I Ran a Marathon

I'm still wincing as I go up and down the steps, but I did it!  I am slightly disappointed in myself, however, for not running the whole thing...miles 1-21 were freakin awesome..I felt amazing and felt like I could hit my goal of getting in under 5 hours (or hitting it exactly)...unfortunately my legs decided they didn't want to be pushed much further at that point and every time I'd start running, I'd have to stop and walk for a quarter mile, then run a quarter mile, then walk, and so on.

But the fact that I ran the first 20 at a steady good pace made me feel like I could do this again and for sure hit my goal of seeing a 4 in that first number.  Either way, I moved forward for 5:15 minutes and I completed 26.2 miles yesterday morning.  I ran a marathon.  I am so happy that is something I've done in my life now.  It doesn't matter whether I try it again or reach my goal or never run another mile in my life, I ran a marathon.

Now if only I could get a book published...my bucket list would be all red lines.

I'm feeling very full of happy endorphins now :)

Marathon is Tomorrow!

I am running a marathon tomorrow!!!  I'm trying to prepare myself in every regard....getting everything charged, making a list of everything I want to do to prepare for tomorrow morning.  I'm sitting outside and it's pretty darn warm out for 9:40 in the morning, and it might be even warmer tomorrow at this time...which is a bummer, but it is what it is and at least for the first couple of hours of running, it'll be cool.  When the wind blows, it's much cooler and more bearable and I'm just going to have to deal.  It'll still be cooler than the half marathon in Arizona was last year at this time.

If all goes well, I should be done between 11:30 and 12:30 (haha..12:30 if all doesn't go well but I still finish, 11:30 if I kick ass and do a steady good race...which is my ultimate goal...my secondary goal is to finish it, so that'd be the 12:30 time...and when you really think about it, isn't 6 hours of moving more grueling than 5...even if they are slower movements?).

Underneath it all I'm equally terrified and excited.  Maybe more excited than terrified, which is good.  Gotta go parent..taking the kids to the parks.


Update...7:45 PM

My girls are at our friends' house...they'll be keeping them over night and throughout the race tomorrow morning.  I really hope they're good and no incidents occur!

I'm all packed up and feeling as ready as I can be.  Rigatoni for dinner with some sourdough bread for a side...sourdough bread with peanut butter for breakfast and maybe a banana (I need to eat before long runs like this or I feel all shaky and energy depleted...I also bring mixed nuts on my long runs and eat them as I go...it has worked for my 3 longest runs and I'm excited to try it out tomorrow).

Packed in my handheld:
-Pepto bismol chewables (you never know...they've save me on several occasions)
-Some body glide in a baggy
-Mixed Nuts
-2 Bags Fruit Snacks
-3 nuun tablets
-Piece of gum
-Headphones in case the Bluetooth ones die
-Probably some other stuff...I'm the survivalist type.

Banana is for the car and I'll apply the body glide in the appropriate places when I get to the park.  IPod is gonna clip to the handheld strap.

Holy shit, this is happening in less than 12 hours.