This marathon was just a dream come true . I have to just thank god first before I say anything because without Him nothing I do, have or accomplish would be possible ! 
It all started a year ago , after I had my fourth baby - Emerson in December 2018 .
I had planned on trying to maintaining my fitness and endurance throughout my pregnancy because 2016-2017 - I was at my peak running performance after qualifying for Boston with a pr marathon time of 3:36 at the Donna Marathon in Jax beach . The Boston marathon was a lifetime bucket list experience so much that when I ran it - my whole goal was just to finish . I didn’t realize that I would be so disappointed if I didn’t qualify AGAIN for the next year .
Unfortunately, I had to stop running early in my pregnancy because of placenta previa . So I stopped running and just focused on my healthy baby girl .
After I had her it was a HARD struggle to try to get back my stamina . I started slow on the treadmill and didn’t feel or see a lot of progress . I was breastfeeding as well so I was really just focused on my new little angel and making sure my body was giving her what she needed . It wasn’t until October 2019 that I decided I could really focus on seriously on my running .
I made a commitment to do that by finding and registering for the Disney marathon - January 2020! I told myself - if I can’t qualify for Boston - the only next best experience I can imagine is running through the happiest place on earth - Disney !
So I registered and started reading about and focusing on marathon training . However - like many things - life gets in the way . I had NO problem running everyday but I did struggle to get in my long runs because it was hard to be away from my little one so long and to get my husband to watch her .
So when I started to see the PCB marathon advertised , I wondered if I should try to run it ! I ran it in 2016 and 2017 but I was no where near the shape I was then .
The longest run I was able to squeeze in was 16 miles and it was miserable . I decided to switch to Brooks ghost for a change from the hokas and even though they felt great at first I started to get a lot of right hip / hamstring pain and wondered if it was the shoes .
It made me nervous to try to run a full marathon like that because of possible injury .
Despite all that - I asked my husband if I could run the pcb marathon and he agreed ! I was happy but stressed . I mentioned to him my shoe dilemma and to my surprise he came home from work with my Christmas present - the new Hoka carbon x . They only had a 71/2 which I usually get an 8 but for a racing shoe - I felt like it would be okay . 
For The week leading up to the marathon i felt anxious and excited . To combat my anxiety I started listening to my audio books - race everything , the new rules of running on running on audible and all the marathon podcasts , and YouTube videos I could find . I felt like I needed a very structured race day plan to balance out my lack of actual long run training . I was also trying to make sure I was running as efficiently as possible and trying to correct whatever it was that was making my feet supinate while I ran . The outside edges of my shoes were so wore down that it was clear I was either heel striking or not rolling my feet inward .
With all those resources I put together a marathon notes page on my iPhone . Some things I already knew from previous marathons was what to pack to carry with me .
A lot of my choices this race broke all the “rules” of prepping for the race .
First I wanted to try new fuel- so I ordered a pack of the mixer flavors of Tail wind . I had heard of this from a lot of ultra marathoners who were on running podcasts like marathon training academy . I also heard of SIs isotonic gels . So I ordered those too.
The night before the race , I picked the cola caffeinated tail wind flavor - mixed it with water and out it in the fridge . I had a water bottle hand strap that I would use to carry that bottle . I’m used to carrying my phone and water - but BOY did it make my left arm sore and tired the day after the race .
I also wanted to carry two smaller bottles - one I froze .
This turned out to be too much . I ended up tossing both those bottles because there were water stations almost every mile .
I updated my Spotify running playlist .
I did some jogging stretching and took an epsom salt bath .
As for my shoes - I had decided to try the hokas ! Someone on fb recommended sleeping in them and taking out the new insole and wearing your worn in insole . I felt like this could help - and if it got really bad 1 I could ball my husband and see if he could meet me somewhere along the course and bring me my brooks .
I tried to get to sleep as early as possible - I even took melatonin . I typed up my mile by mile plan and started dedicated each mile with a person in my life . This was one the the things that helped me the most on rCe day . I know I could probably just wing it and try to think of people as I ran but having the names dedicated and typed in to each mile really helped me to not have to work so hard your brain and body is already on overload so having the names Artie decided and typed in was easy and efficient. You can be darned sure I wasn’t going to give up if it was during a mile for someone I cared about !
The race started at 7:00 am Saturday morning . I had the advantage of not only training on the course itself and living near it but also only being 15 minute from the start at pier park .
This also made it possible to do another technique I got from a podcast of visualization.
As I lay in the bath the night before , I visualized myself at each mile - and pictured myself running strong and confident - and pain free . I pictured all of it - from waking up to triumphantly crossing the finish line .
So I was ready when my alarms went off at 5:11 am !
I went downstairs - put a half caff k cup in the keurig - I only did half because the tailwind also had caffeine and I was worried it would be too much .
The little coffee helped me accomplish my first challenge - force an earlier than usual morning poop ! The coffee and my nervousness helped ! There’s nothing worse than getting that grumble in your tummy mid run and knowing YOU HAVE TO FIND A PoRT A POTTY NOW . Not only does it waste precious time but you may not find a restroom in time ! Yikes ! To be sure I averted that disaster I also took an Imodium and packed 2 more in my run belt .
I quickly showered and got dressed . I saw that hubs had not set up our elf and the shelf - so feeling energetic I did it myself !
The weather was predicting 60s and 40 % chance of rain . I wore a white wicking tank that I personalizes with the cameo silhouette and some heat transfer . On the front it said “26.2 you serious and I’m jamie I though they said 2.62 miles .
Lol I also wore compression arm and leg sleeves . I wore my balega socks , and the new hokas ! I had a white visor as well .
I felt great ! I also made sure my phone and Garmin 235 were fully charged !
I made it to pier park and parked hear Margarita . I was so nervous and barely had time to stretch . I have to say the the pcb marathon has a great set up ! The medals are beautiful and even though it WAS NOT a closed course , the beach and scenery you run through it gorgeous . I was also so happy that they had pacers . I got in close to the 4 hour pacers because my starting strategy was to GO SLOW !!! I wanted to give my body all the chance it could to maintain strength ! And I did .
The gun went off and we were off .
This was literally my first time running in the carbon x and I was worried that because they were a carbon plated race shoe they might not be cushiony soft - but they were ! They felt light , springy and wonderful !! The first mile was a conservative 9 min pace . I decided by feel that I could move ahead to the next pace group . The 8:30 pace felt easy and good so I tried to settle in with that . The first mile was dedicated to my hubs ! He s just the best and so supportive !
Here is the run down of mile dedications . I recorded some shout outs on Instagram early on but it got hard to do later on in the race and by mile 20 my phone was almost dead . It was cloudy most of the way and temps felt perfect . When there were little gusts of wind it reminded to take a deep cleansing breath and nose breath / belly breath . This basically means that the more oxygen your body gets the more efficient you can run so I would breathe in my nose to the count of two hold it for a second and try to breathe out slow to the counter to the count of two.
I ran using the RunTempo app set to 102 so I could keep my cadence up - and it worked ! My average cadence was 180 !
Around mile 6 I turned on audible to listen to chi running . Danny dryer walks you through the running focuses and it helped me to remind my body what to do .
I was sipping tailwind the whole time - but also got water every other stop .
By the time we got to the state park I still felt strong and good and keep using visualization and mile dedication .
The park was the halfway point and even though mile 9 was a little strenuous - I was feeling good at mile 13 with a pace of 8.33 .
Running Back through The neighborhoods is always hard because even though we can run on the road it is pretty lonely and there aren’t many runners are spectators at all. In fact on the way back if there wasn’t another chick in front of me running I may have taken a wrong turn!
Mile 17 was One of the miles that I dedicated to my oldest son who passed away last October 2018 . As soon as I started thinking of him the sun peaks through the clouds and I was overcome with emotion .
Tears started streaming my face and I just prayed that he could know that I was thinking of him missing him and loving him.
Then at mile 18 it hit me- I took a full drink of water at the water station and started to feel a sharp pain in my side. It was a side cramp and usually I get them from eating or drinking too much before a run. Ironically This was the mile that I dedicated to God. when I got these in the past , you can’t run through them- they would get worse until I would be doubled over in pain. So I slow down to a walk and focused on breathing deep breath’s. Somehow I was able to pick the pace back up and the side stitch slowly released and then went away . Getting past mile 16 was important for me because it had been my longest run to date in this training cycle .
So if I would have to say that I hit a wall at any point it would be when I got that side cramp.
Crossing back over to the beach and getting past 20 miles was my next hurdle .
I tried doing a technique I heard about in the running rogue podcast called fishing- which is basically to find another runner catch up to them or to count to 30 seconds and try to push the pace a little bit. This helped me get to mile 22 . .i has told myself “ the last five miles are the easiest !” My ass , I thought as I struggled to wiggle my numb or hurting toes and relax my aching hamstring . I would try to do some skipping and butt kicks just to release some of the tension. At mile 16 and on - it was hard to get my pace under 9 miles but now I can see that if I can just do that ! I will be able to bq again !!!!
Mile 24-25 was finally upon me . My watch showed 3:29 and even though I accomplished my goal of finishing uninjured in my mind - now I was so close to a Boston qualifying time . I knew it probably wasn’t possible and it really bummed me out . But even though I was uncomfortable I reminded myself I was almost there and had to finish as strong as possible ! Mile 26 was dedicated to my baby girl and I visualized holding her in my arms. I pushed through the pain it took to pick up the pace and sure enough as I got close to the .2 mile turn to finish I saw my husband had been able to bring my son and daughter to cheer me to the end ! I was in tears and fought to finish strong to the end . I felt like I was sprinting but it ended up being an 8.38 mile - and I was able to pass quite a few runners ( May be in my age group ) on that last mile .
The feeling of stumbling through the finish line is like nothing I have ever felt . It is a mixture of elation , relief and exhilaration- but also pain . When you finally stop - you body starts to remind you all of those parts that you over used and it hurts ! My hubs met me and we shuffled up to Margarita for my free beer . I was not hungry AT ALL ! But felt thirsty . We also got a tigers blood Kona ice that was to die for !!
They weren’t doing the awards for the marathon until after noon so we went to bw3s for some lunch . Like I said I wasn’t too hungry but I tried eating some Asian zing boneless wings and drank a large unsweet tea . I was drenched in sweat and wished they had hot tea
. After lunch we went back to Margaritaville And even though I knew my time was 3:50 and 39 out of 140 but I didn’t know my place in my age group . When They got to 35-39 and announced my name in first place I screamed and ran to the stage with em in my arms to get my goal medal . the funny thing is my best race time for this marathon was 3.41 and I only got third in my age group . 2017 I got second . And 2019 I got first !!!!
After the awards we went to the car to head home . The sun was out full force and it was a beautiful day !
As soon as we got home - I stripped off my sweat drenched clothes and ran a hot bath FULL OF runner Epson salts .
It was literally heaven . After I got out Emerson and I took the best nap of our lives and woke up around 4 pm . I was ravenous and snacked on everything until we made pizza for dinner and I made a side of hot Irish oatmeal !
We all went to bed early ( even after that nap ) and I woke up feeling like a train wreck - but I was too happy to complain - it’s a good hurt and I look forward to recovering fully . My hamstring was sore but not to the point of a strain . My right knee was also tender . My second toes on both feet hurt . I had a blister on the left toe and will probably lose the right toe nail . My left arm that was holding my water bottle hurt. My back is a little sore but overall - it’s nothing out of the marathon ordinary .
I’m so proud of how it went - I had an unforgettable experience and can’t wait for the Disney marathon soon !!!!
My Mile Dedications that I typed into my phone and checked periodically!
Mile 1 - jamey (husband)
My Mile Dedications that I typed into my phone and checked periodically!
Mile 1 - jamey (husband)
Mile 2 - mom
Mile 3 - timmy - leg swings , water
Mile 4- Liz
Mile 5 - Leah & Davis fam
Mile 6 - Ross
Mile 7- my stepdad Bob
Mile 8 - Marj & joe
Mile 9 - Kerri. Do burpees - moving meditation
Start with head - relax , face , shoulders , legs , toes
Mile 10 - masons birthday June 4 2001
Mile 11- Aunt Tiffy & fam ❤️
Mile 12 - Lauren , Danny & fam
1 Advil - leg swings
Mile 13 - me ! - m&ms HALF WAY
Mile 14 - Sarah & Aaron
Mile 15 - Lois ! . Do burpees - go fishing
Mile 16 mason 3rd grade
Mile 17 mason- 16& 17 😭
Mile 18 God . ❤️Do moving meditation or counting just next 30 seconds
Mile 19 - Jesus 👏🏻
Mile 20 - mr & mrs cooney
Mile 21 CELEBRATE - dedicated to Maddie - 😍only 5 miles left - eat some m&ms
Mile 22 my dad ❤️
Mile 23 My uncle tim
Mile 24- go fish - dedicated mason graduating middle school
Mile 25 rudy
Mile 26 Emerso
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