Last week I ran my fourth half marathon. I cannot believe those words can even come out of my mouth (or onto this blog) and be true! This year's race day was actually one of my favorites. I was sad to not have some of the usual suspects around, but my cousin Maria Elena was there at the start right next to me and that was all I needed. As soon as we were able to cross the start line and she made her pace that she was trying to keep known to me, I told her to run ahead, ha...there was no way I was keeping up, but just having her there for the anticipation of the start was a huge help. Thankfully, the race angels were with us for another year and the weather held out. Although I'm sure it was just Mom-Mom looking out for us. It was high 30's/low 40's and sunny for most of the race. Perfect running weather. While I knew I wouldn't be running quite as fast as last year, I felt better...especially considering last year I felt as if I was going to puke on the car ride downtown before the race. I was ready this time around. My training had not been the best, but I was determined.
One of the first things I saw the morning of the race, after hitting up the long bathroom lines, was the NYC Corral. After Hurricane Sandy good ol' Mayor Nutter opened up 3000 spots in the race for NYC Marathon runners. What I didn't know is that they had created NYC specific Corrals...there were two of them. I nearly lost it just looking at that group, such determination, it was amazing. Not only had they trained for months, but then their marathon was canceled last minute in response to the Hurricane. Who knows how many of those runners may have been directly affected by the devastation left by Sandy, but there they were on the Parkway ready to run in the Philly Marathon. Throughout the race I saw people running in their NYC Marathon shirts, and some had written "Thank You Philly" on the back. The appreciation that the NY runners showed towards Philadelphia was truly overwhelming. It made me so proud to be from Philadelphia and to call NY home.
One of my main goals each year is to run as far as I can in the race before even thinking of taking a walking break. Last year I only made it to Mile 3 as I was severely cramping and had to tell my cousin to run ahead. I walked almost all of Mile 4 last year and finally picked up pace again at the end of Mile 5. I was able to run faster last year however. This year I was actually able to run all the way through to about Mile 7.5! It was a huge accomplishment for me. Two things that truly kept me going were the exceptional sideline signs this year. I really think people stepped up their game in their witty remarks. And I don't know what it says about Philly with the amount of "Run like you just stole something" signs I saw, hahaha. My favorite that I can remember was around Mile 4 with a sign that read "If you were Paul Ryan you would have been here an hour ago". They made me laugh and kept my spirits up. I also saw a guy running who had taped "FU Sandy" to the back of his shirt. That one made me laugh, then cry a little, but mainly laugh.
The other amazing surprise was the random people on the sideline that I knew! At Mile 4 I was slightly struggling and then I saw my friends PJ and Bridget from Fordham. As I was running down Chestnut I saw my friend Bridget that I grew up with. Mile 10 I was really struggling, I knew the end was near, I had gotten past the big hill...and as I was running towards the Please Touch Museum I started thinking about AJ & Gina and their wedding that will be there in June. Then in the last mile along the river I saw my friend Bridget's dad on the sideline. It turns out he had already finished the half and was back waiting for his wife (who I saw afterwards). These little surprises gave me such energy boosts.
I crossed the finish line strong, knowing I didn't beat my time from last year, but still didn't put on a bad showing. I was proud of myself and actually felt good (little did I know that I'd be shivering the entire car ride home and wouldn't be able to walk for two days after, hahaha). One of the best surprises was Jeannine waiting for me at the finish line. She had, of course, finished hours before, ha...and found my parents and Trey. It was so great to see her.
I have to say...the entire race the one thought that kept running through my mind was how I would never run a full marathon, haha...but I truly can't wait to run my next half.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Two Milestones, One Week
Never in a million years would I think I'd be able to say that in three days I'd be running my fourth half marathon, and yet here I am three days from running my fourth Philadelphia Half Marathon. It's truly amazing, and while I am a horrible trainer and only run four months out of the year, it is still a major life moment for me. Doing it year after year has become fun, and while I don't get too nervous, I do get a nervous excited feeling on race morning. There isn't much like that adrenaline that fills your entire body and somehow makes your legs start moving as the crowd shuffles forward lurching ever so slowly toward the starting line. I have already decided that next year, to mark my fifth time running the race, I am going to not focus as much on my time and bring my camera along to document the race. These years of running and fundraising are some that I will never forget.
The second, and more important milestone comes one week from today. Next Thursday, November 22nd, is Trey's 17th birthday. Yup, 17! This is another milestone that we weren't sure would ever come. Well, to rephrase that, we as a family knew (or at least had faith) it would come, there were a lot of people around us that tried to prepare us for the worst. Trey was never expected to make it past a year, let alone all the way to seventeen. He was also never supposed to be able to go to school, let alone integrated public school. He was never supposed to be able to learn much of anything, let alone know how to make choices, which he can do...we just have to adapt to his style of doing things. The list is endless of things we weren't supposed to be able to do with him, but thankfully my parents listened to their hearts and not to the doctors on this one and we have never left Trey out of any family function...our family is not whole without him sitting at the table.
His strength and will to fight is what fuels us every single day in finding a way to help fund the research at CHOP. He has enough courage in his little toe than I could ever hope to have. I scoff at those doctors that expected the worst, as they didn't know what this little guy was made of. They didn't know where his family came from, that he comes from a long line of fighters and strong Italians, French, English...people who all had to fight for what they believed in. They didn't know the family that Trey had surrounding him, not only my parents, my older brother and myself, but that we have a vast web of grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles that are never ready to take "no" for an answer. We are a stubborn folk, and in this instance it did us well, knowing that there was always more that could be done. While I try to steer clear of getting too ahead of myself, knowing that Trey still has a very long road ahead of him, I still think those doctors that weren't willing to give him a second chance should have his picture on their walls to prove to themselves and their patients that anything is possible.
So next week while we are eating turkey with our entire family, we will also be getting ready to cut into some birthday cake and wish the little guy a very happy 17th birthday...and many more to come.
www.tristanmullenfund.org
The second, and more important milestone comes one week from today. Next Thursday, November 22nd, is Trey's 17th birthday. Yup, 17! This is another milestone that we weren't sure would ever come. Well, to rephrase that, we as a family knew (or at least had faith) it would come, there were a lot of people around us that tried to prepare us for the worst. Trey was never expected to make it past a year, let alone all the way to seventeen. He was also never supposed to be able to go to school, let alone integrated public school. He was never supposed to be able to learn much of anything, let alone know how to make choices, which he can do...we just have to adapt to his style of doing things. The list is endless of things we weren't supposed to be able to do with him, but thankfully my parents listened to their hearts and not to the doctors on this one and we have never left Trey out of any family function...our family is not whole without him sitting at the table.
His strength and will to fight is what fuels us every single day in finding a way to help fund the research at CHOP. He has enough courage in his little toe than I could ever hope to have. I scoff at those doctors that expected the worst, as they didn't know what this little guy was made of. They didn't know where his family came from, that he comes from a long line of fighters and strong Italians, French, English...people who all had to fight for what they believed in. They didn't know the family that Trey had surrounding him, not only my parents, my older brother and myself, but that we have a vast web of grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles that are never ready to take "no" for an answer. We are a stubborn folk, and in this instance it did us well, knowing that there was always more that could be done. While I try to steer clear of getting too ahead of myself, knowing that Trey still has a very long road ahead of him, I still think those doctors that weren't willing to give him a second chance should have his picture on their walls to prove to themselves and their patients that anything is possible.
So next week while we are eating turkey with our entire family, we will also be getting ready to cut into some birthday cake and wish the little guy a very happy 17th birthday...and many more to come.
www.tristanmullenfund.org
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