Omaha Marathon

Omaha!  Number 6!  Woo!  It seems like forever ago, but it was just a week.  Here's the story and some pics to go with.

This was the first time I ever stayed at the race hotel and man, what a deal!  We just walked down the hall to the Expo on Saturday afternoon.  Then they provided a small breakfast Sunday morning.  I ate, stretched out, got dressed, and walked out the door to the race start.  And Drew wasn't even awake yet!  I think he enjoyed it even more than me. :)

The morning was SUPER cold!  I woke up and saw that it was 37 degrees out.  Good thing I packed shorts and a tank.  I'm not the best packer, I'll admit.  But luckily I brought along a long sleeve top.  And the fact that I was literally across the street from the race meant I didn't have to stand out in the cold forever.  I just walked right over 5 minutes before the start time.  Perfect.

Omaha is a small race.  That meant that they didn't provide a lot of pacers.  Pace groups came in 15 minute increments.  So I could either run with the 3:30 group (yikes!) or the 3:45 group.  I chose 3:45.

The pacers were awesome and very high energy.  I stuck with the group for several miles.  They provided a great distraction and someone to talk to... which was especially lucky since my Ipod decided not to even TURN ON!!!  I spent hours* making a special play list to get me through this race and the dang thing wouldn't even play.  Not happy.

After the sun came out, I started to warm up a bit.  I was feeling great and around mile 10 decided to make a push and leave the pace group.

Mile 8-ish.

I was so fortunate to not only have Drew out cheering, but my wonderful & amazing running partner, Britney and her husband, Scott were there too.  Plus Britt made me a sign.  My first sign!!!  I felt very special.

I saw Team Jamie around mile 13 and was feeling good, but wanted them to take my long sleeved top.  I had taken it off and tied it around my waist.  When I tried to untie it, I realized that it was still quite cold and my fingers WOULD NOT MOVE!  They were frozen into fists.  Britt had to untie my shirt for me.  Drew slipped my Iphone into a frozen claw so I had some music.  I was a disaster.

Fists are frozen.

The frozen fists actually slowed me down.  I had to stop and really work hard to get GU out of my tiny short pocket.  It was even worse when I tried to dig out a salt tablet.  I must have looked pretty silly digging around in my shorts rather than running.

My hands work!!!

I was feeling great (except for my fingers) and really pushing my pace.  I was holding steady at a 7:45 pace between miles 13 and 18. 

I like to move it move it.

By the time I reached the crew again at mile 21, I had lost it.  My legs felt so heavy and I was just tired.   

Are we done yet?

I gave my phone back to Drew and called on Britt to help me out.

I am so over this.

Seriously, she's amazing.  She ran with me until the end.  She chatted my ear off for 5 miles with hilarious stories and didn't bat an eye when I didn't respond at all.  I was in a bad place and she totally took my mind off the pain.

Britt, you're the best!

Occasionally I would fall a few feet behind her and she'd holler at me to pick it up and give me words of encouragement.  I honestly don't know what I would have done without her.

A funny thing happens to me during a marathon.  Sometimes I literally think I'm going to puke.  I remember this happening at the Big D Marathon, but I don't know if it happened in OKC.  But in Omaha, I almost pulled off to the side at mile 25 to throw up.  I was so nauseous!  I took a short walk break and let the feeling pass.  Thank goodness!  And then I just chugged along for the last mile. 

Watch out for the puker.

It was kind of fun that it was such a small race.  Drew was able to walk right up to the finish to see me.  It was really nice seeing him there at the end. 

The last leg!

And then I finished.  3:44:10 was my official time.  I don't know why I always raise my hands in the air at the end.  I think I'm just really relieved to be done.  Or maybe I secretly think they'll take a good photo and I'll end up in Runner's World or something. 

Praise the Lord, I'm done!

I took my medal, and headed directly for the fruit.  They had a great fruit stand with tons of apples, bananas, and oranges.  I usually don't go for oranges, but I literally devoured one right there in line.  It was like it was the best thing I've ever eaten in my whole life.  Drew said he watched from the sidelines and had a good laugh.

Done and done.

I am so sad I didn't take any pics with Brittney after the race!!!  I was definitely not thinking clearly.

We took a short walk back to the hotel.  I chugged some water, passed out for a few minutes, cleaned up, and was ready to EAT!  Downtown Omaha is seriously adorable.  We stopped at a restaurant for brunch where I devoured a stack of banana pancakes and a very stout bloody mary.  Amazing!

Soooo... I obviously didn't qualify for Boston.  Not even by the old standards.  But, I gave it my best shot, took some time off my previous PR, and had a good time doing it.  So I'll go ahead and call this race a success. 

I had planned on taking some time off and looking at a May marathon.  I was really really really looking forward to not marathon training for awhile.  But now all of a sudden I have an itch to keep running.  SO!  I guess we'll see how well I recover and if I can fit another fall race in.  It's funny how quickly you forget the pain. :)

*That's an exageration.

C25K

Have you heard of the Couch to 5K program?  It is basically a 9-week running program that takes you from being a "couch-potato" to running your first 5K. 

I was recently hired by the YMCA to head up a C25K program.  This seems right up my alley, right?  It's like Girls on the Run, but with adults. 

The C25K program includes three weekly runs, of about 20 - 30 minutes each.  Our group meets on Tuesdays and we do one of the workouts together.  Then the group members are sent home to do 2 running sessions on their own.

I could not have imagined how much I would love doing this.  I'm working with the most amazing group of people.  Almost all are new to running, with the exception of one man who ran the London Marathon about 20 years ago but hasn't run since. 

One of my gals was near tears after our first run, saying that she just knows that this is "the start of something good in my life".  As you can imagine, this almost brought me to tears.  One woman told me that her marathon-running husband is just brimming with pride over her efforts. 

The group sends emails to each other throughout the week, encouraging others, bragging about completing their run, or seeking motivation to get out the door.  I cannot believe the effect that running has had on these people in just a few short weeks.

Running is such an important part of my life.  It is physical, emotional, and spiritual for me.  I could not imagine my life without running.  And to see others so affected by adding a bit of running into their lives is just the best feeling for me. 

I'm like a drug dealer, getting people high off running.  Seriously, seeing the crazy running-induced endorphin rush on the face of a sweaty, panting, soon-to-be-5K racer is just the best part of my week.

Yea running!

Posting

As seen on Facebook:

This made me laugh...

But then I thought about it and really I do all 3 of those things.  I mean, if I'm not posting about a run I just did, I'm posting a photo of the delicious drink I'm about to consume.  I don't know that I actually complain about my job so much as I say things like, "I'm so busy!  I'm so tired!" 

The same goes for Twitter and Instagram.  I have very limited interests.  Even here, what am I blogging about if it is not running, teaching, or drinking?

I need a new hobby.  Any suggestions?

Who Needs a Smoothie?

I'm teaching a new class this year.  It is a 6th grade comprehensive FACS class.  It's probably similar to the Home Ec class you took in school with cooking, sewing, and personal & family relationships all crammed into 9 weeks. 

We're just finishing up our Personal & Family Relationships unit.  I've been surprised at how much I actually enjoy this unit.  We get to talk about all the things that go on when you're in the 6th grade, so I get to tell lots of stories about being in the 6th grade and how traumatic it was for me. 

We talked about friendship and I told the story of meeting Nicky on the first day of 6th grade.  My kids love Nicky stories.  So I try to share as many as possible, or at least work Nicky into my stories.  It isn't hard, because she was there for pretty much all of it.

This past week we were scheduled to talk about peer pressure.  I had to extend the lesson because my kiddos had so much to say about the topic.  We discussed all kinds of situations where a 6th grader might experience peer pressure, and we practiced saying no and other ways to handle it.

One of the tactics we discussed for handling peer pressure was "find an acceptable alternative".  This is where someone peer pressures you and you decline and suggest something more acceptable.  We all brainstormed and the kids came up with the universal excuse: the smoothie.

It's pretty genius if you ask me, and it works in almost every situation.  Examples:

***You're at the mall and all of your friends decide to shoplift scrunchies* from Claire's.***
"Cool, you guys do that.  I'm going to head to the food court for a smoothie.  Who's coming with me?"

***Everyone is going behind Price Chopper to smoke after school.***
"Sorry, I've got plans to go to Smoothie King.  Want to come?"

***You've been invited to a party with alcohol.***
"Beer's not really my thing, I'd much prefer a smoothie.  Let's hit up Starbucks instead!"

***You are being pressured into having sex.***
"No thanks.  Let's go get a smoothie instead."

See what I mean?  And yes, I did have to talk about sex... and yes it was awkward as hell... but I held it together and acted like the mature adult I'm supposed to be!

I'd love to travel back in time and see if the smoothie excuse would actually work when I was peer pressured into smoking.  I just said yes, because smoking was cool.  At least that's what I was told.

And that is one Nicky story I don't share with my students. :)

*If middle school is any indicator of fashion trends, the scrunchie is back in a big way.  Get excited!!!