRONG Foundation does, you can visit livestrong.org.


And if you'd like make a donation, my donation page is:


http://laf.livestrong.org/goto/lacyhealey


I know that this race will be very special for the both of us, and I know that it will be a much harder course to run.  Austin has a landscape of rolling hills, and I've already looked at the topography...and YIKES!!  I'm also excited that many of my Bod Squad Sisters have decided to run as well!  It will be a fun 3 months training together!  


Which brings me to my final note.  When I started this blog in July, it was intended just to document my "second go round at the 26.2."  It turned out to be about a whole lot more.  I guess I'm kind of at a crossroads with it.  I enjoy writing it, but I want to make sure that people enjoy reading it.  SOOOOOOO....should I continue?  Does anyone wanna hear about all this crazy stuff anymore?  Is there anything that I can add in or do better at to make it more informative in general?  Give me your feedback!  You can message me here, on Facebook, or at lacysheahealey@gmail.com.  Either way, I hope that you've enjoyed taking this journey with me!  It's been a wild few months of Ultra Running, Possum Hunting, and other nonsense adventures.  As always, I wish everyone the best of luck in their upcoming races.  And I'm so proud of those you that just finished this one and decided to take the leap and try it again!  That takes courage!  Congratulations again to all this weekends finishers!!! See ya on the street!


Thanks for cheering me on,


Lacy