OK, I know ya'll don't even remotely believe that, because lets all be honest: I was a LOT closer to last place than I was to first! BUT, I finished!! And that really was my only goal through all this running business :)
I won't try to be all tough and say that the 13.1 miles were a total breeze, b/c quite honestly, I wanted to quit more than once. But Jennifer & Brandon were wonderful running mates, and kept me entertained and inspired enough to finish without having to walk.
The hardest part for me was the last leg - right after passing the 10 mile marker, I was
beyond ready to be done, and was seriously considering walking at least for a few minutes. And I'm not trying to be all sappy here, but Elliot kept me going. My promise to keep this commitment, and to keep it for him, was the only thing in the world that kept my feet moving. Sorry, Jennifer, the slap on my butt was great and all, but my son was the only thing on my mind those last few miles.
Right after it was over, I got tears in my eyes because the feeling of completing something SO out of my normal routine was absolutely overwhelming! This is something that I really have wanted to do for a long time, but never had the motivation and determination until Elliot. I am so proud of myself, and I am so proud that I was able to do it with him in mind. He inspired me, he motivated me, the love that I have for him was what kept me going.
However, about 8 1/2 miles into the race is when I decided that I don't know that I ever need to run that far again! 2 1/2 hours of running is just TOO LONG!! Some people run marathons and get 'addicted' to them - I'm gonna go ahead and say that's not the case with me! I will continue running, but I think from here on out I'll just stick with 3 & 4 miles instead of this 13 nonsense! :)
I don't have pictures of us actually running yet, but when I get some (and if I don't look like a total fool), I'll post some. But for now, here's what I do have:
Brandon created our shirts, and they really looked fantastic - he did such a wonderful job of capturing what my feelings would look like on a t-shirt! On the front was, of course, the picture of Elliot. And on the back, he listed out everyone who sent us a card or gave us a gift during the months before & after Elliot died. I told him that I had lots more people to thank, there are all of you who sent emails or called, or brought us meals, or came to the hospital, or loved us & prayed for us, but he said that A)There just wasn't enough room on the shirt, and B)he had already spent
hours going through all the cards and just didn't have the time to go through the hundreds of emails I have saved. So that's when we decided to add a line on the bottom including "anyone we may have overlooked".
Vanessa & I. I'm
so proud of her - she runs A LOT faster than me, and was able to beat her time goal of completing the 13.1 miles in less than 2 hours! And she beat her last 1/2 marathon time by 6 whole minutes! That's fast running, folks!
Us with our t-shirts on! Thank you so much to those of you who came to support us at the race, and thank you also to those of you who called or texted or prayed for us even though you weren't able to make it!
The runners: Vanessa, Brandon, Me, Jennifer & Jessica
Me & my overly supportive husband! As if he doesn't already have enough going on, what with his full time job, teaching 2 classes, and full time doctorate classes, he took the time out to train with me and embrace this passion of mine as his own. And, he had some FIERCE blisters during the race, and never complained ONCE! Now THAT'S a true man! :)
And me with my good friend, Jennifer (Sorry Jennifer, I realized after the fact that we didn't get a good picture of just the two of us, we only got this awesome running one). As soon as I mentioned the idea of doing a 1/2 marathon months ago, Jennifer was immediately on board. We did quite a few of our long training runs together, and she was always able to keep me moving! She is a LOT more fit than I, so she would talk to me to keep my mind off the agonizing pain I was in! And finally, towards the end of our training, I had enough breath to be able to do a little talking myself! And more than once during our long runs, when all I wanted to do was lay down on the street and take a nap, and I would happen to forget my reason & purpose for this maddness, she would gently remind me "you're doing this for Elliot". And then I could keep going. Thank you, Jennifer, for being so supportive and encouraging! I'm pretty sure that even if I had wanted to quit, you wouldn't have let me! :)
And this is where I hope to spend A LOT of my time for the next few days! My poor legs are T-I-R-E-D!!!
