Team Rookie

If you have been reading for a while, you may remember Team Ashley from last year's marathon. Unfortunately, Team Ashley was disbanded this year because I'm freaking 8 months pregnant and not running any marathon! But our good friend, THE ROOKIE (see him there on the left), decided he would step in and run this year's marathon. Well, to be honest, he has taken this whole running thing very seriously. He trains hard and is actually quite good. He is one of those people I refer to as 'real runners', whereas I am just a 'fake runner'.

So this year, Lucas and I bundled up and hit the road to do a bit of marathon spectating and cheering. I have to tell you: marathon spectating isn't easy. But I think back to my experience from last year and realize it is much easier than putting one foot in front of the other for 26.2 miles. Yes, I prefer to drive.

At the start and Mile 2, Lucas decided to share some inspiration with the runners:
A lot of runners complimented us on the sign but we had a few negative remarks. I don't think they would have been encouraging me to run so much if they would have seen the belly I was hiding behind my sign.

Well, The Rookie enjoyed it and that is all that matters. Here is his smiling face at Mile 2:

Since the "Hurry Up" sign got such rave reviews, Lucas took out his next masterpiece at Mile 6:

Now I think this is absolutely hilarious! Almost There! Only 20 more miles to go! Haha! The traffic guard and most of the runners were laughing along with us.... only a few sarcastic remarks. Oh, well! You can't please everyone! And let me tell you: a good laugh and keeping the spirits up does wonders in the midst of 26 miles. I think we were doing good and spreading cheer..... for the most part.

We got the little rascal out for Mile 15.
He stayed bundled up with his daddy and waited for The Rookie.
I did my part....
And The Rookie's girlfriend and her friend were out to cheer him on at this spot...

Can you tell they are big New Kids on the Block fans?

He was still all smiles at this point! Go Rookie!
We caught up with The Rookie again in our neighborhood at mile 19.

We had an especially encouraging sign at this spot between mile 21 and 22 ~ which will go unpublicized. Funny... I don't remember him smiling at that one. Haha!

Then it was time to load up and meet him at the finish line...


Wow! Can you see that time?
3 hours, 52 minutes. I have to tell you.... this is like an hour and a half faster than me. Told you he was a 'real runner'.


Not sure if he was covering tears or the painful look in his face here....

But the look of agony quickly turned to a smile once he saw us all there to tell him how proud we are of him and what a great job he did! He really did do awesome! I am totally in awe.

Some lovin' from the GF

We love you, Rookie!
Great job!

A Marathon of Marathon Photos.....

more marathon photos for your enjoyment.

This photo was taken right past the 2 mile marker. It was my first time to see my family and friends since the start line. Rafa was so excited to see me and chased me down the road! Haha! Such a cute puppy!
I saw them next around mile 6. They were lined up along the road waving their signs to all the runners and apparently an older man (60 or 70) who was running looked at Lucas and said: 'Yes they do'!!!
My dad working all the cameras! The Beer @ the Finish Line sign got the most comments. At one stop they left the sign in the car and several of the runners who had seen them at all the previous stops were asking where the beer sign was. Apparently that was the best motivating factor of the race!!!
Look at little Rafa riding shotgun in the chase vehicle!
Here - just before mile 10 - my friends Chris and Aida joined in. It was great to see 'Team Ashley' growing! :)
Here I am at halfway - still feeling great!! After I passed through the team was packing up to leave and apparently a woman ran through halfway and was shaking and couldn't run anymore. Chris and Aida took her in their car to meet up with her sister nearby. That would be really upsetting to run so far and not finish. Hopefully she is feeling better.
This stop was just before the 18th mile marker (which I thought was the 19th). I stopped to take off my pants but couldn't bend my knees. Ouch! So mom had to help by pulling the pants off around my shoes. Thank goodness Brandon was there to capture this moment. Ha!
A few quick sips of Gatorade and a couple of bites of banana and I was on my way.
I guess he was worried after the whole not-being-able-to-bend-my-knees thing and Lucas joined me here just after mile marker 20.And here we approach mile 22. I'm just slowly putting one foot in front of the other....
Thankfully, Lucas was there to help!
And now... I could finally see the light. I was so excited to cross this point and know that the next time I saw Team Ashley I'd be crossing the finish line.
As you'll remember from my last post, Beth and Linda joined Lucas and I at mile 25 to run the last mile. Here we are at the break off point. They broke right and I broke left to run the final distance to the finish line!
I round the corner and the announcer calls my name: "And now approaching the finish line is Ashley Linares from Huntsville, Alabama. This is Ashley's FIRST marathon! Way to go, Ashley!" See... it pays to finish by yourself and not in a big group. Yea!
I'm so excited here! I don't even have the words to tell you!

(my favorite marathon photo)

Thanks to Brandon for today's marathon photos!

Finishing is WINNING!

There is so much to cover. I don't even know where to start. I'll start by telling you that we had 4 cameras going and the following pictures are only from one camera so you'll have plenty more pictures coming your way in the next few days...

I woke up early Saturday morning, ate breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, showered, packed the car, and got everything ready I'd need for the day. Walking to the car I checked my iPod with my Nike + sensor to make sure all was good... that's when PANIC struck! My iPod froze! Why, why? I couldn't remember if I reset the thing if all my music would be deleted... that is a very bad thing. What would I do without my iPod? So I reset it and hoped for the best - crisis averted! It worked! Phew.... that is not exactly how I wanted to start my day. But from there on everything seemed to go smoothly.

We met my parents and grandparents downtown, ran into my second cousin (Julie) and her husband (Richard) who was running the race, and chatted a little with the family before I took my place in line.

I went to almost the very back of the line because I didn't want to feel pressured to run faster than my pace I had already decided on. I actually knew the guy from work who was holding the pace signs at the beginning. He has run several marathons before and was able to keep me calmed down a bit before the beginning of the race. I was so excited! I couldn't believe what I was about to try to do!

The gun fired and we were off! I passed my family on the way out. My mom had made 'Team Ashley' sweatshirts for us all! That was great!
Here I am running in my 'Team Ashley' sweatshirt. This was about Mile 6 I think.
My faithful crowd was cheering me on!
Then they'd hop in the car and chase me down a few miles later! Haha!
Rafa had a little 'Team Ashley' sign pinned to his sweater! What a cutie!!
I felt pretty good and was having a great time! Between mile 8 and 9 I ran through Julie and Richard's neighborhood. They had music playing loud, people on both sides of the street cheering, balloons hung across the road, and signs everywhere! They were even handing out water and cookies! I passed on the cookies but that water was delicious! One yard in their neighborhood had a bunch of plastic cows in their yard and big letters that spelled out 'KEEP MOOOOOVING!' Haha! That was cute! A few yards down there was a yard with those same letters that said '9 DOWN' and '17 TO GO'. In front of the 9 letters there were 9 pink flamingos and 17 under the 17 sign. It was great to see so many people cheering us on! Believe me - it really helped.

I had a big smile on my face through about Mile 15. Then I started feeling the fatigue in my legs. I knew I had come too far to give up. I was definitely going to finish somehow but not sure if my body would ever forgive me for it. Ha!

We crossed through my neighborhood at about Mile 18. However, I was thinking I was at 19. So when I met my family I was telling them I only had 7 to go and I could see the light. My mom helped me take my pants off.... because I couldn't bend my knees! My dad had a banana and gatorade waiting for me. Then I was off again. A short while later I realized I was crossing the 18th mile... not the 19th... and my spirit was a little broken.

I caught up with my family again at mile 20 and I guess I must have looked pretty bad at mile 18 because Lucas was now in running clothes and shoes. What an incredible husband he is. He ran with me the last 6 miles!

Here we are at about mile 22 I think.

After mile 22 I really wanted to walk but I knew I only had 4 miles left. I had run the entire race and I really wanted to be able to say that I had actually 'ran' the entire 26.2 miles. And I did. I ran the entire thing! Of course, my mile times after about mile 15 were less than desirable but at least I was running. I only walked through the water stations.

As I crossed some of the major roads heading back downtown I knew I was getting close. I saw my family and friends again at mile 24 and they wished me good luck for the last two miles. The next time I'd see them I'd be crossing the finish line!

At mile 25 my runner-friend Linda and her sister Beth met up with us to run the last mile. The girl is incredible! She ran her marathon in 3 hours and 43 minutes.... then walked a mile to meet me at mile 25 to run another mile back to downtown. Just incredible!

So they cheered and pushed me to the finish line.

AND I MADE IT!
GLORIOUS FINISH LINE!!!!!

I was really so happy right then. So proud of what I had accomplished! Still sort of disbelieving that I actually did it! Overjoyed to not be running anymore!

Thanks for running with me, Lucas. I could have done it without you but it would have been much, much more painful!
This is my last mile running team!My proud parents!
AND TEAM ASHLEY (minus Rafa, Chris, and Aida)!
(Aida is a nurse and was on call. She got called in to work somewhere between mile 13 and 19. I hate they missed out on the rest of the run and I didn't get to celebrate with them!)My grandmother was so nervous during the race. I think she was literally feeling all of my pain. But I SURVIVED, Grandmother! You can breathe now!

I love my new hat and medal. It says 'Finisher' on the back with the rest of the race information. To me, that reads 'WINNER'! Oh, yes! I won a marathon! ;)
Team Ashley went to eat Mexican after the race. I know that sounds like it may be dangerous but it was actually quite delicious!

Later that night, Lucas and I went over to Brandon's house to hang out. They surprised Linda and I with a 'Congratulations' cake..... only the bakery (Wal-Mart, no doubt) messed up and put 'Happy Birthday' instead of 'Congratulations on 26.2'. So Linda and I celebrated our 'birthday'!(We had already dug into the cake before we got a picture. Notice how the cake says 'Mom'. I told you: they are my boys, I'm their mom. They need guidance. ha!)

Mom approves the birthday cake!
Notice I'm still wearing my medal. Yea - it's never coming off!

A bubble bath, a hot shower, a couple naps, and several meals later I was feeling pretty good. Sunday morning we woke up and went shopping for some last minute gifts we need to take to Colombia (oh my gosh - we are leaving for Colombia on Friday). I shopped! I actually shopped! I couldn't believe only a day after running 26.2 miles I was out and actually able to walk around.

A few hours into shopping I got a text from Chris telling me to check out the front page of the Huntsville Times sports page.

Check my family out! We're famous!


I'm excluding the names to protect the innocent but below it the caption read, "Granddaddy, Grandmother, Mom, Lucas, and Rafa the dog support runner Ashley." My dad was on the other side of the street taking pictures and missed out on the photo-op.

Brandon took some really good photos so those will be coming your way soon.

And for those of you who are wondering - yes I did run with my iPod. I still don't know how I would've done without it. I just had it on underneath my outer shirt and ran the earphones under my shirt so it was not very noticeable at all. There were quite a few runners running with headphones. My running crew at the end took my iPod and headphones so there was no signs of disobediance as I crossed the finish line. I'm such a rebel! ;)

I'm feeling really good today. Still a little sore and stairs are difficult but I feel great!

Thanks to all of you who supported me - both at the race and in spirit!!!