26.2

Last Sunday I ran my first marathon. I have no idea how to summarize how I feel about it. Happy, proud, disappointed, depressed, thankful....and on and on. I am happy and proud that I finished it. I'm a little disappointed with how bad the last 5 miles went. My sister in law, Miya, ran it with me. We had two goals. Our first was to finish it and our second was to do it in under 5 hours. Before the race

The nerves before the race were so crazy. There have only been a handful of times I've had that nervous excitement feeling that would top this (one being my wedding, one being the birth of sweet Maddox Moo). It was great to have Jeff, Maddox, my mom and Drew (Miya's boyfriend) there at the start. The first 7 miles are pretty hilly so that was a bit tough but we were doing well and having a lot of fun with the race atmosphere. At mile 6.5 or 7 we saw my Dad which was awesome because we weren't expecting to see him until the end. My sweet girls Ashley, Sarah, Jackie, and Brooke were right next to my Dad apparently, but I didn't see them. I feel really bad about it but I think I was so shocked to see my Dad and there was a turn right there and I just kinda spaced out. I don't know :( I'll touch more on those amazing ladies in a minute.

This is a picture Jackie took at around mile 6. Looks like I see her right??? Nope just looking at me dad. I feel real bad I didn't see them.

Jeff, Maddox and Drew saw us at mile 7 and again at miles 9.5 and 16.

Mile 7ish - Jeff's is replacing my water bottle!

Mile 16ish

We were rocking and rolling until the turn on Riverside at Mile 15. The weather was less than optimal for running. It was in the high 60s which is hot in running temps. They say for long runs you really don't want it over 60. It was also incredibly windy (read like 30 mile/hour winds that were blowing over the port-a-pottys). It didn't really affect us until we made the turn at 15 and then we were running straight into the wind from 15 to 21.

I was really struggling and then around mile 18 I saw the girls and wow I just can't even explain it. I kinda expected my hubby and parents to be there but these girls who have so much going on in their lives gave up their entire Sunday morning to support me. They totally had the best posters of the entire race and seeing them at that point meant everything to me. I cannot believe they came to 3 different places. They got up early and thanks to my slow ass stayed around late into the afternoon. I have the most amazing group of girls in the world. Thank you ladies! Mile 18ish - I am crying because I saw the girls and also because I want to die right about now.

At about mile 19 I felt absolutely terrible I was getting dizzy and shaky and felt nauseous. Miya was amazing and I'm really not sure I would have been able to finish if she hadn't been there. She hung with me until about 21.5 when I basically forced her to go on because I was stopping to walk every .5 to .75 miles and I knew she could go on. The last 3.5 miles were awful and there was some serious crying and times when I thought I was going to pass out. This happened to me once on a training run that was 20 miles. That was also a day that was warmer and I really think that has a lot to do with it. When I ran the Mock Marathon which was the actual course minus 4 miles I finished in 4:10 so I was expecting to be able to come in under 5. Uhhhh lets try a 5:23:00. YIKES!!! When I came around the corner with just about .25 miles to the finish there was my amazing husband. He ran along side me and cheered me on to the end. He is so amazing.

I crossed the finish line and hit the ground in tears for a second. My god sister was there waiting for me (she ran her 6th marathon!!!) and it was an amazing moment. My entire family and the girls were also there and there were hugs all around. It was really awesome getting to share the experience with everyone.

The first thing I thought when I crossed was thank god it's over and I never have to do that again. I am already trying to find another one to run though because I know I can do so much better. It's the running bug and once you catch it, well it's hard to get rid of. So overall I'm happy. I wish I had done better at the end but in the same respect I ran 26.2 miles people, 26.2. I turn 30 in less then a month and guess what. I'm a marathon runner.