Well.
I did it.
It's been a long, interesting adventure. And I finally crossed that finish line. There were 30,000 people participating in that race, and it was quite an amazing sight.
I suppose I will start at the beginning.
It had been a very difficult week prior to D.C. My grandmother fell very ill and passed away last Wednesday. Needless to say, it was a week filled with very complex emotions. While I could write about this event for days, I'll leave it as it is.
My stomach started to fight me, I was eating less than half of my usual, which was stressful since you're supposed to provide your body with tons of fuel in the week before the marathon. Besides that, all went according to plan in regard to transportation to D.C. We spent all day Saturday at the Rally to Restore Sanity, which was awesome. But it also meant being exclusively on my feet for 6 hours or so.
On the morning of the race, I made a last minute decision to ditch the tutu in favor of comfort over ridiculousness during the long race. With my stomach still in knots, I could barely choke down half of a granola bar. We arrived at the starting line a bit late, but that was much better than arriving early and having to wait around while the nerves take over. We stopped at a port-a-potty just before starting, where I discovered that the green apple energy goo that I stuck into the elastic of my hot pink shorts had leaked. So that was a sticky situation. Jamie and I had our picture taken at the starting line and then we were off.
The first part of the race was absolutely beautiful, weaving through roads that were framed by the colors of fall. Jamie and I started out the race together, at a pretty comfortable pace. We truly lucked out on the weather, it never got hotter than 60 degrees and the sun was shining the entire way. There were so many people in that race, with so many amazing stories. One lady had a shirt that said "I lost 170 pounds to run 26.2 miles." There were many people in wheelchairs. And countless shirts that said things like "I'm running in memory of my wife" and "I'm running for my favorite Marine, Daddy." With all of this around me, I never once struggled to find inspiration to do my best. After about 7 or 8 miles, I started to get discouraged over the fact that I hadn't seen anyone in mine or Jamie's familes cheering. I figured there were too many people and that we'd never spot each other. I started running with my head down. And next thing I knew, Jamie and my Mom were high fiving while my Mom shrieked in excitement! I half-hugged my Mom and looked around for my Dad, who was just a short distance down the path, holding a sign that said "Run Rachie Run!" Although I missed my brother, a small glimpse of some loved ones was just what the doctor ordered. In all, I got to see them and one of Jamie's moms, Pat, 4 times thanks to their strategic planning. In fact, my Dad and brother Matt ran alongside me for the beginning of mile 20, which was easily one of the hardest parts of the race for me. My Dad spoke some motivating words and my brother smiled and cheered. And my Mom ran up the final hill with me, both of us in tears just before the finish line, despite numerous Marines asking her to exit the course. The kind of boost that I felt from those moments is beyond words.
Jamie and I split up exactly halfway through, he was on a roll and we knew it was unfair for either of us to expect the other to maintain our own personal paces. We took this on together, and helped each other during training, so running the last 13.1 miles of the race together was not necessary. The atmosphere of the whole event was all we needed. We did see each other at a point where the course loops, and we cheered each other on. Again, another point where I needed to hear some words of encouragement from someone I love. The timing for moments like that throughout the marathon was absolutely perfect.
There was a point when I thought to myself "****! Why did I ever think I should do this?!" But then I remembered how hard I have worked and how far I have come. And I thought of my family who has been by my side for it all. And there was just no way I was going to have to explain why I quit running. So I ran. Sometimes there were people walking faster than I was running, but I was still hopping from foot to foot, maintaining the running stance.
I crossed the finish line in an all-out sprint. After 5 hours and 34 minutes. It was quite a wild ride, and I wouldn't change a second of it.
So, on my list of life goals, I am proud to say I can put a checkmark next to "Run a marathon."
