Why am I pulling myself out of bed at 5:05 a.m? I must have lost my mind? But, I have to hit I-35 shortly to make the journey out to 153rd to hit Tina's class to put Day 32 to rest. I'm not gonna lie, today was REALLY hard. My body wants to stay in my comfy bed and sleep for a few more hours.
I made it out the door, but what to listen to? I got it! Life Starts Now by Three Days Grace...It got me through one of the most difficult races I have ever done. I felt inclined to go back and read my capture from last year's Rock the Parkway 1/2 Marathon. It's amazing that it's been almost a year ago....Kinda long but all details are important on this one...attached below.
Not My Race – 4.2.11
By Becky Fankhauser
As a promise to my 16 year-old nephew, Jerik,
we meet at the starting line to his first ½ marathon at the Rock the Parkway
race. He had worked so hard and trained
for 10 weeks to be able to make the journey.
We waited anxiously as the race started and we were able to take off
with the 2 hours and 45 minute pace group.
At my recommendation, we were starting with this pace group for the
first 3 miles and then could go on our own if we decided. Sharing my marathon experience with Jerik and
ensuring that he didn’t start too fast was first on the agenda. At one point, Jerik tried to speed up and I
encouraged him to hold back and set into a slow pace. As we rounded the first corner and hit the
intersection at Ward Parkway & Washington, we were chatting about our game
plan for the rest of the race. The next
thing I know, Jerik had literally fallen in a huge hole in the street. The completely exposed hole was more than a
foot deep and wide. Then, I noticed that
the concrete cover was lying on the curb on the side of the street. I quickly tried to get him out of the way to
avoid the runners and walkers behind us.
As I set him on the curb, I noticed his shoe had fallen off in the
hole. I grabbed his shoe and began to
assess the damage. Fortunately, a few
bystanders jumped into action to help us out by contacting a police officer on
an ATV and loaning me a cell phone to notify our family. I was kicking myself for unloading my phone
at the last minute to make room for more gel packs.
When
I saw Jerik's leg that was scraped and bleeding all the way down his shin, my
heart just sank. But knowing he was able
to stand up was encouraging, as I thought for sure that his ankle would be
broken. As tears started to run down
Jerik’s cheeks, I tried to be reassuring to him but seeing a doubtful situation
unfolding. I told him if he wanted to
continue, we would even if we had to crawl in.
As I continued to ask the police officer to get a medic, I become very
anxious. At that point, all the runners
were starting the 10K race. It seemed
like an eternity (or about 14 minutes by my watch) to get some help to assess
the situation. Once the medics were on
scene they cleaned up the wound and recommended going to get stitches. At that time, my family had also arrived on
the scene and Jerik quickly said, "I'm finishing this race!" By this time, the 5K race had also started,
so runners were trying to get around the ambulance that was blocking one side
of the street. He told the medics to
wrap it up because he wanted to get going despite the open, bleeding
wound. I got my phone and told the
family that we would continue but to be on standby, in case they needed to come
and pick us up. By my watch, we were
about 35 minutes behind anyone. We were
the last participants to start from this point behind all 3 races (1/2, 10K
& 5K) that were going.
We
quickly caught up with the tail end of the 5K and it was an obstacle course of
baby strollers and leisure walkers enjoying the beautiful morning. Right before
we were getting ready to approach the 2 mile marker, I said “ Let’s touch each
mile marker to take us home.” I was
thinking that we could mark off each mile with a celebration and against all
odds we were able to make it one more mile.
I could tell Jerik thought that was kind of an odd thing to do at first,
but agreed to go along with his crazy Aunt.
As we continued on the deserted course, we entered aid stations with a
destructive path of empty cups and no sign of life anywhere. Fortunately, there were still jugs full of
water, so hydration was still on our side.
It was almost as if we were surviving the end of the world! But, Jerik was determined to finish his first
1/2! We continued through the course
that looped through winding neighborhoods with the only direction being the
orange arrows on the streets. At this
point, I became really nervous and was facing a huge fear of actually getting
lost and off course. In other races I
had run, there was always someone to follow.
Thankfully, the course was clearly marked with all the twists and turns
and we made it back to what felt familiar.
After
reviewing the course the night before, I knew if we could make it to the park,
we might still be able to finish.
Finally, we see the last participant coming towards us as we head
towards the 7 mile loop, who happened to be an 86 year young lady. We referred to her as “our angel.” Along the way, we stopped briefly to gain
direction from several police officers, who quickly told us we were way
behind. Also, that the streets would be
opening very soon and we would not be able to run in the street. We stopped to ask the final pace car, who was
following our angel, how much farther until the turn around. His discouraged face told us this was our
make or break time. We got direction and
headed out at an even increased, full of adrenaline pace. Once we reached the turnaround, the police
officer was starting to pick up the cones and directed us to the sidewalk. So, we started back on the route via the
sidewalk and I continued to run with 1 headphone in my ear. “Life Starts Now” by Three Days Grace started
playing in my ear. It was as if I was
being asked the question….What are you going to do now? Well, the only thing we
could do is put one foot in front of the other and continue into the
unknown. We had no idea how this would
end but knew if we could just catch back up with our angel, then we could get
back on the actual course.
We
had already updated the crew left at the 7 mile aid station of the
situation. They encouraged us to go for
it and they would be waiting with water on our way back. Once we made it back to the stop, I knew we
had to consume some energy or we would sink quickly. We consumed a gel pack and 2 cups of water
each. With the encouraging words and
looks of disbelief after seeing the condition of his leg, we pushed ahead. We had 1 mission at this point, catch that
pace car! We ran and ran with very few words
exchanged between the 2 of us, other that Jerik saying, “We got this!” Jerik continued to touch every mile marker
and even reminded me on a few, as my focus had shifted to survival mode. We continued to see numerous spectators along
the way as we ran by and would shout “thank you” with a little wave of
acknowledgement. We could see the goal of
catching the car in sight, we just had to get there quickly. As we made one last sprint to jump a head of
the police and pace car, I told Jerik, “Let’s catch up and walk for a bit with
them.” It was a sigh of relief when we
caught up to the 2 final warriors making the journey. I turned to them and said breathlessly, “You
don’t know how happy I am to see you!”
We walked on and exchanged stories for a few minutes. We learned that Grandma Mary had completed
more than 50 marathons and was walking with her Granddaughter, Sadie. Of course, they were amazed to find out about
his injury and that we had continued. We
also shared that Jerik had another milestone scheduled for that evening, his
first prom! As we now had a police
escort, we continued to receive numerous smiles and encouraging words from
bystanders. At one point, I looked up
just in time to see a photographer snapping a picture of the 4 of us walking
and talking. That would definitely be a captured
moment that could never be forgotten.
After we caught our breath, we told Grandma Mary that we would see her
at the end.
We
took off running again to get this mission completed. As we approached the 10 mile aid station, I
could see hubby and my 2 youngest kiddos, Lily & Brady. Then, I knew we were on the home
stretch. As we reached mile 11 and
touched the sign, my energy was completely drained. I had spent all I had with jumping into protector
mode at the injury site and getting these short legs to move faster than ever
before to catch up. I looked at Jerik
and said, “I need to walk for a few but you go ahead and leave me behind. This
is not my race.” He continued to run and
replied, “Just don’t stop.” As I
continued my walk/run strategy, I could see him disappearing in the
distance. I was never so proud of him
for pushing on and never giving up. The
option to quit never even crossed his mind.
The race did not turn out how we had so carefully planned, but we were
able to reach the finish line. That is
all that really matters and what a story for a first marathon experience (and a
scar to show his future kids.) He is
truly an inspiration, as is Grandma Mary.
To become a warrior in the elite club of marathoners is a huge
accomplishment, but the journey to get there and the paths you cross are
forever with you.
Just
to wrap up all the loose ends, Jerik did go to the hospital to get stitches in
his leg and made it to Prom just in time.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Back to today's details.....
This is the part I knew would come when I would be put to the ultimate test. It's been teasing me off and on, but today it's officially here. My body is ready to take a break, but I've come too far to quit now.
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| Tina~Becky |
When I met Tina, I could tell right away that I would like her. She had such a positive energy, even at 6 in the crack of dawn! After her warm-up of running lanes with several twists added, I was already wondering how I could continue. At least she had good music on her side...Saliva, Rev Theory, Metallica! I knew I would like her:)
She did a great job explaining everything and showing us proper technique for kicks.
Her session was not easy by any means. I think my favorite Tina quote while doing push-ups is "That sweat dropping off the end of your nose...That's your fat cells crying!" Love that:) Also, " I know you hate me now, but will love me later in your summer tank tops."
Tina, thanks for shedding a new positive light on a rough start to the day. I am definitely in the mode of marking off each day as a celebration!
