Gaterade Jellybeans and Race Day Adrenaline

The race on Sunday went really well! The combination of gaterade jellybeans and all the people cheering for us along the route made me much more energized than I expected. I ended up running with a young woman who kept about the same pace as me. We motivated each other and once we hit mile 9, we practically sprinted the last half mile. We both liked to run with music so it worked out well. I know that's not standard for races, but I need my country music and Glee songs! One of my favorite songs to run with is "Mountains" by Lonestar. The lyrics go:

There are times in life when you gotta crawl.. Lose your grip, trip and fall. When you can't lean on noone else..That's when you find yourself. I've been around and I've noticed that-walking is easy when the road is flat. Them danged 'ole hiils will get you every time. Yeah, the good Lord gave us mountains, so we could learn how to climb.

It's a great country song and very motivating! Ironically, we were told there would be a "memorable" hill half way through. They really weren't kidding...there were about three hills
that made up one giant hill. The lyrics to this song are great anyway, but had even more meaning while I was running up that giant hill. The race was fun though and I got to meet more people on the Tufts' team. I thought the race would be 11 miles, so I was surprised to learn it was only 9.5. Plus, my running partner gave me a gaterade jellybean every two miles which gave me even more energy. I barely noticed the pain from my plantar fasciitis and I felt good after the race. It was about 20-25 degrees during the run, so at least it was not freezing outside!

Each Sunday I will do one long run, leading up to a 20 mile run on March 7th. I am sore today from sprinting the last part of the race, but overall, feel motivated and excited for the marathon. Now, I just need to stay healthy and not injure myself...and buy some gaterade jellybeans of my own... They are a great incentive while running!

Our President's Marathon Challenge coach, Don Megerle, is absolutely amazing! He is so motivating and takes pictures during every run. Some pictures from the race are below. The first picture was taken as my running partner and I were just about to cross the finish line.