Asheville Marathon

This post may be gut-wrenching, sappy, and weird... but what the hell. I ran another marathon.  Last year my friend Deanne asked a few of us girls if we were interested in doing the Asheville Marathon at Biltmore Estate with her. We are all familiar with the race as it is a local and we all have run it - either the full (in my case) or the half (the other girls)- at some point in the years it's been held.  I told Deanne I would but I had to get through Philly first. I was in the midst of training to RACE Philly and not thinking about the future; running allows me to live in the present.  During that time I was focused on pace, what was going into my body, and fundraising... not dreaming about future races. I could only see one foot in front of me. The other girls fell out, due to different things, and Deanne was left wondering if I would commit. Of course I would... and I did.  She just did not realize the level of crazy she was working with.

Two weekends after Philly I did my first long run for Asheville. Deanne and I decided to train together and I told her my dreams of traveling different places to get the miles in... evidently I was working with a certain level of crazy too, because she listened and agreed.  We ran a bunch. I kept running with Kayla throughout the week as my base runs and speedwork  - hello, she's my ride or die running partner! And Deanne met with some of our other friends to do her weekday runs.   On Saturdays Deanne and I committed to running all of the 828.. and I think we were pretty successful. We ran Newland, Brown Mountain Beach Area, Blowing Rock, Hendersonville, Morganton, Rutherford College to Granite Falls -- our Garmins picked up counties rather than cities because we ran so incredibly far.  And it was so much fun.  I cried a few times thinking about it coming to an end because in reality the training is the hard part but we made it magical.  My 37th birthday fell on one of the long run days, the 20 miler, and we had a traveling party.  We invited my former running partner Kim since she was also training for Asheville.  (This is another crazy chick, she was training for 39.3 - the half and the full!) We had a blast on that run and celebrated with cake, beer, and the best peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ever at Brown Mountain Beach afterward.

Moving forward, we took full advantage of the marathon's offerings and made Kim join us as she was part of the epic adventure. We stuffed goodie bags, did everything at the expo, and soaked up the Asheville sun on that weekend.  It was incredible.  In fact, so was the marathon. Deanne had never run a marathon and Asheville was to be her first.  Asheville was number 7 for me and my goal was to just enjoy the day out on the course. I had not planned to race it, I just wanted to finish strong. Deanne is an ambassador for the Asheville Marathon, so I got to hob knob with the race director, volunteers, and even meet the Mario olive people. (I love olives and the olive people were at the expo, ha!).  I kinda rode on Deanne's coattails - stayed in the hotel room, ate lots of olives, texted Kim a bunch to boast about my posh marathon experience, and followed Deanne around... that kind of thing. The night before the race we met another race ambassador and friend, Crystal, and her friend, Angela, for pasta. We ordered a beer, ate tasty food, and enjoyed talking with each other - it just made the evening less stressful. It cut the edge so to speak. 

The day of the marathon, we embarked on our journey very early .  The alarm went off at 4 am and the whirlwind started... trying to decide what to wear, the weather had changed over night, drinking coffee, bathroom trips, forcing myself to eat...  laughing, crying, panicking about the race.  We left early from the hotel and headed over to Antler Village at the Biltmore House. One thing you should know about this race is that it is well protected - you need day passes, shuttle passes, tickets, etc -  but the Asheville Marathon staff will gladly help you figure it out and the ticket is provided with the registration.  We drove on to the race, rather than ride a shuttle... parking was not an issue as Deanne wanted to arrive early.  She had to take an Ambassador race day picture so I followed her to the heated barn to await that. I ambled around while Deanne was talking and eventually found Kim hanging out in the heated barn too.  Her husband, John, volunteered so she was enjoying the VIP treatment like me too (aka coattail riding).  (By the way, John was one of my favorite volunteers). At this point, the three of us bonded together like glue.  We all were nervous, excited, but ready to run.

We walked to the start and found our corrals/our pace groups, and mentally prepared for the race. Then it started. I was busy goofing off so I missed the start and vaguely recall Kim saying the same thing, spoiler alert - she was goofing off too - with me nonetheless.  We settled into our paces.  I followed Deanne for a few miles, and then settled back.  Along the way, I made friends as per usual.  I ran a mile or two with a girl named Sarah, who left me around the 7 mile mark, and then I ran miles 10-18 with a girl named Renee.  There are some significant rises the first 12 miles and my recommendation for anyone going out for this race is to just suck it up, those hills are worth it in the end. At  mile 16 I remember cascading the vineyard with 7 other bad ass ladies... our squad goals were to be awesome... and running with 7 other women at that point was incredibly empowering. At 18 we caught up to Sarah and stayed together until mile 20.  At 20 I took off at a faster clip.  I ran alone until mile 23 when Renee caught up with me.  Then we kind of finished together.  Of course, I was with the bad ass lady gang the rest of the race too and we all stayed within a few minute proximity of each other to the finish.  The day started cool but the temperature did rise to about 68 degrees in the full sun, I got sun burnt, but that was the worst of my ailments, believe it or not. 
The course offers several out and back portions and that's when I received power from Kim and Deanne. We would wave, yell, and high-five.  (Kim can't high-five by the way, it was all air).   I came to the end and saw Kim and Deanne yelling for me.  I remember screaming "number 7 is in the bag!" Then it was done... Our friend Kacie gave me my finisher's blanket and some man put the medal around my neck.  I looked around and spotted my friends! I hugged the girl beside me and then hugged Renee. Deanne and Kim then walked with me to get a beer. We partied with the volunteers, had a jello shot with a unicorn (well former unicorn, she had the costume off by then), and just goofed off.  It was a great feeling!  After the marathon, we met Kim and her husband for pizza in town.  Just an all around fantastic day.

A marathon for me is old hat. I know how hard to run that far is, I know how daunting the training can seem, I know how to fuel to finish a race... I've been through all that 7 times. But what I gained from this experience is an understanding of friendship.  Deanne and I became very close through training, she's become one of my closest friends.  Deanne also helped mend a relationship too.  She brought Kim back into my life. You see, three years ago, Kim and I trained for Asheville. We ran all of our runs together, finished strong, and then fell apart.  We ended up losing 2 years of friendship because we refused to work through a bump in the road.  This marathon meant something different for all of us. It was Deanne's first marathon, it was a chance for Kim to prove she could do something incredible by running 39.3 miles, and it was a chance for me to mend my heart.  I'd say we all succeeded.  And for that I'm extremely grateful.


"Like the marathon, life can sometimes be difficult, challenging and present obstacles, however if you believe in your dreams, and never give up, things will turn out for the best." - Meb Keflezighi