P.S. Wish You Were Here: Omaha Marathon Summary

Monday - lift (legs)

Tuesday - 3 mile run, lift (back & biceps)

Wednesday - 4 mile run, lift (chest & triceps)

Thursday - rest

Friday - lift (shoulder & abs)

Saturday - walking at the zoo

Sunday - MARATHON

HOORAY! My marathon is over! I feel like I have so much to write about other than my race like, oh I don't know, my mom and sister-in-law surprising me, our family outing to the zoo, or the night I fell even more in love with Eric Church - but I will keep this post all things race related and post later this week about all those other details.

I woke up two hours before the race started to allow enough time to let my nerves settle as well as my breakfast. I fueled with a banana, english muffin, and peanut butter. Heck of a trio in my book!

By the time I was done with breakfast it was 5:15am so I crawled under the sheets for a little while longer. The race started within a block of the hotel my family was staying at which helped my stress level tremendously! If you have ever ran a race, you know that getting to the START line can be a little hectic (what time should I leave? If I get there too early I'm going to be standing in the cold! What if I get stuck in traffic and get there late? Etc.). Look who I ran into on my way down to the race...

…miss Kendall Rae! She told me to "win the race Auntie Carrie!"

I was more than ok arriving with 2 minutes to spare as it left me no time to get nervous and quite honestly, I couldn't wait to start! The gun went off, signalizing to the runners that it was go-time! I was told by many to start off slow so I began the race with a pacer that was set to finish at 4 hours 15 minutes. I never put much thought into what time I wanted to get (I really just wanted to cross the finish line) but knew that I wanted to finish under 4 hours 30 minutes so felt that staying with Greg (the pacer) would help me do just that.

The first 10 miles went so great! We passed spectators, bands playing every couple miles, and the kids at the water stations were totally making my day with their spunky attitudes. My legs were feeling good so I broke off from the pacer group as I knew I could go a little faster than what they were doing. With that said, starting with them was probably the smartest thing I did all day. The rest of the race was spent running alongside Michelle, a random stranger who quickly turned into my motivator, encourager, listener, and friend.

We talked the entire way and I really don't think I would have done as well as I did without having her beside me. When one of us noticed the other pulling back and struggling, the other one spoke words of encouragement and started a new topic of conversation. I had heard that after mile 20 was when the majority of people "hit a wall" so we knew that we just had to get over that hump and push through.

My family cheer team helped, too! They showed their faces every couple miles which gave both Michelle and I something to look forward to. At mile 21, we had hit the wall. I kept looking down at my legs and feet to see if they were on fire because that's what it felt like. Michelle was feeling the burn, too. The rest of the race we took it mile by mile. "Ok, let's get to mile 22", "I see the sign for mile 24!", "One more mile and we are done!".

The last half mile was downhill (hallelujah!) and the last .2 miles was inside the T.D. Ameritrade Stadium. I was a flood of emotions while running the outfield and tried my hardest not to be a sobbing mess while crossing the finish line.