I ran a marathon today because I love to run. Chris ran a marathon today because he told me one day a while back it was "no big deal" and "anyone could run one". So, being the loving wife I am and wanting my dear husband to experince all life has to offer, I signed him up to run the Pinckney Trail Marathon: 26.2 miles of rugged terrain, steep and frequent hills with damaging descents that grind your quad muscles to smithereans. Rocks, trees, roots, mud and anything else that you could possibly imagion being in the Michigan back country was there. 

     This race was preceded by 4 months of training for me. I ran several long runs consisting of a 20 miler, 22, 24 and 26 miler in practice to get my body used to the wear and tear of bing on my feet and taking a pounding for such a long time. I started the last week of December and ran through snow, wind, and the long, cold Michigan winter. Chris's training consisted of his weekly run of around 3 miles and a 10 miler he threw in last weekend only because I suggested he MAY want to see if he would have any issues with that distance. 

      We got up at 4:30am after a restless night- for me anyway, Chris claimed he slept fine but I am not sure I can believe him. We drank our coffee and fueled up with  our carbohydrate rich meals.  Grandma Perkins came to spend the night and watch the kids THANK YOU GRANDMA PERKINS! Without her help with the kids I could not have made Chris's dream of running a marathon with his wife come true.

      We left around 6:20 and arrived at the race area around 7:00. Just enough time to use the porta-potty (a racing tradition!) pin our numbers on and head to the start.
     
     The gun fired at 7:35am and we were off. This race consisted of two loops of 13.1 miles each. Our (okay, MY) game plan was to start off nice and easy the first loop and then run the second loop faster - which is called a negative splt. This very hard to do. Basically in the beginning you are feeling so great and your adrenaline is pumping so everything in you wants to start fast! Its VERY hard to hold your pace back. For me this is one thing I have yet to master. I probably started too fast with 9ish minute miles.  We finished the first loop in 2:05.
      It would have been a little faster had I not gotten a horrible jabbing side cramp. This cramp was the spawn of the devil. It started tround mile 11 and persisted until around mile 15. It was located right below my rib cage on my right side and was a dull throbbing pain that turned into a sharp jabbing "a knife is poking me in the gizzard and I am doing to die" feeling whenever I ran down any hills or tried to breath very deeply- both of which were unavoidable.  I was nearly moved to tears and had to stop twice to try to stretch it out.  That's the thing with side cramps. They show up when they want with no rhyme or reason and leave only when they have cause you a ton of pain and  and not a minute before. 
        During this brief period of  time we'll call  "Laura in agony and Chris feeling good", Chris insisted he wanted to run my next marathon with me- scheduled for July 28th, he was loving this one so much. Fast forward 4 miles to the period we will refer to as "Chris dying and Laura feeling and running swimmingly" and Chris suddenly had no reccolection of saying any such thing and is now sticking to his story of not running another marathon "any time soon".

    Mile 15 is the point where Chris "Hit the Wall".  Or at least his leg muscles hit the wall. This is 5 miles sooner than a typical average runner hits the wall, pehaps because of his less than average training??? 
     He described to me how each individual leg muscle cramped up and would spazm at  the most inoppourtune times- like when we were screaming down a hill, or up the hill or while trying to jump a massive rock or leap a knotted knarly root. Heck, it was all an unoppourtune time and I felt slightly sorry for him. Not sorry enough to slow down for him, but a tiny bit sorry still.
   In all actuality Chris did a GREAT job of biting the bullet and pushing through the pain. Since the trail mostly single track I ran the entire way in front with Chris following. Towards the end I could hear groans and moans from him as we would approach yet another hill. He stayed right behind me until around mile 24 when I pulled ahead with my kick and he had no kick. I finished in 4:25, and got second place in my age group, missing first place by a meager 5 minutes. Chris finished in 4:27 and placed 6th in his age group, 45 minutes behind the winner.
     We both laid on the grass, jubilant the race and the agony were finshed.
P.S. On the drive home Mr. Cocky pants said that he didn't think he would be sore tomorrow, he felt really great. Make sure to check back tomorrow for an update of his fresh, lactic acid filled agony and a picture of him hobbeling around.

  
 

We got a call yesterday that someone would be interested in seeing our house today at 2pm- Yeah! I had a really good feeling about this showing and so all morning today Chris and I have been cleaning-
     The shower and tub- sparkling! The lawn- freshly mowed, trimmed, edged! Carpets- spots removed and vacuumed! Floors- mopped! Bathrooms- clean! Laundry- all done and folded! We dusted, Febreezed, De-cluttered and organized.
     In between this mad cleaning frenzy we dressed the children, kept them occupied, fed them breakfast and lunch, changed 2 diapers, a pair of poopy underwear and bathed one very dirty child. Then, as I just finished baking 36 mini blueberry muffins (for that great freshly baked smell would be wafting through the house)  the Buyers realtor called. Something came up for them today and they will not be seeing our house. Oh, but they will *try* to reschedule. Grrrrrrrr. 
     It's hard not to take it personally but Chris and I have bigger things to think about- Like our MARATHON TOMORROW!! This time tomorrow we will be done. It is so exciting. We are leaving here in a little bit to go pick up our race packets.  I will of course update you tomorrow.

Yesterday Joey had school. Normally Chris is home when I have to take Joey in so I can usually leave the girls with him. However, yesterday he had to work so everyone needed to be loaded up in the van to take Joey in. I was feeling a bit frazzled trying to get everyone ready when Joey came to me with his stuffed Penguin that he wanted to take with him to school. 

    "No," I told him "Penguins do not need to go to school- go get your backpack, its time to go." He looked at me with his big tear filled eyes. "Joey, if you are going to cry you can go to your room and cry there, you CANNOT take your Penguin to school, School is for learning, not Penguin playing! Now chop, chop, we are running late."

He walked off, shoulders slumped, looking very deflated.  I few minutes later he reappeared, shoes and coat on- and a rather plump looking backpack affixed to his back. "Mommy, I do NOT need to take my Penguin to school, I do NOT have my Penguin!" He told me matter of factly. I looked at him skeptically as I hearded the 3 tiny Schmitts into the van.

"Joey, I am just going to check your backpack and make sure you have everything you need..." I reached for his backpack with the Penguin shapped sillouette. "No! Mommy" Joey grabbed his backpack and held it close " I have everything I need, you do NOT need to check!" He insisted. I looked into his big brown eyes. "Joey, I am going to give you a chance to tell Mommy the truth, are you trying to sneak your Penguin to school?"    "Yes Mommy." He said sadly. I couldn't resist his adorable sad face. The Penguin was allowed to go to school that day, with the instructions that he stay in the backpack.  "Joey" I told him, "You need to remember that your Mommy knows everything."

Hi friends and family! Thanks for visiting our brand new web site! It is very exciting for us to be able to show up-to-date photos and postings with everyone that we don't see nearly enough! So take a look around and sign the guest book and let us know what you think!
    Check back as often as you want because we will be adding new pics and blog entries every week.  Our life is never dull so there will probably always be something crazy to post.

Love, The Schmitts