Olympic Gold!

At least that's what it feels like anyway :)

I finished the marathon!! I am so happy. I didn't let Bri.enna down. I'm pretty sure she even called in some favors for us. I struggle with whether or not certain things happen by pure chance or if maybe she had something to do with it. It's weird, but lately I'm just choosing to believe that these certain things are little gifts from my angel.

The weather was supposed to be miserable on Sunday. But by Saturday night, the forecast looked okay. And it was. A little cold, but the sun shone for awhile and the snow/rain/wind didn't really start until I crossed the finish line. Weird. There was so much traffic getting to the race on Sunday morning. We were at our wits end and rolled down the window to ask a parking attendant if she had any advice. As we asked, her walkie-talkie buzzed and she told us there was ONE space available in the lot we happened to be in front of. The lot directly in front of the start/finish line. Crazy weird.

The race itself was hard. I felt slow the entire time, and never really felt like I hit my sweet spot. It was a two-loop course primarily geared to the half marathoners. After mile 13, I was basically running alone. At mile 14, I realized just how solitary running is. And how it's something that only YOU can do. It was a neat feeling. At mile 17, I knew I could finish because I had single digit miles to go. At mile 20, I felt Bri.enna with me. It sounds insane, but I did. I just sensed her with me and in my head, could picture her on my shoulder helping me along. Like we were buddies ... and I started crying (had to force myself to stop because I feared an asthma attack and this genius didn't have an inhaler) but I also picked up the pace. And the next three miles were a breeze. I felt good and in my head, knew I just needed to get to 23 because P was meeting me there to run the last three. Miles 23-25 were torture. I had to walk a few times and had some uh, stomach issues, but at mile 25 I was able to see the light and just put my head down and ran. And running up that hill, seeing my family cheering me on and crossing that finish line was awesome. And then I started crying. Again. And P met me and scooped me up in a hug and just held me and let me cry.

I still cannot believe I did it. I wish I had taken the time to savor it more ... I did this. Me alone and I am really proud of that. I am stronger than I ever gave myself credit for. So thanks, baby girl. I owe it to you :)

P.S. My time was 4:38:44.  About 10 minutes slower than my "goal" but who gives a rat's ass - I finished a marathon!