Friday, March 13, 2015

(A little late but) Recapping the Donna Marathon Weekend

Last year the 26.2 with Donna was my very first half marathon. I completed it in 2:38 and change.  I was proud to finish but I was hurting all the way from the on-ramp to the finish line. What a difference a year makes.

Last year the Badass Babes were a small but mighty group: the trio who ran the half - myself, Crystal and Mitzi, and the cheer support of Shannon and Allison.  This year we were joined by a whole host of new runners! Instead of repeating the half marathon we decided to double the race bling by running the 5k on Saturday and the Marathon relay on Sunday.


On Friday Mel, Becky, Kaitlin and I headed to Jax for the start of a great weekend, with a few important stops along the way. Starbucks for the traditional Badass Babes selfie (duh) then to the Busy Bee for Mel and Becky's first official visit!



We expo'd, picked up our race packets and headed out to grab a bite to eat before getting settled into the hotel.



Saturday's race start was cold! We bundled up and got busy thinking we could smoke the course. Shannon, Mitzi, Erin and I lined up at the front of the race and took off, (speedy Shannon faster than the rest of us). We were determined to try to PR this course to honor those who couldn't race due to cancer, but as we turned the corner and saw the looming freeway entrance, Mitzi and I looked at each other, laughed and said oh well, lets just kill it instead! So we did. Over the freeway hill, around the streets of downtown Jax, over to the landing, up another hill to a bridge and round and round some silly downturns of a parking garage to the finish. We didn't PR but we sure gave it our all - Mitzi finished a hot second before I did to take 9th place and myself 10th place in our age division and completing just shy of 26:50. And Shannon placed 3rd in her age group.


Post race our massive group split up to take part in fun events for the rest of the day. Melissa, Becky, her daughter Kaitlin and I headed to the Jax Zoo to celebrate Kaitlin's birthday. Crystal's crew also headed to the zoo while the rest of the ladies got in some retail therapy. Our day ended with a massive valentine's day dinner and birthday celebration at Latitude 360 - a massive restaurant and arcade/bowling alley/night club/sports bar in Jax. And one of the few restaurants that could hold our crew of about 35 people. After a fun evening we headed back to the hotel to rest up ahead of a long day of racing. But not before we had a little fun with selfies!



Sunday morning we woke up and got ready for the big race! In total we had 4 race teams of 5 runners who completed 26.2 total miles in various lengths. On my team was cheer captain Ashely, Shannon who ran legs 1 and 2, Allison who ran leg 3, Erin who ran leg 4 and determined to finish strong this year, I finished the race in leg 5. Our team smoked the race, completing the course in 3:39:27 and 6th place overall - an average pace of 8:23/mi.


Waiting for your leg to start was probably the hardest part of this race. But at least I was able to spend the time with friends Tonya (Bret Michaels), Crystal and Robin who were also completing leg 5 for their teams. And no better place to hang out and wait for your race to start than McDonald's right? (Oh who are we kidding, leg 3 had the better wait start: Starbucks!) But we had fun and as I got word that Allison had completed her leg and Erin was off, I got prepared to meet Erin and get handed the baton to take off to the finish.


This year the final 6 plus miles were a breeze, as I pushed myself harder and faster than I have in a long while. I thought of each of my teammates and friends who had completed or were completing their legs, and of the many women in my life who battled breast cancer. I was thankful to be able to run and to run pain free this year and even stopped to take a picture of the bridge that nearly killed my knee last year. I encouraged the marathon runners and half marathon runners who were running along beside me, and was so excited to see my teammates at the end of the course as I completed the race.



This weekend was again another epic race-cation of the Badass Babes. And if I had known what was coming for me two weeks later I would have enjoyed it even more!

No comments:

Post a Comment