Mo' training week in review: Week 14 and the Cleveland 1/2 Marathon

One more month until my first 50 miler! I can't believe it's coming so fast. I started worrying a bit during the week, but calmed down by the time the weekend arrived. I got a hard long run to do this weekend, and it was amazing! Unfortunately due to my busy schedule this week I had to do it on the treadmill, but it did get done. Put the treadmill on the "hills" setting and just did it. 5k x 6 in the a.m. (5k hard/5k easy alternating) and 5k x 6 in the p.m. I can't believe I did it! My longest mileage in a single day yet! It calmed my nerves quite a bit. When Ray told me what to do I had to send an email back to him just to make sure I heard right. What's funny is I think I had a minor breakthrough. I didn't even think about the distance I needed to run for the day, I just simply ran it. Nuff said. There were a few moments in between my runs that I just shook my head in disbelief though. I LOVE IT! I can't wait to see what this weekend brings :) This week also meant a run with Guy Gadomski. He's always fun to run with! We ran @ Girdled Road which was perfect!

The Cleveland Marathon/Half Marathon

The festivities started on Friday! Stan Hembrough came all the way from B.C. to run the Cleveland 1/2 with me and my family. My husband had off on Friday, I took off, and we all headed downtown on Friday morning to get our race packets/bib, etc, etc. We visited the Rock Hall and showed Stan the West Side Market. We ate at the Galleria, but if I would've been thinking we would've just ate at the West Side Market. Oh well, next time!

Saturday

We spent the day sightseeing a bit, taking Stan to some parks and also dealing with my fidgety son! He had so much energy from his taper, and was acting pretty wired. Seriously -I almost told him to just go run! He was excited about the upcoming 1/2 marathon and was driving me nuts. Dinner was spent with some NERC friends and was organized by Jeannie Rice who was running her 70th marathon at Cleveland. I was so tired during dinner as my running and my nasty cold started taking its toll. Of all the weekends to get sick! Seriously it's not like it's my busiest weekend ever or anything! SHEESH!!!!

Sunday - 1/2 Marathon day!

We woke up early and left the house around 5 a.m. Good thing we did though, because once again the battle for the port a potty was on! The first person we saw was Mark Anson who I'm happy to report had a good run in the marathon! I was nervous for Mark as he is just coming back from an injury, but so glad to hear he made it through pain free! We then saw both Charlie and Edie while standing in the infamous port a potty line. I'm glad I got to see some NERC peeps before the race! Even if it was screaming across lines of people! We made it out of the port a potty with 2 minutes to spare. Again. Same as last year. Hell, we'll probably have to leave at 4 a.m. next year just to make sure we have time to use the bathroom in an acceptable amount of time. UGH! Panicked and in line (way to close to the front, I might add) the race began!

My husband and Stan took off never to be seen again, and my son and I trotted along at a very steady pace. We were so busy talking and laughing at things that we didn't even realize we had already run three miles! My son was shocked and happy. When we passed bands or speakers blaring music, we ran by dancing and/or playing air drums. Along the way we saw Carole and Beth who both looked strong and did well! Congrats to them both!

Throughout the run I was constantly trying to yell and scream and get the crowd pumped up for the other runners, but due to my cold my shouts were coming out quiet and sounding funky. Going through Edgewater my son started to panic a bit as his foot started hurting. The road was slanted and there was no way of getting around running on that slant. After it flattened out his foot was fine, and we had only 2 miles to go! He was still feeling good and pumped that he ran his furthest distance ever! He said quite a few times that he can't believe he was doing what he was doing, that he never ever thought that it would be possible. He was extremely proud of himself and I was extremely proud of him! I wondered where how my husband was doing, hoping his knee was holding up. Then, we saw him! It was around mile 12 1/2 and he was standing on the side of the road waiting for us. He ran with us, and we turned the final corner. My son the sprinted all the way to the end! I could barely keep up with him! He grabbed his medal proudly and all three of us gave each other giant hugs (awwwwwwww!) We chilled on the grass for awhile, then ran to see some NERC peeps finishing. Celebration
We celebrated at the Hard Rock Cafe afterwards with some friends. I'm thankful to those who made it out after being tired and sweaty! We all displayed our medals proudly :) While we ate a young boy came in with his father. He had just ran the marathon in 3:05! Holy Geez! I said, "So you qualified for Boston, huh? Congrats!" He told me he had no idea, that this was his first marathon. I told him many times to double check that qualifying time. He was pretty excited about the thought of that. When I came home, I double checked and sure enough, HE QUALIFIED! I sure hope he checked! My son, who I thought would be just exhausted after his run didn't even go inside. He jumped on his bike to go play with his friends. I couldn't believe it! He wore his medal all day while he played, still so proud and accomplished.

Again I'm so proud of my guys. I wish I could've been there to see my husband cross the finish line. With his knee issues he had a tough battle during training and triumphed. Anything is possible when you put your mind to it and work hard to accomplish your goals. My guys are living proof out that! Congratulations to everyone who ran Cleveland this past weekend. You have achieved something so amazing and should be so proud!