Seattle Marathon and 1/2 Marathon!!!

I can't get pictures to post - but believe me - I will as soon as I can!!

I did it! 1/2 marathon!

Wow I am so excited that I completed my goal!

I woke up at 4:00 am on Sunday to it snowing! All that I could think was this is Seattle it doesn't snow here - not today! Went and picked up Liz, took some fun pre - 1/2marathon photos in her living room I was so excited and nervous I could hardly stand it. Ate a peanut butter sandwich and we then headed to Seattle.

We arrived and parked at 6:30am all excited to get out and stretch and take in the fun. We got out and went to the stadium only to return to the car a few minutes later for warmth! It was freezing out there! I thought my ears were going to fall off. Sat in the car warming up and talking myself into this (I can do this!) Finally a little before the race got back out and checked our bags, and went to the starting line to watch the walkers for the full marathon take off. A couple of hundred people left out of the finish line. Pretty cool to see. There were over 10,000 people I believe in the race.

Then we lined up. I thought we were towards the back of the line, we soon found out we were in the beginning of the middle pack.... First mile was great I got warmed up and thought - yes I can so do this I feel great I am doing great. I was a little faster then my normal time (but still really slow considering that people were passing me like I was standing still) but I didn't care - I was actually doing this. Liz and I had planned to run together, but she runs faster than me and in the excitement of the race - I told her to go ahead and I would see her at the finish line! So she was off! About 1.5 miles into it, I saw my mom and dad on the sidelines, that gave me a great boost until about mile 4! At mile 4 my friend Angela ran up beside me so I ran with her for a while, not sure how long. I then needed a bit of a break so I walked for a few minutes but I kept Angela in my sights until somewhere around mile 8. At that point my hip started to hurt. But I was determined to keep going. "Pain is temporary" I kept telling myself I can do this. When I needed a rest I walked for 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile - depending on where I was on the course - if I was on a hill I typically would walk up the hill then run again (it was a very hilly course - I quickly found out that I was not prepared as well as I thought for such monster long hills!) but I kept going. My goal was not to run the whole thing, but my goal was to finish and have ran about 3/4 of it. I don't think I ran quite 3/4 of it but I think I was close! I know I ran over half so I am very happy with that! Miles 8 -9- 10 were all a struggle for me mentally. Fatigue and hunger set in and I was going pretty slow so I started to get cold not good when it is cold outside - it actually snowed for a few minutes! At this point I decided that at each water stop I would drink the gatarade because it had exactly what I needed to keep going (hey what ever works, right!) and the trick worked and with each water stop I drank Gaterade and felt immediately refueled! Mile 11 or so I got quite the fun surprise - the male winner of the marathon passed me! That's right I hadn't finished the 1/2 marathon and this guy came flying by with a police escort. Wow you might think I would be angry, but now it was awe inspiring to me! My body was saying a "screw you" with 3 miles to go and this guy was on mile 23! wow I wanted to yell "way to go" but, well I needed the energy! As I came over I-5 and saw the space needle I began to pick up pace a tad - then at about 3/4 mile way to the finish they had a Gatorade stop again! woo hoo. I stopped and drank the gaterade then stretched a tad and off I went I was running to the finish! There is a small hill as you come up Mercer street into the stadium, I ran all the way up and rounded the corner and could see the stadium entrance and I hit a bit of a wall. I didn't realize it but I stopped right in front of Liz she was on the sideline (she was done about a half hour before me) I stopped then I heard her say " You can do it Em just 100 yds till the grass of the stadium", well I began to ran immediately, it gave me the motivation to continue! I ran across the finish line! Liz had ran down the sideline and when I saw her after I crossed she gave me a big hug and well I got all emotional and cried! I had done it! We had done it! As soon as I stopped running it was like my body just said " I am done" and walking seemed difficult. But we managed to walk and get our bags then go the recovery area, where we saw lots of people and got some food and more importantly warmth!

I ran into Angela, Jodi and Shaun in the recovery area - we got some good photos together.

I do not know what Shaun's time was but I think Jodi was around 2:13 ! Talk about fast! Liz was 3:03 minutes - Angela I think was around 3:15 and they both ran all the way (go girls) You guys are all an inspiration to me - setting a goal and then meeting it! I am proud of us all!
I am so happy I accomplished my goal. My time was 3:33 which averages a 16:16 mile. Not a speed demon but hey it beats sitting on the couch! The point is that I got out there and did it. I pushed myself and did what I never imagined I could have done , well 6 months ago!

what is next? I am not sure but I know that when you put your mind to something you can accomplish anything. I have many things going through my head - pretty excited to start training for something..... we'll see.
I used to think the real challenge was to be really thin, but I now think the real challenge is to be active and fit and be in the best shape I can possibly be in for me and my family!

That is it for now! woo hoo!!