Ever since I started running, two years ago, running a marathon has been a goal for me. On December 16, 2012 I was able to accomplish this goal with a little icing on the cake…finishing my first marathon with a Boston Marathon Qualifying Time of 3:31:30!!!
I owe so much of this huge accomplishment to an amazing support system, and a few “guardian angel” moments that kept me going strong till I crossed the finish line. I am so incredibly blessed to have had the chance to run this marathon because the month leading up to it was anything BUT smooth sailing.
In the beginning of November, I began having issues with my left calf. At first I thought it was just muscle soreness from a previous long run, but as the week went on, and I (foolishly) continued to run on it, the pain intensified and I was forced to stop running.
Now I’m usually pretty good about “running through the pain” but this was a pain like I had never experienced before. It felt like I was running on a peg leg, and every time I landed an intense pain would shoot up the lateral side of my lower left leg. I began to get worried that it might be a stress fracture so I scheduled an appointment to get it checked out by a professional. After going over the x-rays and ultrasound, it was determined that the issues with my leg were being caused by overpronating and my “weird left foot” [details and photo to follow]. The doctor suggested massage and physical therapy to help strengthen my calf and ankles, and wearing inserts in my shoes for arch support. Then he gave me the “go ahead” to run!!
The Monday before Thanksgiving I went for my first run since the injury and my leg held up pretty well. I did a couple more easy runs during the week marking off the days till my next long run. My first long run back was supposed to be 20 miles but once again things did not go as planned…
Around mile 14 of my long run I was forced to switch sides of the road. However, as I was getting onto the sidewalk on the left hand side of the road, my right foot caught the lip of the sidewalk, and I was thrown down onto my knees. After a quick damage assessment, I decided to clean myself up as best I could and run back to the car. Needless to say I did NOT complete the 20 miles.
It was at this point in my training where I began to start feeling really frustrated. I was tired, injured, and just about ready to throw in the towel, take time off and start again some other day.
And then I got a massage, and some really good advice….
Take things one day at a time, just have fun, and get some rest
Running and Fun had not been in the same room together for almost a month. In fact I had almost given up on their fairy tale existence, until I decided to drop all the gadgets and run “naked”. Now don’t worry, I didn’t do anything crazy, like leave the shorts at home, but I did ditch the watch and heart rate monitor and just went for a run. This was something I had not done in a LONG time. I told myself I would just run wherever I felt like going, not paying attention to speed, distance, or time, just running until I got tired and wanted to head home.
RUNNING NAKED IS AMAZING!!!!
I did not realize how much my watch was holding me back, and preventing me from truly healing until I left it at home and just ran AND had FUN!! I didn’t have any numbers to crunch at the end, or paces to complain about, all I knew was that I had gone for a run with very little pain.
I continued taking it easy with the running and was given more cross training to help with the recovery process. I also started a self prescribed stretching and strengthening routine that focused on my calves and ankles. Though I was able to run I still had some major kinks that I needed to work out and I was running out of time. After talking things over with my coach, my husband and my mom(I talk to her about everything), I came to the decision that if my last scheduled long run did not go 100% then I would not risk injuring myself further and I would NOT run the marathon.
Well long story short…
I ran 10 miles….
It went GREAT….
I decided to run the MARATHON!!!!
Now fast forward to Race Day Weekend….
My mom flew in that Friday to be with us for a couple days and have the chance to watch me run in my FIRST marathon!!
On Saturday, December 15th, we packed and then hit the road for Jacksonville. The drive went well and I even managed to get some sleep….. 😀
We arrived in Jacksonville around 3pm and stopped at 1st Place Sports so that I could sign up for the race!! Now it was OFFICIAL. No turning back!!
After dropping off our things at the hotel, we then drove down to The Bolles School to see where I would be starting from and to familiarize ourselves with the area. After taking a quick tour of the area we headed out for a post-race dinner with the rest of my training Group who were in town to race.
Dinner was wonderful!! We met up with everyone at the local Olive Garden where we enjoyed carb loading and conversation!! I am truly blessed to be part of such a wonderful group of athletes and I really enjoyed hanging out with everyone and getting to know some new people.
My dinner was a plate of plain gluten-free pasta, with a side of grilled chicken, pomodoro sauce, and grapes.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel to get settled in. My mom was such a trooper during this trip and hosted the kids in her room so that I could get my sleep. Before bed I had a light snack (chocolate rice cake, with a tbsp of peanut butter, and a handful of Craisins), and another glass of water.
I was woken up by my alarm at 3:45 am and hopped into the shower to wake up. After a quick shower and stretch, I started eating my pre-race meal which consisted of a peanut and jelly Larabar, and a banana. I also made sure to pack a pre-race bag which held my sports beans, GUs, Body Glide, lip balm and, the always essential toilet paper.
I then went and woke up my mom and we headed out to the Bolles School where the race would be starting. I got to the school a little after 5:30am and after a quick hug and mini pep talk from my mom, I headed into the gymnasium to wait….
Since I was pretty early I was able to snag a spot on the bleachers, where I plugged in my music, blasted some Bassnectar and got into “Race Mode”. I don’t normally run with music, unless I’m at the gym, but I always like listening to some good tunes before a race or a tough workout just to get into a positive mind set. As the gym started filling up, and I started feeling claustrophobic, I decided to head outside to check out the finish area and spend some time waiting in line to use the porta-potties. It was around this time that I met up with a couple fellow Faith Runners, Andy and Steve, and their spouses. We all got in line to use the restrooms one last time. I took my sports beans while I was waiting and started strategically placing my GUs. Unfortunately for me though, I had chosen the wrong line to stand in for the bathrooms and about 8 minutes from start time, I realized I was going to miss out on my last chance to “go”. I hopped out of line and headed to the bag check in with Andy, where we found ourselves in yet ANOTHER line. We both realized that we wouldn’t make it if we waited so we handed our belongings off to Steve’s wife and went to get into our pace groups. It was at this point that I noticed restrooms at the start and quickly jumped in line behind 4 other people. It was 6:55am… a little before 7am the Star-Spangled Banner Started, I made it to the restroom one last time, then jumped in line around 7:01am, the gun went off at 7:02am….and then I was RUNNING!!!!
I was able to find my friend Marcos, who had the same pace plan as me, and we started our marathon journey stride for stride. I was feeling so good, my legs had pep in them (something I hadn’t felt in a long time) and the miles were clicking off pretty quickly. We came across the 5k mark at 24;49 and kept going. I took a GU at mile 7 still feeling strong and was making sure to take water every chance I got. Marcos and I hit the 10 mile mark at 1:19:29 which had us right on target for a 3:30 finish.
Mile 13.1 we were still on pace, coming in at 1:44;10. I felt a little surge at this point and went a little ahead of Marcos but we quickly got back on pace. Because I had been feeling so good I had forgotten to take a GU as had been planned and did not take another one till about mile 15.
It was around this time too, that Marcos had put a gap between us and I found myself hanging between two pace groups. Just then the wonderful Jay Dixon appeared on his beach cruiser! (He and Greg Brown had come up to watch the race and I had enjoyed seeing them every now and then along the course.) I was so relieved to see a familiar face again!! Jay was there to offer me support and encouragement and helped me get through the next couple of miles (Guardian Angel Moment #1). Around mile 20 Jay left to go check on a fellow Lakelander athlete, and I continued my journey, keeping my eyes on Marcos’ yellow shirt. Halfway through mile 20 “guardian angel moment #2” occurred. It was at this point that a really nice gentleman (we’ll call him the “man in blue”) came up next to me and asked what pace I was running. I told him my current pace and he asked if he could stick with me for the next couple of miles. I had no problem with this since, any company was welcome at this point. I asked him how he was doing, and since his response was “lousy” I told him to hang in there, since we only had a little less than a 10k to go.
After a while he took off ahead of me and I finally caught up with Marcos. At this point, my legs felt good, minus a slight knot near my achilles, and I had been able to get my nutrition back on track so I wasn’t feeling that sluggish anymore. The only thing that was giving me an issue was my left shoulder, and chest pain that had now spread to my upper middle back. I knew I needed to get some water and Gatorade quickly and a pretty decent amount of it. At mile 24 I slowed down as I went through the water stop and made sure to grab both a water and Gatorade. at the edge of the water station, I stopped and got both glasses down, and then started up again. We then went into the neighborhood right before the last mile and I was able to get one more glass of water before hitting the home stretch. As I came out of the neighborhood, I saw another welcome face, Bryan Graydon, (guardian angle moment #3) and he told me I was “looking strong” and “almost there”.
Just knowing that in a few short moments I would be entering the stadium and seeing my family and friends lifted my spirit and helped me dig a little deeper. I looked ahead and noticed the turn was just a few feet away!! As I was about to turn off the road, the “man in blue” who had paced with me earlier yelled out “Go Get ’em Coach” as I passed by. With those words I dug in as I hit the grass and when I entered the stadium and my feet hit the track, I just took off!! I ran past my mom, my children, and Bill who yelled, “Make sure you smile”!! Just knowing that I was almost finished and that I was surrounded by so many loving and supportive people, a HUGE smile planted itself on my face, my legs took on a life of their own, and the next thing I knew, I was flying into the finishing chute with the clock above my head reading 3:31:30!!!!
(Photo Courtesy of Speedy Banana)
Looking back on this whole experience I can not even put into words how grateful I am for the love and support of everyone who helped get me to this point and to those whose presence helped me get through some tough miles out there on the course.
I would like to thank my training partners, Paul and Keith, for logging numerous hours and miles with me, and helping me get through some killer workouts.
I would also like to thank Marcos Valim, for being an exceptional pacer/marathon companion! I owe my strong finish to you, my friend!!
Also a big THANK YOU, to my guardian angels, Jay Dixon, Greg Brown, Bryan Graydon, and the “man in blue” for giving me that extra support and encouragement when I really needed it!!
And of course a HUGE thank you to my Mommy!! Thank you for being an awesome mom and grandma, for giving me the extra support when I was having some rough days, and for being there to see me accomplish my goal. I love you Mommy!!
And last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank my amazing husband, Bill Kimble, for sticking with me on this crazy journey. I owe every mile to you!! You have been such a huge support for me and I could not have done this without you! I know it is anything BUT easy being married to a long distance runner, but your love and patience are what keep me grounded and going every day. Thank you for being my best friend and partner, I love you!!
(photo courtesy of Speedy Banana)
Chasing Dream Giants 
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