Mile #25: Ronald and Linda Akins "Memaw's Mile"

Mile #25 Memaw's Mile:

This special mile was named in honor of my grandmother.  Her real name was Juanita Melder Akins, but to all of her grandkids she was known as Memaw.  Memaw was a breast cancer survivor years before she was ever diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  She's a big reason why I always try to find a way in my racing schedule to race and raise money for both breast and ovarian cancer.  They both, obviously, hit home.

Memaw passed away only about 6 months after my mom did from ovarian cancer.  It was very hard for me, but I can't imagine what my Aunts and Uncle had to deal with in losing both family members so close to one another.  They were still all so graceful and amazing through it all though.

I must say though, Memaw would probably be a little embarassed at me spending even a paragraph on the fact that she faced cancer so many times.  So I'll leave you with a little of what I remember and know about her.

She was very proper, to say the least.  As a child, I didn't understand much of this, but the stories I hear and understand better as an adult would speak volumes to her etiquette and southern grace.  She used to tell me a story when I was little about how her grandmother once told her that if she sat through an entire church service with her legs crossed (as a lady should) then her grandmother promised to make her a new pink dress.  Memaw got that dress!

She adored her grandchildren!  She had a special way of making me feel like I was the most important person in the room each time she spoke to me.  She loved to paint my nails, play with my hair, sit on her back porch and watch the squirrels, play skip-bo, and swing on her front porch swing.  Growing up, that front porch swing was always one of my most favorite places to be.  Today, I miss it like crazy - I miss Memaw like crazy too.  We all do!

Here's some pictures of me and Memaw to share:

Mile# 25 is in honor of Memaw's greatest legacy.  Her children (Ronnie, 'Mitzie', Reba, Jill and Jackie), her grandchildren (Emily, John Robert, Lauri, Mark, Sarah, Jared, Jacque, John Wesley, Jennifer, Jessica, Scottie and Madison) ...not necessarily in birth order...and her great-grandchildren (Blake, Colton, Peyton, Carter, Andi, Skylar, Riley and Adalyn)...in birth order - ha! 

Here's the great grandkids:

And here is MOST of the grandkids with the great grandkids:

Thanks for the donation Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Linda.  This is a very, very special mile!

Mile #65: Kathy Scharer's Big Birthday Mile

Mile #65: Kathy Scharer
Super special thanks to Kathy Scharer for her support and for taking Mile #65!!  Kathy is a cousin of my Aunt Linda and has walked a marathon in support of breast cancer research so she has a big idea at just how physically demanding the Ironman is going to be.  Obviously she's a fantastically giving person to reach out to me and let me know she's supporting the cause.  Mile #65 is in recognition of her birthday!!  Happy Birthday Kathy!!!  Thanks for the love!!

Houston Marathon Race Report

Woo hooo!!  Marathon #3 is in the books and with a personal best to boot!!!

Here's a picture of me and my friend Candice just before the start of our races.  Candice ran the half marathon - and she did awesome!!

I just love the Houston Marathon and Sunday was a PERFECT day for running.  I do not like cold weather so I was a little nervous when the low for the start of the race was predicted to be in the 40s (yes that's COLD for a Houstonian).  However, I'll say that the start was perfect!  I think it helps having a crowd of 25,000 of your closest running strangers surrounding you,  but nonetheless it felt great.

I was lucky and found one of my Team in Training teammates to run with.  Marium and I pretty much did the whole race together.  I loved it!  Believe me, for this marathon I really needed the added peer pressure to keep me going.  I don't know what it was, but I just wasn't totally in the groove for this race.  Looking back, I'm ecstatic about it, but while I was running the course I just couldn't seem to relax and enjoy it all totally.  Running with Marium made it a lot better than had I done it alone, so I am so so so grateful that she was there.

The start of the Houston marathon is pretty cool because both the Half Marathon and Full Marathon start at about the same time (give or take 10 minutes) and about a block or so apart from one another.  The cool part is at around Mile 2 the half and the full merge into one big happy, squished race.  Some may be annoyed by it, but I think it's pretty cool!  Hey, we're all runners and we're all running a tough race, so it's neat to come together for a while.

I felt good, though not totally happy, for about the first 6 or 7 miles. I made a pit stop around this time, so had to push it to catch back up with Marium.  This might have been a bad idea considering at some points during this 5 mile stretch my Garmin was reading a 9:18/9:30 minute mile - YIKES!  A little too fast for me this time around.

I joined forces with Marium again at my favorite part of the course, Mile 11ish, the Rice University/Hermann Park area.  Beautiful oaks shade the course and the crowds really start to build.  I also, personally, love running by the church whose priest stands outside to sprinkle holy water on all the runners.  I figure that will at least carry me through to Mile 20.

This year I got Mile 20 stuck in my head.  That, for me, was where the real race was going to begin.  I guess because it's just close enough to the finish to make you actually want to finish despite everything!  Plus, I thought if I felt good at 20 then I might could pick up the pace at that point.

Marium and I got through Rice, West University and made it to the turn at Weslayan and Mile 14.  That's where the 'fam' was waiting.  I was really starting to hurt, so the mental picture of running past my family (and trying to make it look good) helped.  Plus the fact that Marium was not slowing down any time soon and I just had to stay with her, despite the desperate cries of my legs and hips to stop.  I made it around the corner, high fived the family, absorbed the super powers they gave me and trudged up the big hill that led to Mile 15. 

Mile 14, showing off my awesome Ovarian Cancer Research Fund "Team Hope" hat.  Wow, I even managed a smile.

I think at around Mile 15 I turned to Marium and asked "How are you feeling?", secretly hoping she might say something like "Not so good, let's just stop here.  I think we've gone far enough today."  But that is not what Marium said.  After she replied "Doing good" I knew she was here to run a full marathon, so I guess I was too.  Oh boy!  Again, I just told myself, 'Just get to Mile 20, it's only 5 miles away, then you just have to run home.'

Getting to Mile 20 was very painful!  I don't know why I got so sore so quickly this time, but everything hurt from the waist down - A LOT!  Mile 20 came and went.  Then Mile 21 came and went.  Still no real drive to push it home yet. 

Next came Mile 22, and that's when it happened!  That is when the 4:45:00 pace group passed us.  My time last year was 4:42:47, so when the 4:45:00 pace group passed me it was like watching my own personal best run by me sticking it's tongue out singing 'Na na na na boo boo, you can't catch me'.  Marium and I looked at each other and said "I thought we were further ahead of them?!"  Now I HAD to go as hard as I could to get ahead, and stay ahead of that pace group.

I pushed and got ahead, but that wasn't enough.  Because I felt the need to stop and walk through every aid station, I knew I had to get farther ahead or risk being passed again.  I pushed the pace even more and physically it HURT, but mentally it felt good too - like I was meeting a challenge I had set for myself deep inside.  I knew I was pushing hard too because my fingers started to tingle and my stomach was doing back flips. 

At this time in a marathon, you have to remember that it is as painful to walk as it is to run, so as much as your body is screaming for you to walk you can't. Even walking through the aid stations was tough, trying to run again after a walk is 10x harder!  I always say to myself "The fastest way to finish is to keep running."  I got to Mile 23, then Mile 24 and I could see downtown Houston. 

Just as you hit downtown you also hit mile 25!  With one mile to go all I could think was, "10 more minutes and you're done!" (Even though in reality it took me longer, the mental trick works for me every time) Plus, I was so worried that pace group was going to catch me.

Finally, Mile 26 and then the turn down in front of the George R Brown Convention Center.  I spotted my family in the stands and forced a smile and a wave from wayyyyy deep down, because OUCH it hurt!

Mere feet from the finish line and I think my face says it all in this picture! Hey - who wants to smile at mile 26.1???

 I crossed the line and really had to fight the urge to pass out, and/or punch everyone who stepped in between me and a cup of water.  But I did it!  Marathon #3 was in the books!

While I was waiting to claim my finisher's shirt, my husband text me "Would you like to know your net time?" Ummmm yes...this is the most important thing to any marathoner - good or bad, please give me my TIME!!  4:41 and some change...a new personal best by 1 WHOLE MINUTE!  It may not sound like much to you, but that minute is huge to me.  It means I did better than last year, it means I improved, it means I got faster - if even by the smallest margin, it is a victory on top of a victory to me!

Now, time to eat, rest, and train for Ironman!!!

BTW - Marium did great too!  She also set her own personal best on Sunday.  Houston was her second marathon in a little less than 4 months - AMAZING!

Ironman Texas Training and the Houston Marathon are HERE!

So it was the first official day of Ironman Texas training.  However, since thunder and tornado warnings kept me from the pool, I did a 90 minute yoga class. 

Really, this week and next week's schedule are going to look super easy to most people beginning this program.  The reason is that I'm running the Houston Marathon on Sunday.  So my coach scheduled a taper week this week to rest my legs for the race, and a rest week (super easy) next week to recover from the marathon.

I have to remember on marathon day the marathon is a 'B' race this year.  I had gone into my training for the marathon to get a personal best, but as the training has come to a close and I've noticed some tightness and fatigue in my muscles, my husband (aka, my mental coach) says to me "You can't got all out on the marathon.  Treat it as a training run for Ironman and don't worry about a personal best."  My coach, who is not that happy with me doing a January marathon, says "Enjoy the race, but don't push it.  You don't want to get injured 18 weeks before an Ironman."  A friend from my gym says "Run easy, not slow.  Then at mile 20, if you feel good, just run home" 

Okay, okay I get it...this will not be my 'A Game' Race.  So much for a PR...but in many ways that's a good thing!  I love the Houston Marathon, so now I can just enjoy the run.  Listen to my music, get a good long run in with about 20,000 others while being cheered on by the amazing spectators on the course, full water stops and port-a-potties for me to use along my chosen route, and I get a medal when I'm done!  Pretty sweet deal to me!!

Mile # 12 and 13.0-13.5: Mark and Whitney's '12th Man Mile'

Mile #12 and 13.0-13.5: '12th Man Mile'
Being from Texas, and racing in Texas, I just knew an Aggie mile was bound to show up at some point.  Mark and Whitney are some of the biggest Texas A&M fans I know...and they may be the only Aggies I dedicate a room of my LSU-run house to.  But that's only because they are family and happen to be the parents of one of the prettiest little nieces in the world... right? *wink,wink*

I guess before I am written into a fight song threatening to 'sawing' anything off of me, I should state that through my brother and sister-in-law I have come to see Texas A&M as a great school, with lots of pride and really unique, but fun, traditions!  I'm excited to get the chance to bike through Mile #12 in honor of a great school legend. Just don't judge me too harshly if my "Gig 'Em" sounds a lot like "Geaux Tigers" - ha!

Thanks for all the Aggie love, Mark and Whit!  You rock!!

Mile #7: Mark and Whitney "Riley's Mile"

Mile #7: Riley's Mile
My little brother and sister-in-law (Mark and Whitney) have claimed Mile #7 in honor of their daughter, Riley.  Riley was born on July 1, 2010 and is BIG part of the BRAS quartet...AKA Mitzie's grandkids.

Mile #7 is in recognition of her birthday month, July (coincidentally, also MY birthday month- ha!).  I hope I'll see this little blue-eyed beauty at her mile marker on race day :-)  Love you Riley bug!!

 

Mile #66: Randall Murphy 'Route 66'

Mile #66: Route 66

Special thanks to Randall Murphy for claiming mile #66!  Our friendship goes wayyyyy back to the 'old/golden days' working at the YMCA in Kingwood.  Although,  I think that Randall and I didn't meet until after he had worked at the YMCA, we did meet through mutual co-workers.  Randall is practically a legend in our crew!  Everyone loves his kind heart, sense of humor, fun spirit, and I fondly remember a certain taco meat queso dip that is outrageously good!!

Thank you so much for the support Randall!!  Oh - and I may be calling on you for some company on these super long bike rides coming up :-)