26.2

After 20 weeks of training,

I ran my first marathon.

In the early stages of my training I remember being scared

to run my long runs on the weekends.

I think building and building the length of my long runs

really helped me mentally get over the 26.2 number.

On race day I was excited and had butterflies, but I wasn't scared.

I knew I had done everything I needed to do to get me across the finish line.
I told Phil that my training taught me so much about being prepared for 26.2.

I learned what to wear.

I learned what to eat.

I learned when to drink.

I learned to listen to my body.

Everything I learned before race day helped make race day so much easier.

The thing I feared most was getting hurt during the race
and not being able to complete it. Thankfully, that did not happen.
I think I would have been crushed if it had.

There were so many people.
I ran a 10K a couple years ago up at Tahoe.
This prepared me for the crowd.
Even so, it is still cool to see all the people.
Speaking of cool, the weather was cool. Perfect condidtions for running a marathon.
When the horn sounded the crowd began to move, ever so slowly, I was ready to run.
It was tricky to run around the slower runners.
I would pick someone running at my pace and try to follow them.
I really felt great.
We ran through old neighborhoods.
The lawns were like grandma Terrill's lawn.
There were huge trees.
We also ran along the American River.
It was quite picturesque.
This course was a loop ran twice for the full marathon.
After the first loop I felt great. I ran the first half in 2 hours and 13 minutes.

(I've already decided I am going to run a 1/2 marathon next.)
The numbers dwindled after that first loop though.
I ran most of the second loop with lots of space between me and the other runners. At mile 18 my right knee started to ache, but it was just an ache. No pain. The thing that surprised me most was how hard it got for me to change my pace. I remember thinking if I could just speed up a bit, or lift my legs higher, I could change up my cadence and get a little relief, but I couldn't. I also caught myself counting down the miles. I had to force myself to listen to my music. I never really had any pain, just discomfort. The kind of discomfort that would have made me stop if I were running by myself. I kept telling myself, "I'm going to do this." I also repeated over and over, "Slow and steady finishes the race."
I must admit that it did get really tough the last 2 miles or so miles. It became a mind game.

I willed my body to run. In fact, I found it difficult to even walk. Walking made it so much harder to start running again. I think I walked about half a mile total. At mile 25 I ran into the park and saw Phil and the kids playing by a pond. The boys spotted me first and ran over to me.

It was awesome to see them. They all seemed surprised to see me. I started to cry, but kept running. When I came to the last 100 yard the kids ran out and finished with me. They were laughing and cheering for me,

"Run mom run! You can do it! You're almost done!"

It was an incredible experience. I could hardly believe I did it.

I can still hardly believe I did it. 26.2 miles! Our bodies are amazing! My hips and knees really hurt. They ached bad. My legs felt like noodles. It felt strange to stop running. I was not prepared for the post run pain though. My body really, really ached and hurt. The ache was deep in my bones. My knee bones and hip bones hurt. I hobbled around the rest of the day and hobbled around the next day as well. Today I am feeling much better and not really gimpy anymore.

I think tomorrow I will be 100%. One thing that cracked me up the most was the boys telling me before the race that they hoped I would win. Ha! How funny is that. I finished in 4 hours and 56 minutes. Just under 5 hours. Amazing!

To Do List When I Am 40

run a marathon

Check. Done.