Usually in races I tend to go out too fast and pay for it in later miles. This time, I convinced Christian to run a bit faster than he was anticipating, while still keeping me in my wheelhouse for what I was hoping to run, and it worked out perfectly. I had wanted to run between 8:45-9/mile with him and we averaged 8:50s on the dot. He then went on to run an 1:57 half (his 2nd best time out of 6) while I had a bit left in the tank and came out with a 3:48 marathon (my 5th best out of 18, and the fastest since I ran Boston in 2007!). I truly think pacing myself over the first half left me some reserve to finish strong through the end. I only had one over 9 min/mile, and averaged 8:43/mile for the full 26.2 (well, actually 8:40s for the 26.38 per my watch, but that's the problem with Garmins!). I truly felt strong to the end and it's one of the few races in which I haven't hit a wall.
It certainly helped to see Micah and Christian at mile 21...giving me that extra umph that I needed to pound out the last 5. Micah was absolutely adorable, and I stated to Christian that it doesn't get much better than seeing your (almost) 3 year old jumping up and down excitedly as you get close to him on the streets. What joy in his little face, cheering his Momma on, and what joy for me to see it all.
The other great part about running in Louisville was that we were able to stay with my aunt and uncle, whom I haven't seen in over 3 years. Although we didn't bring Reid with us, as I felt it was too much traveling in such a short time, Micah came (obviously) and I'm so glad they were able to meet him. He did great in the car ride both down and back, and I was truly so proud of his behavior the entire weekend. He was off schedule, on lack of sleep, meeting people he didn't know who were watching him while Christian and I both ran, and he did great. My aunt and uncle really seemed to take to him as well and I love that we were able to see more family.
Christian ended up having a meeting on that Friday we were supposed to be traveling (and he had taken off, but neglected to put it on his calendar) but the irony of it all was that it ended up being in Louisville! So instead of having to get out of it, he flew out Friday morning while Micah and I drove down and picked him up at the Expo. Reid stayed with my friend Laura and her family, and did phenomenal as well. She was great about sending me picture updates and every time he was all smiles, while helped since we weren't with him.
So, below are our pictures from the race, as well as some of Reid with his time with the Sjogrens. Enjoy!
Pre-race pictures. My cousin Abigail ran her first half, and finished in a stellar 1:50! Unfortunately, she was in a different corral than Christian and myself, so we didn't actually see her on the course at all.
Micah chillin' on the course at mile 21, waiting for his Momma to come running around the corner :) Best feeling in the world to see your child cheering you on. I love the next sequence of pictures!
And below are the pictures I received from Laura throughout the day... Reid seemed pretty happy! And Alex as well, to have another little one around to take care of :)
The next morning, while running my race, I received these texts - just waking up in the morning and wishing me good luck:) Then they headed out to Blackberry Farm for the beautiful day they were having. Love!
Fun times with fun memories... 'til the next marathon...
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