A First to Remember

Being 33 years old, there are so many things I will never forget.  My wedding day, finding out I was expecting, and having both babies ranks at the top of my list of favorite memories.  I treasure everything about each one of those memories.  The pictures bring it all back to me like it was just yesterday.  I truly feel these are all accomplishments that I have made in my life.  Accomplishments that no one else can say they have done.  No one can say they married Benji Reinhart.  No one has a Laney or a Max as a child.  Those are things I am extremely proud of!  

My most recent accomplishment is the time and dedication I put towards running my first full marathon.  Yes, many people can say they have accomplished running a marathon.  But statistics show only 0.1% of the Worlds population has completed a marathon.  I find that interesting.  When I heard a spectator yell that out as I was running my race, I thought to myself, "Whatever.  He's just trying to motivate people!"  So I looked it up...surprisingly there was all sorts of information out there.  I'm going with the 0.1% cause it sounds good!

So let's start at the beginning.  For those of you who remember, two years ago to the DAY, I attempted to run my first half marathon.  Yes, I finished, but I finished injured pretty badly.  I had a severe stress fracture to the tibia, which put me on crutches for 3 1/2 weeks and off from running for 14 weeks.  Exactly one year later, I attempted the same half marathon and completed un-injured!  After completing the race, I remember telling a friend who is a marathoner, "I will NEVER do a full marathon!  That's just crazy and dumb to run that much!"  A couple of months later, the idea started sounding not SO dumb.  So I signed up!  I had the support from my best friend to run with me and my hubby saying he was fine with me being gone on long runs...let's do it!  In May, I ran the Seymour Mini and shaved 11 minutes off of my finishing time from six months prior.  I was pumped! Well....six months later (with 18 weeks of training and ANOTHER half marathon under my belt), I am officially a marathon runner!  I can put that 26.2 sticker on the Tahoe.  I can wear my new Sweaty Band that says 26.2.  I can wear the shirt that says I'm a marathon runner.  And I am proud of it!  

Yes, my training was 18 weeks long.  I would assume many people would just give up and not complete the training.  I didn't.  I couldn't.  I made a promise to myself and to my "sis" Tiffany that I would do this.  That I would do this with her.  That WE would do this first FULL marathon together.  We trained together every week.  We managed to do our short weekday runs separately.  But the long runs....we had each other.  I have to give her credit for helping me through this.  If it wasn't for Tiffany, I really don't know if I would even have ran that first half marathon.  She inspired me to become a runner, and for that, I am grateful.  I could have been one of those that quit or gave up or didn't give it their all.  But knowing Tiffany was counting on me to run at 5:30 am on Saturday morning when it was 35 degrees, I had to do it!  Two others that I have to thank are our husbands, John and Benji.  Those two guys are amazing.  Everyone thinks they have the best spouse....well I think you're all wrong, cause Tiffany and I do!  These boys got up on Saturday mornings, loaded the kids up, and placed water and other fueling items along our running course.  One morning, Benji even got up at 4:45 am to place water for us for our 20 mile run.  Not only did they support us during our training, but they supported us more than they'll ever know on race day.  Those two guys packed their bikes on the back of the Tahoe and rode a total of 22 miles around Indianapolis to meet us at specific locations for water, Gatorade chews, GO shots, powerballs, bananas, but the most important thing they gave us was their support.  Seeing them smiling at us every five miles made it worth it.  When the legs started getting heavy, I knew Benji was just around the corner waiting for me.  

Race day was amazing!  The weather was warmer than expected (40 degrees at start time).  Knowing we had about a 4 1/2 hour time out there, we weren't sure what to dress ourselves in.  We went with the layered look.  I knew I could always lose clothes when I got hot!  So at 8am in Downtown Indianapolis, Tiffany, my mom, and I were at the start line.  I must also add that my mom ran in her FIRST HALF MARATHON also that day!  It was so fun we were all first timers that day!  The gun goes off and this was it....this was the moment we had been training for for 18 long weeks.  The early mornings, the tight muscles, the activities that we missed or arrived late to....all for THIS moment.

Tiffany and I (we were known as the "twins" out on the course by other runners.  Wonder if they really thought we were twins??) agreed to stay together at least until the 1/2 way mark.  "Run your race" is what we say....don't wait up for me, listen to your body!  Everything went pretty smooth for both of us for the first 13.1 miles.  Once we hit about mile 16, we started separating somewhat.  I could still see her ahead of me, which definitely helped motivate me to keep going.  Two of my favorite signs that I saw from spectators were, "Pain is temporary but your results are online forever"-this is SO true!  The other one that I thought was funny was "You run better than our government."  Again, true!  For those of you who have never witnessed a half or full marathon, I strongly urge you to go.  Go be a spectator and wave signs, ring bells, play music, scream and cheer.  Those people don't realize how nice it is to see people yelling your name (it was on our bib) and cheering for you.  No, I didn't know any of them, but that didn't matter.  They didn't care that they didn't know me.  They were proud of me and what I was doing, and it showed.  So thank you to everyone who goes out and supports runners on race day!  Kudos to you!

My hardest part of the 26.2 was mile 22-24.  My legs hurt, especially my calves.  My back was starting to ache from the pounding.  I just wanted to see the finish line.  Mile 25 gave me a surprise....Benji was waiting for me to cheer me on!  I wasn't expecting to see him until the finish line and I loved that surprise!  He gave me a little push when I said I wanted to walk just for one minute.  He reminded me of my goal (under 4 1/2 hours)....I had to do it.  I was determined.  I pushed through the wind on Merdian Street (boy was it windy then!) and rounded the corner and saw the finish line!  I heard a girl yell "GO ERIN!  YOU CAN DO IT!"  I'm still not 100% sure who it was, but I thank them for that!  I finished.  I finished strong.  I finished!!!!  Tiffany was there waiting for me.  Surprisingly I didn't get emotional like I thought I would!  When the volunteer hung that medal around my neck and I had my best friend's arm around my shoulders, I was proud.  I was proud of my mom.  I was proud of my best friend.  I was proud of myself.  We ALL did it!  My finish time was 4:28:06.

When asked immediately after the race if I would do another one.  I said "Yes!"  When asked that night if I would do another one.  I said, "No way!"  When asked today (2 days post race) if I would do another one, I say "I think so!  But I'll need my sissy and hubs there again!  If they're in, I'm in!"