After running the Rim Rock marathon and having such a good race, I thought my chances of qualifying for the Boston marathon on a flat course were pretty good. So I set out to find another marathon within a couple weeks (so I would have some recovery time but not have to retrain) and found the Death Valley, CA marathon on Dec. 5th. Not wanting to head out to Death Valley all on my own, I convinced my sisters to travel out with me and run the half marathon.
Kirsten has never been a runner, but since Erika moved back to SD she has convinced Kirsten to start running. When I called them to do the half marathon, I left them with enough time to run one 8 miler and one 10 miler before the big day. With that little training, they still finished in 2:05! I was so proud of Kirsten for taking on that challenge and doing so well. After they finished their race, they drove back along the course and found me to cheer me on. Here we are at mile 23.
I was sad to see them drive off back to the finish line to wait for me - I didn't know if I had 3 miles left in me! Running at that pace for so long was much harder than I anticipated!
But I made it - 3:39! Qualifying time is 3:40:59, so I just barely squeaked by! I can't tell you how happy I was to have made it to the finish line in time! And I was the second woman to cross the finish line - too bad this wasn't a race with big cash prizes or I could have cashed in!
At mile 4, I heard a voice behind me say, "Is that Boston I see up ahead?" I told him I sure hoped so and asked if he wanted to be my pacer. We ran together for the next 18 miles until he had to stop and fix his sock because of a blister. I couldn't afford to stop, so I sadly said good-bye to my friend Tracy. He was a life-saver for me! The race was pretty small and spread out and no music was allowed, so without his company I would have had a much harder time staying focused. There are no more races in my future for a while. I am looking forward to some down time during the holidays with the family. No more running in the dark on freezing cold mornings for me (at least for now)!
8 comments:
Wow! I'm impressed--you're a machine, girl!!! Good for you for taking on the challenge. And how awesome that your sisters were there with you :)
Way to go, Megan!!
That's incredible that you just made it! You seriously get cooler every year....I can't wait to see how you do in the Boston Marathon.
Way to go Megan! I'm so proud of you!
How great! That is so cool that you made the time. I wish I had better knees so I could run more. After about 3 miles my knees feel like they are tearing in half. It always breaks my heart to stop when I feel like I could run so much further. Darn knees! At least I can live vicariously through you. Way to go! We will miss you at the Christmas party, but now I definitely see why you want to just spend a little time at home. You've been busy! Congratulations on another great run!
woooo! that is so awesome megan! you are amazing!
gReAt jOb!!!! You are awesome! I still can't believe that you did 2 in a row. A wife here was telling me about her mother in law jumping the fence in Boston to run the last 3 miles with her daughter....kinda tempting :) You sisters did great too.
Amazing! I am very impressed! Congratulations!
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