Number 2!!!

This is what I saw when I checked the race website:

Can you read that? AHHHHHHH!!! Second in my age group!!! SECOND!!! :) :) :) And I was the 13th female overall!! That is the best I have done in a race since I have been back into running. AH-MAZING :)

I am so motivated by how hard I can push myself. This race hurt during that last mile for sure, but it paid off! I need to remember this when I feel like giving up during the marathon - remember how far you can push yourself.

ING Half Marathon

Race day weather was cloudy and chilly. My girlfriend, Jenn and I met at the Marta station at 5:45 am, so that we could catch the train downtown and have time to check in before the race. The train ride was packed with runners and you could feel the excitement in the air! Jenn and I were feeling kind of nervous actually, but we knew it was just the pre-race jitters!

When we got off the train we walked to Centennial Olympic Park where the race was to start. There were people EVERYWHERE! We checked our bags and started stretching our cold muscles. I couldn't believe how chilly it was and the wind was blowing like it was going to start raining any second. We were all praying that that the rain would at least hold off until we were actually hot and sweaty!

We headed to the start line and found our starting corrals. This is always the most nerve racking time for me. I just want to start running already! Enough with all the build up! Soon it was 7 am and we were headed out.

The race course was one of my favorites because of all the awesome places we got to see. Like I mentioned, it started at Centennial Olympic Park in Downtown Atlanta and continued through the city to Georgia State University. We then ran past the Atlanta Civic Center and over the Jackson Street bridge with seriously one of the most spectacular skyline views of Atlanta I've ever seen! I had to slow down and just take in the view. It was so cool!

Then it was onto the Martin Luther King Jr Historic District by the house where Dr. King was born. It was an incredible feeling thinking that MLK had walked these very same streets that I was now running. And with that, the skies opened up and showered us with a little rain. It never poured - just drizzled, and drizzled, and drizzled some more. No one seemed to mind though as we were all pretty hot at this point.

The course continued through Atlanta neighborhoods - Old Fourth Ward, Inman Park and Little 5 Points- for miles 4-6. I think it was about there at Mile 6 or so that a girl running in the race next to me answered her cell phone. YES, she was running with her cell phone. Not in a bag or anything, just holding it in her hand for 13 miles. EEKK! Anyhow, she answered the phone (this was funny to see). When she hung up she looked over at me (I had no idea who this girl was) and she said, the first place runner just crossed the finish line. SAY WHAT? We had almost half the race to go and the first guy already finished. WOW!

Anyway, we continued running onto through the Poncey-Highland neighborhood where the Half Marathon course splits from the Marathon course. At this point we had just started mile 7 and I thought to myself, "I am so glad I am not running the MARATHON!" I felt bad for those guys as they turned the corner. They had 19 more miles to go!!! After the split, we ran into Piedmont Park. While in the park I realized that we were about 9.5 miles into the race. I felt like I was almost there!! I was excited, but soon started thinking about how far Piedmont Park was from Centennial Olympic (the finish) and I cringed. We still had awhile to go...

We then ran through Midtown and up some BRUTAL hills! Huge hills on Mile 10? Yikes!!!! I was exhausted. My knees were starting to ache. The course flattened out as we crossed the bridge over I-75/I-85 and ran through the Georgia Tech campus. Now I was at Mile 11 and thinking, "oh please, Lord get me through this!!!"

When we finally turned onto Marietta St I knew the finish line was coming soon! What a relief. My exhaustion turned into adrenaline when I say the 12 Mile Marker! Only one more mile to go! I started looking for my mom and my hubby. I knew they'd be around the last mile somewhere, but I wasn't exactly sure where. I knew I was getting close to the finish line as I could hear the music playing and crowds yelling. My excitement was growing. I saw the photographers on ladders who were taking crowd shots of everyone. I waved and smiled.


I knew this was it, the finish line was coming, but where was the 13 mile marker? I still hadn't seen it.

We turned a big corner and BOOM! There were the crowds, the music, the bells ringing, the homemade signs being waved in the air. 13 Miles and only .1 to go! I could see the finish. "Thank you Lord! I did it" I thought. I lifted my hands in victory and just when I did I heard, "GOOOOOOOO ASHLEY!" I turned to the left and there they were - My mom and David standing in the COLD and drizzle cheering for me. I let out a "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and kept running with a BIG SMILE on my face.

Seeing my family cheering me on is always my favorite part of any race. David got the whole thing on video! It was awesome. I am attaching a link to the video so everyone can check it out.

As I was about to cross the finish line my teammate in her 65 Roses shirt patted me on the back. "Let's go team!" she said. As she crossed the finish line right infront of me I saw the back of her shirt where she'd written, "For my daughter" and I thought, "yeah, this is what running this race was all about...raising money for CF!" What a way to end my journey!

I crossed over that orange and blue mat and I was done. YES! What a sense of accomplishment! It was such a wonderful experience even if it was COLD and a little rainy at times.

I am so grateful for so many people who donated to this awesome cause. Our team, 65 Roses, raised almost $60,000.00 for Cystic Fibrosis! Truly amazing!

watch me cross the finish line here ---> http://vimeo.com/11402036

Putting the "labor" in Labor Day

This morning I ran the US 10K Classic which starts at Cumberland Mall and then goes down 41 and finishes at White Water. The U.S. 10K Classic is known for its hilly course and being one of the toughest 10k races in Georgia. I had been looking forward to this race for months. I grew up right down the street from where this race is held and remember seeing all the posters and signs along the road. The main thing I remember is the hills. Everyone from Marietta knows that 41 is hilly! It's just one rolling hill after another. The course is definitely intimidating. When I started running again I knew that I wanted to run this race. I'd been waiting for Labor Day to get here just so that I could run it.

A few days before Labor Day weekend I started feeling sick. With all the hoopla about Swine Flu I figured I was done for. The thing about me and sickness is that whenever there is some new infection spreading around I almost always get it. I have no idea why this is. You'd think I'd have a relatively good immune system, but no. And when I get this "cold" or "flu" or whatever is being passed around it usually lasts for way too long and frequently turns worse than most people have to deal with. All that being said, I just knew when the news talked about swine flu that I'd get it. I also work at the most public place ever...the Courthouse. Yeah, so you see how I started to freak out when I felt the least bit of post-nasal drip. Anyway, I was feeling run down on Thursday morning at work. That afternoon my boss told me his son had swine flu and attorneys kept coming into the office talking about how their children were also infected. AHH!! I tried to ignore the fact that I wasn't feeling good as best I could, but by Friday I felt worse and decided to stay home from work.

The first thing I thought about was the race. I was going to have to start feeling a ton better if I wanted to run on Monday. Water and Rest. Water and Rest. Saturday morning I woke up still feeling bad. By this point I'd loaded up on lots of vitamins and had started taking sinus medication. Turns out my allergies get bad every time the seasons change, not just in the spring.

Saturday I couldn't stand it. I had to run. I hadn't run since Thursday. Bad idea. I went out for a run and at about 4 miles I started feeling awful. No energy. Dehydrated. Blah. Shouldn't have pushed myself. I came home almost in tears as I told David that I didn't think I'd be able to run on Monday. "Just take it easy" he told me. He wasn't happy that I tried to run. "If you'd told me beforehand I would have said that was a bad idea and talked you out of it." He said. Yeah, I knew that. That's why I hadn't told him. I spent the rest of the day resting and hydrating. I stayed off my feet.

Sunday I woke up feeling better, but still not a 100%. At least I actually made it out of the house and returned to life as normal person though. I ran errands and went to the grocery store. I was feeling much better. I did some more resting on Sunday night. At that point I knew I'd feel even better on Monday morning and that I could run this race. I'd been wanting to run it for so long!!

So I woke up this morning feel tons better! I was excited for the race. David and my mom were going to watch the start and then drive near the finish line to meet my step-dad, (also a David) and watch the finish. I knew exactly where they were going to be. Let me just say that I loved this race. Seriously. I thought it was so much better than the Peachtree. No time group starts with world class runners. No people stepping all over you. No obnoxiously loud "bands" every quarter mile. (I mean, I think bands are fun, but not every step along the way). No walkers on the left side. Plus, this race only had 13,000 people compared to the Peachtree at 55,000. The race also consisted of road bikers, skaters, and wheelchair racers (that all start before the runners). And like I already mentioned- this course is insane with all the hills.

Before the race started parachuters came soaring down out of the sky. As the national anthem was being sung, a parachuter with a giant American flag attached to his pack landed at the start line. Cool way to begin things. The start was all downhill which was fun. Only thing was that everyone was trying to do a mad-dash sprint for the first 400 meters which was just a waste of energy with that first huge hill staring right at us.

The first hill wasn't awful. It made the first mile go by pretty quickly. The next mile was almost all uphill - to Windy Hill. It's comprised of two hills actually. The first one wasn't so bad. It was the second hill that gets you to the top (where Windy Hill road crosses 41) that was the worst. It felt like a 90 degree angle. Relief came with another down hill. I watched as others ran past me on the downhills, but then slowed down on the up hills as I passed them. I figured I had a pretty decent pace going. I didn't know my time though since I'd forgotten to get a new battery for my watch.

I have no idea what I was doing during mile 2-3. I swear I don't remember seeing that memorial cemetery on the left or the target on the right. At one point around mile 4 I looked up and thought, "where am I? have I passed that target?" I'm pretty sure around that time I was focused on not peeing. I had to go so bad I thought at any moment I was going to have to stop and run behind a building or something. I told myself that if I saw a port-a-potty that I'd run in. I never saw one.

At the mile 4 marker they had a timer - it said, "33:20." UHH?? What? About an 8:20 mile. How was that possible with these hills? I didn't know how I was going that fast, but seeing that gave me the motivation to keep with my pace. At about 4.5 miles I saw one of the sheriff's deputies from the Courthouse who was working the race. "heyyyyy!!" i yelled and waved. "Hey - looking good-almost there" he said. That's when I realized I was at South Marietta Parkway (my exit when I go to work). I knew I was close now. There was the 5 mile marker. I was getting tired, but with only 1 mile left my adrenaline started pumping again. I knew I'd be seeing my family soon. One little hill left near the big chicken. Please. After all those ridiculous hills I'd just run I knew I could do it. After the last hill I could see the finish line in the distance. It seemed closer than it really was. I knew David and my parents would be close by. I started scanning the crowd and found them. I laughed because I waved to them for awhile before they saw me. I waved and gave a thumbs up- its my favorite part of the race when I see them. Makes me so happy.

I had about 400 meters left. Although it was down hill I felt like I was running so slow. I was pushing as hard as I could, but I just couldn't go any faster. I was getting passed. Then I could see the timer - 53:00 minutes. WHAT? I couldn't believe it - I was two minutes faster than my Peachtree time. I thought, "I've got to get in under 53:30. I pushed a little more and got that chill. Do you know what I'm talking about it? It's that feeling you get when you are pushing your body so hard that you think you might be sick to your stomach. eek. And this wave kinda comes over you...Hard to explain. Anyways, I pushed and before I knew it I was there in 53:28. I did it!

As I crossed the finish line this lady handed me some blue thing wrapped up in a plastic bag. What was this? This isn't water. As I made it through to the food and water stations I examined my bag. It was a medal! A medal!? I was so excited that I ripped it open and put it on. I knew it was dorky and probably kinda lame, but I couldn't help it. I was pumped. I'd read about these on the website and knew that it meant I'd finished in the top 1,000. Made my day.

Publix was a sponsor of the race and hooked us up at the finish with bananas, all kinds of muffins and bagels, pretzels, yogurt, apples, two-bite brownies, cookies, etc. It was amazing! Never seen a spread like that after a race! Thank you Publix!! I asked for a bag and loaded up on some goodies. The beverage stations also had gatorade, water and propel. Oh yeah, and also muscle milk - gross! I think the guys were loving that though.

After I got all my treats I headed to the get my shirt and to my surprise,a hat. All of these extras about the race (as well as the massive organization by all the volunteers) just made it such a great experience. It was definitely my favorite race thus far. Great Labor Day.