WE. DID. IT!

This morning Tracey and I ran our first half marathon ever. For both of us it was a personal distance record...for him only having run 11 miles at one time previously and for me only having run 6 miles at one time.

What an amazing experience. I froze (from being way up the canyon at the butt crack of dawn). I laughed. I whined (just a little), I ran. I hurt. I pushed limits I didn't know I had, and seeing 4 of my favorite girls surprise me at the finish line to cheer us on....well that made me cry.

I'm such a sap and I'm actually getting all weepy thinking about what a great experience it was. I love that I was able to do it with my best friend....my husband, that ran by me every step of the way. He was there to encourage me and keep me going....even when I thought I couldn't go a step farther. He just kept reminding me..."We are in this together".

I have to say that all in all I'm pretty darn proud of myself. I really had no problems physically until about the 11th mile. Up until that point the only walking we did was through the water stops, which probably wasn't more than a minute or two each time. But oh my wordy...beginning that 11th mile. Well that pretty much sucked. My body was just begging me to quit and so I did walk...for a little while, but oddly enough, walking hurt far more at that point than actually running, so we just kept putting one foot in front of the other and soon enough the end was within ear shot, and boy oh boy was that ever deceiving, as we had to wind back and forth around the Riverwoods shopping and business complexes as we were not able to start at the top of Provo canyon due to wild fires.

I really didn't think I could do it, but was glad I kept going. I can't tell you what an amazing feeling it was to round the last bend and to see Tracey's sisters and my two oldest beautiful girls just screaming their heads off cheering us on. Boy did that make me cry. I just wanted to run and hug them as they were yelling at me to keep going and not stop. Thank you Jana for thinking the idea and thank you Michelle for coming. That will forever be one of my happiest memories.

I have to admit that I feel a little sad that it's over. I want something else boundary pushing to work toward as that was such an undescribable experience...especially toward the end. Even though my knees are positively KILLING me at this very moment, I wouldn't trade it for the world....especially since I could do it with my love. Thank you so much Karen for being with our kids, allowing both Tracey and I to run together. THANK YOU!

And here I leave you with an ever so lovely looking photo of Tracey and I at the finish. Lets just say that running for 2 hours, 30 minutes and 10 seconds, doesn't exactly bring out the beautiful in me. HA!

Looking forward to next year....