Marathoning

One of my stepmom's friends says she tries to do at least one hard thing every year. That's a good thing. And I've decided to try my hand at it. In 2010, I gave birth. That was hard. In 2011, I ran not one, but two half marathons. The first one was so hard, the second was just hard. Now it's 2012, and I ran a marathon. A full 26.2 miles. And it was hard. Training was hard. And I did it.

There was a group of people I started running with down here during my training and they pushed me. They helped me get faster and more confident in my abilities. I ran with one of the girls in the group for the first 12 miles. Then we split off and I was by myself for the next 11 miles. I felt pretty good until about mile 18 or 19 and then my legs started really hurting. Around mile 21 I started getting tired and just wanted to be done. My dad jumped in at mile 23 and ran the last 3 miles with me. That was awesome. It was refreshing to have some fresh legs to help keep me going. And to have someone talk to me to get my mind off the burning. Such a welcome distraction.

The last mile was soooo long! My dad warned me of that. Before he split off he pointed out a girl to me that I should try to pass, because I was running at a pretty good pace and I had been passing people for the past couple of miles. I felt like she was so far ahead of me that I couldn't do it, but I tried and I passed her as we were rounding the last corner before the finish line. That pumped me up, along with the crowds of people cheering, so I just started picking up my pace more and more and by the end I was sprinting. Or at least I felt like I was sprinting. I'm so glad that I finished strong. I think that's what made me the happiest. I finished at 3:52:43.

Such a great experience and I have so many people to thank for supporting me through the months leading up to it. But most especially Lish. He was so patient and understanding of my schedule of waking up at 4 in the morning and napping in the afternoons, massaging my feet after my long runs, being with Yale during those many hours, and making sure I was eating and drinking enough to keep myself sustained.

I can do hard things. Especially with so many people helping me, I can do very hard things.