Here I am ready to go! I had slept pretty well and most of my nerves were gone, so that was good. There were a lot of people there at the start line. When I walked with Cassie two years ago, we started an hour earlier so it was not the same hype and excitement. There were thousands of people. My parents were there to see me off with a bunch of other people.
Just about mile 13. I was feeling great and I was running ahead of schedule. This was by far my best half marathon time ever. I was so happy about it and thought that if I could keep this up, then I would be able to get a really great time. Around mile 6 or 7, we split from the half marathon runners and it got a lot less busy and crowded. There definitely were not even close to the same amount of people running the marathon as there were on the half. I was happy about that though. However, I think that it might have helped push me along at the beginning to have that many people with me.
I am done! This was not a very easy for me. Not only do I not love running, I have never really pushed myself this hard before. I was really struggling at the end. I was having a hard time breathing and just feeling the ability to keep pushing myself. I wanted to finish though. I still have a lot of improvement that I need to work on. Maybe a few more years of practice and some half marathons, I might be better at being able to do the marathon. I said when I finished never again and no one believed me but even if I don't, I will plan on having some half marathons. I want to keep up trying to get better at running. I just need more practice before I do a marathon again. I did beat my last time by an hour though so that is improvement. I was glad to be done and I ran across the finish line even though there was a part of me that just wanted to end and crawl across, but there is no way I would let that happen! It took everything I had to finish but I will always be happy that I was able to finish. It is a feat that not very people are ever able to accomplish. I am proud of myself and am grateful that I had no blisters and that all of my body parts were still kind of working. I am in a lot of pain but I crossed that finish line with my head held high and still moving. I may not have done it as fast as I had hoped but I guess I can just be happy that I finished.
I received this medal for finishing. It will continue to keep me motivated and let me know that I can accomplish anything I want. It just takes a little hard work and determination and I now that I have that! :)
I had a bunch of family and friends there to congratulate me. I am appreciative of them and thankful that they continue to push and encourage me as I strive to acheive my goals. It is great to have people around me that care about me and happy for me when I do accomplish something that I have worked so hard for.