Monday, January 30, 2006

Wow!



Yikes!!! You guys are THE BEST!! I asked for cheers of support as I headed off to the marathon and little did I know how you guys would respond! Before our plane left Friday afternoon (late, no less) I had nearly 30 well wishes and when I checked Saturday morning from the hotel it was just under 40! From our airport locale we relocated to the Radisson Downtown to be near the start/finish area. Personally, I greatly prefer staying in moderate priced hotels to the massive downtown hotels. The moderate guys give you a free breakfast and they all seem to have FREE wireless internet access. At the downtown highrises NOTHING is free or easy. But I'll go into all of that when I do the full race recap..... All that rambling to say internet was $13 a day at the Radisson so no internet wishes going into Sunday am's marathon, which totally sucked.

Today we relocated to a true, artsy South Beach hotel over on Ocean Drive. Way cheaper than downtown, free internet, we're across the street from the ocean and the staff is incredibly nice. Yeah!! It might have been worth it to stay over here all along and just drive to the start. We checked in, hooked up the laptop and it told us we had 65 new messages!! WTH!!! You guys are awesome! About 5 spam and 60 congrat emails make for two very happy RBF-ers, one of whom is now part of the marathon club! It was great, it helped me relive the excitement of yesterday all over again. Love it!!!!!!!!



I'll do a full, blow by blow, blister by blister recap of the marathon once we get home. The plane leaves tomorrow (BOO!). I'd love to stay and lounge on the beach for a few more days.......The marathon was......awesome!! So totally different than what I expected but I didn't have a clue what to expect to begin with! For me, the toughest miles were miles 1-3. My stomach was gurgling a little and I had a ton of doubt bouncing around in my head. Then the sun started coming up on the beautiful hotels in South Beach and I told myself to suck it up, I had trained for this forever (it seemed like) and I was too damn lucky to have the ability to do this thing and too lucky to afford a great trip like this to blow it in my head. And then I started having fun, and the fun never ended until I crossed that finish line. Maybe it still hasn't sunk in. No, it totally hasn't sunk in. But I'm ready to do it again, but not this weekend!! I'm more than a bit wobbly going down stairs right now and there's one blister that needs to be taken care of once we get home. Our plan tomorrow morning is to get up and do a one mile run on the beach. It would be a shame NOT to have a run on the beach while we're here, and I think I can manage a mile.

Anyway, more when we got home, but for now here's the executive summary: It was fun!!!! My official time is 4:28.05. I never hit the "wall" or if I did I'm too dumb to know it. When I saw the 20 mile marker I was too excited that I was only 6 miles out to slow down, and I got more and more excited at each subsequent mile marker. (Which was likely VERY apparent to the onlooker at mile 24 who had a Boston Terrier. I'll never forget the frightened look he gave me when I SCREAMED out "I HAVE A DOG JUST LIKE THAT AT HOME". I guess he thought the runners should run and the crowd should handle the screaming!! He will probably always think marathoners lose mental functuality and manners by the 24th mile.) I got to meet two cool RBF-ers (David and Naomi) and I'm convinced I have the best, most supportive husband in the world!! Even though it was very, very warm (it was 70 by 7 am) Miami is a GREAT course with virtually no elevation to speak of, so if you're on the Boston borderline I would highly recommend it. ING definitely knows how to put on a marathon.









Enjoy these pics until we're home to post more! Enjoy!!!! Now I'll pass the marathon/ultramarathon torch off to Angie who has her first 50K this weekend!! (Technically my Garmin says I went 26.4 miles, does that make me a ultramarathoner?????)

35 Comments:

At 9:11 PM, Blogger Dallen said...

You're really keeping us in suspense waiting for the "official" race report. Again, congratulations!

 
At 9:16 PM, Blogger Iron Jayhawk said...

That is so exciting!! I can't wait to read the full recap!!

You're my hero, Rae! Enjoy your time in sunny Florida and take it easy on the mile run.

Congrats, sweetie!!!!

 
At 9:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

WOW!! Congratulations on finishing-and a fast time too. The pictures are so fun!

 
At 9:38 PM, Blogger Danny said...

loving the pictures!

waiting for more....

 
At 9:55 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Great job Rachel! It is great that you had Brent cheering you and supporting you the entire way. Nice job Brent! Great pics also.

 
At 3:11 AM, Blogger ida said...

You rocked it!

 
At 3:50 AM, Blogger jeanne said...

What a terrific marathon you had! Be proud and thankful!

 
At 3:54 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations! You did fantastic!

 
At 4:27 AM, Blogger BuckeyeRunner said...

Great pics! You look so happy! Like you just came from a spa, and not a marathon!!

 
At 4:52 AM, Blogger Simba's Mom said...

I am so happy for you! Sounds like "Mean Rachel" didn't make an appearance this time. (she may have said "I have a dog like that, but mine is cuter than yours!).

Can't wait to read every little detail!

Congrats!!!!

 
At 5:13 AM, Blogger ShoreTurtle said...

Yay for Team Rachel!

 
At 5:20 AM, Blogger Cliff said...

Congrats..hey I see no blister on the pics :)...when I did my marathon last year, my HR was going crazy in the first 3-4 miles. I was a bit concern, then I say..screw it..i will use my RPE. Luckily it dropped back down...half way.

 
At 7:09 AM, Blogger Mia Goddess said...

Finally, I can stop stalking you! Can't wait to hear the rest, as this pre-report had me cracking up. I can just picture you with the dog owner!

 
At 7:55 AM, Blogger lainb said...

Rae, you ROCK!! I'm so happy to hear of your success and look forward to reading more about it!

 
At 8:09 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

What a great showing!

[Courses are measured via the absolute shortest distance possible... hugging every turn, running the straightest line] So it is possible that you went that far!

 
At 10:08 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Way to go, Rae! Looking forward to the "official" report. Have a safe trip home!

 
At 10:15 AM, Blogger E-Speed said...

awesome job! And awesome pics!

So glad you had a good time!

 
At 10:57 AM, Blogger Liz said...

You ROCK!!! I can't read the rest of the story!!!

Love the pictures...enjoy the beach!!!

 
At 10:58 AM, Blogger Liz said...

It was supposed to be I Can't WAIT to read the rest of the story...

Sorry..still sleep deproved here...

Sidenote: I wrote mine before I read the others...but looks like we all think the same!

 
At 11:01 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great updates. Love the pics. My favorites are the ones of you running in the race. I like how they printed your names on your race bib. CONGRATULATIONS!

 
At 11:55 AM, Blogger onepinkfuzzy said...

Yay!!!! How exciting!!! Sounds like you had a BLAST!
Congratulations. And yes, I keep reading everywhere that an ultramarathon is technically any distance over 26.2 - so you are an ultramarathoner! :)

Can't wait for the blow-by-blow account...your post was so inspiring, I'm going to make sure I read it every day until Saturday!

 
At 12:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can't wait for your report!!

 
At 1:11 PM, Blogger Hilda said...

Full of energy to scream about the dog on the 20th mile?? Woow you made a terrific run for sure RAE!!!!
This photos make you look full of joy, it is great you share this with the word!!

 
At 3:46 PM, Blogger Kurt in Boston said...

Congratulations on running a great race!

 
At 5:58 PM, Blogger Scott said...

CONGRATULATIONS RAE! I was all goosebumpy reading your exec. summary; can't wait for the real thing.

 
At 6:36 PM, Blogger Beanie said...

OMG, that line about shouting at the spectator made me laugh out loud.

Fantastic job. CONGRATS!

 
At 6:43 PM, Blogger D said...

Congrats Rae!!!!

 
At 7:07 PM, Blogger David said...

Great [abridged] recap of the race weekend. Brent's pictures are fantastic. You did look totally relaxed and having fun just running along. You made it all work for you. What a memory.
I think I have to go back next year and do it right [timewise].

 
At 8:16 PM, Blogger Rich said...

Congrats on a great run! Loved the dog story!

 
At 11:12 PM, Blogger Darrell said...

Rachel, awesome summary and awesome pix. Hurray for you. Glad your first marathon was so much fun. Woo hoo!

 
At 2:07 AM, Blogger Ewen said...

Good on you Rae. The excitement of the day shows in your words. I think you'd like the Gold Coast which is also flat as a tack.

 
At 9:01 AM, Blogger Trisaratops said...

Awesome job!!!! :) Now go treat yourself to a massage! :)

 
At 9:36 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congrats!!! You make it look too easy!!
The pictures were great! That was nice for Brent to help you out towards the end!

 
At 5:19 PM, Blogger Dawn - Pink Chick Tris said...

Wonderful pictures. Way to go Rae.

 
At 5:41 PM, Blogger RedheadFangirl said...

I'm so proud of my Tennessee redhead friend! Cute photos. Go Team Rachel!

 

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