Monday, October 14, 2013

City of Trees Marathon

City of Trees Marathon, Mom and Daughter running a marathon together

We did it! After 18-weeks of training, we finished the City of Trees Marathon! And not only did we finish, but we ran the entire race, talked the whole way, high-fived and thanked every volunteer we could, and enjoyed every little moment—even the ones that hurt!

We began running at 8:00 am sharp right in downtown Boise and traveled all over the city, from Southeast Boise to the North End. We even ran by the zoo and got to see the giraffes as they ate their breakfast. Daniel and his parents were along for the ride and met us every six miles or so—taking photos, cheering us on, and giving us high-fives. They were the best cheering section! We also saw some of our friends at mile 4 (thank you, Kari & Gregory!), and we had a big cheering crowd at the end to cheer us across the finish. What a blessing it was to have each of them there... it really helped the time go by faster and kept us in good spirits to know we would see familiar faces every hour or so. I can't even begin to tell you how much it helped. It's what kept us going!

As far as the race goes, we finished in 4:03, in 80th and 81st place overall out of 250, and 33rd and 34th out of the women. My mom even got 3rd in her age group! We had some killer-fast (for us, anyway) miles, completing them in 7:45, 8:00, 8:15... they felt great. Our average mile was about an 8:45, which is much faster than the 10:00 minute-mile we had trained at. But ouch... our last 2-3 miles were just dreadful and we clocked them in at around 10:30 minute-miles. We were so tired! We talked & laughed all the way through mile 16, and around mile 18 my feet started to hurt. By mile 21, we were both pretty tired but kept churning through the miles, and I had lost pretty much all feeling in my feet at this point. At mile 24 we were both just done. We wanted to be finished so badly, but still had 2 more miles to go. When we saw the finish line, we held our hands above our heads in a "We did it... FINALLY!" expression of joy, and we didn't care about one single thing except for the fact that it was over!

Post-race, I drank more little cups of Gatorade than I ever though possible, Mom got stung by a bee (of all things... seriously) while waiting for a free massage, and we joked and laughed with the friends and family who came out to support us. When we finally got to have some lunch, I downed a giant hot chocolate (it was heavenly!), and barely choked down 1/3 of a cheeseburger. I was not hungry at all... I just wanted a nap! And let me tell you... that post-race nap was the most glorious nap. Oh, it felt good!

You know, I don't know if I'll ever do another full marathon again (half marathons are where it's at!). I enjoyed the experience... but not that much. But it was definitely something that I am glad I did & I'm even more glad that it's been checked off my bucket list. One and done, right?

Here are some fun photos from the race, with captions underneath. Enjoy!

City of Trees Marathon
Staying warm before the race.
City of Trees Marathon
Heading to the starting line. Our outfits were BRIGHT! 
City of Trees Marathon
Ready to run!
City of Trees Marathon
And we're off!
City of Trees Marathon
All smiles at mile 6... this was right after the biggest "hill" of the race. What an awesome course it was!
City of Trees Marathon
Cruising through mile 12 on the greenbelt.
City of Trees Marathon
Mile 18—we started to feel it here, but you couldn't tell based on the smiles we had for our cheering section.
City of Trees Marathon
High-fiving Daniel's dad through the pain at mile 21, overlooking Boise.
City of Trees Marathon
It didn't matter what mile it was, I was excited and dancing through all of it. This was mile 21.
City of Trees Marathon
THE FINISH! 26.2 miles in 4:03... we did it!
City of Trees Marathon
Daniel was the biggest trooper the whole day. He was so proud & gave me many sweaty hugs and kisses afterward. I think he was just as glad that we had finished (and that the training was finished!) as we were.
City of Trees Marathon
Our post-race support group. Thank you Sean & Sydney, Daniel, Adam, Dan & Michelle, and Alan for coming out to cheer us across the finish line!
City of Trees Marathon
Reppin' our official City of Trees medals & sweatshirts.
City of Trees Marathon

THANK YOU AGAIN to Daniel, for being there through all the training & for coming and supporting us through the entire race—I love you so much! To Daniel's parents, who were the best darn cheering section I've ever had! For all of you readers & friends who encouraged me & sent sweet prayers for the race—I didn't feel my two injuries once during the entire race! And most of all, thank you MOM, for being my training partner and for giving me an 18-week experience I'll never forget. It's so special that we share this hobby together. I love you, Mom!

51 comments:

Emilie Bordeleau-Laroche said...

Wow! Congrats on doing such good time! You two look so awesome in your bright outfits! I bet you felt pretty sore afterwards!

Stephanie Samuel said...

So proud of you Aunie! You rock!

Amanda @ Eloquent English said...

I'm so glad it went well!!! I love that you and your mother did it all together! I'm with you, 1 marathon was enough for a lifetime for me. 1/2's are def the way to go, but what an accomplishment! Congratulations Miss Aunie!

Stevie C said...

Awesome! So happy for you! And i'm really happy that your injuries didn't flare up! congrats!

Maria said...

Congrats! That's so amazing! Woohoo!

livi said...

i don't normally comment but wow what an accomplishment annie! i thought about you all morning...and prayed that it would go well. congrats!

kcsaling said...

Amazing! And congrats on such a good finish time!

lifebeginswithj said...

congratulations!! I got chills as I read this!! That's such an amazing accomplishment.

Tiffany {A Touch of Grace} said...

Congratulations Aunie! That is such an accomplishment! You guys rocked it! Seriously, a slow pace being 10:30 is still fast for a lot of people (including me)! You did fantastic and should be so proud of yourself!

Pamela Baker said...

Awww so awesome!! Yall looked great!!! :) That's so sweet that his family came to cheer you on!

Linda said...

Great photos - especially of you and your mom crossing the line holding hands! That's frame worthy!

melody said...

Congrats! As a 'Mom' who just finished her first half marathon...I applaud you both! What an amazing experience and to share it with your Mom is even sweeter!!

Sarah said...

Yyaya! Congrats!! You guys are awesome! Fulls still scare me but you guys are an inspiration!

Rachel Murphree said...

Congrats! You're fast! I am happy if I finish in the 5 hour range, so I am very, very impressed!

Brittany Wilson said...

You ladies rocked it!! Congrats :)

Brittany said...

Congratulations!!!!!

Lindsay said...

Congrats to you guys! That's a great time! Your finish line photo is the best!! I just love race recaps..it give me a lil more motivation for training! :)

Annelise Rowe said...

OH MY GOSH WERE WE SORE. We still are sore. We hobbled around all day. I still can't move! Thanks so much, though! :)

Annelise Rowe said...

Thanks Stephanie! We felt so good to finish! Can't wait for what's next!

Annelise Rowe said...

Thanks so much, Amanda. Halves are definitely where it's at. So glad to have it off my bucket list for good!

Annelise Rowe said...

Stevie, it was such a blessing. They hurt so badly and I iced all week. I was so nervous. But yep, not ONCE during the race did they bother me... so thankful!

Annelise Rowe said...

Thanks Maria!! So excited to have it over with!

Annelise Rowe said...

Livi, thank you so much! I promise your prayers helped... I know they did! Thank you again!

Annelise Rowe said...

Thanks Kristin. We were very excited... we ALMOST got under 4... but who cares? We did it!

Annelise Rowe said...

Oh my gosh! Thank you so much!!! We feel very accomplished. Very sore also, but still very accomplished :)

Annelise Rowe said...

Thanks Tiffany! When I wrote 10:30's I didn't want to make anyone feel bad... it just felt slower than the 8:45's and 8:50's we had been doing before. We tried and tried to speed up but our bodies wouldn't let us. It was the perfect pace to finish the race at... it was the only pace we could do! Thank you again so much... we are excited :)

Annelise Rowe said...

Pamela, thanks a bunch! It was so fun having them there. I didn't know if they would just be there at the end or for the whole thing, so it was a big surprise to see them so often! :)

Annelise Rowe said...

Thanks Aunt Linda! We are going to wait for the official photos and then pick which to get framed. Woohoo we did it!

Annelise Rowe said...

Thanks so much, Melody! And great job finishing your first half. That's a huge accomplishment!

Annelise Rowe said...

Thanks Sarah!! Ha, fulls still scare me too! Don't know if I'd have the guts to do another :)

Annelise Rowe said...

Rachel, finishing is an accomplishment in itself! We ran a lot faster than we thought we would, that's for sure. We surprised ourselves!

Annelise Rowe said...

Thanks so much, Brittany! I felt like we rocked it when we finished, but today... SO SORE... I feel like we're the ones who got rocked :)

Annelise Rowe said...

THANKS A BUNCH, BRITTANY!!

Annelise Rowe said...

Oh, thanks so much, Lindsay. It was so fun looking back and remembering all the little details. I can't wait to see my mom's version to see how she tells it! :)

Alyson said...

YAY!!! Congratulations!!

Christy Hales Buhr said...

Way to go! I can't believe you almost broke 4:00 on your first marathon. Insane! Congrats!

Allyssa said...

Congrats!! It must feel awesome to be able to say you ran a marathon!

Carly Anderson said...

So exciting!!!! Congrats!!!!

Mackenzie Bell said...

So exciting! What an awesome accomplishment. Congratulations!

Allison Clements said...

The race looks so much fun! Congrats on finishing! :) You have accomplished more than I have :)

Rebekah Sayer said...

Wow! You guys are rockstars! Congrats!

Jennjilla said...

Yay! So proud of y'all, I know that felt like such an accomplishment! I'm glad, too, you didn't feel any pain from your injuries! Congrats! :)

Sarah // The Quixotic Chica said...

Congratulations!!! It is so amazing to have followed your progress on your blog, and it just so awesome that you and your mom were able to share this marathon experience with each other. Truly inspirational!

Cori H. said...

What a great accomplishment! Congratulations!

Erin said...

This is incredible. I give you all the credit in the world girl! Congratulations!!
lovethecampbellsblog.blogspot.com

Amelia Ng said...

Congratulations on running such a great race! I can only imagine that amazing post-race feeling!

Linda said...

Yes you did!

Shannon Tatlock said...

Congratulations, Aunie! I'm with you on the one and done. I would love to run a full marathon, but like you, I think I'll do it and never NEVER run it again. First though, I'm going to focus on running a half!


PS, 4 hours is AMAZING. YOU ROCK! :)

Julie Joy said...

Congratulations! That is amazing! Hard work pays off! P.S. You and your Mom look like sisters! :)

Chelsea Moos said...

CONGRATULATIONS! I am super proud of you (and your mom!! Tell her way to go!). Props to ...Adam?... for wearing the Broncos tee! Hehe. I'm so glad you can share this with your mother and that Daniel seems to support you every step (literally) along the way. I'm so glad you stuck with it and you didn't feel your injuries during the race, glad to see you dancing your way through! I'm still on the 5k, 10k aspect when it comes to running, maybe one day I'll feel like losing feeling in my feet too! ;) Again, congratulations!!

Sarah Nolan said...

Ahhh!!!! Congratulations!!! I'm so happy you've experienced a super successful marathon with your mom!! And major props to Daniel!!

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