That time I ran a marathon

Yea, you read that right. There was this one time (a week ago) that I ran a marathon. Like an actual marathon. I honestly still can’t believe I did it and finished it! Of course, I didn’t do this out of the blue- it was a planned event. I have done four half marathons in my running career and always wanted to do a full one, but time and all the training scared me. I had wanted to do one before I turned 35 and guess who turned 34 in November? Yea, this girl. I knew that if I wanted to do one, I’d have to do one sooner rather than later since the fact that every year, it has gotten harder and harder to run those long distances (thanks aging knees!). So one day after a run I came in and told my husband we should run a marathon together. He agreed- and we signed up.

In October we signed up for the Rock and Roll Marathon in Phoenix. I had two friends that were doing that one too and it seemed like such a fun race. We training for 3 1/2 months. I probably should have run even more than I did, but with three kids it’s so hard to find that time. Especially for the long runs.

Finally race weekend came! We got to personalize our bibs so we chose something fun, “Legend” and “Mrs. Legend”- funny, right?

It was fun to be doing this with my husband- he really helped me out during the race. Race morning came and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was scared some. 26.2 miles is no joke. That’s a LONG distance to run- like really long. It was fun to see my friends, Dawn and Tara, running too. They were in much better shape than me, but my goal was really just to finish- which was pretty much what I did.

This was taken half way. After this, it got hard for me, really hard. It was unusual hot that day and that really slowed me down. At the end, though, time didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to say I did it.

I am so thankful that I had my husband running with me. He really helped to push me along when there were times I just wanted to sit down and wait for the pace car to come and pick me up and take me to the finish line! He was my life saver during the race, and now that it’s over, I can say it was fun. I guess. (haha)

We crossed the finish line together and it was a miracle! He could have had such a faster time, I am already encouraging him to do one again and run his best and not be slowed down by his old wife.

Well, there you have it. I ran a marathon. I survived. I pushed my body and it pushed me back. I am pretty sure I died multiple times on the course and came back to life again. I crossed that finish line and am proud of myself for meeting that accomplishment and crossing that goal off of my list.

Have you even done something that scared you, and succeeded at it?? Share it with me!

**I apologize in advance for the graininess of these pictures, they are from my phone! :)**