Twenty6point2

Best experience I've had in a long time. Anyone who has ever thought about running a marathon, I would highly encourage them. It is so worth it . . .

For those who don’t know, about two months ago my left knee really started giving me trouble. I couldn’t go more than 2 miles without having serious problems. I saw two different doctors who I paid $300 to for them to basically tell me it was an overuse injury . . . duh. I had to stop training. So while my husband lost his running partner, I just tried to keep my endurance up going to the gym and using the elliptical machine in hopes that it would get better with less use. No luck. Over the two months, if I tried to do more than 2 miles, it would hurt too much to keep going. So about a month ago I realized that I was probably out of the marathon. My husband kept going and I tried to support him where I could on his long runs. I was really sad. I had trained too hard for it to end like this.

Then I read this on the marathon discussion board in response to someone else who was going to run injured, “It’s time to get it all in perspective . . . you are running your first marathon. Do that and just that. Get your butt ready to run from start to finish . . . with lots of heavy accent on “finish.” That is exactly what your first marathon is all about, finishing. That’s all you have to do is finish. When the gun goes off start out very comfortably and hold it the entire race and remember this race is all about you, for you. Your job is to finish. . . . It’s just that simple!”

So, exactly 8 days ago, I decided to run . . . no matter what. I had no idea what was going to happen. I was injured and under-trained. I didn’t even think I would be able to finish it.

On the bus up to the starting line, I literally felt sick to my stomach. I just didn't know what was going to happen. But as soon as you step off the bus, and join the other 5,000+ people running it along with you, it kind of all melts away. And I knew at that moment that come heaven or hell . . . I was going to finish. The atmosphere is indescribable. There is so much energy and enthusiasm. . . . Then we started to run. Yeah, my knee hurt. But when you see the guy next to you putting one foot in front of the other, you know you can too. It kind of passes quicker then you think because there are all these people running along side you that have never been there before. Then at every other mile marker are the cheerleaders with water, Gatorade, Vaseline and food. So you think, I can make it to the next aid station. Just focus on the next aid station. The support is amazing. As we neared the 17-mile marker (the most I’d ever ran), I started to get nervous. I didn’t know if my body would hold up. But as we passed it, it was like my body just picked it up and said, “Bring it on!” And my husband promised he would run next to me the whole way . . . and he did. I could not have done it without him. He was my personal cheerleader every. step. of. the. way. (Thanks babe. I know you could have finished a lot sooner, but I’m so glad you stuck with me :) We loved our time out there together. It was an incredibly bonding experience. The conditions were PERFECT and the scenery was gorgeous. We finished in 5 hours even. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Wow . . . it was awesome! I’ll for sure do one again.

P.S. Needless to say, I probably won’t be walking pretty for the next week or so.