I seriously could not have done this without the love, support and encouragement from so many. How lucky I am to be so rich in this area. I hope I don't ever take it for granted and forget what a blessing it is to be surrounded by all of this.
I am so fortunate to have the BEST. FAMILY. EVER. If I didn't have Jeff's unwavering love and support, I know it would've been a very uphill climb to get to the starting line. He always had faith in me that I could do this. Countless times over the past 7 months, he would look at me and say how proud of me he was. Without question he jumped in, took care of the kids, and gave me all the time I needed to get the training done. I am so thankful for the husband and best friend that he is.
As soon as my mom heard I was doing this, she made it a point to call me from her place of work every Saturday to check in on me after I ran. She wasn't completely on board with what I was doing, but she was one of my biggest supporters.
I am fortunate to have family that wanted to be there. Without hesitation, my sister Lori said her and Ben (BIL) would be there to cheer me on. Ben designed these very cool and hilarious shirts for him, Lori and Jeff to wear the morning of the race. It was an awesome surprise when they showed it to me right before I started running.
My in-laws graciously took the kids for the whole weekend. We dropped them off on Saturday morning on our way to Philadelphia and picked them back up on the way home on Monday. It was wonderful knowing they were in excellent care, having fun and one less thing for me to be stressed over.
Tons of other encouragement came from my dad, stepmother, my other sister Meghan, and my sister-in-law Elaine. While it did little to calm my nerves, it was nice to hear the faith they had in me that I could do this. Hearing my dad's enthusiasm in his voice when I would tell him I ran "X" amount of miles each weekend there was a particularly long training run was always very cool.
The friends that wished me well, decorated my car with signs before leaving, left me cards in my mailbox were amazing. I am thankful for every single one of the messages, texts, emails, phone calls, in-person hugs, high-fives and more that I received leading up to, during and after the marathon. It really helped to motivate me to go one step further, one second faster.
I'd like to give a quick list of all the other things I am very grateful for:
-The hotel we stayed at was only a 1/2 mile from the start/finish line.
-The weather was beautiful. When we woke up the next morning, it was raining. This so could've easily been the case a few hours earlier on the 20th.
-I was feeling good. Ridiculously nervous, but not sick with a fever, cold, sore throat, and my legs didn't have any aches or pains. This is a bigger deal than you would imagine. You can't live in a bubble waiting for race day. I am around kids and germs all the time. I always feel like I could be catching something and get sick. Actually now that the race is over, my throat is starting to hurt and I am blowing my nose. hahahahahha. See what I mean? There was a ton of pressure to try to remain as healthy as possible and not get a twisted ankle or anything of the sort. I am thankful that I was feeling as good as I ever could on the 20th.
-Maggiano's having gluten-free pasta. It made it easy to carb-load at restaurant that I was familiar with and didn't worry about getting sick from eating non-gluten-free pasta by accident.
-I had some tummy issues and I am grateful there was always a bathroom close enough nearby.
-My ipod and garmin worked perfectly. I am thankful for that.
-I am most thankful that I found amazing socks that prevent blisters.
And last but not least, I am filled with gratitude that I was in overall good enough health to run and complete this. Two men (only 21 and 40 years old in age) died during this exact marathon and 10 others were taken away to the hospital. It makes you realize how fragile life is and I feel fortunate to have been able to accomplish my goal and get to the finish line in one piece and still standing.
I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and you too are surrounded by your own amazing friends and family. I know I've got the best anyone could ask for. And for that I am forever grateful. Love makes the world go around. :)
Stay tune for part 3....taking it all with me.
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