officially a 'MARATHONER'

is that even a word?? well, it will work for now. Yes, we are officially marathon runners!! We managed to get ourselves across that finish line on Sunday afternoon; just a little over 5 hours after the gun went off in the morning. It's still surreal to me that we ran 26.2 miles last weekend!! I never would have imagined that I could complete such a distance, but that goes to show you that "anything" is possible, if we just put our minds to it--as well as ask our friends and family to pray for us before, during and post the event. It was quite the experience. It was fun, exhilirating, intimidating, challenging and a bit disappointing all at the same time.

FUN: We had tons of fun. We had fun seeing my family on Friday, and it was very freeing to be able to leave the kids with my parents overnight while we went on to San Antonio. The kids had fun staying with my parents, so much so, that when I called to say "night night" to Katherine that night, she barely said a few words before she told me "kateli not here no more" We had fun meeting up with our friends in San Antonio, and hanging out with them as we picked up our race packets, walked around downtown, and ate dinner at the TNT pasta party. The TNT pasta was very inspiring, although the personal story that was shared was a bit too sad for me; a definite tear jerker! But there were over 700 people gathered together, celebrating their successes in raising funds for the LLS. It was overwhelming to see so many people together in one place, all with the same drive behind their efforts in training and raising money.

EXHILIRATING: I think I finally started getting nervous about the run on Sat afternoon as we drove into San Antonio. Something about being there made the whole thing more real to me than it had been before. I was actually able to get some sleep on Sat night, I don't remember tossing and turning at all. I don't remember being so anxious about the next morning, that I couldn't fall asleep. In fact, I think I actually slept more comfortably that night than I did the night before our 20 mile training run just a few weeks before. So that was GREAT!! Sunday morning was amazing. The weather was perfect, it started out in the high 30's I believe, and was supposed to warm up through the morning rather quickly. It was comforting to me to think back to our 20 mile run. We had done that training run in similar conditions; it was 39 degrees out and remained quite cool still by the time that we were done. So, I was not intimidated by the cold temperature. In fact, I looked forward to it, as I remember feeling great during our 20 mile run. We arrived at the ATT center rather early; we wanted to make sure that we were at the start on time. It was a good thing we did that too, as the girls and I had to wait in line at the Jack in the box for about 30 mins waiting to go to the potty before the run!! Not something that I share with everyone, but port-a-potties have always been my nightmare. I was determined to circumvent a visit to these things as best I could. So, I got my "pre-race" pee break out of my system, and after that it was just a blur to get the race started. We barely made it into corral 8 before being released with the mass of runners.

INTIMIDATING...to say the least. There were so many people waiting to cross the starting line--it was crazy. 30,000 people were signed up to run in the marathon, but I found out later that only 25,000 runners ran the race. Surprisingly enough, starting in waves helped tremendously. I don't know how I would have done had we ALL gone out at the same time, I can't imagine running shoulder to shoulder for miles and miles before finally getting some distance between us and the people in front, behind and beside us. So, roughly 12 mins after the gun went off, Dan and I crossed the start line and our chip time began ticking.

CHALLENGING: Our first few miles were our--well, I should say my, because Dan was pacing off of me the entire way, and I'm sure that alone, he could have run a much faster race--strongest. We may have started out just a FEW seconds too fast, which I thought may not have been a huge deal, as I figured I would settle into a rhythm and push through, as we had done for our 20mile training run!! However, somewhere between mile 11 and 13 my stomach started to turn and I felt like I was running with a huge weight on my shoulders. Some of you may want to skip to the next section now, if you don't want to hear about potty problems!! Anyway, I think the Cytomax sports drink got to me. We didn't train with Cytomax. We trained with powerade, gatorade and maybe G2 water. I couldn't push through it anymore and I had to give in to a potty break, in the...you got it...in the port-a-potty. My nightmare came true, on my first marathon run!! But you know what?? It was fine. It was not as bad as I had envisioned it. I'm not saying that it's okay now, I'll still avoid them as best I can, but I'm not afraid anymore. I felt so much better after our little break, and actually picked up the pace for the next mile and a half. And then it wore off, and I started slacking, and hurting but pushed through it. Along the race, I also began feeling a pain on the left side of my neck and into my collarbone so I had to take it easy. But I was determined NOT to walk any miles--and we didn't. We didn't walk any complete miles at a time, but we did have to resort to running/walking for the last few miles. My husband was awesome! He was supportive, encouraging and he took it easy with me, even though it meant a slower time for him. He held my hand when we'd walk and he'd tell me "you're doing great, you're pushing through this..." through it all.

a tad DISSAPOINTING: I know...I know...you are probably wondering "why?" I should be happy and proud to have finished our first marathon. In all honesty, I am...but I was also just a tad bit disappointed with our finishing time. We were shooting to finish in 4hrs 30mins and we missed that goal, because of me. I don't know what happened!!! I was so frustrated that I got sick to my stomach, had to stop for the potty, had to walk/run in the end, and slowed down our pace so much!! We ended up with a pace of almost 11 min/miles!!! Why is that disappointing?? Because we had run our 20 mile training run at a 9.5 min/mile!! So, I knew that I could run much faster, and I felt like I had let myself down. Maybe I hadn't pushed enough, maybe I gave in to the pain that I had learned to push through during training...Anyway, I felt and thought all those things after the marathon and the next day, but no more. Now, I'm just happy to have finished!! I'm happy and thankful for a strong body to get me across that finish line.

So, that was my experience at the marathon. We are happy to be home, safe and recovered and enjoying each day with our kiddos. This post is well overdue--as tomorrow marks one week since the eventfrom the event--but I needed a few days to gather my thoughts and share best with you who have prayed for us through the training and on the day of the run. Thank you for your support. You helped me reach and surpass my fundraising goal--we raised over $4,600 for the LLS and I still have a couple of checks that I need to send in. You helped get us across the finish line with your prayers, and your thoughts. So thank you!! I'm very grateful to each one of you. I will try to get pictures posted as soon as I get some from my sister. For now, you can check out our friend's website to read about their experience and to see some pics of the group!!

So now, a week later, I can tell you that we were VERY happy to NOT have to get up at 5:30am for a 6:00 am run in 22 deg weather this morning. Instead we got to sleep in and be warm, and celebrate Dan's birthday on this beautiful morning--that's the next post on our marshy corner :) I'll try to post