TIR - Part 2

So it took me all day to compose a post and I should have known that I would forget things.

I saw so many people that I knew that were running with different teams. It was great to see them and they all seemed to have the same experience that I did.

One thing I forgot to mention was that we saw a rally getting ready to kick off for Clinton. Those folks have no idea what they were missing by not watching the Relay!

As for my particular legs, here is what I can recall

Leg 9 - 3.81 miles ending in Flatonia (don't let the name fool you. It was all hills to get there!) This leg had the dubious honor of having the highest elevation of the race. A beautiful view for sure! After waiting hours to finally put my efforts in for the team, I exited to van in great anticipation of my run. It was around 3:00 pm and close to 80 degrees. I took off too fast. I came in at 8:31 for the first mile. Jon had predicted a 9:29 pace. Next mile was 10:08. Too slow. Last mile was logged at 11:56. The heat, hills, and poor pacing took it's toll. Still it was nothing compared to what Edwin had just endured. Lesson from this leg, learn to pace myself.

Leg 20 - 4.57 miles rolling through Eagle Lake during the midnight hour. This run was a welcomed reprieve from the heat of the day. Geared up for nighttime running, and praying my leg would not let me down, I started out with an intentional slower than expected pace. So much for that, I covered the 1st mile in 9:30. The second right on target at 9:29. The third mile I could really feel the leg and slowed to a 9:57 pace. My last mile (+) came in at about 9:30 as well. Better pacing on my part, but I had wanted to be able to really move at night as I love running in the dark. The shoulders were almost non-existent on some portions of this leg. I kept a watchful eye for the dogs that might be lurking in the dark, but thankfully, none were out. They were obviously waiting for Holden and Dana-Sue. During this run, I became road kill to two other guys. When I saw that I was gaining on a flashing light ahead of me, I became very excited that I might get my own "road kill". All excitement faded as I passed the frickin' cone with the blinkie attached to it!
I passed the Dairy Queen as I made my way to Main Street in Eagle Lake. Preoccupied with the thoughts of an Oreo Blizzard, I never noticed the truck sitting in the dark parking lot to my left. I nearly freaked out when out of no where I hear screaming and metal noise makers going off! They were cheering for me, and while I appreciated the effort of encouragement, I really would liked to have had more notice of their presence! I thanked the well-wishers and continued onto Main Street. Here, I ran on the sidewalks for most of the time. Some photographer was running after me trying to get pictures and ask about what the heck we were doing. I answered the best I could and he continued to shoot pictures. Later I laughed at the thought of what his pictures might look like as his flash and my head lamp probably over-exposed any image he tried to capture.

Shortly after that, I saw my Blogger van pass me up and head into a gas station. I continued down the end of Main street passing two bars that had some very happy/confused patrons that I was fully prepared to use my "doggie deterrent" on. Thankfully, that did not have to happen. I finished my leg and thanked God that my leg held out. I wasn't sure what Sunday's runs would hold though.


Leg 33 - 4.47 miles. Memorial/San Felipe; ending at Voss This was the Sunday morning run and my wonderful friend Mary Jane came out to meet me. It lifted my stamina so much. After only about 90 mins of sleep, I wasn't sure how well I'd do. I knew that my leg was not doing well, but didn't want to ask anyone else to take my leg as they all had much more difficult legs and more miles than I had. I took several Advil, said a Divine Mercy Chaplet and a Rosary and decided to suck it up and learn to love the pain. Mary Jane will never know how much I appreciated her getting up extra early on a Sunday to see me off. Even though I have lived in the Houston area for 20 years now, I really don't know my way around the place save for the Medical Center and Museum district. It was so nice to see such beautiful old trees and neighborhoods. There were narrow and uneven sidewalks so I tried to stay on the road as much as possible. Houston police were awesome as they stopped traffic to allow us to pass. I didn't get flipped off even once!! There was a bit of excitement as I neared the end of my run. A car had crashed into a brick wall and was directly in the way of my leg. I hopped a few curbs and traveled to the other side of the street. As I did so, I realized that I could get a "jay-walking" ticket. Praying that this didn't happen, I continued on. My pace was much slower this time around. I had to utilize the run/walk method to get through it. Mile 1: 10:02, Mile 2: 10:23, Mile 3: 11:27 (walk/run started) Mile 4: 11:00, Mile .47 10:05. At the end of this run, I broke my cardinal rule about caffeine and ingested a cold frappucino. It was so good and I was able to stay awake the rest of the day. Those who know me and caffeine, don't worry, I didn't kill anyone!


Leg 39 - 3.29 miles This was the most interesting part of the relay. We were in the midst of high humidity and overcast clouds as Jon finished the Captain's leg. It was quite breezy and even a bit chilly, though very sticky. I had to switch to the other Blogger van to finish the last leg. I will say, they kept a much cleaner van than we did! I think all of their ingestion of Red Bull forced them to keep busy by cleaning!! It was great to have the honor of finishing the relay with the other half of the team. I got to meet every one on the team and spend time with each member. I am not sure if everyone else got that opportunity. I felt truly blessed. First up to run was Keith. He grabbed the baton from Jon and headed into the neighborhoods of East Houston. I will always cherish the look upon his face as we tried to figure out what he needed on his run. "GUMMY BEARS! I WANT GUMMY BEARS!" The best we could do was some Gu... Poor Keith had a strange effect on trains. Twice during this relay would he get stuck behind them. Taking the next leg was David. This guy is a running machine. We were taking bets on who would make it to the end of his leg, us, driving through the "hood" or him, running through the park. Thankfully, we all made it safe and sound. Next was Cassie's turn. The rain started coming down hard as she began her leg. What a strong lady. She didn't flinch a bit as she headed into the parts of town that most would think twice about going into. At one point, I was concerned for her physical safety and we stayed close to her as she came out of that neighborhood. Finally, my leg was up. The rain stopped as Cassie ended her run. The wind decided it was a good time to pick up. I would love to know the speed of the wind that I was running directly into. It was so strong I could feel myself going sideways and working extra hard to push through. My leg called for a jaunt across a field which didn't look too difficult until I was mid-field. It was then that I realized that the field had been trenched by a 4X4 over and over again. I rolled my ankle a few times which felt great as I was "road killed" again. Dang it! The trenched fields had also just been rain-soaked from the downpour that came during Cassie's run. By the time I got to the edge of the field, I had to walk for a bit. So much for my trail running career. I think I'd much rather hop roots than avoid holes. During the last part of the run, my glorious family drove past me and cheered me on. I continued to fight the head wind and at times gave in to a walk. I felt like I was pushing 500 lbs just to move forward. I was never so glad to finish my leg as I was at that moment. Mile 1: 9:33, Mile 2: 9:54, Mile 3: 11:09, Mile .29: 9.44 pace. Holden had yelled out to me that I should keep going if he wasn't at the next exchange. I am so grateful he was there!



Epilogue - The feeling of finishing was very emotional. I started this TIR with the intent that it would be a once in a lifetime event. I confirmed that feeling sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning, but something happened as we crossed that line as a team... and I can't wait to do it again.



I was somewhat concerned that TIR would take away from my training to complete Hog's Hunt because mileage-wise, it wasn't what I needed to be doing this weekend. But I can see that this experience tested me in so many other ways that WILL prepare me for the Endurance runs. I ate little, slept even less, gave up most comforts that I am spoiled by, and ran through pain. I overcame myself over and over on this run. And because one of my highest goals in life is to die to myself, I believe that this experience helped me to do so on a level that I might never get to in every day life.

People ask why we do this. Can we truly give an answer? Sure, I do it for the kids, as my blog is titled. But I do it for so many other reasons. Deep reasons. Reasons I don't even understand. I am such a selfish, self-centered being, yet, through the grace of God, I am able to place myself in situations which test me to the ends of my belief. I don't see how I can possibly do something, yet He provides all that I need to do so, just like He promises. So perhaps I am testing Him? I hope not. I hope that I am showing my faith in Him. Showing that I trust in Him. I know that He will carry me when I can no longer go on. I know that He will relieve me when He knows that I have done all that I can.

I will never be able to fully comprehend how this experience has impacted me. I am a changed person. I change with every run. I am not fast, I am not strong. I don't meet expectations, but I do my best. 18 months ago, I had never run even a mile. But I can do all things, in Christ...