Half

 







 St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend

 

First up on the agenda was the Expo Thursday night.  Candace and I went around 4:30 and we were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't busy.  We were able to take our time and browse all the fun running gear they had available.  I got a super cute Adidas sports bra and fun arm warmers, both for just 10 bucks each.  The rest of the time we sat through a course description, sampled yummy apples, talked to some friends, and most importantly activated our race bibs.  It was so cool walking over the sensors and seeing my name pop up on the screen.  It made it real.  We were doing this and we couldn't have been happier. 

 

Unfortunately, I still wasn't feeling great.  At this point I just knew I'd be 100% since I'd been feeling badly since Thanksgiving evening. That should be plenty of time to get better, right.  This virus just wiped me of all my energy and left me with a throbbing headache and sore throat.  However, I am one determined girl and pressed through.  I went to bed at a decent time Thursday night, but didn't sleep great.  I have the hardest time sleeping when I'm nervous and I'm not sure I've ever been so nervous.  I'm not really sure why I was so nervous but, man I just couldn't shake it.  I think I just wanted to do so well in the race I was putting unnecessary pressure on myself.  Yes, it's a little nuts, I know.  I'm working on it.

 

Friday I spent the day doing things around the house, laying out all my race gear, and getting ready for Candace to come over for a pre-race pasta party.  We had a great time hanging out, eating pasta, salad, bread, cobbler, and coffee.  We discussed the final details of race day and parted ways at 9 in hopes to get a full nights rest.  Well, like I said I don't sleep well when I'm nervous or have things on my mind.  I certainly tried and tried and tried.  I maybe got 2 hours the entire night.  I ended up getting up at 4 and had plenty of anticipation and excitement to push through the sleepiness.  I attempted to eat Cream of Rice and oh my word that stuff is so nasty I just couldn't do it.  So, I opted to eat half of a peanut sandwich, half of a banana, and a full glass of water. 

 

 

 

I laced up my shoes and was ready to go

 

 

 

We arrived downtown at 6:30 and made our way to the starting line for my Team Ingram picture.  After the picture, a porta-potty visit, a nice warm up walk, and prayer time we made our way to Corral #6 and the final wait began.  Probably the sweetest moment of the morning was the precious little girl who sang the National Anthem.  It was a tear jerker, for sure.  The gun went off and about 10 minutes or so later it was our turn to start the journey to completing our very first half marathon. 

 

 

 

The early miles were amazing.  Emotional is the best way to describe it.  We ran down Riverside Drive and enjoyed the beautiful view of the river and before we knew it we were on Beale Street.  It was packed and the energy was undeniable and awesome.  You can't help but feel a little like a celebrity with all the awesome people cheering for you and rooting you on.  I gave tons of high fives and heard lots of "Go Allie" or "Thank You, Hero".  We rounded a corner and I began searching for my family.  I knew to look for Team Ingram and they would be close to them.  Sure enough I spotted the sea of green ahead on the left.  We made our way over to them and I was able to give sweet little Ingram a high five.  Holy cow,  that was a moment!!! About 15 seconds later I saw my sweet little family and it absolutely made my day.  Seeing Brock and Emma with the signs they made and D with the video camera was just almost too much to take.  I was so overcome with joy. 

 

 

 

This picture cracks me up.  I promise they were happy and smiling when I passed, but this was about 45 minutes later and needless to say they were ready to go eat!  But I'd say they were the cutest cheerleaders on the course :)

 

A short mile or so later we were running through St. Jude.  I mean it when I say there are no words to describe this moment.  I looked into the eyes of so many moms, grandmothers, and dad's who with their whole heart told me "Thank You".  Oh my goodness, the tears were flowing! There was pain, sadness, joy, and thankfulness in their eyes and you could tell that they genuinely were thankful.  We all know that they are the real heroes here.  For taking care of their precious little one who is ill.  It was a moment I'll never forget!!! Ever!!!

 

We were soon running on North Parkway.  This is where the race turned for me.  I decided to eat a Gu Gel at mile 6 since I'd been running for an hour at that point.  During practice I'd used a caffeine free, vanilla Gel.  Well when I went to the store to buy one all they had was the ones with caffeine.  So, I broke the big rule of not trying anything new on race day.  I quickly began feeling nauseous.  I'm not entirely sure if the gel is to blame but I think it had a part in my upset tummy.  I kept thinking oh, it will go away and I'll feel better.  Nope.  No such luck.  In fact, I got worse.  At one point I told Candace I felt like I was having an out of body experience.  She had me put my head between my legs for a few seconds to try to ease the nausea.  I was dizzy and just plain miserable.  I am not a quitter and was bound and determined to persevere.  Even though all I wanted to do was lay on the side of the road.  She was AMAZING.  She encouraged me, quoted scripture, and stayed right by my side the entire time.  I kept telling her to go ahead and leave me because I didn't want her race to suffer because of me.  She refused and told me she wasn't going to leave me.  I am so grateful for her and her selflessness during the race.  She helped me and didn't leave me and for that I am forever grateful.  That is why I'm calling us 13.1 Soul Sisters!!! Still to this day I'm not sure what went wrong exactly.  I'm thinking it was due to being sick,  lack of sleep, and the wrong gel.  I could so easily beat myself up for not racing well but, I'm not.  You never know when you will have a "bad" running day.  You can't predict them nor can you control them.  I refuse to have negative thoughts about the race just because I wasn't feeling my best.  I gave my all and that's all anyone can do or ask.  Overall the day was amazing and I'm so blessed and happy that I was able to play a small part in helping the amazing kids at St. Jude. 

 

 

My mom snapped this awesome picture of little Ingram playing on the side of the road.  This is what it's all about.  Little angels just like him. 

 

 

 

Here we are right at mile 13.  Praise Jesus, we were almost done.

 

 

I LOVE this picture!!!!! My dad knocked it out of the park with this one! To me, this shot says it all!

 

 

This awesome sign greeted us as we entered the stadium!

 

 

 

Hugging my sweet mom.  My parents are so amazing and always support me in whatever I do!

 

 

Oh yes, we certainly earned these!!!

 

 

My dad found my name on the massive list of finishers! 

 

 

Love my little family.  They should've received a metal as well for encouraging & supporting me through training!

 

 

 

Oh how we have waited and worked so hard to be able to hold up our 13 mile fingers!!! Woohoo!!!

 

 

Me and my sweet boy!

 

 

The proof is in the metal :)

 

 

Last but not least...the 13.1 sticker is FINALLY where it belongs, on my car!!!

 

 

Our mile splits...

 

1 - 10:04

2 - 9:28

3 - 9:16

4 - 8:53

5 - 8:59

6 - 9:36

7 - 9:58

8 - 9:59

9 - 10:37

10 - 10:41

11 - 10:58

12 - 12:38

13 - 12:38

 

Official Time - 2:18:32

 

You can tell where I really started to have trouble.  I'm looking forward to the next half so I can beat my time :)

 

I wanted to say a special thank you to everyone who supported me, prayed for me, donated, and just bared with me while I talked their ear off about the race.  Haha.  I have the best support system and I love each and every one of you!