She BELIEVED she could.....

 On Thursday morning Bill and I arose at 3:30 a.m. to begin making our way towards Portland, Oregon. This was so that mainly I would be rested as much as possible for the Portland Marathon to be ran on Sunday October the 6th, 2013 at 7:00 a.m. When we arrived in Portland it was extremely cool and over cast. I wasn’t prepared with winter clothes but sunny warm Maui clothes!

The first rattle out of the box was that our luggage didn’t arrive with us, both suitcases were in lala land. Thank you Lord was all I could think at the moment for I had packed the majority of what I would need for race day in my carry on. I had my shoes, socks, running clothes and gels. I did NOT have my camelback, it was in my luggage. How in the world was I going to carry that much refueling on my body? Don’t sweat the small stuff, Girlfriend, it’ll show up, that’s three days away. ;-)

We arrived at our hotel via the “TriMet” the local light rail system. It’s a good thing I’ve traveled a little with girlfriends as I knew how the Metro worked in DC as well as the Light Rail system in Denver…..my Man was pretty clueless and that never happens! Our luggage still hadn’t arrived when it was time to meet up with our friends, Tim & Harline for dinner.

Moyer’s had promised us from the moment they had found out that I would be running this particular marathon to come and be part of my support team. They were awesome and did a fine job of showing us around the city as Tim grew up in Portland. We did a lot of walking for three full days together and I have no idea if that helped me or hurt me when it came to race day with my physical body, but it sure was a blessing mentally!

Friday and Saturday were the two days for picking up race packets and going to the race Expo. I was pumped to go and see all the products that would be offered! When the Mr. and I went to pick up my packet it became very real, here was my bib# with my name printed on it…..I was going to run a marathon. I became scared after having been excited for a couple of days.

I was also hoping to meet Devon, who I’ve followed in blog world, as well as being friends on FaceBook. She and her friend, Colene, have a group called, Distant Runner Buddies that I’m a part of and I also followed Devon when she ran Boston this past April. She had quite an experience as all the runners did and I couldn’t wait to meet her at the Expo. Devon had shared that if we didn’t meet up at the Expo to not worry as she was part of the team handing out the finishers shirts after we crossed the finish line on Sunday. In the end I was glad for the opportunity to meet her on Saturday because our paths didn’t cross on Sunday.

Another fun little tidbit was that I noticed two couples on our flight from Denver and when we arrived at our hotel to check in they both were right in front of us checking in as well. Three of the 4 of them had all ran marathon’s before, and so Renae and I were the 1st timers. Saturday morning my training plan called for a 3 mile shake out run and that was the last thing I wanted to go and do because I had been so cold ever since we arrived in Portland. I had no long sleeve running shirts and I was still dealing with some aches and pains. But Bill quickly reminded me that I had not missed one training day and why do so now? So out the door I went and was so glad that I had, it was gorgeous as I ran along the river that separates East and West Portland. After my run before heading back to our hotel, I stopped in at Starbucks. Renae and her husband were there as well! We grabbed a quick snapshot and found out that we were also in the same wave on Sunday.

Sunday morning I awoke to 46 degrees, excited to run and no surprise….TOM had arrived! While I was a tad disappointed I just gave myself a talking to and said, “Now go out and enjoy this run!” A funny: Our hotel phone rang before we left asking for Bill Rogers. The gentleman was wondering if Bill needed any help out on the course, well come to find out they were looking for the famous runner, Bill Rodgers, not Bill Rogers. ;-)

Bill and I walked about 6 blocks from our hotel to corral F (#6 of 7) and said our goodbyes. One of the event photographers grabbed a snapshot and then we went our separate ways as Bill needed to meet up with Tim & Harline. Their plans were to see me at the beginning of the race and then again towards the finish line. While I was running they were going to enjoy breakfast and a leisurely stroll along the river. I never saw Renae in our corral. ;-(

At a few minutes before 7:00 a.m., they had all the runners sing the National Anthem as they had started the tradition last year due to the artist falling ill the morning of the race. It was awesome to hear all the runners singing and then we sang, “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond. Bill Rodgers began the countdown for each of the waves and my wave started about 7:20 a.m. Because of having a little bit of extra time I was able to hit the porta potty’s several times as well as text with Bill. I found out that they would be seeing me at the first watering station!! They were easy to spot as Bill had shirts made for the 4 of us in a bright fluorescent orange with my bib # on the front and my mantra on the back. “She believed she could. So she did.” That was one of the smartest things he could have ever done as I was always able to spot them in the crowd!

Shortly after this I passed both of the couples that I mentioned earlier, wishing them the best and encouraging them. We saw one another several times over the course of the event. Even at one point, Renae came and ran with me while her husband was stopped for a bathroom break. He’s a much faster runner than us and so it was easy for him to catch us later on.

The Portland Marathon had also sat up all kinds of entertainment for us along the course and they were awesome! A couple of my favorites was about mile 2 or 3 a lady playing a harp. About mile 6 when we were running by Chinatown, there were these amazing drums that were up on stilts/planks with Chinese men and women dressed beautifully dancing as they themselves played those huge drums. SPECTACULAR! There was a Symphony group all dressed in black and one of the individuals was in a wheelchair. A lady about mile 22 or 23 had an acoustic guitar and sounded like Janis Joplin. There were also several different cheerleading squads. It was truly fun!

They had water stops about every 1.5 to 2 miles with such friendly volunteers calling out to us and encouraging us. The spectators did the very same thing, it was such a blessing to have my name printed on my bib and helped keep me mentally strong. So amazing!

At one point in the race we were running what I would call the stock yards but it was heavy industrial with lots of rail road tracks and trains. They had an individual standing at the tracks with pen and paper to take down bib #’s if they had to stop due to a train coming through. They would also take into account the time stopped as well as what it would take for the runners muscles to be back to running mode. I thought that was very wise of the Marathon team! At mile 10 was where they separated the half marathoners to return back to the finish line and for the rest of us to continue on. I’ll be honest, at this moment I thought, wow I could be just about to finish and instead I have 16.2 more miles to run. Yolanda, don’t go there, run the mile you are in, and off I went.

I also got a good chuckle about mile 13 there was a young lady standing with a hand made bill board that said, “Not even Congress can shut you down!” I told her that was perfect!

Mile 16-17 was really welcoming for me as my hips were really beginning to get tight and this is where we began the climb for the St. John’s bridge. I started out by running slowly up the steep incline but everyone around me was walking and I decided that I wanted to enjoy this moment and I had 9 more miles to run. The cool thing was that I hadn’t been fighting my glutes like I’ve been doing for several weeks now. I was able to visit with about 4 different people of this mile incline and when I turned the corner there was the bridge!! It is probably at least a ½ mile long and the view absolutely took my breath way. On the bridge as I was running with the support beams being used as a picture frame off in the distance was Mt. Hood and slightly to the left was Mt. Saint Helens, it was truly beautiful. When I started to come off the bridge men and women in Military uniforms were there to greet us and cheer us on. I got emotional there and told them, NO THANK YOU FOR SERVING OUR COUNTRY, YOU ARE THE HEROES!

I really never did hit the wall, where I just wanted to walk off the course. Where I thought I literally could not take one more step. Where I thought I had no energy or where my brain wasn’t functioning. I never ever questioned why I was doing this!!! But…..I did get extremely tired. I text’d Bill about mile 23 or so and told him I was tired. He text’d me right back and said….”She believed she could. So she did!” It causes me to tear up right now thinking about that! And all of a sudden, this man running behind me began to Praise God, and Thank Jesus. I thought to myself, that’s right. Praise You God, thank YOU JESUS because of YOU I’m able to do this!

I was often told by those out on the route cheering us on that I looked strong, that I had an amazing smile, that my form was good. That truly makes a huge difference. As I began to draw near to mile 25 I could tell I was getting emotional. I knew that I could last another mile. I knew at that point that I would finish faster than what I had hoped for but more importantly that I would finish. I would not be pulled from the course because my time was up. I also knew that I had to hold it together, that I had another mile to go. When I spotted Bill, Tim and Harline at mile 26, we all gave one another high 5’s and I kept on going….strong. When I came into the finishing chute, I fist pumped the air practically growling at the crowd….”I DID IT!!!!!!!!! I DID IT!!!!!!!!” Honestly, the crowd went wild. I can still hear them yelling my name as I came to the finish line 35 minutes faster than I had ever hoped for….a time of 5 hours, 25 minutes and 7 seconds. Still up right, still smiling, and still running!!

After crossing the finish line and being handed my medal telling them that this was my first marathon and getting so much encouragement, I then had two blocks to walk back to Bill and the group. This area was only for the volunteers and those finishing the marathon. To instantly refuel with all kinds of candy, bananas, oranges, chips and bagels as well as an electrolyte drink. To receive a rose as Portland is the City of Roses, a tree sappling and our finishers shirt. We also were blessed with a replica of our medal in the form of a pendant and a medallion coin to commemorate this awesome experience! I received several texts by this point congratulating me from friends that had been following my race. And then there was my Guy….and as I walked towards him all I could do was sob and sob as I fell into his arms telling him, I did it!

She believed she could. So she did!