We had a great time!
Loving Man, Cha and I packed up and flew to Memphis last weekend. Did a little site seeing, had dinner with Tony (my boss), Pam, (his wife), Katie (their teenager), iKen (a sales guy like me in Memphis - we call him iKen cause he is crazy about Mac stuff), and Jen (his wife). Great Italian restaurant. Did I mention how COLD it is in Memphis????!!!!
We Arizonan's are not cut out for freezing temperatures! Wow! We had to make a quick trip to Target to buy stocking caps and mittens!
Anyway - Race Day was so much fun. I think it was MAYBE 20 degrees when the races started. Loving Man, Cha, Pam and Jen all ran the 5k race. We were all amazed at how Loving Man found an incredible drive and ran his 5K in 29:16! The Cha was not far behind at 31:49. Jen and Pam were right behind her.
I was looking forward to what I figured would be an easy 1/2 Marathon as I am into higher mileage runs in my training. It was really cool to run through the historic places in Memphis. The race was really well organized. We had timing chips and started in waves - 15 groups were corralled prior to the race according to your anticipated pace. I was in a group looking for 11 minute miles and that is exactly what I ran. I finished at 2hrs 26 minutes which by the way, was 4,279th out of 6,663 1/2-a-thoners! I can also claim the 176th spot out of 369 old ladies in my age group!
There were bands along the route that made you want to sing out loud as you ran by. The was a tour along the mighty Mississippi River that was delightful. Victorian houses and giant trees (no leaves!) that are just so different than our Arizona vistas. I even got my picture taken with Elvis at the finish line!!! (To be posted as soon as I get a copy!) The finish was awesome as you ran into the AutoZone BallPark Infield. Big infield area to spread out in with the thousands of other finishers. The grandstands held families and earlier finishers all with a view of the finish line and good seating.
Funny thing happened as I was approaching the 13 mile mark, I had some serious thoughts about full Marathoning. It occurred to me that there was no way in hell I could have continued that day for 13 more miles. I was thinking that maybe I am really a 1/2 Marathoner. This was sort of a sad note to a great day, but I just wonder if it is true or if it was one of those weird things about running that I have come to observe.
My mind will only let my body run as far as it was told it would run.
For example - 13.1 on Saturday and not a step further. 3 miles yesterday - absolutely done when the 3.00 ticked on the watch. I seriously believe there is something mental about how much energy your body packages for a run. I have read some things on that subject and they may be on to something...
But - that doesn't take away from the fact I am supposed to run 20 on Saturday! I guess I will see on Saturday if there is a chance that I can run another Marathon.
Did I tell you how much fun it was to have my little family all running together? It was such a joy to have company all getting ready together and excited.
Loving Man and the Cha ready to head out to the Race!
Doe the Cha look like she really wants to do this???
Here I am after the finish looking for my Loved Ones in the Crowd! Does it look a little cold???
My hair was wet under that cap, but I was afraid to take it off figuring my hair would freeze!
There was a total of almost 14,000 runners in all the races. $1.2 Million Bucks were raised for St Jude's Children's Hospital Cancer Research. Wow.
We finished off the night with a great little party at my boss's house. He had all kinds of Memphis BBQ for us, iKen brought his home-brewed Honey Bourbon and we utilized the hot tub! I swear it was the first really warm moment I had in 3 days! Not sure if that was due to the Honey Bourbon or the 103 degree spa or maybe both!!!! My boss's boss Jamie (and once upon a time, my boss!) and his lovely wife Sharlyce showed up with a couple of their DARLING daughters. We all had a super fun time and decided right there that we would do it again next year and recruit the other members of our "Central Region" and make a big showing. We could also put a little effort into fund raising and add to the good things this run does for sick kids. That makes it really worthwhile.
2 comments:
congrats on your fast half marathon. I was cold just reading about it.
I'm doing the Fiesta Bowl HM this Sunday, if my heel is willing.
Congratulations on the half-great race report! You have a Sunbeam Tiger? A real Tiger?? That's one of my favorite cars. And a 64 Corvette-very impressive. Yes, that's a little bugeye in the picture, his name is Pugsley. Interesting comment about running another full marathon. I will be running my first full mary next year, if the running gods smile upon me, and I have doubts about it all the time. I thought that people that have actually run a full mary are always totally confident about their ability to do that distance. Anyway, good luck with your 20 miler and thanks for visiting my little corner of the blogoshpere!
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