Shattering goals!

I don’t even know where to begin. This was a great weekend with a great PR and awesome company. I guess settle in for the race recap!

The Good: PR, company, weather, garmin, focus

The Bad: The CRYWAY, Quiet Miles, Missing NYC, Garmin, food struggles

Kelsey and I both flew in Thursday night. My amazing mother picked us up at the airport and we drove about an hour to Macon, GA to spend the night so we could hit the road running on Friday morning. After a quick oatmeal breakfast, we were on the road. We got to the expo just in time, apparently traffic backed up all the way across the bridge later in the day!

Excited for the Expo! And temporarily lost Kelsey...

We grabbed our bags, our shirts, and wandered around purchasing stuff (Hello box of lemon lime sports beans! and is that a Nuun water bottle I see?). It was lovely as only an expo can be.

Look the Expo was on the river!

We left the expo and had a bit of a struggle to find food, and the Garmin car GPS took us on a tour of the ugliest areas of Savannah before getting us to our hotel. Frustrating. But my mom was a trooper, went to Ruby Tuesday’s and got us some food (who knew they had roasted spaghetti squash?). We went to bed early and got ready for the marathon. Besides a horrible nights sleep (why did that man outside our window feel the need to fight with his girlfriend in Detroit? we will never know), we woke up at 4:30 ready to go. A quick drive to the Savannah mall and then the shuttle to the race start and we were ready to huddle on the ground for warmth and hit up the porta potties 8 times.

At 7:00 we checked our bags, pee’d one last time and got into our corrals. I was in corral 4, right behind some of the biggest losers. Amusing. I was a little frustrated cause I couldnt find the pace groups (never did… were there any?) but my Garmin that the nice folks at Garmin international shipped me when my other one woudn’t work found some satellitte and I was ready to go.

My legs felt good, my stomach not so good. I wanted to hurl from mile two on but I ignored it and pushed on. I saw my mom at mile 6 and she was screaming for me and jumping up and down. It was great. The first ten miles went by pretty fast. I was sticking under 9 and felt good about my chances. We split from the half at mile 11.5. Thank god, they were getting annoying. With their “almost done chants”. At about mile 16 we ran through Savannah State University. I’ve got to say, they did a great job. They got their sports teams out and they were screaming and shouting for us. It was great!

Around mile 19 we hit the highway. Or as Kelsey called it, the “Cryway”. It was about 5 miles of high way running. It was hilly. It was cold. It was boring. it was windy. It was isolated. this was not my favorite part of the race. I just kept trying to hold on. I concentrated on keeping my numbers below ten and trying to keep moving.

At mile 25 we met back up with the half marathoners. I was confused as to why they were still moving and I really wanted to be done. But I focused, knowing that a sub four was well within my reach. I had carried my ipod all throughout the marathon but every time i went to turn it on I felt overwhelmed.I saw my mom again at about mile 25.5. she was so excited for me. I tossed her my ipod and buckled in to finish strong. I kicked and kicked and chicked a few guys and then I was done!!!

3:48:23!!!

That is over a 25 minute PR from Chicago and a full hour faster then the hell that was the Georgia Marathon (NEVER EVER EVER EVER DO THAT). I was totally estatic. I crossed the line, promptly cursed and then started crying. I moved through the line, grabbing water and not much else. I wanted to sit, to puke, and to see my mom. Once I slowed down I felt a little better but my stomach still hasn’t fully recovered.

Let's play where did Emily hit the wall?

Oh SLAM. Hello wall hows it going?

Hey there PR kids!

I finished, bought a shirt, and then went and grabbed kelsey who also had a big PR! Good days!

But what might have been the best part of the day was getting my sweat bag and seeing tweets, texts, phone calls, and emails from friends all across the country. From college friends to new New York friends I was incredibly touched by the support. So thank you all so much. I couldn’t have done it without you. I will have more thoughts and pictures to share in the coming days but for now, that is that. A big PR, a great weekend, MUCH LOVE to everyone!