I Didn't Get Here Alone - Thank You!

I have a bunch of topics I want to cover this week, but the most important one is a thank you post to some of my biggest supporters. In no particular order, here are the people that made the biggest impact on my journey to my first marathon finish:

My Wife and Child:

(Don't mind the mess, our unpacking is still in process)

What would I be without my daughter? I don't think I can even imagine my life without her, and this blog would have to exist on my wit and writing style, rather than my fall back options of pictures of her. Thank you to my daughter for helping me become more structured and focused in my training.  It was my goal to do almost all my training before my family woke up.

And my wife, for putting up with my non stop talking about running, rehabbing, my miles, and endless early morning alarms. For being supportive to my goals, my new running friends, for leaving the house for several hours on Sunday mornings, for putting up with me running through every vacation and outing to Michigan. And for believing me when I said I was texting a woman I met on the internet at 4am on a frequent basis to go for runs before dawn, and not calling the cops to make sure I wasn't peddling drugs.  Which leads me to..

Erin:

Aka the Ruminator at Running Ruminations.

After a few blog comment encounters, we first met for an early morning run during a giant thunderstorm that ended up killing my phone. Erin was the first person I got to run with in ages, she quickly became my good friend.  We pace together well, live close to each other, and have toddlers near the same age! She helped me move passed my inhibitions to take control of those later night/early morning hours and conquer marathon training.  She gave me a lot of confidence, kind words, and opened me up to being part of the running community. I'm very sad that she is moving away next month :(

Rachel @ Athletico Physical Therapy:

I know she doesn't know about my blog, but I have to give a shout out to this lady. After hurting myself in July, I've been seeing her twice a week to try to maintain my body to run the marathon.  I walked in every session with a laundry list of everything that was wrong, I would freak out and look to her to let me know I'll be okay. I followed all her instructions, trusted what  she told me, and pushed myself through training with that trust. It didn't always start pretty (see painful), but I made it. Thank you.

Pete @ The Lakefront Trail:

I first met Pete at pint night at Fleet Feet and we formed the Wurst Running Club Ever. We quickly became friends, were Hanson Marathon Method experienced, and loved sausage jokes. He joined me for my longest training run, and has always be open to my questions on any medium regarding training and the marathon. We have similar goals going forward and I feel lucky to have him as one of my wurst friends.

Annabelle @ Fluency's Folly:

I'm intimidating!

I'll be honest, before I met Annabelle at the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in July, I was pretty intimidated of her! I always read her blog and felt like she was just on another level (She is!).  When I saw she would be pacing at that race, I wanted to say hi! We got to chatting and she invited me to join her running club. Now add even more intimidated. Little me, first time out at a race, being asked to joined Folly's Friendship Club? Of course I said yes, and quickly found out she is a fellow Whovian! I think that really helped break the ice for me. The first time I ran with her was the weekend before the marathon. I still had no idea what I was doing for the race, mostly due to nagging injuries killing my feel for any pace.

Then can race day, I was part of her competition team (umm pressure!) and finally I asked her if I could run with her (I mean, who could say no to me?). We chatted beforehand about the possibility and our same race goals, so I thought she might say yes. She agreed, and she made my first marathon experience amazing! I already talked about this, but running with a friend and such a smart runner really is a blessing.

Thank you Annabelle!

Wurst Running Club Ever:

What started as Pete, Maggie (P.S. thank you for creating the blogger network in Chicago), Anne, and myself at pint night, evolved into a great family including Mo, Erin (@ Eri-thon), Eric (@ This Hobbit Runs), Jen , and Erica, that appreciates all thing sausage (even if you don't eat it - KIM). These fun runs helped keep my relaxed, remembering to have fun, that running has a big community that isn't just about numbers, PRs, and split, but also about being human, laughing, and being there for one another.

Those of you that comment:

While I can follow my stats to see how many visits I get (and see how a good chunk of them are spam links), seeing people comment means a lot to me. As most of you know that have blogs, I comment frequently.  If you take the time to write something up, and I read it, I can at least drop you a few words as thanks!

I look forward to seeing comments, maybe someone will call my BS, or simply have a kind word. The names that pop out as commenting the most are: Jen @ It Never Gets Easier- You Just Get Better, Lindsay (my fellow Hanson Marathon Method virtual training buddy) @ Running the Windy City, Kim @ Ilax Studio , Anne (already Linked), Jogging Jeano (my Alaska/Washisngton Hanson Marathon Method buddy), Lenka, Zenaida, Bethany, Kelsey (@ Fueling Strong and one of my side five buddies over training!),  Cheap Runner Mike, Xaarlin @ Pain is Nothing, and Chris @ Chris is Running. I'm sure there are more, and if I missed you, go ahead and comment  and tell me to edit your name into here :)

And finally..

Ibuprofen:

Whether is was smart or not for me to run through my injury rather than rest for extended time, Ibuprofen was there for me when there were TOUGH days.  I wasn't taking it every day or even every week.  I took it when I just needed my muscles/tendons to calm the hell down for a few hours so I could do my harder runs.  And the runs hurt to start.  Looking back, I didn't realize what achey/sore was in comparison to pain anymore. Now post marathon, I know I had pains and aches that were not normal fatigue and muscle soreness. A nice reminder of how fragile we are, but Ibuprofen, you helped me in a pinch. And you really helped me get through the marathon. Don't worry, I've only taken it once since Sunday, I know prolonged use is bad for you, and I never let myself take it more than 1-2 days unless an R.N. or Doctor tells me to.

And one more gif.. how happy I feel to have met so many of you and to have your support: