Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon

We ran on relay teams this morning in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.


Me looking out the window at 5:27 AM, looking at the rain, and thinking really...this sounded like an OK idea at the time...


Of course Michael was his wonderful chipper self.


The signs showing us where to go


Michael leaving me at my relay station to drive to pick me up at the next relay station. Good thing I got that water resistant jacket because it was raining and freeeezing!!


Me crossing the finish of my relay leg. Although I only did a 5K, I had not been doing the training Michael had and did 13 minute miles- which is super slow. But I did not throw up or die, and I was able to finish (those were my goals, I tried to keep it simple!)


Michael high-fiving his teamates. Note John d. on the left, poised and ready to give pounds.


Us afterward squinting into the sun.

Although it was early and freezing, the being a part of the race was a great experience. In my leg of the race I saw a man wheeling himself in a wheel chair, watching him was so emotional for me I had to look away because I was about to start crying. Running up the hills was difficult enough for me and I can't imagine the strength it would take to do in a wheel chair. Throughout the race I was amazed by the strength I saw in people. Michael did awesome on his leg and I am "real proud" as Grandma Hartman would say!

Michael's addition to this post:

I'm disappointed to announce that the white, wicking running shirt I ran in today did not lend itself well to sweat bunnies or chickens. Oh well... maybe next time.

I am pleased to note that my relay team came in 17th out of 224 teams in our category (Coed-Open). Our team mile pace time was 8 minutes and 46 seconds and mine was 9 minutes and 16 seconds. It took me 57 minutes and 30 seconds (new personal best) to finish my 10K leg, which was the last leg of the race. Lest you think I'm bragging, In the picture above, the guy in all black that I'm high-fiving ran his 10K in 39 minutes (that's about a 6 minute 20 second pace)... STUD-MUFFIN!!!

In my opinion, the last leg was by far the best leg to run because 1) you get to cross the finish line and 2) people are cheering you on like you've been running the whole marathon, which is kind of fun.

Despite some moderate to severe (no bleeding) nip chaffing and a little bit of soreness in my inner thighs, I actually feel pretty good right now twelve hours after the run. Now that I've run two 10K's I will say that I definitely prefer running them in the afternoon versus the early morning. There's just something unholy about getting up at 5:00 a.m. to go running.

All in all, today was a good day. The Redbud was fun, but I really enjoyed today's experience of running with AM and all the other thousands of people that participated a lot more. I think we decided today that we will try to run a half-marathon this fall. Let us know if you'd like to join us. There's one in San Antonio in mid-November that might be fun.

Best part of the run? Someone handed me a Powerade and cheeseburger right after I finished running which I proceeded to devour completely in about 50 seconds. What a great post-run meal! If only I could run as fast as I eat.