Sunday morning I ran my first ever Fool Full Marathon. It was intense, amazing, spiritual, brutal, hip popping, blister inducing, mind altering and a great way to learn what I am really made of. I will admit, the first 18 miles were the amazing ones...after that, the "f" word remained on the tip of my tongue and I wanted nothing more then to sit down and cry. At first, I prayed and asked God to help me find the strength to finish, then I started begging and pleading with God to just hit me with a bus. When that failed, I started begging for a park bench to magically appear out of thin air as my sign to just sit down and wait for a ride. Yeah, that never happened either! I have read in my Runners magazines that there is a certain point on longer runs where your body basically just can't go on anymore and they call it "hitting the wall." I can honestly say, I ran limped head on into that wall at mile 18. My body went from hot to cold to hot to cold, I was tingling all over. My left leg would periodically just buckle and collapse when I put any weight on it. I remember thinking I would rather do 26.2 hours of natural childbirth then run this far EVER again!
I will be honest and say, I really thought I would have done better. After about mile 15, it really felt like I had gone into this run with no prior training. Like I had woke up that morning and said, today, I will run a marathon! When I finished, I was angry and disappointed and really felt like a failure. I also swore, I would NEVER. EVER. do that again. Do you know how damaging it is to watch an elderly speed walker crush you on mile 23! However, now that it has been a few days since the race, I feel like I should give it another go further on down the road. A lot of people have told me that I have accomplished something not a lot of people even set out to do (and I do know that is true) but I still can't help but be disappointed in my body for breaking down on me, especially since our training runs went so smoothly and led me to believe I was ready. Mark my word Marathon...I will be back! Overall, now that I am not so emotional about the whole experience...ya'll would not believe how emotional this whole experience was, I am pretty darn proud of myself for setting out and accomplishing this lifetime goal! Seeing my husband, parents and kids at the finish line was amazing! It comes pretty darn close to wrapping your arms around your husband's neck after a year long deployment, except for the fact that even smiling at that point hurts! I could not have done any of this without my dear friend and running partner, Katrina! She truly was the kick in the pants I needed to even attempt this crazy idea and my constant encouragement and inspiration!
"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
Hebrews 12:1
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