What LeBron James and I have in common

I am happy to say that we both completed the 1/2 Marathon! Here’s my play by play

• Pre-race feelings: nervous and excited. Seeing everyone pumped up was contagious. There were great positive vibes
• Mile 1-4: Feeling really good, keeping a good pace <12:30 mins/mile!
• Mile 5-6: Still under 12:30 pace, starting to get tired, but staying strong.
• Mile 6-7: hitting a wall, energy is depleting, but pushing through. Staying motivated by the people cheering us on
• Mile 8-10: Starting to feel the pain— in my knees and especially in my calves. They’re so tight and start to spasm. Pace has decreased greatly. Speed walkers are starting to pass us. How are they so fast?!
• Mile 10-12: realizing that what we are feeling is not fatigue, but pain. We start to walk to rest. We try to run here and there but can barely keep that up for 15 seconds without pain. Trying to stay positive
• Mile 12.5- finish line: Sophia finds the energy to sprint towards the finish line, but I can barely walk because of my calves. I try to hype myself up to slowly jog the rest of the way to end strong, the moment I start I get a Charley horse in BOTH calves, lose all control, and literally collapse onto the ground. People start to stare at me in shock and don’t know what to do. Luckily 2 cheer volunteers come to my aid and the man has to carry me to the sidewalk because I cannot move from the knees down. They start massaging my calves and I just start bawling because 1) I was scared 2) the pain 3) but mostly, because I was disappointed in myself for not running the whole way. It takes about 5 minutes for me to be able to even stand again. I humbly thank them and decide to walk to the finish line, still wiping away tears.
• I finished barely under 3 hours. I tried to smile towards the end, but inside I was still upset and it showed all over my face. It took me a while after I crossed the finish line to recover emotionally. I reminded myself that I still tried really hard, I did finish, and that we raised so much money for Nationwide Children’s Hospital!

So what do I have in common with LeBron James? We both suffered from debilitating leg cramps. Read about his story: here. I feel his pain.

I’m still recovering from the race. I don’t even want to think about running for a while, especially because I can barely walk right now!

Overall, the whole experience was positive. I loved seeing the Columbus community come together and seeing all the Children at each mile marker touched my heart. Thanks again everyone for your support. It means so much to us! I’m so proud of us for working towards our goal and now we can both cross this off our to-do list! #TeamKasualLife