Well, I did it! I finished my first maraton Sunday, November 16, 2008 in San Antonio, TX. The last 16 weeks have been a challenging, but rewarding journey. I trained with some friends I met at the YMCA where we work out at. There were many who ran with us and helped us along the way. My friends, Jill, Dana, and Nancy ran the full marathon with me and then a few others ran the half. The four of us have been through ups and downs physically and emotionally throughout this whole process. I will forever be bonded to these gals. Love you girls!! The race was way better than I ever expected. I never thought I would be able to say that! We had a blast. My goal was to finish and enjoy the experience to the fullest. Thankfully, I was able to accomplish both. We had so much fun interacting with the crowd and bands along the race. I was really scared that I wasn't going to be able to finish because my IT band on my left leg had been bothering me for about a month and was hurting badly on Saturday. I was thinking how dissapointing it would be to have to go home and say I didn't finish. At church, Pastor Herbert had been speaking on the miraculous. He had people who needed a miracle come down to the front for prayer. I went down and had them pray for my legs. It seemed a little selfish, but I know if God cares about the sparrow, he cared about my marathon. On race day, my IT band bothered me the first 5 miles. I just kept stretching it and kept my knee brace really tight. After 5 miles, my leg didn't bother me at all! I know it was a God thing. There's no way I could have finished the entire marathon on my own. There were so many other God moments throught the race. I'm so grateful for all the people who kept me in their prayers. God is good! My parents and Chris went with me. They have been a huge support system. They waited at mile 13 and 23. It was a big motivator while running to know I would be seeing them soon. The last .2 miles of the race was straight uphill. Seriously??? I turned the corner to the finish line and Chris was in the crowd yelling my name. Then, he started running with me on the other side of the baracade towards the finish line. It was so sweet! I'm so thankful for my marathon experience. Once we crossed the finish line, we were all hugging and crying. We were so overwhelmed. It's almost an indescribable feeling. I definitley want to run another one soon. There's more pics at http://www.asiorders.com/view_event.asp?EVENTID=31362. You have to type my bib number, 15311.
The Expo on Saturday at the Alamodome. I like to describe it as Affair of the Heart for runners. This is just one small part. The picture does not do it justice.
Me at the Expo.
All of the runners
Me, Jill, and Nancy- first time marathoners
Mile 13
Off again
The winner for the women
The winner for the men
Finish line! What was I thinking? I'm starving! I need to eat now!
Jill and I with our medals. You can't really tell, but the medals were really colorful and pretty.
