Post Marathon Celebrating and My First Win!

After the marathon, I quickly showered so we could eat with Dad, Katie and Chris before they had to head back to Greenville. I still can't believe they drove all the way to Kiawah and back in one day just to see me finish! What a great support system I have!!


Me and my wonderful hubby of 7 years.
















Me and my BFF of like 10 years or something like that. She's like a sister to me. I feel like I've known her forever.














I spotted a Marble Slab the first day we were in Kiawah and had been dreaming about getting some ice cream there since I saw it. Saturday just before 9:00 we finally decided to go. We checked on the website to make sure they were open and it said they were open until 11:00. Just as we were parking we saw the lady walk to the door and lock it...they closed at 9:00. I was slightly disappointed. No ice cream was not an option, so we headed to the grocery store. I know, I'm a dork, but ice cream and coffee are two of my very favorite things! I did, however, save the coffee for the morning. I wanted to sleep well that night!
















It's been a week now since my marathon - I can't believe it! A question that FruitFly and many other people have asked me this week is, "will you do it again?" Well, had you asked me that at mile 8 - after 8 miles of rain and having to slow down and leave my training partner - I might not have been so quick to say "yes." But, ask me any time after 13, "Absolutely!" I definitely want to do it again some day. I'm not sure when, but I really do want to. If not next year then most likely after kid #2 or #3 (should there be a 3). :) I really want to focus even more on running after I'm done having kids.

I really felt like I should have been up and running this morning, but I decided to take a break and enjoy a Saturday morning at home. It felt weird. It was great to have time with my boys, but I'm anxious to get back out there! I ran just a half mile on the treadmill before my workout Wednesday...it felt great! Plus it was nice to get back to some strength training. I have missed that. Thursday I did a speed workout on the treadmill. Ouch. My legs were in pain the rest of the day. I think I pushed it just a little bit. I decided to rest Friday and today and will start back to my normal routine tomorrow.

I am so excited to say that I finally won a contest!! When I first started reading blogs I entered contest after contest, but I never won anything. I stopped for a while until I started reading about iFitness belts. I really wanted to try one so I started entering contests again. Still nothing...at this point I just wanted to win anything! :) Imagine my surprise when I sat down to read blogs on Thursday evening and realized that I had won an iFitness Ultimate Running belt from Mom.Wife.Fitness.Life!! I was just a little excited. Merry Christmas to me! I can't wait to get it and try it out!

Happy Saturday!

Kiawah Marathon Recap

Okay, so I'm finally posting my recap from my marathon! Sorry, it's long. It was hard for me to describe this day and to keep it as short as possible...here goes.

I had been anticipating this day for months, and it finally got here. The last month and a half seemed to fly by. We ran 20 miles on November 6th and 22 miles on November 20th. Those long runs seemed to be forever ago! I know I had to trust my training, but it made me a little nervous, I have to admit.


I checked the weather Friday night and got even more nervous. The temperature was going to be great for running (40's to low 50's), but it showed rain until early afternoon. Yikes... We passed on a 10 mile run in the rain about a month ago. I remember asking Len that morning, "what if it's raining on December 11th?" I can't really remember what he said but something to the effect that we would just do it or something, but I never really thought that it would rain.

Me with my "What was I thinking??" face before we walked to the start.

We met at 7:20(ish - it took us a while to find each other even though we had a meeting spot). The rain started at about 7:50. Great. At least it wasn't raining too bad, though, so I was glad for that. My husband and Len's family were there with us right until we started - they were such troopers!

Len and I ready to do this and looking really excited...or maybe not so much. Speaking of Len, I have to say, I never would have done this without him. It's really tough getting up at 4:00 or 5:00 three days a week but when you know someone is out there waiting, you just have to...and that saved me. I wouldn't have done it alone. Plus it's really hard to find someone who runs your pace and someone who enjoys your company so very much.... :) Okay, so maybe that was a tad stretch...I better stop now. Thanks, LP.

The last 10 minutes flew by and all the sudden we were off! Here we go. I look like I'm in pain already, but that's just my look of concentration.

I really wanted to stay with Len as long as possible. Sometimes I'm really mentally weak on long runs and need him to keep me motivated. Miles 1-4 went pretty well. The crowd always motivates me (sometimes too much) in the beginning. Miles 4-7 I started to feel a little winded (this is typically when I start to get into my rhythm). I started to realize that unfortunately I was making the same mistake that I did on my last half marathon by starting off too fast. We were running under 10 minute miles and I knew that was too fast for me if I wanted to have anything left in the second half. On my best runs, I start off slower and then speed up. So though I hated it so much, I said good bye to Len somewhere between miles 7 and 8. It had rained on us for most of that time and between that and having to slow down a bit, I started getting a little discouraged. I slowed down to take off my long sleeve shirt. It was all wet and I was plenty warm, so it was good to get it off. I must have looked miserable because some guy came up by me, patted my back and told me to keep on going and that I was doing great. I cannot even tell you how much that motivated me. I wish I could thank him. I needed that so much right then as I was definitely close to tears.

The next few miles were tough but I knew I was going to see Phil close to mile 13 and that kept me going. I almost cried (again) when I saw him. He had a Clif bar, water and my visor for me (even though it had stopped raining now, of course) so I stopped for a minute with him. I was anxious to get started again. I tried eating the bar but it wasn't working. Too chewy and dry. We mostly stop on our training runs to eat a bar quickly and have a drink before we start again. But I didn't want to waste any more time than necessary. I told Phil to tell me I could do this (he said some encouraging words), and then I went on my way.

Seeing Phil and crossing that half way mark was definitely my turning point. I got my second wind and seriously felt great! I looped around at the half way point. I had a nice, steady pace and really started to enjoy myself. I saw Phil again somewhere between miles 14 and 15. He took my Clif bar, long sleeve shirt and ran with me for a minute. Three ladies commented about how great my hubby was to support me like that! I am a lucky girl. I needed to see him then so badly to push me those last miles.

I remember reading Becky's recap on her marathon and how she thought about different people during each mile. I started thinking how even though I was running by myself at this point, it definitely took a lot of amazing people to get me here! There's no way I could have done this by myself. These are some of the people I thought about:

1. My husband. He not only comes to almost all of my races but he watches Jake every Saturday morning (which means never getting to sleep in) and seriously never complains about it.

2. My parents. They support me in everything I do, and they are so proud of me! I think they even tell the person checking them out at the grocery store that their daughter is running a marathon. :) My Dad sent a note with me to read before my marathon. I thought about the things he wrote several times during those miles. It was so incredible to see him at the finish line!! And my dear Mom - she was at home (wishing so badly she could be here) taking care of our little man! I could not ask for better parents (and neighbors!! Told ya, I'm a lucky girl!).

3. My best friend. Even though we haven't had many opportunities lately to run together, she supports me so much. She even drove 4 hours here and back in one day just to see me finish my marathon!

4. My team. Of course. I couldn't have done this without them. We have had fun training for this marathon the last three months. They've kept me laughing and helped me finish every mile I ran.

5. My new blogger friends. I have been so inspired by reading blogs and by comments and suggestions from you all. So thank you!! I thought of you all today, especially those of you who have encouraged me during this amazing journey.

6. And of course my "real life" friends. :) I got so many encouraging comments from all different places and it felt good to know so many people were cheering me on! Thank you!

Miles 13-18 went really well. 18-19 was a little tough for me because it was just a slight incline for a while and the wind was blowing in my face. But, I knew I would be seeing Len shortly and that pushed me to keep going. I saw him and he called out, "Whose idea was this?" Ha. :) Yours, Len!

I was so excited that I was down to single digits. 7 miles? No problem. The 20 mile marker came and I got even more excited. I stopped at most of the water stations to drink a quick cup of water or Gatorade and walk for a minute, but then kept on running. I saw a clock and realized that I'd have to run 10 minute miles for the last 6 miles to get my dream goal of 4:30. My realistic goal was to beat 5 hours, but secretly I hoped to get 4:30. However, I realized it was going to be tough for me to do that with stopping at each water station (there were a lot - thank you, race organizers!). I was disappointed but tried to remind myself that I was less than 6 miles from finishing my first marathon! I tried not to dwell on it but to just keep up a slow and steady pace.

We had somewhere between 2 and 3 miles to go and were turning on the path towards the finish line. I saw someone ahead of me who I recognized...LEN! Oh my goodness...I wanted to finish this race with Len so badly! I caught up to him probably near mile 24 (not exactly sure). We were both hurting by then so we spent the last 2 miles running with short walks in between. Both of our Garmins were ahead of what the course said we had left (quite depressing when we're talking 26.2 miles). We finally saw the 26 mile marker...and the last .2 miles were never ending. But we did it. Len's son ran with him towards the finish line and we wrapped it up ending within 5 seconds of each other. My official time was 4:38:19.

As soon as I crossed the finish line I saw Phil...along with my Dad, best friend and her husband there to support me. I was so excited! What an amazing experience.

Me and Len anxious to sit down!

Me and Dad!! What a great surprise!

Me and my BFF.

One last picture before I take a very hot shower!

This was such an awesome experience! I kept telling my husband that I wanted to enjoy every minute of it. I can say I truly enjoyed just about every minute of it. :)

Kiawah Marathon Recap (the day before)

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who called, texted, sent messages, commented on my blog and passed on words of encouragement to me before my marathon. It meant so much to me to know how many people were cheering for me!

As I mentioned before, Phil and I were leaving Friday morning so we could get to Kiawah before the crowd. We got there mid afternoon Friday and went straight to packet pick up. I was very excited to get my bib with my name on it so people who didn't even know me could yell "Go, Heather" when I needed it the most! :)





















I had to make one small purchase at the expo. I know Justin and Len will make fun of me, but I am so excited to replace my 13.1 sticker!! :)
















We didn't spend too long there because we were anxious to check in to our condo, find something to eat, and get back to relax. We loved our cute condo! The best part - it was just a 2 minute walk from the starting line! We picked a good one.




















I got my stuff ready for the morning and got ready to go to bed at 10:00. We had several texts/calls so really didn't end up falling asleep until 11:00, but we both slept well.

I have so much to say about race day so I'm going to make that a separate post.

One last thing before I go. After we had a good late lunch after the marathon, we were driving around the Island and saw a place with a gym inside. Phil said he was going to drop me off so I could run a little bit on the treadmill. I could barely even muster a laugh. He thinks he's so funny. :)

I FINISHED!

I did it! I finished my first marathon! I am so excited. I will post a race recap soon, but I had to share this. I told Phil that on the 2nd half I had more time to just think and was really enjoying my experience. But I had 2 regrets: 1 - That my family wasn't there and 2 - That I wasn't going to finish with Len. Well guess what?! My Dad, best friend and her husband came and surprised me and were there for my finish!!! AND, I finished with Len. I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Me and my Dad right when I finished. Almost as excited to see him as finishing! :) I probably should have checked the picture and taken another...not sure what he's saying here. Oh well. :)

I'm off to run 26.2 miles!

Tomorrow is the big day!! Thank you to everyone for the well wishes and all the great tips! I took the advice very seriously from those of you who have done this before. I really tried to focus on rest and hydrating well this week. The rest part wasn't as easy as they hydrating, but I did the best I could and I am ready to do this!!

I was reading some recaps on other blogs from marathons from last weekend (and getting even more excited for mine!), and Sherry's just gave me shivers. You can read it here. I hope for an experience similar to hers! It seems like she just loved every minute of it!

My husband and I decided to make a long weekend out of this and are leaving Jake with Mema and PopPop. We haven't left him this long before, but I know he'll do great. He adores my parents, and they love having him! Though it will be nice to sleep in (haven't done much of that in the last year and a half!) and have some time together, I'm going to miss my little man!

Here are Jake and I after my first race after having him (he was about 4 1/2 months old). We both look just a little different. :) I was so glad to be back racing again!

Here he is cheering for me on my first half marathon!

Two of my very favorite cheerleaders: Jake and my Dad! My Dad wrote me a note and sent it with me...I can't open it. I know I will cry. I wish more than anything he was here with me. Oh well, I'll just have to do it again closer to home! :)

Marathon Week is Here!

My husband I were getting ready for church yesterday morning and I was like, "oh my goodness...this is it it...the week of my marathon!" I've anticipated and trained for it for so long and it is finally here! Yikes...

Thursday I decided to sleep in and run later in the day since I only had to do 3 miles. I haven't run later in the evening in a long time. Work was crazy and I was already leaving late, and then I lost my keys! It took me and my co-workers (thank you to them!!) about 30 minutes to find them...I am not even going to say where they were... :) Thankfully my Mom picked up Jake for me but I had to go get him quick since my parents had to leave. I got there as fast as I could, headed home, fed Jake, gave him a bath.... I put on my running clothes as soon as I got home hoping that would motivate me. I was really not feeling like running. I watched the temperature continue to drop. My husband came home and I should have headed right out the door...but I still stalled. I read some running blogs to inspire me, I stretched, I listened to some music...nothing was working. Finally I just had to bite the bullet and go do it! It was soooo cold! I started out really fast knowing I'd have to slow down later, but I just wanted to be done! Let me just say, it was one of my most enjoyable 3 mile runs! I mostly take a mile to two to warm up but I didn't...I ran fast the whole time. I ended up doing 3.1 and it definitely would have been a PR had it been a race! :) I haven't run at the end of the day in so long, but I'm thinking I didn't have to have that warm up time because I'd been up and around all day...guess that was my warm up. And as always, I said to my hubby, "I'm so glad I did that!" :)

The guys and I did an 8 mile run Saturday. It was nice and seemed short, but of course I still don't think 8 miles is "short." :) It just seems like that since typically Saturdays involve double digit runs!

We had a great weekend of fun and Christmas parties! I was glad to have things to distract me from getting too nervous. Now I just need to get caught up on rest for the big race! Len told me he got his Runner's World magazine and it talked about 2011 marathons so I had to pick it up yesterday for a little motivation. I love that magazine! I'm crossing my fingers that I get a subscription for Christmas!! :)

Happy Monday!

No More Double Digits

We started off the day with a fun coffee date with my mom, sister and my precious niece. I adore this little girl!! Seriously...I can't get enough of her. And Jake loves her too...he's always asking for "Aftie" (her name is Afton).

It's so weird to think that I'm done with running double digits until next Saturday. I did my last one this past Saturday - 12 miles. I was by myself so I was dreading it, but I actually had a great run! It was cold and there weren't many people out, but it was a clear, beautiful day and I really enjoyed it. The only bad thing was that I left a Gatorade and Clif bar about half way threw my run...and it was frozen!! I had to try to take a couple of bites, though, or I would have really struggled by the end. My poor teeth. :)

And, almost no more double digit days until the marathon...yikes! I'm getting nervous. Yesterday I did 4 miles on the treadmill. 1 mile warm up and then 3 miles of intervals. Today we did a 6 mile run outside. It was cold and really windy! I felt like I was dying and started getting discouraged, but I tried to focus on how good my 12 mile run and our last really long run was. As so many people have told me, "trust your training" so I am definitely taking that to heart! There's no way I could have run 22 miles without training, so hopefully I can do 26.2!

We have a really busy weekend so I know the marathon will be here before I know it! Tonight our church group is coming over, Friday we have a Christmas party at our house for our Sunday School class, Saturday morning is the Ladies Christmas brunch at my church and Saturday night is our work holiday party! Plus an 8 mile run Saturday morning and hopefully a nap Sunday afternoon! :)