St. Jude 1/2 Marathon

If I had to sum up the weekend in one word, that word would be AWESOME!!!! All the weeks of training were so worth it! What an incredible experience!

After dropping off the children at their destinations, Kelly and I started our fun-filled weekend! We picked up sushi to eat on the way, so yummy, but not a good choice for driving!!! We made a very quick stop at Target to pick up a few items to help keep us warm on our run. After arriving at our hotel and checking in, we headed over to the Expo, which was conveniently located right across the street. At the Expo, we picked up our race numbers, timing chips and t-shirts. I found Roan searching through hundreds of these cute little head bands called Bondi-Bands. She had already picked out a few for me to choose from. They are so cute! Who says you can't be cute while running! HA! We walked through the entire Expo and looked at all the neat running gear and apparel! I spent quite awhile looking at the One More Mile booth at all their quirky, fun little sayings on their t-shirts, hats, bumper stickers and more. I ended up buying one that said, "Running is a mental sport, and we are all insane!" There were so many to choose from! We were soon joined by Emily and Mark. Roan and I helped Emily pick a Bondi-Band, too! She against her own judgement, went with a very cute, colorful one! She also choose a black one in case she chickened out!

Just to let you know, all of the pictures will be ones that I swiped from either Roan or Megan's blogs! Jimmy and Megan thankfully took lots of pictures! I don't think I took one the entire time! So it's not Deja Vu, you probably have seen them all before!

Russ, (Megan on the phone!) Mark, Emily, Me, Kelly, Roan and Jimmy

This was in the lobby outside of the Expo!

Look who we ran into!
Thanks Santa for taking time out of your BUSY schedule to take a picture with us!

Roan, Me and Emily

After the Expo, we headed out to eat at the Spaghetti Warehouse for our pre-race meal! It is such a great feeling to load up on all those carbs and not have a guilty conscience while doing it! We enjoyed good food and lots of laughs! We had so much left over, that we made a to-go plate for Stephen, who had to work and got a late start heading out. He actually came in right as we were leaving! He came back to our hotel and we all hung out in the lobby while he ate! We had the best time! I really can't remember when I have laughed so much and so hard! We decided we should head up to our rooms, get everything ready for the morning and try to get some rest! I personally didn't rest much at all!!! We should have just stayed in the lobby and laughed some more!!! Ha!

We all met back in the lobby at 6:00. We were joined by Russ, Megan, Stephen, Julie and Yonea. We enjoyed coffee and M&M's for our breakfast!

Me, Roan & Emily

We are all wearing the new Bondi-Bands that we bought at the Expo. You can tell from this picture that I didn't sleep much the night before!

Stephen & Kelly enjoying muffins before their run

Kelly & Me

Megan and Russ

(Hope she decides to run next year!)

Jimmy & Roan

Okay, game on, it's time to get serious!!!! As if four layers on top, two on bottom, and two pairs of gloves weren't enough, some of us also added a cath lab gown! Jimmy was kind enough to bring some to suit up in for our 1 mile walk to the race start! We may have looked goofy, but they really did help keep us warm! It was a freezing temperature of 26 degrees! Brrrrrrrrrr...... I am thinking this is totally nuts, but so much fun!

This is complicated!

Russ, Yonea, Julie, Roan, Jimmy and me all suited up and ready to brave the cold!

Julie and Yonea had on new headbands, too! Julie's said, "Start off slow, then back off!" Yonea's said, "Running is cheaper than therapy!" Super cute!

After a few more pictures, we all headed out to face the cold for the mile warm-up walk to the stadium. After checking our bags, we walked together to the corrals where almost everyone went to different ones. Emily, Yonea and I all started in corral 9. The official time started at 8:00, and by the time our corral started, which seemed like no time at all, it was 8:15! We threw our cath gowns over to the side and it was time to RUN!!!! Wow, all the talking, discussing, planning and anticipation and it was finally here! I was so excited, I mean really excited!!! It didn't take long to warm up! I ditched one pair of my gloves at about mile one! That was the only thing I shed the entire race. I did get hot and wanted to take off my outer layer, but my race bib was pinned to it! I loved this race! There were supporters and entertainment along the entire course! The most inspirational and emotional part of the race was running through the St. Jude campus. There were family members and a couple of patients outside holding up signs and shouting encouraging words to all the runners! Very humbling experience, my prayers go up for these families!

I enjoyed almost every mile of this race! The first 10 miles were awesome, the last 3 were hard! My legs tightened up pretty bad, but I pushed through! I finished a couple of minutes short of my goal at 2:17. At race start, my Garmin GPS didn't work, so I only saw my time, not my pace or average pace, which I am sure is the reason I finished a little short! I am totally okay with my time, I had a super race! Right after crossing the finish line, I was handed a thermal blanket and crossed over onto the field to join Kelly, Stephen, Yonea, and Roan to cheer the others in! I was so excited to be finished that I forgot to get my finishers medal! I went back and got one, I worked hard for it! Ha! Kelly did awesome with a time of 2:09 and Stephen rocked at 1:51!

When we finished our race, we enjoyed some delicious, hot soup and cocoa! When our bodies started cooling off, it was sooooo cold! Oh my, I have never in my life been that cold and three days later, I think I am still thawing!!!!! We all found a seat either in the stadium or on the field at the full marathon finish line to cheer Jimmy in! He came in looking strong with a finishing time of 3:46! Way to go Jimmy!

Jimmy, Stephen & Russ outside the stadium

This was Russ's first half, too and he did awesome finishing under 2 hours!!!

All of the runners after the race!

This whole weekend was a wonderful experience! I am so thankful for everyone who encouraged me to do this, to my training buddy, Emily, to my family and friends who helped care for my children while Kelly and I enjoyed our time together stress free! Congratulations to all my friends who accomplished their goals!

Happy Running!