Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig

We've been home for 24 hours a few days from our trip to Memphis (I started this post on Monday and am just now finishing it).  It was a great trip and just what we needed, especially at the start of the busy holiday season.  A few days away to just eat, sleep, relax.  Oh yeah, we did run the marathon, but we got that out of the way first thing on Saturday so most of the trip was actually pretty relaxing (once our feet and knees stopped throbbing from the marathon).

Here we are at packet pickup with our fancy coffees.  We were on vacation so Jon said we could live it up with some fancy mochas instead of just the same old coffee.  We're crazy!!!

We have been to Memphis once before when we were newly married.  Our previous trip was over nine years ago.  We had seen several specials on the food network about Memphis food, especially the BBQ.  After seeing the shows, we decided we MUST do a roadtrip to Memphis over the Fourth of July.  We made a "to eat" list for our trip to Memphis including ribs, catfish, sweet potato pie, and fried chicken.  Clearly, this was before kids as there is no food that would entice us to do a ten hour road trip with four small children.  Yes, this was back when the world was our oyster and our idea of being spontaneous was a foodie trip to the south. 

Downtown Memphis, the Mississippi river is down there at the end of the street.  I loved the brick sidewalks.

It was fun heading back to Memphis again.  This time our main goal was to do the St. Jude's Marathon.  If you watch TV, I'm sure you've heard of St. Jude's Children's Hospital.  They have the ads with Marlo Thomas and other celebrities saying "Give Thanks."  I have to say that the charity aspect of the marathon was so prevalent and very touching.

As a mom of several healthy boys, it really did move me to see how many people were out there holding signs of their sick children that the money raised from the marathon (especially the charity runners) would go to help treat.  At one point, we ran through the hospital campus and it was all I could do not to burst into tears.  Along both sides of the course, moms and dad were holding posters of their beautiful children's faces.  Some signs said "thank you" and others said "you are her/his hero."  Some of these children were alive and there with their parents.  Others weren't there.  They may have been in the hospital or already gone from this earth, I am not sure.  There were parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and family friends there on these children's behalf.  I made eye contact with one mom who had huge tears streaming down her face.  I don't know the stories behind those faces I saw, but with 26 miles to think about, I could imagine the pain that many of these families went through.

Besides the spectators, there were many teams of runners that had matching shirts in honor of a child.  It was really moving.  Jon said at mile 23, he was running with a dad about the same age as him that was running in memory of his son.  The dad was clearly struggling to keep running.  After having run two marathons now, I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to run one in honor of a child that you've lost.  Marathons are tough both physically and mentally.  Both times, I've doubted myself (usually after 20 miles) and almost cried.  A marathon gives you lots and lots of time to think.  I cannot imagine how much more difficult it would be when you're thinking about that child that you didn't have enough time with on earth.  When you think about the child you want to hold in your arms again even if just for a minute.  I am amazed by so many of the runners we passed and saw running for these reasons, so inspiring.

A pre-race water buffet we stumbled upon in our hotel lobby. 

Enjoying the water and ice tea buffet.

While this was my second marathon this fall, there were some "new" things about this marathon that I can add to my list.  On the 'lighter side', here is my top ten list on the Memphis Marathon.

About 20 minutes before the race,  my nerves are kicking in here.  It was just chilly enough that we needed light top layers before the race started.

1.  I finished faster, about six minutes faster.  I am super pumped about this because it was warmer and a hillier course.  This could mean that I didn't push myself hard enough at Chicago two months ago (although if you said this to me, I might have to punch you).  Or, it could mean that the training schedule and the previous experience of having done a marathon paid off.  I choose to believe the latter because it makes me feel better.

2.  Similar to Chicago, there were spectators (not official race volunteers) that were offering beer throughout the course instead of water.  I declined it again, but Jon had beer twice.  Granted they were small samples, but maybe that's why he ran faster this time. Who knows?  The moral:  If a tiny cup of beer helps you keep running, then I guess its worth it.

3.  This time around, I made a quick pee stop at a porta potty right after Jon & I split up at mile 12.  We had split up so I could run faster, but I quickly knew I couldn't run 14 more miles without stopping (I have had four children after all so cut me a break!)  I went as fast as I could and then sprinted to catch up to him.  I thought it would be funny to give him a smack on the behind since he thought I was ahead of him.  So I did as I ran past and said good luck.  I succeeded in surprising him and scaring several nearby runners who thought I was a creep just running around smacking people in the butt.

4.  I actually sang aloud this time while I was running.  I ran the first half without music since I was with Jon, but when we separated, I put my ipod on.  There were a lot fewer runners and spectators at this marathon compared to Chicago.  Around mile 20, it was feeling a bit lonely so I ended up singing along with my ipod.  I'm pretty sure the other runners enjoyed my out of tune version of Life is a Highway by Rascall Flatts and my awesome renditions of several Black Eyed Peas songs.

5.  At mile 17, I was feeling great and super confident in my running skills (much more than I did during Chicago and probably a little too confident).  I was feeling so confident that I started thinking about what marathon I'd like to do next.  Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Rockford all passed through my mind as I've been tossing around the idea of a spring marathon.  If I could have signed up right then and there, I would have said I'd do all three of them.

6.  At mile 22, I was ready to stop.  I couldn't believe that I thought this was a good idea and I swore that I wouldn't consider doing this again (see how quickly my previous confidence faded).  I saw people all around me starting to fall apart and walk.  I saw one guy cramp up and unable to move.  He was frozen in place in the middle of the road.  It was discouraging, getting hot and there were very few spectators left on the course.  It seemed so much harder than any other run I'd been on.  The hills weren't helping.  I made myself run to each water stop and then I allowed myself to walk about 30-60 seconds after I made it to the water stop before running again.  Starting up each time was physically painful and a sheer exercise in mental willpower.  Miles 22 to 24, I do NOT like you.

7.  I made a deal with myself that if when I made it to mile 24, I would run the rest of the course with absolutely NO walking.  I did.  Knowing I only had 2.6 miles to go eased the physical pain and made it much easier to push myself mentally.  In Chicago, I struggled to do this the last mile with  no walking and I couldn't.  I had to walk so much the last mile in Chicago (you may remember that I was mumbling to myself during that mile). I was able to maintain a steady 10 min pace those last two miles to make up for some of my walking and slow running.  And, when I got to the final push, I was able to kick it up even more so that I was almost sprinting (or at least what felt like sprinting, there is a chance that was all in my head and I wasn't really getting that much faster).

8.  I got to see Jon finish the marathon this time.  We finished in the minor league baseball stadium and they allowed you to stay on the field.  It was fun to cheer him on and actually see him cross the finish line just a few minutes later.

Jon crossing the finish line.  Doesn't he look great?

9.  I felt so sick when I was done running.  They had all sorts of yummy treats for the runners to eat like pizza, Krispy Kreme donuts, soda and more.  Out of all those things, the only thing that I could handle eating or drinking without getting stick to my stomach was a beer.  If you know me, you know I don't even like beer. Very strange. Don't worry though, I took my two donuts back to the hotel with me and enjoyed them once the nausea subsided.  I mean, how often can you say that you actually earned the calories to eat donuts?  For me, its a rarity, so I'm not about to miss it. 

Here we are immediately after Jon finished and about 15 minutes after I was done. I am smiling but I felt horrible.  I felt like I was going to throw up at any minute and my left quad was seizing up.  If that doesn't make you want to go out and run a marathon, I don't know what will.

Here we are about an hour after finishing the race and more importantly after having a beer.  Here I am feeling genuinely good although my feet are dying to get out of those running shoes and stretch.

10.  After the race, we wore our race medals out on the town.  I'd be WAY too embarrassed to do this in Chicago where I might run into people I know, but we were in Memphis, so it was all good.  I should admit that there was a financial benefit to wearing them as the city trolley was giving free rides to all runners.  And we used the trolley to get downtown for our first dinner, so now you know how I got Jon to agree to where his medal out too.  And yes, you heard that right. We had two dinners, one before the movie and one after.  

Showing off my newest bling: the memphis marathon medal

We wondered around downtown and found the Peabody Hotel where Santa was hanging out.

Self-portrait during our trolley ride to downtown.

Inside the lobby at the Peabody Hotel (this is the hotel where the ducks take the elevator up to their rooftop palace each night at 5 pm).

On the trolley ride back to the hotel there was live music. So fun!

Now that the dust has settled from the trip and the months of marathon training,  I've officially decided that I will be doing another marathon in 2013.  The only question is which one?