Ok, Marathon Report!

Yesterday morning was almost surreal. I got up at 4:45am to have a quick breakfast and then picked Dave up at his hotel on the was to the bus. When we got up to Grafton it was almost like I didn't believe that it was actually happening. I knew I was there to run the marathon but I couldn't wrap my brain around the fact that the actual day had finally arrived. Plus, we had to wait for an hour at the high school before the start which really got my nerves going. Finally we lined up with the 4:30 pace group and cheered when the gun went off!

I have to say that 90% of this race was the easiest, most enjoyable race I've ever ran in and 10% was the hardest thing I have ever done. The first 19 miles or so were literally a breeze. We were waving and saying hello to everyone cheering along the course, talking, laughing, and having a good time. The pace was so comfortably slow that I felt no pain or fatigue at all for quite a while. I even took out my phone and started posting updates every couple of miles on my Twitter account! I heard somebody at mile 15 say "Hey, that girl is SMILING still!" Ha.

Around mile 14 I started to feel like I wanted to pick up the pace just a hair. Not too much, but I started to pull away from the pace group. If I were to do anything different next time it would definitely be not to try this and to stick with the group for the entire run. It felt awesome for a few miles but around mile 20 I realized I had slowed up again and the group caught up with me. I stayed with them for the duration but at that point I really started to feel the pain. The rest of the race got harder and harder and I wonder if I would have felt better if I had held back when I felt that surge.

Miles 21 on were such a mental game. I stopped talking to everyone, cranked up my music and focued on each step- just putting one foot in front of the other. My quads started burning and it was a struggle just to keep up with the pace group at this point but I wanted more than anything for us to finish all together!

When we came around the curve at the final .2 I felt like crying. I started to dig deep for that final push and I saw my husband waving with his camera up in the air! Then I heard a group of people screaming my name and saw all my Twitter friends with signs for me and Anne right as I crossed the finish.

Right after I got my medal I started wandering and I felt all fuzzy like I was floating outside of my body. It was such a strange experience. I was so happy not only to finish, but also a few minutes under my goal time AND with all my running buddies. Plus, the support of everyone at the finish was phenomenal. I couldn't believe how excited people were for me to accomplish this crazy thing.

So.... now I'm still recovering. Gonna lounge in bed, eat, drink, and look for my next race. :) Two years ago I could barely run two miles. Last year I ran my first 5K. Now I ran a freaking marathon. And I will continue to run marathons in the future. Looking forward to next year!