Mercedes-Benz Marathon Weekend

This was the coldest race I've ever run.  Seriously, I thought I was going to freeze my "half" off....... that's funny because the race used to be called Freeze Your Half Off before it became the Mercedes-Benz Marathon Weekend.

See, I told you it was cooooold.  

Yesterday, I decided what I was going to wear....

Only I opted for my texting gloves I got for Christmas..... the ones I don't have to take off to use my phone..... I think that was a smart move given the weather.  

We even set out all of the things we would need so that we weren't scrounging around at 6:30 looking for Extreme Beans (my fave), Gu (Steve's fave) or running belts.....

.... or chapstick or hats.  

Last night, I set the alarms and the coffee......

.... got up and got dressed.....

.... and we headed downtown to the start.  Just so you know, that 1/2 zip used to fit me...... I felt a little like a sausage in it, but it sure kept me warm.  

When we got to the start, we headed straight to the potties..... I always want to take care of business one more time before it really hits me..... and boy was it COLD in there.  

We headed to the starting line and grabbed one family picture.....

.... we kissed Elizabeth good-bye and left her further up in the line because she was bound and determined to beat my PR of 2:35.  Steve and I headed towards the back of the line.  You know, I've gotten to the age where I don't chase PRs or times.... I just run, I enjoy the run and try to keep it fun.

Earlier this week over on facebook, the organizers asked for requests of songs to play at the beginning of the race and I was more than thrilled when I heard one of my favorite running songs and the one I requested playing..... "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2.  I sang the song while waiting to cross the start line and kept getting tears in my eyes knowing this was going to be a great race.  

Steve and I had an incredible start of the run, I knew I was running a little too fast, but it was so cold that I barely noticed.  And Steve really didn't complain.  He kept saying we were at a fast pace (for us) and we would slow down, but we (or maybe I) felt great.  

We walked a little here and there, got some water at just about every water stop (which is every mile!) and I had my Extreme Beans around mile 7 which was when I took my phone out and checked on Elizabeth.  She had hit the 10K mark at 1:01 and the 15K mark at 1:33....... I about burst into tears because her projected finish time was around 2:10!  My heart felt so full of pride for her.  

Steve had some knee pain and some calf pain that just wouldn't go away with stretching, so our walk breaks became more regular and I knew we would barely make 3 hours for our finish time.  To be honest, I was a little disappointed because I felt so great.  I never had any problem breathing, my legs felt perfect and well, they did play my song at the beginning..... but I was not about to leave Steve.  

Every year, I seem to get lapped by the marathon leaders earlier and earlier and this year was no exception.  (The marathon is a double lap course.)  Steve and I were lapped on mile 8.... and yes, he was flying passed!  Those darn leaders get faster and faster every single year.

Not too long after that, I saw Elizabeth's cross country and track coach from the high school she will go to next year.  She can't wait to run for him and I told him that E should just about be finished.  He was really excited for her.

At about 9:20am, Elizabeth texted me that she did it... she was finished.  She asked if we had been lapped yet and I had to tell her yes, we had.  She was so happy that she didn't get lapped.  Again, I teared up. I was so proud of my girl for not only beating, but for shattering the family (my) pr.  I checked her time online and her official finish time was 2:15:38. 

The last 5K for us was kinda brutal.  Steve was in such pain and he told me a couple of times to just go, keep running, not to let him hold me up.  But, like I said before, I was not about to leave him..... running races for me is so much more than a time, it's running and encouraging each other and enjoying it all.  

When we hit mile 12 we knew we had it made..... we ran the whole last 1.1 and finished in right under 3 hours with a final time of 2:59:15.  Not our slowest, but not our fastest either.  I was just happy to be under 3 hours and I'm so proud of Steve for persevering.  

When we were done, we went in the after party and I had the best beer ever....

..... y'all do know beer tastes better after 13.1 miles, right? 

So, here are my final thoughts....... 

1. I love this race.  Birmingham has a great running community and I'm so proud to be a part of it.  

2. I'd like to thank the organizers, the volunteers, police officers who blocked off traffic and all of the people who braved the freezing weather to come out and support us...... without all of them I would have been snoozing in my bed instead of running.

3. I'd like to apologize to anyone who had to witness me doing the runners version of blowing your nose..... my cold is just about gone, but I had to do what I had to do.  I know it's gross, but it couldn't be helped.  

4. After the race, we had to hightail it out.... Elizabeth had a soccer game.  After we got to the field, a friend of mine texted me to tell me Elizabeth came in 3rd in her age group!  Again, I burst into tears of pure pride for my strong daughter!  My friend picked up her plaque and will bring it to her at school tomorrow.  So very cool!

5.  I'd like to thank all the fun people that Elizabeth ran with..... y'all were so welcoming to her and she had so much fun.  She was a little sad that she couldn't get one of her friends to run with her and was a little afraid of running by herself.  Again, thank you so very much.  Birmingham's running community is the best!  Wait, runners in general are the best!

6. This afternoon we watched the tv coverage of the race, Elizabeth was on tv and they showed a marriage proposal..... it was so sweet!  He had finished the half and waited for her to finish.  When she finished, he put the medal around her neck then got down on one knee...... I love runners!

7. I hated to drink my beer and run.  I wish I could have found a few more friends to chat with, but soccer called.

8. We love our medals....

.... it really may be the only Mercedes symbol I ever own!