I did it, it's done!

This morning was 26.2 miles of pure running goodness. HA!!! It was 26.2 miles, but man was it HARD. When "they" say if you can run 20, you can run 26 because the adrenaline kicks in, "they" lied to me. It does not kick in. Those last 6 miles were the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, including birthing four babies naturally and passing a kidney stone. My time, just for me to remember sometime in the future, was 4:45.07. I had really wanted to finish under 4:30, but I'm still glad to have finished. I was on the low end of middle for everything--5th out of 8 in my division (females 35-39), 35th out of 63 for all females, and 112th out of 172 overall. I'm okay with that.

Despite soreness and achy, I'm glad I did it. If I hadn't, I would always wonder, "Could I?" Way back in April when I thought maybe I should do this, I wasn't sure I would make it. It's a lot of training each and every day, and I didn't even want to tell anyone for fear that I would just decide to not do it at all. But that first week of training we were at Dave's sister's house, and I had to go running, and suddenly everyone knew. And I knew I would have to do it. That first "long" run of 6 miles was so hard. I ran on the treadmill in a random Minnesota YMCA because it was storming out and had to take a break halfway through. This morning as I ran I thought about all my training. Nearly dying when I ran 9 miles for the first time, but then keeping with it and being able to easily run 10 miles before work. Getting lost in Chicago on a 15 mile run and having to have some stranger lady drive me home. 18 and 20 mile runs that nearly did me in. Heat and humidity making even 3 mile runs difficult. The deer, snakes, rabbits, bugs (and today kitten) that joined me on my runs. Signs of encouragement Dave hung up so I could see them on my early morning runs, and the toilet paper finish line after I finished 20. And then the culmination of all that in the half marathon two weeks ago, hurting my leg so I wasn't sure I could even run the full, but pushing through and finishing anyway.

Dave and kids and my mom came to watch me at mile 19. Even though they only saw me for a very limited time, I was glad they came. It made me look forward to seeing them from mile 16 on, and even when I passed them it made me happy, at least until mile 22 when I wasn't sure I could push through! They had signs and cheered me on, and when I came to the finish, Abby and Nolan ran with me to the end. As I passed the finish, the people looking back started laughing. I wasn't sure what was going on until I saw Ava, as determined as ever, running that last tenth of a mile. She was on a mission, and they announced that she was the winner of the 5 and under age division. Too cute, and totally worth it to have my kids around me (and Dave! and Mom!) at the end.

Last night Abby came with me to pick up my packet. As we were walking out she asked me how many miles and I told her 26. She said wow, I've only run 3. That's far away from 26. I'm really proud of you.

And you know what? I'm really proud of me too.