I'm trying to think of some intelligent or thoughtful way to begin this post, but to be truthful, I'm still simply reveling in the excitement of FINISHING MY FIRST MARATHON! There are so many aspects of that day that continue to overwhelm me. I think I'll just begin a random run-down.
I thank God for His love and His strength and His grace. This was not the first time I've experienced that His strength is made perfect in my weakness, but it was once again powerfully overwhelming.
Waiting with Roy at the start, I was getting more and more anxious as the minutes ticked by. (If you hadn't heard, this past month I have been nursing a knee injury, and pretty much took a hiatus from training.) I was feeling unprepared, weak, and nervous, when I guy walked by with "Run with endurance the race that is set before you" "looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith" taped to his back on 2 sheets of paper. Ah, yes; the reminder I needed. I'm the type that has a hard time starting something if I'm not assured that it will end well and I will end doing it well. (pride? fear?)
Roy, Mom, and Adriel had all gotten up with me before the crack of dawn to be with me start to finish. Roy stayed with me in the start area until we were off and running. He was continually reassuring me and helping me to get excited rather than scared.
After we got going, my first pleasant surprise was seeing a friend who lives around mile 3. I was expecting to see him, but he had thought I was running my marathon last month, so he was surprised to see me. He was so happy for me and encouraging that it couldn't help but boost my confidence a bit, and at mile 3 I was still low in that.
A few minutes later I saw Roy, my Mom, and Adriel for the first time, and realized "this is really happening!" I disposed of my sweatshirt, hat and gloves with them. (If you're ever wanting a free, nice sport jacket, hat, or gloves, "sweep" up miles 2 and 3 of a big marathon.)
At mile 6 my good friend Beth was out cheering with her two children. How fun! At this point I still felt like I was bouncing on air. The rolling hills were keeping the quads/hams equally used, I guess, so it was feeling great. I was breathing deeply, keeping slow, and the brace I was wearing on my left knee was working very nicely.
Next I saw my sweet family around mile 10 (I think....) and learned that they had a flat tire. It reminded me that they were certainly doing this marathon with me, and possibly doing the harder part. All I had to do was run. They were scurrying around, finding places to see me, maneuvering through traffic, changing diapers, then sprinting out to the course, watching me run by, changing tires, zooming to the next place, and repeating it all again. Wow! I took off my brace at mile 10 to give my knee a chance to be itself and do a little work.
At the 13.1 I saw my friend Kara who had run the first leg of the relay. That was a great boost. And then 50 yards later Beth came sprinting up to me; apparently she had just made it to the half-way point and Kara told her I had just passed, so she ran hard to catch me. That was fun. I stopped and stretched. By now I was feeling like I had already done a long run; my hip was tight (most likely from wearing the brace, which changes my stride slightly.) I got a family update. The tire was changed and they would be out somewhere soon. So, I got going, feeling refreshed and stretched and excited and a whole lot more sure that I could finish.
Somewhere (15 or 16) I saw may family again. I was no longer bouncing on air, but it was still feeling like a party. I put my brace back on... my right knee (the good one), which had begun aching a bit.
At mile 17 I grabbed a handful of pretzels, and realized that my muscles in my hands weren't too coordinated. The handful was HUGE, and I didn't have the control of my right hand enough to pick off one pretzel at a time, so I just buried my nose in my little mountain of pretzels and ate them like a horse. A couple minutes later I was feeling improved coordination.
Kara AND Beth were out somewhere between 19 and 20, and joined me to 20, where my family was. We stopped and had a little party. I was already past my farthest training run (18), was feeling good, and pretty much just didn't want it to end! They had good food and drink for me and I lingered on that. Roy decided to accompany me the rest of the way, so I finally resumed running. That was awesome. Running into downtown was beautiful, but I was more amazed that my sweet husband was wanting to run 6 miles with me. (Honestly, I was a little nervous... he has not been running much.) But he did great, and was mostly in tune to when he should slide up onto the sidewalk. (He couldn't resist some handfuls of the mile 23 sugar-boosters.)
And then.... the final mile Beth rejoined us and we picked up the pace. They stopped at mile 26, and I went for the last .2 all by myself. And I still can't believe it's over!
I am humbled by all of the love and support. You all made it a wonderful experience for me. Maybe later I'll blog on some of the specific things I learned, but for now I'll leave it at that.
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