My First Marathon

The allure of completing a marathon has been teasing me for the last 10 years. In 2000, I stood at the finish lines of two marathons watching my roommates and friends achieve one of the greatest physical accomplishments imaginable. It was inspiring to watch people of all ages, sizes, races, and backgrounds share the same pavement and conquer a distance that for all accounts and purposes sounds insane....26.2 miles. Throughout the last 10 years I have had fleeting thoughts of "gosh, I should train for a marathon" or "I wonder if I could ever actually do it". Each time something stopped me. However, back in May 2009, I found myself at an interesting place. I'm 28, I have 2 children, and for the first time in 3 years I am not pregnant or breastfeeding (nor do I intend to be for quite some time). If I intend to accomplish this phantom goal of mine before I'm 30, I better get cracking. Not to mention, I finally found my running partner that would encourage, motivate, and coach me through the process....my best friend, my brother, Will. Will's journey to the starting line of the 2010 Chevron Houston Marathon could inspire the greatest of skeptics. He is amazingly strong, resilient, and committed to success. Without him, I could not call myself a marathoner. So, all that to say, I have been training since early June for this one day....January 17, 2010....marathon day.

To say that my training has been sporadic would be generous. With 2 kids, a career, a husband in law school, and pile of bills on steroids, it was beyond difficult to get in all of my runs. So heading into marathon day I was terrified. "Will I be able to finish" "What if I drag Will down" "What if I die....seriously, people die" "What if I injure myself beyond repair" etc etc etc (I have a little bit of a confidence problem...haha). So it should come as no surprise that on the night before race day I was plagued by nightmares of everything that could go wrong.....stepping in a puddle before the race, missing the start, losing my way and adding extra miles, etc. However, bright and early 4am (well, maybe 4:30 for me) my brother was singing and dancing a happy tune to get us up and ready. It was cold awaiting the start, but the adrenaline was pumping and my excitement was growing with every minute. At 7:10 am our wave received the starting shot...actually a cannon blast. I looked at my brother and said, "oh my gosh, this is it, here we go". What I was feeling and thinking was....I have never been so proud of Will in my life. He has conquered years of lies and self doubt, triumphed over obesity and laziness, he is at the start of this marathon as a stronger athlete and a stronger person than I could ever be....we are doing this together!

The first mile was a blink. I couldn't believe how quickly it came and went, especially because it crossed the Elysian Viaduct, which is a pretty steep incline and contains more than a couple of severe elevation changes. The energy was amazing, and we were focused and keeping perfect pace with our goals. Around mile 1.5 my worst fears came to the forefront of our reality. I have been terrified that something would happen during the race that would force Will or I to bow out and leave the other to finish alone. Will has a had a bum knee for about the last 2 weeks and mile 1.5 he's already dying. His face is burdened, his breathing is off, and he is verbalizing his doubts. Internally I am battling the nurse in me that wants to tell him to stop and the athlete in me that wants to tell him to suck it up for the glory. Somewhere in the struggle I find a balance and start talking him through his pain. He's not limping, he's not slowing....maybe he just needs a few miles to "work it out". Although I am truly petrified that this is it, and he's done. By God's grace, he kept going, he focused, and within a mile or so, his knee loosened and the pain released. I still can't account for how his knee pain never returned throughout the remainder of the race, but my brother prayed and specifically asked God to stop the pain, and He did.

Around mile 6 we were enjoying an awesome view of downtown Houston when we heard some jingling bells coming up behind us. "Clear the middle, wheelchair coming through". I turned and saw a mother pushing her young son (around 10 years old) in a wheelchair, and she was running as hard as she could. My chest caves in even now as I visualize the sweet little boy's face as he passed us. He was cheering us on and smiling as his mother gave him an experience that his little body could not do on its own. As we ran behind them I was weeping and weeping, and sobbbing, and bawling. Seriously, I could NOT pull it together. As they reached the upward slope of the underpass other runners gathered around the woman and helped her push her son up the incline....the goodness of humanity.....in the midst of their own races, there were still people willing to give of themselves. I'm ashamed to say that this was the first prayer that I had uttered in quite some time. I prayed and thanked God for the health of my children. I thanked him for allowing me the ability to participate in this race with my brother. And I thanked him for always humbling me just when I might start to have a little too much self-confidence. I think I finally stopped crying after about 2 miles....seriously, I cried for a LONG time! :)

At mile 9 the 1/2 marathon runners split from the group to return to their finish line. Chill bumps spread over my entire body as Will and I pressed on to finish the full. I remember VERY clearly the feeling I had back in November at the San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon when I made the 1/2 marathon turn off. I remember thinking "there is NO WAY I will EVER be able to keep going straight". Oddly enough, at this mile 9 I was feeling strong and confident in our ability to finish. It was an unexpected change of energy. You would think there would be lots of hype for the runners continuing on for the full, but as soon as we split, the crowds thinned and it was eerily quiet and still.....this is when I had the thought that completing a full marathon has to come from within....it's a personal journey.

Mile 12 was a huge boost for me. As we were entering Rice Village we saw Will's running partner, Anne, and her fiance Jeff. We had actually seen them earlier in the race, and would continue to see them at a couple more points along the way. Seeing familiar faces cheering you on is more uplifting than you could ever imagine. Will and I ran San Antonio with Anne, so it was quite fitting to see her at mile 12 because she knew exactly how we were feeling at the almost-halfway-point. Just a few yards after seeing Anne and Jeff we saw the cheerleaders I had been waiting all morning to see.....my family. As we approached my Mom, Jerry, John, and the boys I just saw my mom start jumping up and down and waving signs. The boys were there all bundled up and cheering for us (well James just looked kind of confused, but Jack was screaming his praises!) No one looked worried, so I thought we must still be looking pretty good....onward!!

Between mile 15 and 16 I started getting worried. We were running along an access road of Hwy 59 (westpark) and people were dropping like flies. We must have seen at least 10 people cramping up, laying on the ground, limping, etc. I said to Will "what causes that?" He says quite nonchalantly "dehydration and over-exertion"......check and check I thought....aghhh! As we rounded the corner on to post oak I saw our family running across the median to see us. Jerry was carrying Jack and he just looked soooo excited. I ran over and kissed his little hands and he said, "Good job, Mommy!" Somewhere in that little voice I found the strength to keep pressing on. John jogged along with us for a minute or so to catch pictures....people have often asked if he will ever run a marathon with me. LOL. The answer is no....John could not and would not EVER be able to do this (have I taunted you enough Bunch??? Still not interested???).

At mile 17 I'm pretty sure I was delirious. Will made some comment about how we only had single digits left. I'm still not quite sure why that was so hard to process, but I was thinking we wouldn't have single digits left until after mile 20....since it's 26.2.....but at 17 we only had 9.....but that's not 6.....I DON'T KNOW, but it was tooooo much math at that point. What I DO know is that at mile 17 I had run farther than I had ever run in training. Although I was supposed to have completed 22 miles according to our running schedule, life happened and I never exceeded 16. The rest of the race was going to be uncharted territory for my body.

At mile 18 1/2 we had an awesome encounter that was quite unexpected. There were a few men in suits passing out pretzels and saying something as we passed. It was hard to make out at first, but I clearly heard them say, "shake his hand". Low and behold as we passed I saw President George H. Bush sitting in a chair greeting the runners. I ran over to him and shook his hand and said something stupid....I don't remember exactly , but it was like "thank you for your time"....as though he had just interviewed me or something. But I think Will called him "Pres", so surely I wasn't the biggest loser he shook hands with!! haha (Is George H Bush big enough bait for you to run a marathon John??? Maci?? Really??)

Mile 20 was rough. As we approached the water station I recognized a couple who we ran with (off and on) for the first 8 or 9 miles. Nice energetic couple. The guy was laying on the side of the road at mile 20 with an AED on surrounded by the med team. This was horrifying to see...I wanted to run by and encourage the girl, but somehow it just didn't seem appropriate....now I wish I had.

At mile 22 I was approaching the proverbial "wall". As we rounded the corner by St Thomas High School, my sister Gini was standing on the corner and I could tell by the look on her face that I didn't look good. She kinda half-smiled and waved, but there was true fear in her eyes. "How do we look, Will?" "Good," he said. Liar.

I wasn't expecting to see the fam again until we finished, but heading into mile 23 I saw Mom at a distance jumping up and down. In my fragile state, I instantly started crying. She was shouting, "I love you, I'm proud of you, You're doing it". When I was in full bawl mode I passed John and the boys. I could see that John was crying, and again, I knew it was a low spot, but we had to finish!!!

At mile 25 we started rounding into downtown. OH MY GOSH....we have run from the GRB to the village, to the Galleria, to memorial park, and back to downtown.....are you freaking kidding me!!!! These were some of my thoughts, but mixed in with them, I now knew we were going to finish. As we made the turn onto Rusk, we could actually see the finish line (.7 miles away). For the next 5 minutes or so Will and I hugged, encouraged each other, and repeated over and over, "Oh my gosh, this is it, we're gonna do it". I must have told him 1000 times how proud I was of him and how much I loved him, because it's true....without that man, I would not be watching my dream be actualized....he was the "will" that kept me going.

As we passed the 26 mile marker bleachers of spectators were cheering us to the finish. For one last boost of encouragement we saw the fam among them complete with smiles and tears. As we touched our toes to the finish line and threw our hands in the air, we became members of an elite group....we became marathoners. I hugged my brother and cried my tears. 5 hours, 17 minutes, and 10 seconds of running, and we finished. It's done.....I am a marthoner!! This is how I felt.

To sum up this extremely lengthy post, here are 26.2 things that I learned during my marathon:
1 - Pin your bib to your innermost layer, no matter what anyone else says
2 - Start unwrapping your shot-blocks a few minutes before water stations
3 - Just because someone gives you a microphone doesn't mean you should sing in public
4 - Routing the marathon by a donut shop is cruel and unusual
5 - Cherish your children's health and embrace their over-activity
6 - Respect your body and challenge it
7 - Do not fear the aging body, we saw 70 and 80 year old men running the marathon
8 - It's never too late to start training
9 - Women over the age 13 should not clog in short skirts, much less over 60
10 - In Houston, TX bellydancing should be reserved for a more private affair
11 - George H Bush had a firm handshake....I knew I always liked that guy
12 - Running up-hill....hard. Running down-hill....pain.
13 - I hate beer. Always have. Why would I want it while Im running??
14 - I realized how much I love the sound of running shoes striking the pavement
15 - Aint no shame in a porta-potty
16 - There's a lot I'll do for a t-shirt, mug, medal, and a sticker (thanks Vic!)
17 - Jill and Will rhyme....yeah, it's cute, thank our mom.
18 - I know, I know, I'm almost there...
19 - Bodyglide is the best invention EVER!
20 - Hydration, Nutrition, Condition....
21 - "C'mon ride the train" is 7 min long and can take you over the "wall"
22 - I love our country and our soldiers...
23 - I love my family and my sweet baby boys...
24 - I love my brother and his strength and perserverance....
25 - I love myself and can truly say that I am proud of my accomplishment...
26 - I love the Lord and his provision, protection, and plan for our lives....
.2 - 26.2 miles - 17 miles = 9.2 miles which is technically single digits