A marathon of a blog... pictures to come...

People talk about hitting a wall when pushing oneself in a long strenuous activity – like a marathon. As far as I can tell I never made it to that wall and not because I didn’t push myself long enough or hard enough and finish a marathon!! Everything came together in just the right way on Saturday allowing me to feel strong throughout the race and finish well, nearly half an hour faster than I anticipated! The positive energy started flowing the second I stepped outdoors at 6:20am and felt the balmy 60 degree air welcoming what was to become a beautiful day! I was extraordinarily relieved that it wasn’t the freezing temperatures that I had feared! As we approached the starting area we began seeing runners here and there warming up. Then, all of a sudden, before us was a sea of 6,000+ people huddling in the crown center area here in Kansas City readying themselves to start either a 5k, ½ marathon or marathon. Yet another sense of relief washed over me that my G.I. system had already made its move earlier that morning, when I learned that the lines to the port-a-pots were 20 minutes long. I felt ready, rested and eager to run! From the beginning it was difficult to contain my excitement and run at a calm pace that I could sustain over the 5 hours I expected to be running. Luckily, the two girls that I was starting the race with helped keep the conservative 11 minute mile starting pace for the first 3 miles before speeding up to about a 9.5-10 minute mile after that. However, after making a quick pit stop at mile two, I was on my own. It wasn’t long though before I allowed myself to believe that all people lining the streets were there just for me! I had written my name down my arms and legs so as I ran by the crowds it wasn’t just a generic “Way to go!” that I heard but an infinitely more encouraging “Great job, Leigh!” “Woohoo, Leigh!!” But, I think it was the kiddos on the curbs eagerly holding out their little hands offering up ‘hi-fives’ that really kept me going. I found that my plan to walk for one minute at every aid station (about every 2 miles) to drink water and Gatorade worked marvelously. Of course there are plenty of runners out there who probably don’t even pause during those 26.2 miles, but there were also those who would run 1 mile and then walk 1 minute. I was happy to be right in the middle and to my amazement soon found myself with the pace group that would arrive at the finish line in 4 hrs and 30 min! The weather was still beautiful, the hills were mild, my muscles and joints didn’t give me problems and my bowels remained in tact. If anything, the worst part of the race was a simple section of road around mile 18 that we had to run out and back, along which you could see the runners who were on the return. It was the mental challenge of knowing you were still a good mile or so away from the turn around. It was a mild difficulty compared to the potential horror of such a race. And it wasn’t long before Kelly had joined me to run in the last 3 miles! Then, seemingly all of a sudden, I came around the last corner and barely a quarter mile ahead, hung the finish line. It was an incredible feeling to say the least. To keep my focus, I pushed harder and harder, slowly but surely, trying to pass each person ahead of me, one by one, until it was just Sarah there 5 seconds away. And as I crossed the finish line behind I was hardly able to breathe with the overwhelming feeling that had welled up inside. The clock read 4:33:04!! I was amazed how strong I felt and how positive and fun the experience was. Never before had I worked so hard towards any goal without quitting before finishing. There are not many things that I can, without hesitation, say have been life-changing experiences. This has most definitely been one of them. I haven’t yet developed my thoughts surrounding this statement, but very much feel it in my body and my mind and my spirit. I'm not sure if I'll do another - though the one in Newport, R.I. next year sounds pretty appealing - maybe I"ll take up triathlons next instead. Or adventure racing...Ozarks here I come.

**Warning**very very cheesy, but sincere content below. I couldn't resist.

P.S. Thank you to Sarah Scott who agreed to sign up in the first place and has been my cohort in many other adventurous dreams - hopefully this is the first of many that we actually realize! Kate and Dustin Smucker-Oats and Kelli Ramsay who I trained with all summer - CONGRATULATIONS to these ladies for finishing the Nike Women's Marathon in SF, CA on Sunday!! I would not have even started training without them. Monica Lunt for teaching me that our bodies can do a lot more than we think - that it's mostly mental - inspiring me that this was possible... Matt McKinley who ran my first painful and slow mile with me and tried to get me to go barefoot. Kelly Tirrill who has never given up on me - even though I used to actually get mad at her for running so far ahead of me when we used to try to run together in college. Jessica St. John who helped keep me going on some of my first long runs. And Libby Folkert, Leslie Mitchell and Corinna Clymer who provided me with many opportunities to challenge myself mentally and in my spirit - usually through a physical adventure of some sort. It was Corinna, who after the Whitney Classic, as I was telling her that I didn't want to challenge myself ever again like that, told me that it's good for us to do this every once in a while, because that is what we ask the participants at Summit to do all the time. It is a crucial part of the work of Summit - believing in the value of challenging oneself to make choices not out of fear, but with the hope that we become better people through such experiences. Or something like that...There are others whom I have not named. I would not have succeeded without any you.