We left for Eugene fairly early on Friday morning since it is a nice little 7-8 hour drive from Spokane. When we left I was excited and wasn’t even that nervous anymore. I felt more prepared to run a marathon then I have ever been before.
#SweatPink
We got to Eugene around 2:00 pm and checked into the hotel. The hotel was well…interesting. I am glad that we weren’t planning on spending a lot of time in it! After we got all of my stuff up to the room (have I mentioned I don’t pack light?) Mr. Healthy Diva and I headed over to the expo. I was looking forward to hearing Meb speak and hoped to get him to sign the finishing photo I took of him in Houston. I was also looking forward to meeting Lauren Fleshman and getting some Picky Bars to sample and review (review will be coming soon!).
Lauren Fleshman and I
Meb put on a great presentation and answered a lot of questions from the audience. I love his motto about “digging dip”, not to mention his story is incredible. If you haven’t read his book (Run to Overcome)- read it! I only had to wait in line for about 10 minutes to meet him. Talk about a sincere and gracious man. Not to mention TALENTED!!! My husband was excited to be able to touch Meb’s silver medal from Athens.
Meb speaking
Mr. Healthy Diva touching Meb's silver Olympic medal from Athens
Meb & I
The photo I took of Meb winning in Houston @ the Olympic Trials
After I met Meb we did a mad dash over to the Eugene Running Co. so that I could do an easy 3 mile shake out run with Lauren and her husband Jesse. There was a fairly small group of us that headed out, some ran 5, but I opted for an easy 3. I ran with Lauren’s friend, Maggie, most of the way who is from New York. She was super sweet and fun to chat with. She was running the 5K Saturday morning (I am pleased to report that she ran a PR too!) .
After my run we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. I had made plans with Katy who was up from Sacramento to run the CIM booth at the expo. Katy and I had briefly met at CIM and I was looking forward to having dinner with her. We decided on Track Town Pizza- which did not disappoint. Great beer & pizza.
Race recap #2 is currently in progress. At this point I haven’t had the courage to download my garmin. Nor have I really wanted to think about Sunday. Don’t get me wrong, I am PROUD of finishing. It is just tough when you work your as* off for 12 weeks and miss what your target time was by 10 minutes. It was a time that theoretically should have been easily obtainable based off of all of my training runs. UGH.
--Tasha
I'm sorry you didn't hit your goal. I know it takes a while to get over the disappointment, BUT--you just ran a freakin' marathon. You need to be proud of that accomplishment, no matter how the day went down! Focus on what you learned from it and apply it to the next one, which will see you to your goal!
ReplyDeleteCongrats!
Thank you!!! Marathons are such a learning curve. I am hoping to apply everything to Portland in October and hopefully have some success!
DeleteI think you are AWESOME regardless of what the garmin says. And i can't believe you got to meet Meb! TEAM MEB, YAY!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Meb was awesome! I loved meeting him. :-)
Deletelooks like a great start, Tasha!! so sorry your finish wasn't what you wanted. I so understand. I think thats what makes the marathon such a risk...such a journey...you just never know what marathon day is going to bring. Look forward to reading the rest.
ReplyDeleteHi Julie- missed you in Eugene, but it looks like you had a fantastic weekend with your family. Sometimes you just need weekends like that. Marathons are risky and can be heart breakers. UGH. Looking forward to the next though (can't believe I just said that!).
DeleteSorry you missed your time:( I know how that feels, but you still did awesome:) SO cool that you got to meet Meb!
ReplyDeleteThank you :-)
DeleteAhhh that would be awesome to meet Meb! How inspirational!
ReplyDeleteHe was super inspirational, even though it didn't seem to rub off on me. Ha! "Dig Deep!!!" :D
Deletea finish is always huge and a finsih that wasn't easy is a big deal...but it does take a few days to process not hitting what you trained so hard for and realizing how much you still accomplished.
ReplyDeletelove meb, i met him in houston and he is so darn nice and down to earth.
I remember know that you met Meb in Houston. He is such a great guy!
DeleteThat's awesome that you got to meet Meg and Lauren Fleshman, cool folks!
ReplyDeleteI think that the fact that you finished a race that wasn't your ideal perfect race says a lot more about you than if you had run the race according to plan-- it means you're tough and you pushed through it!! That's way harder than doing the race that you'd planned for. Congrats!!
Lauren was really cool- very down to earth. Meb is super sincere. I am hoping he makes the podium in London and I hope that Lauren makes the team too!
DeleteTasha, I am a little jealous that you were able to go to the expo Friday and see Meb and Lauren without the HUGE lines to stand in! We had a little birthday thing to do, or i would have been there with you. Love the medal and looking forward to the picky bar review. Too cool you got to do the shake-out 3 miler with LF!!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading your RR when you have time to process it all. You are an amazing and talented runner.
I am glad that we got that out of the way on Friday too. Friday wasn't nearly as crazy as Saturday was.
DeleteI am so glad that I got to meet you on Saturday. I wished that we could have spent more time in Eugene after the race. IF my husband wouldn't have been there I probably could have stayed longer. Oh well! I am still so freaking proud of you!!!! You are awesome!!! I could tell that you were going to run a great race when I saw you at the start. You looked so strong.
Meb sounds super cool and how sweet you got him to sign the pic you took of him.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about an interesting hotel, I've been in a couple that were less than satisfactory.
Like your pic by the pizza parlor :)
Take your time writing your recap, I understand being dissatisfied with a race time even if I haven't ran a full marathon (especially since you can't go out and do another the next week). You're a fighter and even though you got knocked down you'll get back up and kick some booty!!!
Um the hotel was icky, lol. Even Mr. Healthy Diva was making comments about it and he is CHEAP!!!!
DeleteRace recap is slowly coming together. I might post it tomorrow. :-)
You got to meet Meb??? SOOOO cool!!!!! I'm jealous!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat recap start! It can be MEGA upsetting to not meet a "goal"... try not to get too down on yourself! You're amazing!!!
Thanks Meagan! :-)
Deletesorry to hear your motel was interesting but there are a lot of interesting things here in Eugene. I know you said you are having a hard time with your time but don't running a marathon is dang tuff and yes it sucks when we don't get our goal time, but you did it and you should be dang proud.
ReplyDeleteThank you Corrine. Already looking forward to Portland in October. Do you live in Eugene?
DeleteI bet that was really neat to get to meet Meb and Lauren and have your picture taken with them.
ReplyDeleteSorry you are bummed about your time, which is maybe why you should come and run in Missoula. There is always the next one, but I do understand how disapointing it is to have a goal in mind and know that you can do it, and then not. Hugs. I am so proud of you all the same and really do hope you make it to Missoula.
It was super cool to meet both of them. I felt like a little kid. Mr. Healthy Diva did not understand. Haha.
DeleteStill contemplating Missoula--can't make up my mind. If I did it, I would probably just run the 1/2.
No matter what, you finished - and I can't wait to read your recap! Even when we don't do what we want, as long as we learn from it for next time, then we were successful!
ReplyDeleteSeeing Meb would have been so neat - and congrats on your race!
Thanks Laura! :-)
DeleteSo cool that you got to hear Meb speak and meet him.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry you didn't hit your time goal. I know how frustrating it can be, but you do have a lot to be proud of. You'll hit that time goal soon enough my friend! I believe in you.
Christie
www.rollerkoesterrun.com
Thanks Christie! I am hoping I can put everything together and run a solid marathon in October at Portland :-)
DeleteHow cool is it that you were able to meet Meb! :) Don't let your time get you down. I think it's super cool that you finished! Can't wait for the recap girl!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brandi! My race recap is almost done. Still need to add some thoughts to it today. :-)
DeleteI've been on the end of failing to meet my goals and being disapointed. You deserve a few days with your emotions and I know you will bounce back. I am very proud of your accomplishment, you ran a marathon and that's not an easy task!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jill. I think all of emotions are finally getting settled. Marathons are so tough- they are heart breakers. Especially when you train so hard for them and then anything can happen on race day. So frustrating. I don't think I will ever set a goal for a marathon again- other then to finish. :-)
DeleteI'm sorry you didn't get to meet your goal - but huge congratulations for finishing. That is really beyond amazing. I'll look forward to hearing more about the race.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kari! :-)
DeleteTrack Town has THE best pizza. We ate there every day during the state basketball playoffs in March.
ReplyDeleteBIG congrats, Tasha! I think you are amazing! The most important thing is that you finished the race! Looking forward to reading your full race recap.
ReplyDeleteIt was great getting to meet you and share dinner with you and Mr. Healthy Diva! You both are awesome. Thanks for the hug at the end. Even though we were in two different places emotionally I so appreciated and treasured your kindness and excitment for me!
ReplyDelete