We packed up and headed south today. The drive was beautiful with all the trees changing colors. We checked into our hotel and met up with Matt and Sheila. [MM's brother and sister-in-law] Once downtown we stopped for a high carbohydrate lunch in the "City Market" area. All runners had to be registered for the race by Friday evening at the expo center of Savannah. We waited in a long line for over an hour to catch a ferry to the expo which sits right across the river. The weather was originally forecasted to be calm, sunny, and 70s. It was cloudy, windy, and a cool 50 degrees instead.
My happiest moment of today was arriving to the Health Expo, checking in to receive my bib {Runner #7095} swag bag, and sweet marathon tech tee! It made the marathon feel more real to have all my gear and knowing that the next day I would be trying to conquer a lifelong goal!
Saturday, November 5th:
MARATHON DAY!!!
5am: woke-up, ate breakfast, dressed in layers and gathered running gear.
545am: caught shuttle from hotel to starting line area.
645am: With our gear checked and our trash bags on we found our waiting area, corral 7.
725am: National Anthem for the 23,000 runners
730am: Wave 1 starts... Corral 7 started at 737am.
Miles 1-13 were awesome!!! MM and I both felt great! We made the rookie mistake of running faster than we had trained to run. We were caught up in the atmosphere and excitement. There were so many runners filing the road, spectators lined the streets with signs and balloons cheering us on, and because it was a Rock N Roll event there were bands playing every mile or so. The prettiest part of the run was from Mile 7-11; we ran through some of the older downtown areas that had big southern homes and oak trees covered in Spanish moss creating a canopy about us. We found our friend Wade at Mile 8. His wife was there taking photos and while we stopped to have her take ours, he came up on us! Mile 14-16 we began to tire, we were settled into the race, some of the excitement was wearing off and I was getting hungry. Mile 17 I started to hit my "wall". All marathon runners know about the wall and the wall is not a fun place to be. I just felt exhausted as if all the energy was gone, yet I knew I still had 9 miles left to run which was mentally challenging. At Mile 18 I cramped up, mostly in my left calf muscle. MM slowed back with me while I fought through these couple of miles. He was supportive and motivating, reminding me to put one foot in front of the other. By Mile 19 I was breaking through the wall and feeling stronger. Miles 20-24 presented a different kind of challenge. This leg of the race was on a highway and we were running into the wind. It was long, boring, and physically hard. Marshall hit his wall in this area, he felt light-headed and weak. I slowed to stay with him and he fought through it. At mile 25 we finally exited the dreaded highway portion. I can't describe to you how much we hated that part of the race! Mile 25 was still hard, but better because we knew we were approaching the end, completion finally looked like a reality. When we hit Mile 26 we rounded a corner and there was a 2/10 of a mile stretch filled with cheering crowds, blaring music, and a huge finish line banner. We kicked it in and finished strong, holding hands as we crossed the finish line, both so proud of our accomplishment!!!!
Matt and Sheila started in Corral 5 and ran a faster pace, since they were already finished they were able to double back and watch MM & I cross the finish line! It was great having familiar faces cheer for us!
Post Race:
Medals. Photos. Mylar Wrap. Iced Knees. Tylenol. Bananas & Bagels. Live Music. Free Beer!
A shout out goes to Matt for finishing his second marathon and to Sheila for setting her personal best time. We enjoyed sharing this experience with them. Way to go Jordans!!!
That evening I treated myself to lots of food and celebratory wine
Sunday, November 6th:
My favorite part of today was lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant, Lady and Sons. We ate there with Papaw & Gigi and the McChrystal family. Friends, Family, and Fried Chicken!!!
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