Jacksonville Bank Marathon...#52...for Maya...

I've had a difficult time with writing this post. It has been such a long, hard year, and while I am not completely finished with all the work I have on this journey, running marathon #52 this past Sunday was like slaying a giant for me. It meant all the stress and agony over traveling, and injury issues could be laid to rest, at least for a bit. With Christmas only a couple days away, I found myself completely overwhelmed in a different direction, with class parties, much neglected shopping and baking. In the background sat my laptop and I was content to just leave it there. I guess I needed to just retreat from the world for a few days. So I apologize for taking so long to give you the story of #52.

 Lets just say I like to bake...

Last Sunday I ran the Jacksonville Bank Marathon, bringing me to the goal of 52, but in a much quicker time frame than I had originally planned. I have been running at least one marathon a week, every week, for the past 48 weeks. Finishing 52 before Christmas became the new mini goal this fall, as I saw that I could make it happen and that way not have to stress about leaving my family on Christmas for another marathon. I felt like if I could in any way make that happen I needed to. Having to fly out on Christmas for a marathon was something I didn't want to have to do to my children, who have had to sacrifice family time so much this year.

Still, as much as I wanted to have this marathon, of all marathons, be a strong and beautiful run, I was facing the reality that it would most likely be anything but. Continually struggling with IT and hip issues with my right leg meant no running between marathons for the past 2 weeks. It meant lots of attempts to ice and rest and even more frustration on my part. Following marathon #51, I seriously struggled to put any weight on my leg the next morning, and I know I looked more than gimpy when I went to church. I don't know that I did anything else that day, but I wasn't willing to skip to church with my kids because of my leg. I haven't been able to take them very much this year because of all the traveling, and that's one thing I do no matter what when I've been home, regardless of the condition of my legs. Despite the fact that I looked like I needed a cane, we went.

Ironic it seems that my husband Jeremy had been gone the entire week in Jacksonville for work. Even more ironic, he was actually staying at the host hotel for the marathon!  Jeremy got back Friday evening, and my flight for Jacksonville left early Saturday morning. I got into the airport and my friend Heather came and picked me up. I was so thankful for her help. I have been blessed countless times this year with gifts like this. And each and every time it has meant so much and been a much needed saving grace. After traveling all year I'm really feeling the financial strain right now. Not having to pay for a rental car or a hotel was a huge relief, especially considering it being so close to Christmas.

I had met Heather at the Fox Valley Marathon back in Sept. We ran almost the same pace the entire day, and in the end we finished less than a minute apart from one another. This time around I got to meet the other important people in her life, her 4 year old daughter Brianna, Jeremiah (Brianna's father) and a bunch of their friends. We went to this fun restaurant called Clark's Fish Camp for lunch that serves up fried gator tails, eel, antelope, kangaroo, etc. It was out there for exotic tastes and being the girl who's willing to try most anything at least once, I tired the fried gator. Not bad, kinda chewy. 

But everywhere we went that day, from packet pick up to the park, I felt my IT band. Every step it made its presence known, rebelling my decision to run. While I was walking much better, and able to get up and down stairs without having to hang on the handrail for dear life, it wasn't something I could easily ignore either.

Heather and Jeremiah were both running in the morning too. Heather was hoping to break 4 hours, and with this being Jeremiah's 2nd marathon, and not having done much training for it, he going to wing it and run with Heather as long as possible. I had no clue what my IT band was going to do and the only goal on my plate was to finish. We went out to dinner that night and met up with Dave, who is a mutual friend and fellow Marathon Maniac. I have seen Dave at close to a dozen marathons this year, and we usually get a snapshot together, but that's about it. It was really nice to have time to hang out with him and get to chat.  Of course with a table filled with running/fitness fanatics you can imagine the conversation!

With Dave and Heather at dinner

In regular routine for marathon running, we debated what the weather would be for the race, what clothing would be best suited and laid out our stuff for the morning. I was sleeping on the couch, which was very comfortable and I honestly slept better than I have at some hotels I've stayed at this year.

We were up by 5, and the energy that had been flowing last night was seriously lacking now. It was cold out and I think all of us just wanted to sleep longer. Thankfully the race had a heated gym that we could hang out in before the start and it was quickly packed. We had a nice group of other Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics join us. It wound up being a nice gathering of friends and I have to say, it's been absolutely awesome being a part of the Maniac group. I have met so many cool people and we all share the same insane love for running.

With my Maniac friends before the start

As we made our way out for the start, into the dark and cold, I said a quick prayer. This could get really ugly, and I was trying to prepare myself for that reality. I placed myself between the 4:15 and 4:30 pacer groups and as the national anthem was sung, I felt so strange. This is it, this is it. That thought kept going through my mind and continued to carry through my thoughts as I ran.  The race started and I took my first running step, ouch. I was hoping I didn't look as gimpy as I felt. I knew this wasn't a good sign. Last weekend I had felt it with step one too, but not to this extreme. Just stay focused I told myself. I turned on my i-Pod and tried to find my groove. Those first couple miles were very uncomfortable and I felt like my gait was weird. I was hoping that once my leg warmed up I would have less issues, and my wish was granted. It took a good 4 or 5 miles, but I felt a little better and I just kept praying it would stay that way.

We ran a through residential neighborhoods most of the day, the views didn't change much. It was a completely flat out and back course which made it fast too. The day was gray and there was a mist in the air that made running with glasses extra fun. It seemed like we had a constant wind, and it didn't warm up much. I wore a jacket and never felt the need to take it off. The scenery wasn't much to look at and I didn't stop to take many pictures. I was fine with that though. I felt like I needed to just keep my focus on moving forward. We ran past some nice estates and the occasional Christmas/holiday decorations. There were very few people out to cheer and the race had some real issues with trying to figure out the traffic situation. At times there were cars trying to drive down the same road as runners, while traffic was coming in the opposite direction. I'm not sure what was up with that, but I hope it's something they will address for future races.

I didn't have any expectations for the run. Just finish. All you need to do is finish. That thought ran through my mind all morning long. I had a lot of thoughts going through my mind to keep me distracted from my leg issues. Knowing that this was #52, that this was it, I found myself  unsure if I was ready for this to be it. As much as I had been looking forward to being done, I just didn't know how to process that idea.

Paying no attention to my watch or pace, I continued to run on feel as I have done for most of this year. I took it a mile at a time and I started feeling discomfort under my knee cap and on the inside of my knee. Doubts continued to plague me. I remembered thinking at mile 10 how much I wished the finish line could have been right there. Miles 8-13 were very frustrating and challenging, far far more than they ought to be. I struggled with the fact that I was physically able to run so much faster, but my leg wouldn't let me. I had no lack of energy or oxygen. It was hard to stay positive those miles.

Even with my leg problems, I found myself feeling the need to push. This is it, this is all you have left. There is no reason to hold anything back today, no reason to save any energy. In the back of my mind, I didn't want my pain to be any excuse for my performance.

 The Never Give Up sign was what I needed today

I was running for Maya, whom herself is no stranger to pain. She is 6 and in this picture she is attending a tent meeting hosted by a missionary. You may notice her head is shaved, which usually means that she is in mourning for a death of a close relative. She says, “My mother is sick and my father has disappeared.” This story is so common among children in this area. Sometimes the father goes far away to a big city like East London or Johannesburg to find work. He may intend to get work and send the money back home, but often, the fathers never return. Maya's mother is dying but thankfully she is in a tent meeting, which means that she will be shown hope. The message of the gospel is hope, and she must continue to survive her conditions, to rise up and be strong. All of this is far more than should be asked of any 6 year old.

 Maya

The charity I have been running on behalf, 25:40, has five areas that they focus on to fulfill for orphans. They go into a community trying to meet these 5 basic needs: nutrition, safe shelter, education, community development and spiritual journey. The orphans who they are trying to help have experienced great trauma in their lives, but seldom have any way of processing the emotions. The mission is trying to reach these children spiritually, to give them the hope of Jesus Christ so that they have something they can pin some glimmer of hope on.

This year I have been running as a means to change the lives of these orphans. There are now over 2,000 orphans in the Ngqeleni District of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. And what do I have to complain of, in comparison to them? Having Maya on my back gave me a lot of motivation and determination to keep pushing. This was not for me, but for Maya. This is for all the children who haven't had the chance to know the freedom that I live.

Hitting the half way point I looked at the clock, it read 2:02. I was quite happy with that time, considering how I'd felt. I didn't think I had been running that fast. Just keep going, stay focused I told myself and I did. Mile after mile, I tried to keep my gait consistent and walk as little as possible. And funny enough, as I started hitting the later miles, I noticed I felt better. I ran without near the issues I had been dealing with the first half. Earlier on I had even considered taking pain medication, now I felt like there was no need to. I still felt my IT, but it wasn't the same. At mile 18 I came across Jeremiah. He told me he had stayed with Heather until mile 16 and he looked like he was hurting. I talked with him for a quick minute then kept on. I was determined to keep running for as long as I could. I expected at some point I was just going to give out, the leg wasn't going to be able to take any more. But I continued to run well and now getting into the last miles I was felt more focused than ever. A lot of people had slowed to a walk at this point and I passed person after person.

I made myself not look at my watch until mile 24 and at that point I wanted to see where I was. I was going to have a good finishing time if I could just stay on target with my pace. That became a huge motivator. Rocking out to my tunes, I kept reminding myself to ignore the pain and push. Hitting mile 26 had me completely energized. Crossing the finish line in 4:07, I tried to hold back all the emotion. I had been playing out what that moment would be like in my mind so many times this year. I had envisioned crossing that finish line 100's of times, often while I was running one of these marathons. It was hard to believe I had done it!

 Finish #52!

I hugged my friend Julie who finished right after me, and then called Jeremy and my mom. At that moment, I felt something indescribable. I felt such a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Immediately I found Heather and hugged her too. She had ended up finishing just a couple minutes before me. Together we waited for Jeremiah to finish and cheered him on as he crossed in 4:43.

More than anything I wanted to go home and see my family. The flightback seemed to take forever and I couldn't hold back the tears when I finally saw them. This journey has taken me to over 30 states this year, running over 1,362 miles in my 52 marathons. Between traveling and working there have been times where I have been gone 6 nights a week. I have gone through periods of injury and physical therapy. I've been up at 3 in the morning to drive to races and slept in rental cars the night before marathons. I have missed birthdays and holidays, and spent more time flying to and from a race than I actually did on the ground for the race. My craziest streak was running 4 marathons in 9 days, finishing the last of the 4 in 4:17, the fastest of the 4. My fastest marathon of the year was #35 with a time of 4:03 and my slowest was a 6:23 finish when I was injured. I have run in 20 degree temps and finished my hottest race with the heat index of over 100. This entire year has been consumed by my marathon running.

 My mom sent me flowers to congratulate me

And many of you have asked what does 52 marathons look like? Here's my custom medal hanger, produced by Allied Steel. They did a fantastic job with making this hanger and if you are looking for a way to display your marathon bling, I highly recommend them! They have a great selection of hangers online or they can make a custom one for you, as they did for me.

52 marathons = a lot of bling!

This is by no means the end! I still have at least a couple more marathons in 2011 to finish up for the children of 25:40. Also, with 2011 right around the corner, I have more running plans for the coming year. But now is time for healing and I am so thankful to be home with my family this weekend. I'll have a Christmas post up this weekend so look for that and very soon I will share the details of my goals for 2011!

My medal

I'll end in sharing the words of Henry W. Longfellow (1864), and put to music in this song by Casting Crowns, one of my favorite Christmas songs. Hope you enjoy it.



I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”


Final Race Stats:
4:07:17 - finishing time
501 out of 882 finishers overall
137 out of 321 women
22 out of 43 in my age group (25-29)