Lets roll back to 17 weeks ago when we started this little endeavor… Sam and I agreed that “wouldn’t it be fun if we trained and ran a half marathon together?!!!??” Well, the weekend has come and gone. We signed up for this race over 2 months ago and the it’s already over. It seems like just yesterday we ran our first miles together and now it’s all over. It’s amazing how months of training and planning can be gone in only a few short hours. (can’t imagine how a wedding feels!!!)
About a week ago, Sam and I made the collective decision that it would be best if he did not run the race. Why?!!?? About 4 weeks ago, we ran 7 miles together. (half way there!!!) and things were going great for us. Sam felt a “pop” in the bottom of his foot and it sent shooting pains up his leg for the next few days. As he hobbled around, I forced him to go to the doctor to get it x-rayed. The doctor confirmed that Sam had an overuse injury in his foot where the Achilles meets the arch. The more he ran, the worse it got. Finally he took a week off and it started to heal. Then it was time for our next 5k race and he gave it a shot. No-go. Shouldn’t have done it. He was right back where he started with the pain and hobbling. He took two weeks off and ran again, and the same result happened. Neither of us wanted him to do any more damage to his foot. So, I found someone at work to buy his number / spot in the race so it wasn’t a total loss for him. (the race was sold out over a month ago so spots were highly sought after!) We decided it was for the best.
Sam wasn’t off the hook so easily. This weekend was my homecoming game at GSU and he already committed to me to come down for the race. Running or not, he was going to come with me and be my #1 fan. Friday afternoon came and we both left work early. We headed down in all the traffic to Savannah. Apparently the roads in Savannah aren’t equipped to handle an additional 24,000 runners, plus their coaches and race volunteers. After fighting traffic we finally got our bib numbers from the Expo and we exchanged Sam’s with the friend of mine from work who was going to be running in Sam’s place and headed to David and Paige’s house to play with Zachary spend time with them. Lights out at 9:00pm. Don’t mind if I do.
The nerves in my stomach kept coming up and Sam gracefully kept calming me down and telling me that I WAS prepared and I COULD do this. 13 miles? N.B.D. 6:45 rolled around too early. Sam happily volunteered to drive and drop me off at the start line. I met up with the peeps from work and we bonded over our five hour energy’s and protein bars on our walk to the start line. 45 degrees with a 30 mph wind shield = frozen daiquiri (I wish!).. or just a frozen KATIE. For those of you who don’t know, the Rock N Roll Marathon series is known for being super fun. Their theme is to have a band play a live concert at every mile marker. Pretty cool concept, eh? We started the race and you could see the shedding of sweat shirts, old long sleeve t-shirts and other over coat paraphernalia lining the course as runners got warmer.
I had my usual Pit-bull station on Pandora jamming in my ears and I got into a good stride for the first 3 miles. I was feeling good. Then the wind kept screeching through my sweat soaked shirt and chilling my muscles all the way to my joints and core. I could feel my body tense up and strain on every step I took. The miles seemed to get longer. Where is the next band? Where is that next mile marker?? Where is the WATER?!! I’m not sure what happened, but for about 3 straight miles (mile 4,5,6) the water stations ran out of water and Gatorade. I was so thirsty by the time I got to mile 7! Sam and I planned that he would be at mile 8 or 9 so I was getting excited to smooch him and get a pump of energy and keep on running to the finish line. Miles 8,9 and 10 came and went and I still didn’t see him. He called me around mile 10.5 to give me a little pep talk. Some cop wouldn’t let them out of the neighborhood (the marathon course went right through David and Paige’s neighborhood!) and they were having difficulty getting to the mile marker before me. So, NBD, I powered through and tried to pick up the pace. One foot in front of the other. Let’s do this. I kept praying that god would just carry me to the end. [Apparently, He was busy answering other more important prayers, so I had to run them. ] For almost all of mile 11 and most of mile 12 I really didn’t think I was going to make it. My hips and ankles were killing me. I couldn’t stay warm and I wanted to cry. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that I had the most supportive boyfriend and brother and sister in law waiting to give me a huge hug at the end. And a metal of course. So, I put my head down, turned up the tunes, and pretended I couldn’t feel my legs and finished the damn thing.
I crossed the finish line at 2 hours, 35 minutes, and 23 seconds. BOOM.
25 minutes faster than the Disney Princess Half Marathon and YEAYAAAAA that’s a baller time!! I must be cocky for a second and admit that I am so proud of myself! GO ME! My hard work and dedication has paid off. Today, I sit at my desk, with sore muscles and sore joints and just think to myself, “yes. I did it. Again!” I couldn’t have made it without the support of Sam. I know it. He was my driving force over the last few months. He had faith in me the whole time and knew that I could crush my last time, and I did.
So, after the race, as quickly and my sore body could take us, we got back to David and Paige’s house and I showered and we headed to Kyoto for lunch. GIANT ORDER OF FOOD PLEASE GET IN MY STOMACH. Can you say starves??? Yep. so delish. We packed up the car and headed to Statesboro. We missed almost the first quarter of the homecoming game, but we got to sit on the grass and watch the rest! GATA EAGLES! We won! Boo-yea! Sam and I went to one of my friend’s houses for the rest of the afternoon and hung out and played drinking games to celebrate. C.O.L.L.E.G.E. We all got dressed and headed to the one and only good bar in the boro, retrievers. We had ourselves a grand ol time; got to see lots of good peeps!!!
It was a Marathon of a weekend (Literally and figuratively)that took months of careful planning and tons of training. And I couldn’t be more thankful for the best boyfriend to be there to love and support me every step of the way!! (literally!) And a special thanks for all those who have supported me and run with me and encouraged me. You make me want to be better!!!!!!!!
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