13.1 Miles (well, a few more...)

This is continuation of the Race Weekend post.

40,000 people racing is outrageous. I realized this when I was at the starting line with all of them. Throughout the 19 miles of my half marathon I never stopped being amazed by the number of participants.

For those of you that are thinking, "wait a minute... since when are half marathons 19 miles?" Well, let me tell you.

Dressed and ready for the race!

Starting around 2 pm the Team Challenge participants began lining up for the shuttle to the start line. The strip was closed and traffic was a little crazy, so the three-mile trip to the starting area took nearly 45 minutes. While I was on the bus with Team Wisconsin Heather (of Team DC) sent me a photo of her with Sean.

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Look familiar?

Let me also add a little fun fact. Sean came to the event as the token celebrity for the CCFA Team Challenge half marathon. He forgot his running shoes and had to buy a pair Sunday morning. The Bachelor doesn't pick its contestants based on intelligence? Weird.

When I arrived at the start line I was nervous, jittery, excited and looking for Heather. And a bathroom. In my search for Heather I found the tent of wedding runners. There were at least a hundred couples that were running the half marathon to renew their vows or get married. They had ridiculous outfits and ran through officiants stationed along the course. Oh, Las Vegas, you are not my favorite place in the world for anything other than people watching.

I found myself an "in honor of" bib, filled it out, pinned it on, and headed for my corral. While I was waiting I received a text message from my mom saying that she and Ann had found a perfect viewing spot.

With 40,000 racers and a staggered start I didn't cross the start line until 45 minutes after the gun.

We ran about less than a mile before turning around and heading back up the strip, passing the start line. I frantically looked for Heather, but I couldn't find her. As I scanned the crowd and saw all of the runners in the orange tank tops I was completely overcome with emotion.

I couldn't believe that all of my training had led up to this moment. I couldn't believe that I had raised as much money as I had. I couldn't believe that six months had already passed from the time I first agreed to the race. I couldn't believe I wasn't running with Heather.

I kept on racing.

I was right on pace and proud of myself. The wind was brutal, but I felt great.

At around mile seven I started thinking about Heather and how badly I wanted to cross the finish line with her.

At around mile eight I started to think about how annoying the wind was and how much my knees were starting to bother me.

At mile nine I awkwardly retrieved my telephone from my SpiBelt and tried to call Heather. Her telephone was off. How would I find her?

At mile ten I saw Team Wisconsin people cheering us on. I told Becky, one of the WI coordinators, that I was going to turn around to find Heather in a little while, and if she saw Heather, to please tell her.

At this point in the race, the course was taking us back down the strip. There were thousands of people running in the opposite direction on the other side of the street. I ran down the course looking for Heather. I decided that if I didn't see her by the time I hit the 12-mile mark, I would just turn around, start walking back, and wait for her to catch up to me.

But at about 11.7 miles I saw her! I yelled her name and jumped across the median to hug her. I was ecstatic. I started walking with her and her friend.

"What are you doing?"
"I'm walking with you."
"What?"
"I want to finish the race with you, so I'm going to walk with you."
"Meaghan, how far were you? We have over seven miles left."
"That's fine. I don't care about my time, I just want to finish with you."

So the three of us walked.

I had a few moments when I thought I was going to die, or at the very least pass out, but we made it.

My coach found us at the 12- mile mark and was thrilled to see me.

"What happened to you? My wife was at home tracking you, she told me you were doing well, and then your chip wasn't registering any more times. I couldn't find you!"
"Yeah, I decided to find Heather."
"I thought that might happen."

As Heather and I crossed the finish line I wanted to cry, fall down, throw up, and go to sleep. I didn't want to have my photo taken, but at the same time all I wanted was a photo of us.

We met our moms in the finishers' tent and had plenty of photos taken.

I announced my half-marathon retirement and we discussed our plans for the evening.

Heather and I went out, danced, gambled and drank a few well-deserved beers.

Heather won.

All in all, we had a fantastic weekend and went home with very sore bodies.

Two weeks later I heard from the group I volunteer with, the Jaycees. The president received the donation we were waiting for from working at BeerFest, and she had the check made out to CCFA. She told me the amount and I started shaking.

I called Heather.
I called my parents.
I called Matt.

I was speechless and amazed. I picked up the check the next day to submit to CCFA. I opened the envelope and was in complete shock all over again.

$4200 for CCFA

Thanks to everyone for the support. This was an absolutely amazing experience.

A fun fact about the donation: My parents met Heather's parents when they were in the Jaycees together in Annapolis. They became best friends and Heather and I were friends before we had any choice in the matter. Life is funny like that.

The Big Race Weekend

After months of training and fundraising, race week finally arrived.

Friday morning I took Wilbur for a long walk and then dropped him off at Waggin' Tails, his happy place. The name is quite fitting because every time we drive there Wilbur gets so excited he almost falls over from wagging his tail so hard. He has to sit down while the rest of his body wiggles uncontrollably until we arrive at daycare.

I immediately drove to Milwaukee to catch my flight to Las Vegas. Naturally, the new iPhone map application got me lost while I was trying to find the long term economy parking, but I figured it out without any help from Siri.

I spent Friday afternoon going to the marathon expo, getting as many freebies as possible, and exploring the strip. Heather, Ann and my mom wouldn't be flying in until Saturday, so I had plenty of time to myself. A few people from my team went out for burgers on Friday night, so I tagged along. My burger was delicious, but when I paid the bill, I was pretty sure that my burger wasn't $37 delicious...

The inside of The Venetian

Saturday morning I slept in and took a long shower while watching the C-USA championship football game. Yes, you read that correctly, I watched the football game from the shower. The large suite that I shared with my mom had two very fluffy and comfy queen beds, a humongous sectional couch in the living area, three televisions and a fax machine. I was tempted to send a fax, but couldn't think of what I would send or who I would send it to.

During halftime I wandered down the strip until I found three dollar beers and the Tulsa football game. I watched Tulsa win the conference championship in overtime while receiving texts from my friends at the game and staring at the characters on the strip during the commercial breaks. Gosh, there are some crazies in Las Vegas.

One of the characters wandering the strip... notice the Lightening McQueen tattoo? I told my dad he should get one...

My mom arrived to the Venetian around 3 and we went out for drinks to wait for Heather and Ann. Our first stop was less than impressive and quite smelly, so we took our seemingly virgin drinks and walked toward the Bellagio. She and I made it just in time to watch the water show. When I received the text from Heather letting me know that they were jumping in a cab to the hotel, my mom and I headed back to meet them in the lobby. Their flight was delayed, so we only had a matter of minutes to change for the pasta party.

At the pasta party we learned that the 1,104 runners raised nearly $4 million for Crohn's and Colitis Foundation! $4 million! That's amazing. We also saw Sean Lowe, next season's bachelor. He was the celebrity for the event, and I was pretty darn excited about it. Heather even snapped a photo with him at the start!

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Sean speaking at the pasta party 

After the party everyone was pretty tired from traveling, so we called it an early night.

Sunday morning my mom and I grabbed breakfast before heading to the pool. It was a delight. We were on the fourth floor between the towers of the hotel, and it felt like we were nowhere near Las Vegas, which was fantastic. We were away from the filth of the street, the crazies of the town and the crazy traffic. Unfortunately, it was also incredibly windy. Heather and Ann met us poolside, but the four of us only lasted about thirty minutes before we were too chilly.

We went back to our room to get ready for the race. With our sparkly skirts and socks, we were ready to run.

The wind advisory as we were getting ready for the race... gusts of 45mph? Yes, we ran through that.

Race recap to come....

Less than a week!

My race is on Sunday! My race is on Sunday! My race is on Sunday!

Only six days from now I will be running a half marathon down the Las Vegas strip surrounded by tens of thousands of people including one of my very best friends, Heather.

We are still in the process of planning our matching outfits for the race, so maybe this photo will give us some inspiration.

Through the end of the year I will continue to raise money for CCFA.

Huge news on the fundraising front: Ellie was kind enough to donate a quilt for me to raffle off for CCFA!

 

You can purchase one ticket for $5 or five tickets for $20! Simply go to my fundraising website, make a donation for the tickets and write "Amazing Quilt Raffle" in the comment section.

I will draw the winner on Sunday, December 2, the day of the race, and ship the quilt to you next week!

 

As of this minute I have sold a total of six raffle tickets, so the odds are looking pretty good.



**I will post the exact measurements of the quilt later this evening.**

Training: Week Seven

I have invested in a foam roller. After speaking with my running coach and my yoga teacher, we narrowed down the nagging knee pain to a potential IT band issue. Sure enough, the foam roller has done wonders.

On Sunday I ran 9 miles in 90 minutes! Consistent ten-minute miles? I'll take it!

Sunday morning was freezing cold and windy, but I dragged myself out of bed and laced up my runners. After working 14-hour days all last week and another 6 hours on Saturday, the last thing in the world I wanted to do was wake up early on Sunday. But I did it. And gosh, I felt pretty great when I finished.

Heather is one week post-surgery, and according to her facebook posts and tweets she is slowly but surely recovering. She has yet to stay up past 8 pm and chat with me on the telephone, but I'm hoping she will call me soon.

Donate to CCFA! I am $2,415 short of my goal.

Anyone have any fundraising ideas? I need some help!

I don't even know where to begin...

Training: Week Six

Yesterday I ran 8.5 miles and then complained about the nagging pain in my knee.

Today Heather underwent surgery for a disease she has been dealing with for 9 years.

That puts things in perspective, no?

Donate to CCFA!

I have 14 days to raise $1,715.

Please send your thoughts and prayers Heather's way for a quick and easy recovery!

Training: Week Five

9 miles on Sunday

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(I didn't have as much fun as Phoebe)

Irritating pain in my left knee around mile 7

A very well-deserved shower

And another throwback photo

Flashlights up the nose? Classic.

I'm still training for my half-marathon, and still raising money for Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. I'm hoping to raise $2,700 by October 15 and $3,700 by December 2. Help a sister out?

Click here.