26.2

It is December 28th and I am just now blogging about the marathon I ran and FINISHED on December 5th. I ran again this year in honor of my dad who lost his battle with cancer two years ago. I spent the fall training with team in training and raising money to help find a cure for Luekemia, blood cancers, and all other cancers. I was absolutely overwhelmed by how generous my friends and family were. I was very nervous to sign up with "TNT" and fundraise, but I knew it was for a good cause and fortunately I raised over 2500 dollars. The night before the race I had stayed in a hotel downtown so I could wake up early and be ready to go. I got to fair park around 6:00. The race didn't start until 8:00. Luckily they had opened some of the auditoriiums for us to sit in so it wasn't too cold until we had to line up. I have to admit this was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I was feeling great the first 13 miles and then I started to feel each mile get harder and harder. By mile 20 I was exhausted but was still determined to finish. The next 6 miles were the hardest, I would run until it hurt too much, then walk a bit, then run some more. Along the way I thought of my dad, my family, my friends, my life etc. It's amazing what goes through your mind when you are that tired but want to finish. I was actually getting pretty emotional about it all. I know that is no surprise to Mike. I don't know what came over me the last mile; I think I was just so ready to finish, but it was definietly my fastest mile of the day. I was so excited to see the finish line and get to hug my kids, Mike and Mom. After I finished the kids jumped on me and I couldn't hardly get up. Word of advice if you ever run a marathon, don't sit down afterwards! Big Mistake!!! I eventually did get back up and walked to the car. Surprisingly I felt great the next day. It might of had something to do with the icy/hot lotion of rubbed all over my legs. The experience of running and finishing the marathon was something I will never forget. When I started training I wanted to just do the half marathon again, but decided to go ahead and go for the full since I had already accomplished the half. Now that I have done a full, I'm ready to do it again. I know it sounds crazy, but they really are addicting. I am planning on doing the Fort Worth Cowtown Marathon in February. I decided to do this one since it was also the first 5K I ever ran over 8 years ago. I did it with my friend Karla who first introduced me to running. My goal will be to finish again and shave off twenty minutes or so off my time. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Freezing at the start up with other TNT runners



The Finish line


Got the medal!!! Mom came up from Houston to watch


Here is the big mistake of sitting down after the marathon with the kids!!!! But I was great to have them there at the finish. They were fascinated with the medal.


Me and my babe!