TCM- in which I suddenly find myself in last place...

For those who hate wordy posts- apologies are in order- feel free to fast forward through and enjoy the pics- but being as this blog serves as my running diary- and I have a wickedly bad memory- a book is in order--

CHAPTER 1: The Flight~
In which United Airlines makes me gate check my carry on, ~And loses it

Yep
You read that right
I purposely only took a carry on so that my luggage wouldn't get lost
Not only did they lose my luggage,
They didn't scan the gate check tag- so there was no record of my bag in the system

Ackkkkkk!

These are the amazing Lost Luggage gals
So impressed with their professionalism
And helpfulness!

Somehow these awesome gals found my wayward bag
And drove over and stashed it on my parents' front porch by 2am Saturday night.

CHAPTER 2: Expo~
And dinner in which WordQuota obtains multiple celebrity autographs

Expo madness!

Expo was a crazy mass of people

Cheesy grin
Just picked up my race bag!

hamming it up at the Expo Photo Finish line

Me and my fam with our free Caribou Coffee!

Then we were off to a Loop dinner-

For those of you reading this on my blog,
The Loop is a fabulous group of runners that share their running journey
On the Runner's World website. (click here to go to RW loop)

They often have get togethers at races.

JB and Deidre and OT's ear...:O)

I didn't stay long,
I really felt this marathon was more about family than the loop for me. Sneaking in dinner was my way of juggling.

It was fun to chat with other runners I'd been following, and felt as if they were old friends.
I wish I could have stayed longer, chatted more.

Before I left, I just had to find a way to take some of their luck with me.

I asked them to sign my Loop shirt.

A little high school, I know-
But I couldn't help it

everyone was such good sports

Loop autographs

After we got home from dinner, Mom and Kate made a sign that made me smile-

I'm a sloowwww runner,
So I knew seeing another penguin on the course would be encouraging

AND it was going to be super super cold

"Chill out and run!" seemed appropriate

I couldn't sleep that night.
Butterflies...

CHAPTER 3: The main event~
In which I suddenly find myself tied for last place

It was finally here
Race day
28 degree race day

The night before I'd gone on a walk with my dad
To see what these temps felt like
COLD
I knew I had to wear long sleeves
Autographed loop shirt it was!

I threw on a throw away sweatshirt and sweatpants

Grabbed my gear

And we were out the door

Actually

I took way to long getting ready

But made it to the Dome in time to stand in line for a porta potty

I chose a porta potty line with mostly guys-
thinking it would go faster

Then, I made my way to corral 3

The last week leading up to the marathon,

I had stumbled on a beautiful gem of a post on the Runner's World forum page

TCM Mile by Mile by Kirk Walztoni

In it Kirk stressed the importance of starting slow

And using perceived effort as a guide

Waiting in corral 3

So I pulled myself out of the hustle of corral 3

Toward the back

I hear the announcer thanking sponsors

And something about special runners

Stars

Look for them

etc....

National Anthem

Corral 1

Corral 2

Corral 3

I begin my race
MY race
I'm excited

Check my garmin
I've got time
Let people pass

Run it.

Then up ahead I see a star
An older gentleman with a star draped on his back

Maybe he's one of the special runners for the day
Running part of the marathon for some cause

I snap a photo

Run up to him

Ask what his story is

His name is Malcolm

Malcolm and his star

He's running The Marathon
The whole marathon

He's me

Only this is my 1st
His 6th

I suddenly look at him with awe
He's not scared

He's happy

Happy I stopped to ask--
He's running for Somalia

We chat,
I ask if I can take a pic with him

snap a shot

Malcolm running his 6th
My 1st

I'm about to say goodbye
When this guy jogs up to us with a video camera

He rattles off that he's from some newspaper
And then drops a bomb

"Do you realize you're the last 2?"
He asks

"Do you plan to finish?"

Surely that was a rhetorical question-
Or he was nervous too-
After all, being dead last must have some sort of star status

But he was undeterred by our confidence in a strong finish
On he prods

"How long do you expect it to take?"
And here we both shout -"6!" as if it's the winning Bingo number

We all part ways,

And I run with the heavy realization that I am

LAST ......

Dead last....

WOW---
Wasn't it I who had joked a thousand times
"I know I'm slow, but at least I won't be last...."

Here I am, 9,000++++ runners
And Malcolm and I are tied for last.

It scared me for a minute.
Well, honestly-
It really scared me

Looking back now-
I'd be honored to be last
If I knew it was the best I had in me that day

But today wasn't that day.
I knew I had more.

Time to run.

And run I did
Trying to balance ego and pride with perceived effort and pacing.

I told myself to just get caught up to a group of people I would feel better
The old adage-'Strength in numbers' really resonated with me on this one.

Soon I had caught up to the 5:30 pace group
It felt safe
A bit fast
But they were doing a walk run
It seemed doable
For now

The pacer was this spunky gal
Grey hair sparkling
Laugh just as glittery
Full of ideas
Boot camp like chants
Meet and greets with the group
You name it

She made me feel like I really could do this thing.

The miles are flying by effortlessly

Then I notice we are about to run Lake Calhoun
And I lose it

It surprised me really
But there it was,
Huge lump in my throat and tears

For some reason
Growing up
Lake Calhoun was labeled by our family as
"The runner's lake"

We never went there.

We were walkers-
Lake Harriet was ours.

Here I am flat about to sob
I, Heather Malone, am about to run Lake Calhoun

I stop the tears long enough to hold it together and wait for the magic
You know-
When suddenly you'll become this thing you think you'll never be
But then you run a marathon, and shazam---- now everything's different.

But nothing happened.

I'm still me.

More tears sneak out.

Because I realize it's ok.
Ok to be slow,
Ok to love running merely for the joy of it
OK to relish every moment, no matter how mundane or seemingly small

And then she yelled "DOG!!!"
and the pace group runners go wild at reaching 100 dogs so far on the course...

I laughed
How had I missed 100 dogs?

Running with the group

Soon we were running toward Harriet
My lake
Only we were running it backwards
Or something
It felt foreign
Oh fiddlesticks, am I going to tear up again?
This is getting old-

And then I saw them-
My family!!!!

Running to greet my family
No idea what the peace sign is for-

I cannot tell you how fun it was

Made my heart swell with pride to see our flag~

Beautiful day~

From the volunteer support
To the people lining the streets

It was never a better time to run

Everyone was so positive.

On I ran

I saw my family again,
More hugs, and high-fives

As I ran off I thought,
I need a snapshot of them

I had to snap a photo of my fam cheering me on!

A few miles later I got my chance
Best cheer crew ever!
The miles were racking up,
I assessed how I felt,
And let the 5:30 pace team go on ahead with out me.

I was a little nervous to do this, but knew if I pushed it too hard
I'd fizzle

It's about this time, that I hear
"Go Stacey!!!!"

Then a few minutes later
"Whoop! Whoop! You're awesome Stacey!"

It seemed like every few steps, this Stacey gal had someone cheering her on
It was crazy
Who was this Stacey?

Do I dare even ask?

Finally I can't take it
I turn to her and say
"OK, I've got to ask, Who are you?"
Then I add-
"Are you some kind of local celebrity or something?"

She belly laughs
And turns to face me

On her shirt in big black letters on masking tape I see- STACEY

gal in the pink is STACEY!!!!!!

We both laugh now.
We run together for a mile or two

As we part ways,
I know she'll be fine,
"Go Stacey!" the crowd roars
---------------------------------------------

Next up- mile 20
I'm actually looking forward to it
Mile 20 boasts a blowup wall, and I was bound and determined to hit it

Sure enough,
When I got up to it and asked a volunteer if I could
They enthusiastically said
"Go for it"

I all out smacked it
Nothing more rewarding than hitting the proverbial wall!

Then ran to greet my fam waiting for me.

just hit "the wall"

Stopping for a hug from my daughter Kate

Mile 20 was cake
Mile 20-22

a bit more tricky

Actually, it was getting harder and harder
I was still happy
Still enjoying it
But I could feel my quads screaming
And I was almost certain something was happening with one of my toenails.

Things I remember from this section.
Loved the tootsie rolls someone was handing out
Crowd was especially helpful here.
Even the volunteers cheered us on
One police officer used his PA on his squad car to cheer us on.

Police Officer cheers runners on~

This was my hardest stretch in the race
Mentally working my way through the next few miles
Telling myself it was just like my Sunday training loop
How many times had I run that-
Surely I could do this too
It was hard
I was becoming physically and mentally fatigued

I was hoping to see my family on the course one more time
But worried they were heading to the finish

It was this time too, I started hearing others around me

A husband to his wife:
"This was your idea, remember, I'm doing this for you"
Her response:
"But it's not fun anymore, it's too hard"
'Let's just be done"

A gal limping
A guy sitting on the side of the road, medics at his side

It's becoming real.
I see just how tough this race can be

And then I see my family cheering me on.

Kate and I chat before I head for the finish

Oh how I loved them for that
It was exactly what I needed

I knew I could do it now.

Soon, I saw the finish

I remembered advice my mom had gotten from a friend that had run the marathon before:
"Let the horses lead you home"

"Let the horses lead you home"

The Capitol lie ahead
And there, the golden horses

finish just ahead

stock photo of the horses at the Capitol

My stomach flipped

"Let the horses lead you home"
"Let the horses lead you home"

I felt a little like Dorothy with her Ruby slippers
Only mine were Newtons

The slope to the finish made me feel like I was flying
A big smile and 'Bangle pump' to make it official

I ran a marathon

And loved every minute.

I was not last

But really

If I was-- It wouldn't take anything from the moment.

Each of us has our best
Each race brings a different experience

Even a DNF can be a victory if you have heart.