When running a marathon it's kind of like flipping a coin. There are 2 sides. You can choose to run as fast as you can and shoot for that PR or you can slow down and run with friends and meet new people. As Matt from Peloton says, if you are running for time and want that PR, then you aren't talking when running. You are WORKING. 😆 I almost choose that side of the coin on Sunday for the Mercedes race, but instead I decided to hang with my friend Joe, who was a pacer for the 5 hour group. I am so glad I decided to choose the other side of the coin! If I had not, I would have never met Marie or Jim most likely. These two have amazing stories and it was a pleasure to get to know them over 26.2 miles!
Let me tell you about Jim first. He's 67 years old. He's ran Boston 15 times!! He was there the year of the bombing and his daughter was close to where the first bomb went off waiting on her dad to come through to the finish line. He says if he had not had a crappy 2nd half of the race that year that according to his race predictions he would have been where the bomb went off. Talk about giving you goose bumps! I had them all over as he told us his story of that day. He was on either his 175 or 185 marathon on Sunday. I didn't hear the number very clearly and forgot to ask him again when we finished. He was a nice guy. He told me I had a cute pony tail that he was enjoying chasing. LOL Here's a picture of Marie and Jim. Jim is in the red shirt. Marie has on the bunny ears. Her trade mark.
Marie is 62 years old. She was doing her 485th marathon on Sunday!!! But what's even more amazing is she had a stroke 5 years ago when she was very healthy at the age of 57! But she didn't let that stop her. 10 weeks after her stroke she ran another marathon. Upon meeting her, you'll notice her speech is still kind of slow. It seems hard for her to form words at times. But it's NOT hard for her to run! She's also ran Boston, done 10 Ironman races, and several ultra marathons! She has a book called "Perseverance". I ordered it immediately when I got home. Can't wait to read it. Check it out. It's by Marie Bartoletti. She also does speaking engagements.
Had I gotten with the faster pace group in which I had debated on to try to push myself, I would have never got to hear their stories. Sometimes I think God puts us right where we need to be. He certainly put me there with them. Sometimes I feel my running just plain stinks. And then you meet these amazing people and it opens your eyes. What a blessing Sunday was for me!!
I had originally told Joe I may stick with them half way and then push it the last couple of miles. And he may of thought I was trying to when I kept getting ahead of them towards the end for a couple of miles. But I wasn't trying to push it. I was having a pity party. See the Mercedes is a HILLY race. Well the first 6 miles are real hilly then you have some downhill coming back and but then you have to repeat it because it's a 2 loop course. Big hills really hurt me. My ankle that has the cyst was killing me and my knees were killing me also. I remember telling Joe one time that my everything hurt. 😏 So I had got ahead of them because I needed to talk to myself and push through the pain in my ankle especially. But I didn't stay ahead of them. We all finished together. Marie gave me her card and we took some pictures. Jim had fallen slightly behind us so I missed getting a picture with him at the finish line because it was already 12:15 and I had a check out at the hotel at 1pm so I had to hurry back and grab a shower to drive home.
Me and Marie
Joe and Marie at Finish line.
Joe and I grabbed a picture too at the finish line. I was happy to spend the day with him also. He's an inspiration to me also. He's working towards his 100th marathon which he hopes to do in 2021 at St Jude when it's their 20th year for the race. Blessed to have him on team Run4TheKids!! I need to start calling him my PR manager... I don't talk a lot about myself and he always brings up the team and helps me spread the word on what our team does. Thank you JOE!
OMG I was so sore driving home. I don't recommend driving 3 hours home directly after running 26.2 miles. When I stopped for gas I know people around me where wondering what the heck was wrong with me. I could barely walk when I got out of the vehicle. It was like I needed a rope to pull me up to standing. So stiff!! I did not feel like that after the Louisiana marathon. I remember walking around afterwards there not having any pain and my friend Krista making the comment that I didn't look like I had just ran a marathon at all. Well, it was a different story this time. 😅 Those hills were no joke in Birmingham (elevation map..)
and since I stayed with the group we jogged the whole race and only walked a few seconds at the water stops. Big difference compared to jogging and walking intervals in my opinion. My legs had less time to recover from the jogging and lord my ankle had little time to recover from those hills. I am happy to say that when I got up today, I wasn't as sore as I was when I went to bed. 😁
PS.. if you are trying for a certain race time, it's great to get with a pace team. They will keep you motivated and many times they have stories to tell that will inspire you. 😍
Love all my goodies. Bucket list race done! Marathon in Alabama done! Looking forward to RECOVERY week. 😍
