Day 65, June 1, 2013: Double Milestone Day

Day 65: 27.16 miles logged, 494.02 to go… Successfully ran all of today’s marathon, AND passed the 500 mile mark on my 1000 mile goal.  I finished 359/490 with an official time of 4:46:49.

When you realize at mile 25 that your goal has changed from just finishing and not being in last place like your first marathon to instead finishing strong and running the whole thing, you know it’s a good day!

So, it was definitely an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment when I realized I had ran the whole marathon. I’ll admit that I cried a little when I ran through the tunnel that the players go through at Notre Dame football field.

Next up… A six hour drive home tomorrow, exhibiting for a Chemo Buddies event in the afternoon, and rocking out the Blondes vs Brunettes football game for the Alzheimer’s Association tomorrow night at 6 p.m. at Harrison High School football field.

Lastly, I will share that today’s marathon was such a stark contrast to the first time I tried one five years ago, and I that you will likely never fully understand, and I am extremely appreciative for all of the likes and the words of encouragement on my posts throughout the run today! A special shout-out also to Bob Davis, Cate Sisco, and Tess Fleming who also texted me during the run as well. All of you guys’ pick-me-ups were just what I needed to successfully tackle 26.2 miles today! I have the most amazing friends, and I am tremendously blessed!!! Thank you all for being a part of my crazy, busy life!

Day 26: April 23, 2013- Half Marathon Run

Day 26: 18.49 miles today, Miles to go: 811.25… A-MA-ZING day!!! Weather and mood-wise, it started out kind of rocky. Spotty storms always put me in a crummy mood, but it was clear when I got out at 6:30am for 1 mile, and I did 4 miles mid-day in the middle of a small drizzle that eventually cleared up. I ended my evening with a half-marathon distance all over the east side of Evansville.

 

Also during that run I logged my fastest 5k and 10k distance according to my sport watch. A few things of note from that last run…A) always start out with your shoes tied well, preferably double knotted. I have been interrupting walks and runs lately to tie my shoes, but the simple step of checking to make sure that I had them double knotted gave me an interruption free run tonight. B) always be aware of your surroundings. One part of my run was on the backside of Wesselman Woods, where there was a man walking by himself and a separate car with a guy by himself. Do I really think either of them would harm me… no, but it never hurts to be too careful. So make sure that you carry a phone, your keys, or pepper spray (or all of the above) when you go out by yourself, or better yet, grab a friend to go with you! Same scenario towards the end of my run. It had already turned dark when I got back to the State Hospital grounds, and I ran the last two miles around the park by myself in the dark. In these situations, I prefer not to run with headphones, so that I can not only see what is going on around me, but so that I can hear as well. Aside from that, I think it’s about time to call it a night. Way ahead of schedule to hit 100 miles in 2 weeks, and already very close to my 200 mile milestone. I hope that you all had a wonderful day, and I look forward to sharing what I am up to tomorrow!

Day 18: April 15, 2013- Back on the saddle- part 2

Day 18: 10.53 miles today, Miles to go: 886.41… So apparently my quad isn’t near as angry with me today as it was last evening- thank goodness!!! I would totally cry if I had a repeat of last night’s football practice tightness and pain. Thankfully, instead, I was able to do a 4+ mile walk this afternoon, a 3+ mile walk with the wonderful Dr. Christine Verbeck out at the USI/Burdette trails, AND a three mile run tonight. The running is what I feel like is the biggest accomplishment of the day. I was going to be disappointed if my quad “tweak” as Bob called it (he said if it was a pull, there would be bruising) hindered my running. I can cut my times considerably and rack up more miles when I am able to run vs. walk, and tonight’s run actually had 11’27” pace that is a good early season time for me. But aside from all of that, today I have quite a bit more to talk about other than myself…

First off, I am super excited that Facebook friend and old high school colleague Beth has decided to try my 1000 mile challenge! I wish her the best of luck as she begins this journey!!! For anyone else interested, I encourage you to read my earlier blog posts for more details about the highs and lows of trying to walk/run 1000 miles in a given time frame (for me, as mentioned in previous posts, I am shooting for 6 months in what is my second time at this milestone goal- the first time I did it back in ’07, it was a goal time of 1 year, and I did it in a little over 8 months). Any questions or if you need any additional information, just let me know via email at: nikki@davisdigitalphotography.com!!!

Next, for the sake of capturing a moment in time, I was out walking my first 4 miles of the day when I got an email on my phone from my Aunt Sandy about the tragedy today at the Boston Marathon. My cousin Anna’s two friends were doing the race today, but they are OK. So I rushed back to turn on the news. What senseless violence!!! What is this world coming to that someone would as the reporter noted today perform such an act of violence at a time of the race that would cause “maximum damage”??? These families were waiting for their loved one to cross the race finish line. The runners were experiencing a bucket list item many of us could only dream of doing…. The big question is why? Why would someone or group of someones aim to cause such violence? We may never know, but I think it goes without saying that the nation will rally around Boston, and they are all in our thoughts and prayers tonight!

For more information on today’s events, visit: http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/15/us/boston-marathon-explosions/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Lastly, I wanted to report this touching bit of news reported by the NBC Sports Network via Twitter:

“Reports of Marathon Runners that crossed finish line and continued to run to Mass General Hospital to give blood to victims #PrayforBoston”

Whether or not this is true, I think we can all agree tonight we should all #PrayforBoston!!!