Courage to Start...Faith to Finish

The T-Shirt, Finisher's Gift, and my "Post-Race Shoes"

I did it. 13.1 MILES! I completed my first half marathon...I can "check" it off my list of "things to do before I die!" HA! Seriously, it has ALWAYS been a goal of mine to complete a half marathon. I can honestly say, and I know this sounds ridiculously cliche....but, I absolutely could NOT have done this with out the support of my girlfriend Autumn, or without Tony and the kids cheering me on along the route.
There comes a point in EVERY race I've done, where your body shuts down and HURTS. It becomes a mental war in your head. This race was as much mentally tough as physically tough. Autumn was my running partner, and we just kept encouraging eachother, pushing eachother, and saying how proud we were of eachother and ourselves. Our plan was to walk three, run three, walk three, run three, etc...you get the point. Well, that plan flew out the window when we saw we were STILL RUNNING AT MILE 6! We could not believe it. The course was beautiful, it seemed to make the time go by fast and having eachother made it fly by as well....don't get me wrong, we were hurting towards the end. We pushed ourselves, and I can honestly say that we probably only walked about 1.5 miles total, maybe 2 at tops.

Funny side story: Autumn just got on Advocare two weeks ago...through another GAL! TOO funny, we were total Advocare runners and we both didn't know that until near the end! We both kept saying, this is NOT us. It's GOD, and it's Advocare! Amazing! Those of you who know me...know that I was NOT physically ready to go this distance. Awesome what some prayer, and sports performace supplements can do for ya! ;)

So, funny story. I started my run with my jacket on. (The jacket that can only come off by going OVER my head) The plan was, to hand it to Tony at mile two. So, I'm getting prepared. Not seeing Tony, but still trying to get my jacket off and ready to hand off. I lift it over my head and my zipper GETS CAUGHT IN MY NOSE, and I'm bleeding EVERYWHERE. It was so cold, I was numb, and couldn't feel where the blood was (outside or inside), just saw it ALL over my hands. So, I'm trying to stop the bleeding with my jacket, and barely able to breath because I'm SUFFOCATING through my jacket. Quite a funny story now...not so much at the time!!

So, we needed a quick potty stop a little before the half way mark. We ran into the Beaches bathrooms which were supposed to be "open for the runners." Well, you know how long the line can be for the women's loo. So, I ran into the mens. I'm in the stall, doing my thing when A MAN WALKS in and goes for the urinal. I say "Ummmm...so, I'm a female, and I'm in here...(insert nervous laugh here) I'm a racer, and the line was too long for the ladies room..I'll be out in just a minute!" And the guy says "Oh, (chuckles) that's okay, don't mind me!" AND HE KEEPS PEEING!!! I'm washing my hands and he's STILL PEEING! Why is it that men can take the longest pees? Talk about awkward. I just tried to get out of there FAST!

Tony loaded up the kids on race day, and took his bike, the back pack for Micah, and the bike trailer. They rode along the course, stopping at various points to cheer, hand us waters and even to ride along side us on occasion. (Micah wasn't too happy to see me running and not holding him.) He kept looking at me like "mom, why are you not holding me...why are you running!? I'm stuck here on daddy's back and you're RUNNING!?" The most precious thing to me, was that at about 100 yards left to the finish line, Elijah and Amelia held my hands and the three of us ran across the finish line together. It was pretty emotional for me, because in the end, THEY are who I'm doing this for. I want to be healthy and strong for them. I raced to find a cure for breast cancer, but I STARTED this, for them.

Running along side 1000 other women was amazing. It was like a team, a sense of commradrie. Everyone cheered eachother on, it was just awesome. It wasn't like a typical race, this was, more like a team thing....we all had one thing in common, we've all been effected or impacted by breast cancer in one way or another.

After the race, we were awarded with our finishers gift. A silver charm bracelet with pink breast cancer ribbons, the charms read "Girlfriends...Never Give Up...Live, Laugh, Love." Hot soup, fruit, bagels and water awaited...as well as massages, martinelli's, chocolate, some hair pampering (if you wanted your sweaty head touched,) personal training stretching, and foot massages. I got THREE amazing massages. Thai massage...look it up....THIS IS AMAZING. Hands down, the BEST massage I've EVER had....and it was only about 20 minutes. I'm saving up for the real thing ASAP! It's like massage meets Yoga. Lots of stretching. It feels amazing! And, the average session is 2.5 hours long!

So, where'd I end up!? Well the results are in:

I finished 26th in my age group

I finished 388th overall

I finished 13.1 miles in 2:20:30

We were behind a lady and her shirt read: Courage to Start, Faith to Finish! Soo soooo true!

The Logo - close up view. Such cute NIKE shirts!

The finisher's gift! Girlfriends Never Give Up, Live, Laugh, LOVE!

I spot Tony and the kids at about miles 11...and quickly tell Autumn, I need my SPARK! When we needed to see our kids for encouragement....they were THERE...God knew!!

Booking it for the kids at mile 11 for my SPARK and some encouragement. I can't believe I was smiling! That's when our pain was REALLY intense. Our goal: slow and steady, we'll finish STRONG!

THE FINISH LINE! WE DID IT! PRICELESS...limping off for some MASSAGES!

Thank you Autumn, you are an amazing girlfriend! I LOVED every minute of this with you and am so glad we finished together! I will always remember this! Let's do it again!!! =)