So I did it! I survived, more than survived and can't wait to share all the details about the weekend. I'd like to apologize in advance for all that I am about to write. I have no idea how many blog entries this story will span or if it will even end up in a coherent, logical narrative. But I am filled with so many emotions and feel the need to get it all written. For years to come, I want to have the ability to look back and remember all the moments vividly that made up this amazing journey. As my friend put it, the marathon is the reward for all the training you did. If you aren't interested in hearing about all of this, you might want to take the next several days off from visiting my blog. ;)
Where do I begin? The nerves started kicking in the week leading up to the big day. As we got closer and closer to race day, I got more nervous. Not sleeping soundly was the first to go. My funniest nightmare was that a freak blizzard was in the forecast and a good majority of the runners dropped out due to the bad weather. However, not one to give up, I trudged ahead and ran it anyway during the blizzard. It took me 2 days to finish. Needless to say, I was checking the 10 day forecast, then the 5 day forecast, then the weekend forecast, and lastly the 36 hour forecast 7 or 8 times each day. Not once did it ever show anything but a gorgeous day, with only a 20% of precipitation.
As the week crept on, I'd get either instant nauseousness or diarrhea just by thinking about what was to come. By Thursday, I was a mental mess and completely freaked out. What did I get myself into? Was this going to be a complete disaster? Would I be wasting my family's time by supporting me in this craziness? Who did I think I was that I could pull this off? And then there was the Jen factor. She got into this herself because I came up with this wacky notion to run a marathon. Due to many factors outside her control, Jen's training had been anything less than stellar and I was worried that she was going to really regret doing this. It was a lot of pressure and all these doubts filled my every waking (and non-waking) thoughts. And last but not least, the biggest thing I had going against me, was that I wanted to know I gave it my all. That I did the best I could do. I didn't care how long it took me to finish, but I had to be proud of me. Have no regrets. Leave nothing behind. My two big goals was to 1. Not be swept by the bus. And 2. Not be last. If I could do that and not look for a reason, any excuse to not give it all I got, then it would be a big success. And, yes, I accomplished that. And may I say, I did it with a smile all the way up until the very end.
Stay tuned for part 2....being thankful.
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