OKC Memorial Marathon

This past Sunday was the OKC Memorial Marathon. (In the interest of full disclosure, I did not run the actual full marathon, only the half.) This race is held each year to remember those individuals lost in the bombing of the OKC Federal Building on April 19, 1995.

It's one of those "I remember where I was" events - I was a senior in high school and was actually in OKC that morning for an orthodontist appt. I got to drive (with mom riding with me) so I got to choose the radio station and of course I chose The KATT. I still remember a guy interrupting the broadcast, he was one of their employees and happened to be downtown doing something and called in to say there seemed to have been some sort of explosion. We listened to things unfold as we were driving home and when I got there we flipped on the TV and continued to watch the coverage. It was an awful event. This was when "the Oklahoma Standard" was seen on the national stage. People helping complete strangers, jumping in and doing whatever it took to clean up, etc.

I believe it was five years after the actual event before the marathon was started, but this race is the main source of funding for the OKC National Memorial. I will DEFINITELY be participating in this one again. There were around 25,000 people running in the full marathon, half marathon, marathon relay, 5k, or kids marathon. The weather was atrocious - for the first time in race history they actually had to delay the start because of lightning on the course. It was supposed to start at 6:30 - you'll see in the first pic below that the clock says 6:00. We had actually already been downtown once, heard about the delayed start, and come back home because of the rain (and the fact that we are only minutes from the start line). We settled in to watch the weather and at 6:40 headed back downtown. We got there and Nathan dropped off me and one of our friends and he and Milo headed back home to stay warm and dry!

This is a pic of the TV screen - how Nathan and Milo "watched" me (I can assure you I was nowhere NEAR the front of this mass of people - I was in back with the slow folks). You can see from the pic though that the weather was horrid - raining and the temp was around 50 degrees, with winds 10-20 mph I believe. The temperature only dropped throughout the morning so that by the time I was done it was 45 degrees.

Nathan and Milo watching the race on TV:

I finished in 3:00:26 - a full 18 minutes faster than my time at the A2A half marathon! I don't know if anyone that reads this blog was a volunteer or knows a volunteer, but I need to say a HUGE THANK YOU to those folks. They were out there in gross weather cheering and directing traffic and handing out water and oranges and Powerade and pretzels and all manner of things and they were probably the only reason this girl finished! Between mile 11 and 13, the race course goes ONE BLOCK from our house and let me tell you, after more than 2.5 hours of being alone and seeing no one that I knew, I was over it. But I passed a course marshal who saw my OSU hat and said (as I was walking for a second before my final run to the finish line) "Cowboys don't walk! Cowboys don't walk!" and I took off and that's really probably the only reason I finished at 3 hours even! Seriously though, the volunteers and the people who were just out cheering even if they didn't know anyone were a HUGE help!

Me after N picked me up - you can see it's still raining:

N wanted to take this downtown "around all the people" but I couldn't feel my fingers or toes at this point and just wanted to go home so we took my "after" pic on the front porch:

If you're ever looking for a race of any distance, this one has them all and it's probably the best one I've ever participated in, and that's something considering the conditions this year! I had a great time, the other runners were great, and it was for a great cause!

MFT: Late Again!

So, it's Tuesday and I'm just now linking up with Abby for MFT. Raise your hand if you're surprised...yeah, me either. Down to business.

I cannot even believe I'm about to write this but...running. It's one of my favorite things! When Milo was just three months old, my cousin asked me if I wanted to train for the Memorial half marathon. I said "sure, it's something I've wanted to do", thinking "Oh, maybe in a week or so we'll start jogging or something"....clearly I wasn't thinking. My cousin is not one to mess around. Within two hours, in my inbox, I had a Google calendar link to a training plan that started AT 6:30 A.M. THE NEXT DAY!!!! I told Nathan I was pretty sure I'd just gotten in over my head but whatever, we'll give this a whirl.

Now, let me just say here that I had not done a lick of exercise since Milo had been born and before he was born the only exercise I was doing was walking my feet to the bone around our neighborhood trying to GET HIM OUT! So, we started the next morning using the Couch to 5k program (C25K). Fast forward to last weekend. There was a point to point, (supposedly) mostly downhill/flat half marathon in Ardmore. We decided to do that one as a "training run" since we were supposed to have a training run of that length on that weekend anyway, and it was a smaller race to get one under my belt since this was all new to me. And you know what? I FINISHED!!!! And I enjoyed it!

My cousin has been injured for a few weeks but I talked my sweet running buddy Jenny into going with me and we had a great time! In spite of the 20 MPH HEADWIND FOR 12.5 OF 13.1 MILES (I blame that for my slow time). We took it easy, we jogged, we chatted, we joked about the wind and how it should DEFINITELY make our race count for more than 13.1 miles because it sure made it feel like more, and we ran into that stadium and across the finish line and it was one of the best feelings I've ever had!

Point is, I actually do enjoy running (I sure hope anyway otherwise I'm just plain crazy!). It has become one of my favorite things, and I miss it when I don't run for a few days. I'm not some superstar athlete, that's for sure, and I'm not running to beat anyone or set any records, I'm just doing it because by golly less than a year ago I had a 30 hour labor and had a baby and now I have run a half marathon and I'm doing another in a few weeks and I think I'm pretty awesome, even if I am slow! :) Also, for a while, I've had this secret goal to run all the way around Lake Hefner...and I achieved that goal on one of my training runs!!! Plus, I've lost a couple of pounds, which I'm certainly not going to complain about. I've also gotten to spend quality time with my cousin on our runs, and get to be better friends with someone I've known for YEARS (Jenny) on training runs. These two girls have kept me going when I didn't think I could go another step, and they made me laugh while I did it! So really, what's not to enjoy!

So, I know this is WAY longer than it should be, but there it is. And now, some pictures from the event:

Jenny and me before the event - this was around 6 a.m., just before we got on a SCHOOL BUS to get driven out to the starting line.

This is just before some guy (a volunteer with the race) tells us "great job girls, almost there, just enter the stadium and ONE LAP AROUND THE TRACK". WHAT??? We didn't sign up for one lap around the track...I want a refund!!!

Here we are making our "victory lap". I believe this was the point where I was asking Jenny "do I NEED one of those shiny blankets?" and she was daring me to take one (it was humid and in the 70s). I did not. But I should have.

And here we are crossing the finish line. That lady standing on the track just ahead of us might have been my favorite volunteer at the event (all of them were fantastic though). She was cheering us ALL the way across the line and telling us (and everyone) how great we did. And this was more than three hours into the deal - I can promise you she had to be tired but she still had a smile!

And last, but not least, Jenny and I just after finishing, Jenny w/her cinnamon roll, and me wondering where my husband went with my two bottles of water, my banana, and my king sized Payday.

Goals and Resolutions

I realize I'm probably the five hundred ninety-nine bazillionth blogger to write about resolutions at this time of year. So be it. I'm doin' it anyway. Generally I don't do resolutions - they're just something else for me to not follow through on. But this year will be different.

I have already started on my resolutions...sort of. I started running a few weeks ago to train for a half marathon, something I've wanted to do for a couple of years. So I'm going to follow through on that commitment and some others.

Why? And why now? Well, for years I've kind of just been a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl. I over commit myself often (most days I think it's physiologically impossible for me to say "no") and frequently feel burned out and frustrated, and like I haven't actually accomplished a single thing no matter how much running around I've done. I will freely admit that this is due largely in part to poor time management. It's not that I don't have the skills, I just haven't really cared that much I guess. I've been lazy.

Now that I'm a parent (btw, that still feels weird to say) I want to be a good example for my son. I want to show him that it's fun to be healthy. That there are more important things in life than money and...things. That it's important to follow through when you commit to do something. And a lot of other things too, but those in particular.

I've started reading many blogs in the past year and a couple of them in particular have gotten me thinking over the last couple of days (you can see those posts here and here). So, I'm setting some goals for myself. I won't be sharing all of them right now (or maybe ever). One of them is obviously to finish a half marathon. I also intend, along with my friend AM, to memorize 24 scriptures this year (see the link to the Beth Moore blog above).

And here's where the link to the Ali Edwards blog comes in.

I have chosen a word for 2011. My word is purpose. From dictionary.com:

pur·pose

 [pur-puhs] noun, verb, -posed, -pos·ing.

–noun

1.

the reason for which something exists or is done, made,used, etc.

2.

an intended or desired result; end; aim; goal.

3.

determination; resoluteness.

4.

the subject in hand; the point at issue.

5.

practical result, effect, or advantage: to act to good purpose.

–verb (used with object)

6.

to set as an aim, intention, or goal for oneself.

7.

to intend; design.

8.

to resolve (to do something): He purposed to change his way of life radically.

The blue text is my "highlighting". I want to live my life with purpose. I'm not just here. I mean, big (BIG) picture, my end purpose is Heaven. And to take as many people as I can with me. Flying by the seat of my pants may not be the most efficient way to do that. I intend to live with purpose. I am designing a plan to help me do this - less time on the computer, more time moving, exercising, cleaning the house, playing with the little man. Less time worrying about what's going to happen tomorrow and more time enjoying what's happening right now. And I'm going to do it all, on PURPOSE.

Now that I've rambled on for EVER, some questions for you. Do you have any goals for the new year? What are they? How did you choose them? Have you written them down? Do you have an accountability partner to help you?