"THE CLIMB"

I am inspired by music. If I hear a song that makes me feel something, I come home and download it on my ipod. Music is one of the things that helped me get through a lot of my training. But there was one song in particular. I am almost embarrassed to admit what it was. I heard it for the first time when I took Savannah to the Hannah Montana movie...yes, it's a song by Miley Cyrus, 'The Climb.' How cheesy! I absolutely fell in love with it though and went and bought the soundtrack the next day. I felt like it described what I was feeling perfectly. This was my climb.

June 26, 2009

Friday rolled around and I wasn't too terribly nervous. I said goodbye to the kids for the weekend, went and picked up Heidi and headed North. We met Doug in Tacoma and we were like the three musketeers for the day!

We got to the expo and once we figured out where to enter (and once I was able to relieve my bladder) we were surrounded by a running nirvana. There was so much to see and take in.

Heidi was my professional photographer for the weekend. Thank you for all of your beautiful pictures Miss Heidi! And for your outstanding support!

There were several Chiropractic booths with Docs more than willing to get their hands on your spine.

They actually did these pictures for FREE! I wanted to go back and get more...but once it was discovered, there was a huge line.

"The Stick" is a bar with little plastic rollers on it used for massaging your leg muscles. I thought that I would give it a try. It tickled!! I almost kneed the guy in the face. I think he was getting a little frustrated because I couldn't sit still.

Heidi tried out "the stick" too...I don't know if it had the same effect on her though.

I made some new friends. Above is Lindsay. We were at the headband booth at the same time, and just sort of hit it off. We, along with Heidi were giving each other opinions on which headbands looked the best. She is now my Facebook friend! Oh, and Heidi and Doug thought that we looked alike. So, they called her my twin for the rest of the weekend.

This is Uri, my Miami/Israel friend. He was selling these little stretchable running packs and was all sold out when I started asking about them. Except for ONE that his little helper had just put on. I told him to sell that one to me...and he told me NO! Mostly because there was still time left at the expo and he needed to show his product. But, because I am so smooth, I talked him into selling it to me at the very end of the night. I showed up at his booth at 6:58 (it ended at 7pm.) and got it with a $5 discount! Thank you Uri!

'The Challenger'

Jeff Wilcox was one of the reasons I decided to do this thing. He was planning on signing up for the full marathon and challenged me to do it too. I have known him since I was 7 when he served his mission in my home town and has been a family friend ever since. He flew in from Wyoming and barely made it in time to register.

It's Seattle...so there is always someone grovin' on the sidewalk.

They were pretty awesome!

Doug...

When I was purchasing my running pack, Doug and Heidi booked it over to make signs for me because they were literally kicking us out!!

(This sign says "GO Tish!!! You can do it!!)

After a not so wonderful dinner, we headed to the hotel for some shut eye. I can't say that I slept real well. DANG NERVES!!

June 27, 2009

(Sporting my new headband and running pack!)

Let the races begin! We got our 5am wake up call and I tried to stay calm and collected. I don't know how well I actually did, but I was practicing my yoga breathing to calm myself. We finally got in the car and sped off toward the starting line. The traffic was insane. Doug and Heidi ended up dropping me off on a corner with a ton of other runners trying to make it before the race started. I think I ended up walking a good 2 miles before I got to where I was supposed to be. It was a good warm-up!

Right after the first mile!

I didn't get the pleasure of actually seeing this guy, but he definitely deserved a shout-out on my blog! Around mile 7 1/2...still smiling. For the picture at least.

The first several miles went by really fast. In fact, it almost felt like I was on auto-pilot. They had bands throughout the entire course. And the fans were incredible. I loved seeing the different signs for the runners/walkers made by their loved ones. I loved hearing the positive affirmations from the crowd and volunteers. One of my favorite parts of the course was the tunnel. It was around mile 9 and was a little over a mile long. It came right after an INSANE hill that was near impossible to actually run! I came into the tunnel and it was almost an erie feeling. I paused my ipod because I wanted to just listen. Several times the runners would just start to yell, holler, whistle, scream. It would come in almost a wave effect. I would hear it building in front of me and then it would come over me and then move behind me. The echo was awesome!

I think it was around mile 11 that I started to feel like I wasn't going to make it. This huge feeling of doubt started to sweep over me. I stopped running and started to cry a little. I have known from the beginning that doing something like this takes a lot of mind power. You have to tell yourself how strong you are, how amazing you are and that you can do it. Those thoughts were not the thoughts going through my head at that moment. I started to feel the pain in my knees and ankles that I had convinced myself wasn't there, started to feel how tired I was. Thankfully that only lasted a minute. I knew that if I didn't get those thoughts out of my head, I might not be able to finish. So, I stated to tell myself how awesome I was again, and my legs just went! The last few miles were the longest miles I have ever run! I just kept wishing the finish line would show up. When it finally came into view, I kicked it into high gear. I am not a fast runner, whatsoever! But during all of my training runs, I would conserve enough energy at the end to give it everything I had left and sprint to the finish. I was surprised that I actually had anything left at all. But my legs started to go faster, my arms started to pump harder and I was passing people left and right! My heart was feeling so many things at once. Mostly, adrenaline! And then...I FINISHED! I actually did it! It was very surreal and almost unbelievable. My official time was 2:28:36! Not too shabby! My mind was a little cloudy and realizing the amount of pain that I had from my toes to my hips. But, I kept saying, "Holy crap! I actually did it!" They gave me my medal, I posed for a picture and just walked and walked trying to find familiar faces. I ran into Jason and Stacie and couldn't help but cry. MAN...I am so emotional. Unfortunately, Doug and Heidi had got stuck in traffic and didn't see me finish. But, eventually they got there and I was so happy!!

Stacie and me with our finishers medals.

Me and my Douglas.

Getting a congratulatory kiss from the hubby!

After we said our goodbyes to Heidi, Stacie and Jason, Doug and I walked around a bit. They had a foot bath station. Of course I wanted to try it out. IT WAS FREEZING!! But made my feet very happy.

I was wanting to see how Jeff did with his full marathon and congratulate him. We didn't see or hear from him until we had started to leave.

He finished the full 26.2 miles in 3:58!!! Crazy Jeffrey!

After some lunch, a much needed shower and a long nap, we found this fabulous little restaurant named Beck's. It was a perfect celebratory/birthday dinner. The food was devine.
Instead of going to the concert that was planned for the evening, we chose to spend some time with Jeff and his family. We had a great time visiting and playing 5 Crowns. I will get you next time Jeffrey Don!

Yes...I wore my medal to dinner. I am proud of that thing!

About a minute after we left the shin-dig with Jeff and his family, it was officially my 29th birthday.

I love my medal!

What a fantastic experience this was for me. I still can't believe that I did it. I catch myself smiling every once in a while just thinking about it.

I do want to take a sec and thank my mother-in-law. She watched my kids 4 mornings a week so I could train. I don't think I would have been able to do this without her support and help. Thank you so much Eileen!!

And to my biggest fan, Douglas. You are the one that truely rocks, baby! I love you!