brightroom event photography

brightroom event photography

Here are all my racing pictures!!

I did it!!

A little delayed, but I wanted to let anyone reading this know that training for a marathon is difficult, requires a lot of self-discipline (not to mention the giving up open-toed shoes), but is utterly worth it! This has been one of the best experiences of my entire life, and finishing that marathon has made me feel like, with enough hard work and perseverance, I can do anything.

Ben and I left for our trip very early in the morning; we had a 6:58 a.m. flight (ugh). Yet we arrived in San Francisco early as well--around noon their time. Even our bus ride to the hotel was exciting. Characteristically, I was a bit too excited; I kept thinking every suspension bridge I saw was the Golden Gate...hey, they all look similar!

Our first stop was to get some Thai food, something of a rarity here in Charleston, and then we headed to the Race Expo, where I got my bib number (4082!) and we listened to a less-than-inspiring talk about how to tackle the hills of San Francisco. I think the butterflies in my stomach grew an entire foot.

Nonetheless, I got my mind off of things when we joined Ben's second cousin, Diane, and her husband, Leslie, for dinner at a restaurant called the Cliff House, so called because of its precarious situation looking down on the ocean (they've had to rebuild it several times).

The next morning, we went to Alcatraz. Although I found the stories of escape interesting--why would you spend ten years sewing yourself an army uniform so that you could escape on a ship without finding out where said ship was headed?--the trip is what made this excursion worth it.

I'm going to try and attach some pics here:
Actually, it's easier for me to just give you all the link to my Picasa web album, where you can view these things: http://picasaweb.google.com/beresrogers/SanFrancisco#.

I tried, but this program is slow this morning!!

I really enjoyed the tourist thing but was getting more and more anxious about the race. Fast-forward to pre-race dinner. We (Team in Training) entered this huge auditorium- a convention center. To get in, we descended a long flight of stairs, alone which, everywhere, were coaches and mentors, cheering for us. Mardi gras beads, feathers, kazoos, the works. It was absolutely amazing. Then, after grabbing our requisite pasta and protein, we were treated with talks by Joan Benoit Samuelson, the 1984 Olympic marathon champion, and John "the Penguin" Bingham, who writes a great column for Runner's World: http://www.johnbingham.com/. He was really inspiring and told us something that stayed in my head throughout the race. "What's the hurry?" he said. "Everyone gets that t-shirt, the same Tiffany's necklace. So why not just take your time and enjoy yourself?"

And that's what I did. I started out with a group of TNT people, but our paces didn't gell, so I ended up running most of the race "on my own," but not really. There were other TNT people, everywhere, so I met people from Alaska, New York, New Jersey, and Georgia. And the views were absolutely amazing!! We started downtown, ran along the pier, up through the Presidio district, past the Cliff House (again) and seal rocks (which were amazing!), down through Golden Gate Park, and then along the Great Highway, by the ocean, and around Lake Merced. I do have a few little pictures here -

And this one is my favorite:

I'll try to make a blog link to all of the pictures- we'll see how that works out.

Anyway, so I'm running along, and Ben was going to meet me at mile 13. I look for him but don't see him. Later in the race, I look but, again, don't see...I cross that finish line, and still no Ben. So I go over to the "friends and family meet-up" section (this place was a veritable village) and wait for an hour, shivering from cold by this time and feeling like my finish was anti-climactic. Finally, I borrow a cell phone and call him (brain doesn't work well when you've just run 26.2, by the way).

Ben was at the finish line. He missed me at 13 and thought I was behind my teammates, so he waited there, got to 16 too late, and got to the finish line 6 minutes after I did. It was utterly frustrating for him as well; he thought I had hurt myself or something and got worried when the "bigger people" were finishing and I was still nowhere.

Thankfully, we found each other, and then it hit me. I HAD RUN A MARATHON!!! Sanity not only intact, but self-confidence tripled. It's amazing. And I raised $4300 for blood cancer research. That, perhaps, was my even bigger challenge.

I ran this marathon in memory of my father, of Jean Hamilton Rogers, of Ruth Campbell, and in honor if Ian, Eli, and Arnold Markley. These are the people who kept me going at mile 25! These are the people, in heaven and earth, hopefully smiling that cancer has been given yet another wallop. Hopefully some day, we can "defeat" it altogether. I won't stop trying.

Almost there...

It's 6 a.m. In 15 minutes, I leave to run my last "long" run with the team...except for the marathon, that is. I can't believe it's almost here! All of the work, the training, the getting up crazy early on Sunday mornings...you know, I think I'll really miss it.

Although I can't say I'll miss the fundraising, I am amazed that everyone was so generous, so giving, and I was able to pull it together. THANK YOU!!!!! I think of you all every time I run, and I know it will occupy my thoughts much over the marathon. Speaking of thinking of you, I got my singlet (the little race tops we wear). I'm going to use a sparkly fabric marker to write on it the names of everyone for whom I'm running. Hopefully, you'll be able to see this when I see this when I send my thank-you cards out.

It's been such a strange journey for me. It started with my mother's visit here, continued into our buying a new house, a new semester, and now, my grandfather is not doing very well. But through it all, I've had running, and (crazy me!) I plan to continue. Myrtle Beach 1/2, here I come!!! (I could't do another full marathon and maintain my marriage).

Lest I forget to say so, I am so very excited to go to San Francisco! I've never been there, and I can't wait to see the city (much of it on foot!). I have a list of restaurants ready to go, and, because you all helped me out so much with the fundraising, Ben can come too. We're hoping to get some light sightseeing in: to make it sort of a vacation. And I can't wait to read all of the inspiration quotes, and listen to the Gospel band, at the start of the marathon.

In one week at this time, I will be at that starting line. And from there, it's one step at a time to 26.2.

tapering down...

First of all, I'd like to report that I did the 20 two weeks ago! It actually felt okay. I did the last eight by myself, which was somewhat nice (I like the meditative aspect of running). I'm still nervous as hell about 26.2, especially since I felt like 20 was such a herculean effort. I got through to the end because I knew that my husband, Ben, would be there waiting for me. This really meant a lot, and I'm hoping it feels the same way at the race.

Our coach, Barbara, said it should feel like "we could easily run six more."

Umm, yeah.

It didn't.

I'm just hoping that all of my training, all of the mind games I learned, pay off at the marathon, which is in TWO WEEKS! I just received my jersey yesterday, and I'm already thinking about how I'll "decorate" it. Definitely with my name, my dad's name, the names of everyone sent to me by my generous donors...(that might just fill up this teensy weensy shirt. Jeez, I'm glad I didn't get a small. Where are these LLS people from, China?)

As for today, we're "only" running 12. I'm hoping to change things up and incorporate the Ravanel bridge which, for those of you who don't live here, is really the only hill in Charleston! Hopefully, this will prepare me a bit for San Francisco.

Speaking of San Fran, I've never been there, and I'm extremely excited! My husband's great-aunt lives out there, so we plan to explore the city with them! My goals being a) golden gate and alcatraz, b) the cliff restaurant, since my grandfather-in-law used to go there with his wife (who I'm honoring by running this thing), and c) LOTS of Asian food, definitely a scarce commodity here in Charleston. Oh, and to run this marathon, of course.

But that goes without saying.

I should go run right now, but I'll try and post more frequently during the final legs of race preparation.