I Lived
State 43- Mississippi
Stennis space center marathon
4:02:11
3rd place overall women
1st place 40-45 femals
Since the last marathon we moved but stayed close to my main running path and actually a little closer to it. It’s weird because even though my running routes are the same - they are different as I have had to recalibrate turn arounds and mental notes of - how long it feels. An old out and back for me of 10 miles only gets me about 7 now. But since I used to be further from the path, an old 3 mile out and back only gets me 4. It’s great that I’m more on the path and no stop lights to have to stop at near the end, but still an adjustment.
This year I’ve also been able to add back a social part of running. Tammy and I have kept to long distance accountability buddies but now I’m also adding back nearby partners. It’s not like the good ole days were I was almost always running with a friend but given now I have less flexibility on when I run - I’m so happy with the miles I get with friends at whatever pace. The three that fill my heart with so much joy this year:
Reena- a mom from mca. Her son was a year older than Sophia so we would see each other at drop off/pick up. She started training for the Chicago marathon. After the third time of running into each other we finally exchanged numbers. It was so fun to grow a friendship while logging miles. And great to watch her achieve her goal to run the marathon!!!!
Alison- One of my best friends from downtown life! My inspiration to do the Ironman, an old regular running, biking and swimming friend. She moved close enough to my main running path to be a quick visit on a 17 mile turn around and anything greater than that she could run with me! I’m so happy they moved and that I get to see her more! And while Sophia and Madeline met as infants and Sophia seemed so young compared to Madeline -10 months older than her - now they are the same grade and have such similar hearts!
Linnea- While Elly is younger than Sophia, Sophia took her under her wing like her little sister at MCA. What started out as playdates for them has turned into another amazing mommy friend. Bonus we both would love to multitask playdates into mommy workout (we really need to do this!). Linnea is much faster than me but I Love the push to get fast miles in! Esp when we always get lost in the chat we usually do more miles than anticipated.
There are others that have become familiar faces on the path on the rare occasion I will travel short distances and chat randomly and mostly just recognizable hellos.
That’s the main highlight of training. I have fallen twice while running in the last year. Like big bad trips on roots and ripped up knees and hands. Falling is different in your 40s. I go on like I did in my 20s but it catches up with you! Usually 2 months after the ignored fall - running on the out of alignment body just gets worse! Thank goodness for Dr Sabrina!
I actually think yoga was making my fall injury worse at the end because I was so out of alignment that the stretches weren’t doing what they were supposed to be doing. After two adjustments yoga became beneficial again. Dr Sabrina doesn’t understand why I don’t come in right after the fall - not when my hips are so out of alignment and twisted that my body can’t even lay face down normally on the table. .. hopefully there isn’t a fall for a long while but lesson learned - come in sooner rather than later!
Age is something you can’t ignore but you can take care of. My knees are doing fine except for when Dr Sabrina pointed out the one was so swollen from ignoring the fall (trickle effect down my entire body and now all fixed), child’s pose isnt a 20s or non runner yogi kind of way, my ankle is tight and then apparently I have a bulging disc in my lower back that can flare up and create both lower back issues and hip issues. But Dr Sabrina also equips me with quick exercises to do hourly when it’s at its worst and otherwise throughout and it helps so much. Different ones for different pains because I have a lot!
This is just the reality of getting older. Overall, I still forget I’m not 20 and am active and can be a fun mom for Sophia.
Also the cross training is more important than ever before!
Now let’s talk mileage- this year I ended up with one 20 and two 22 milers before this race. The 20 felt great for the first 17 miles but this was the run before getting adjusted.
Then both 22 milers were great! The first was just going to be 20 and then … it was a good day so… I went to 22. I think adding 20 minutes immediately after to stretch helped and perhaps the nutrition and hydration and not going too fast- averaging between 9 and 9:30 including walking as I socialized with Alison in the middle miles.
I think I added too much house work on Veterans Day (2nd 22 miler) because while my legs were fine, I threw out my back (and see above!). But alas - Dr Sabrina to the rescue!
1.5 week taper, and we were off to NOLA- while the marathon was in Mississippi it was just over the border- 45 min from NOLA so we could have a fun family vacation and cross off a state!
We arrived Thanksgiving day- and while we had a car reserved -they were all out of cars for me and everyone else who reserved one on Thanksgiving day!!! A little bump in the road, but we just ubered to our place and hoped for the best- getting one within our first 24 hours of us being in NOLA- the only issue was the airport was 25 min away, and not convenient at all when our trip was short enough. They actually called mid Thanksgiving dinner out to eat and an amazing restaurant - Lula - with an electric car. I said thanks but no thanks since I have no clue how I would get that charged. Friday morning I called many coscto and budget customer service options (I should say- I also was trying to make this as convenient as possible for us from the start- and learned they didn’t have an Avis preferred /speedy at NOLA option so I went with budget .., aka we learned our lesson once when we paid more for the ‘better brand’ and had to stand in the same line - I will always research this! See the last marathon write up 🤣).
So Friday morning at 7:30 I learned they had cars!! We got a car by 8:30 and most of our vacation day was not interrupted - and we could also drive to city park for the afternoon.
When I wasn’t sure I would have a car for the race- I posted it on the 50 marathon state and I did find a back up option with an awesome woman also in town, staying in NOLA and heading to the race the morning of- Kim- more on her later :)
Alas I had a car- I was packed and ready to wake up and hug my sweet family and head to Mississippi at 6:15 on Saturday morning. The drive was easy as over the bridge- beautiful! The security line to get into the space center was longer than they advised. It took about 30 min to get through - you have to show your id to see you are on the list to enter and proof of car insurance. Once through I just followed the car in front of me and hoped I found my way to the start. Because security was moving so slow they pushed the race 30 minutes. So I had some time to lollygag.
It was cold - in the 30s which is not normal for this time of year there, and so I spent half the time in the car, and then decided to put on some makeup.
I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to wear because it was so much colder than anticipated. I texted with Linnea some - part of the problem is I felt bad doing a throw away on the base. I guess I could have strategically thrown it at a water stop but I decided just with a short sleeve and then my long sleeve jacket I brought (my new favorite Joe got me from work (Lifetime) and my short sleeved happened to be a shirt I got from ffc when I taught spin there - ha !
So- without much announcement - when the race was ready to start - off we went. The course is known to be flat and all paved. The biggest thing for me is that - I am not used to an all paved marathon. It does not feel good and I knew it would be my biggest challenge compared to what I trained on. But - my body was already struggling this training season so I wasn’t about to add concrete to the beatings on my legs/hips/back. It would just be the element of challenge this race brought.
The first mile actually was a little bit down and I took mental note of that. This race was a combination of a 5k, half marathon and marathon all started at the same time.
I did my best to start my normal pace and I think I did a good job, maybe a touch faster but it felt good as it always does. There were little kids running the 5k all out huffing and puffing. It was so cold for these kids - I wanted to tell this little boy to cover his ears!!! It always helps my breathing in the cold - but he was working so he’d to keep his bigger brother in sight that I don’t think he would have figured out how to use his face thing as an ear warmer. So I just wished him luck, and then the 5k went straight and the half and full turned.
I realized in the hour I had waiting for the race to start, that my phone battery was draining kind of fast. So I kept my phone /music off for the first hour of the race. There were two different people I ran near in this time that had music from a speaker which I appreciated and sparked a short convo with the one guy.
Also- remember when I mentioned it was paved? There was definitely a slope to the road one way or another and it was felt early on by me because that stuff hurts in your 40s! So there came a point where the pavement was actually flat- and I mentioned it to this guy and his son. The dad (also 50 stater- 3 to go!) agreed with me. I chatted with them for a bit but went on my way. This was the son’s first marathon and I was thinking the dad was running his son’s pace to help him accomplish the race later as the son (alone) passed me I realized it was the other way around.
When I hit just over an hour- I turned on my phone- texted with Joe to check in and put it on airplane mode for hour number 2 - while listening to music. At mile 10 I decided I needed to slow it some to try to save energy at the end. Training has been slow start, relaxed middle and then a kick in the second half, so I wanted to try to mimic that. As I slowed I started to get passed and it kinda upset me - I didn’t know if it was half marathoners or marathoners. But as I approached mile 12 the marathon turned and half went straight. I was the only in my viewable area one who turned. I thought - wow this is lonely and at least it was the half people who were passing me.
I kept going - all alone. I hit the half at about 1:54 and thought - okay a sub 4 might be possible. So I decided to try to pick it up just to give more room. Mile 14 was an 8:20 and the next an 8:30 but then - I guess my legs didn’t like this idea and I could feel the cramps- so I had to not push it on them.
About mile 17 - when I was still sub 9 minute miles- a girl passed me. And I was like ahhh no!! Am I really slipping !? I kept her in sight until about mile 21 but never in a place to catch up. I also realized in a few sections where it was out /back I didn’t see any other women in front of me so I realized there is a chance I could be placing.
Around mile 20 I also took inventory of who was behind me - I think at that point the next girl was about 1.5 miles behind me.
So while I was hoping for a sub 4 as usual, I was also thinking - just don’t let any more girls pass you!!!!
With 6 miles to go I knew I just needed a 10 minute mile- but those cramps were really something. I also stopped twice at water stops to get my water bottle refilled and that hurt!! It was pretty abrupt / not really efficient. By mile 23 the 10 minute started to slip to slower with short breaks as the cramps were in control. If I looked back behind me they would Charlie horse and I tried to run in the long grass for softer terrain at one point but it was too late and the uneven terrain = Charlie horse. I texted Tammy with 2 miles to go still in hopes I could just muster through. Also somewhere in the last 5 miles- my eyes watered so much that the make up I put on got on my contact and I could not see well out of my left eye. That really messed with me (I had to remove it after and pour water on it to wipe it clean to see out of it - it took 4 times of this in an hour before being able to safely drive ‘home’). By 1 mile to go I told Tammy it’s not happening sub 4 but close enough. I did not cross the finish looking like a 4 hour marathon but I crossed it and it turns out I was the third female to cross it and took first for my age.
This is when I actually met Kim- the woman who would have gotten me to the start from NOLA if I never got my rental car, and the female who passed me around mile 17. The 50 states community is a strong and small world I guess! Her daughter also placed in the 5k so the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Maybe Sophia will want to run a 5K while I do a marathon one day! We hung out until we got our awards.
This race had me remembering one of my favorite marathons (NOLA), and my Mississippi marathon first attempt (when there was ice so the plane couldn’t land), and Oklahoma - my makeup state with an airline credit since I never made it to Mississippi.
Oklahoma and Mississippi are now the two marathons I have placed in.
Also thinking of all the friends I have traveled with through the years. Esp NOLA - Rachel J(P), Alexis, Mike and Christine and Mississippi first attempt with Kristen - a crazy 24 hours of travel, getting to stay the night at Rachel A’s in Georgia as a bonus!
The memories and friends made are such a staple to what makes this journey so great! I definitely have lived!
…7 states to go
