Memphis Race Report Continued....

Where did I leave off.... Oh yeah the Krispy Kreme donuts! Yes they were delicious and Kelly and I both got three of them. We headed back to the group and when Michele saw all my donuts she took one of them away and threw it in the trash!! She said you only want those donuts because you are upset about your time... which probably wasn't entirely wrong but seriously those were some good donuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so proud of all my girls... despite the freezing temp's we all had Marathon PR's. Michele finished in 4:38 and would have finished in under 4:30 if not for a long port a potty break. Jane finished in 4:44 and looked great coming across the finish line or so I heard since I wasn't there! LOL
Kelly finished in 5:03 and I finished in 4:57. I think I already mentioned that Bailey finished in 4:33 and she also had a port a potty break. So weird that both Michele and Bailey who have iron stomach's and NEVER have to use the bathroom while running both had to stop and me who ALWAYS has to use the bathroom while running didn't.
Josh, Brenda and Andrea also had very impressive finishes!!! Josh in his first marathon finished in 3:01 and qualified for Boston.
Brenda trained so hard for this race but it wasn't meant to be her day. I think everyone thought she was going to be so devestated when she didn't meet her goal but she knew by mile 19 it wasnt' going to happen and was ok with it. Actually she said she was relieved because then she was able to settle into a more comfortable pace. I think the extreme cold and the constant inclines are what took her BQ away on Saturday but it doesnt' matter becasue she is fine and learned many lessons and she is such a strong runner..The BQ will be hers sooner than later I would guess... maybe next October possibly in California???? :)
This was also Andrea's first Marathon and she too didn't finish in her goal time but geez I think a 4:17 is amazing for a first marathon!!

I thought we were all going to go back to the Hotel and then find a Mexican place to eat lunch but the plan was actually we were going to the restaurant now! I am so glad I did the bag check thing otherwise I would have frozeen to death on the way to the restaurant. It was only a couple of blocks away but we were all moving pretty slow. My cramps had calmed down but now my legs were just plain sore!!
I don't even know how many people went to the restaurant with us but it was a huge group.. on the way I was walking with Vicki when I realized I didn't have any money!! Vic put her arm around me and said "I'll take care of you" I know I say it all the time but seriously... how lucky am I!!!!!!!!
Arland, Jane, Blake and Dillon eventually made it to the restaurant and I finally got to give Jane a big hug!! She has been such a great training partner and friend.

After lunch Brenda, Vicki and her group were all heading back to Cabot. Kelly, Robert, Jane and the boys were also heading back to Cabot but needed to go back to the Hotel first. I was really starting to fade but when we got to the Hotel Kelly bought me a coffee from the gift shop and wow I sure wish I could drink coffee while running!!!! It definately perked me up!!
A little while after they all left I talked to Michele on the phone... she had gone back to her room and taken a warm bath. Normally I would never take a bath in a hotel bathtub but I was really starting to hurt again so I followed her advice and soaked for about 20 minutes and then took a nice long shower... wow I felt so much better afterwards!!!

After a lot of texting back and forth we all made plans for dinner and Beale street. Lisa & Bob were already on Beale street with their son and the rest of us took the Trolley to meet them. Phil & Jackie, Jame's & Michele, Arland and myself. When we first got on the Trolley which by the way those steps are about 10 feet high!! it was empty but pretty soon it filled up with a large group of rowdy runners.. they had all run the half marathon so they were feeling pretty spunky.
Bob & Lisa were at "Alfred's world famous --- ? something or other. I had a cheese burger and a bloody mary... best bloody mary I think I have ever had as a matter of fact it was so good I had a second one!

Once we were done with dinner we wandered up and down Beale street before we finally decided on BB King's Blue's club. I had spoken to Ken B. Debbie's husband while we were at the restaurant and before long they found us at BB Kings. Those two Ken and Debbie are so nice and so much fun!!!! BB King's was fun we had a couple more drinks.. I slow danced with James and then several of us got up for a few up tempo songs. It felt good to dance kind of helped work out some of the soreness.
One by one the other couples left us... Michele wasn't feeling herself... Jackie was getting tired etc. Ken, Debbie, Arland and I were the last one's standing. We headed over to Jillians to see if anyone was still there watching the fight but when we got there we realized the fight was long over and everyone was gone. Ken and Debbie had driven over and were parked right across from Jillian's and it was so nice not to have to walk back to the Hotel in the freezing cold.
We got back to the Hotel about midnight and I think I fell into bed and was fast asleep within seconds!! It was a long day!

Sunday morning we had breakfast with James & Michele and then headed home about 10:45... we got home around 12:45 , I helped unpack the car and then talked Brett into going to the grocery store with me, came home made Enchilada's and Mexican chicken... the family came over to have dinner with us. I think they left around 6:30 and I finally sat down and relaxed for the first time that day. Good thing I took that little nap on the way home.

I have to give a big shout out to our cheerleaders... Cindy C. Phil, Arland, Bob, James, Ken. It was so nice seeing you guys and knowing I was going to get to see you guys at the end helped me in those last 6 miles!!
Phil... wow you were awesome I saw you a couple of times and I apparently also missed you a couple of times. I know that took a lot of foot work to be in so many places!! Thank you!

I ran with my i-pod for the first time during a Marathon and while I loved having the music I know I missed a lot too.

Nutrition... I think I finally got it right, not just the before the marathon but during. I never really crashed and although I was really tired and sore at the end I didn't get "sick" like I have many other times.
I know the port a potty thing was more than luck... I prayed a lot too... but I don't know that I can say I will be having pumpkin pie and chocolate cake the night before every marathon!

I took a few days off from running... was planning a full week but by Thursday I just couldn't stand it anymore and had to run... I'll tell you about it in the next post, hopefully that won't be a week from now!