26.2 miles...check, mate

I DID IT! I think that I didn't fully comprehend the distance until about mile 20...at which point my body just started to break down. My lungs were great, I was not out of breath at all...it was just that my legs and feet and hips seemed to no longer want to work. One foot in front of the other was suddenly harder than I'd ever imagined it could be.

Pre-race: Emmy had her parents & brother in town so Josh, Mom, Dad & I went to Manayunk and feasted on home-made meatballs and spaghetti for a carb-loading dinner. It was wonderful, and fun, and we all got psyched up for the race. Emmy & I even decorated our t-shirts with "YOU are a MARATHON RUNNER...KICK IT!" on the backs. Our names, of course, are on the front for all those new friends you make on the sidelines.

Miles 1-8 - Feeling Great!!
Emmy & I are running together and amazed at the people and the city and this whole race. There's a common saying among marathoners that this run is a 20 mile warm-up to a 6 mile race. So, my first mind game of the run was that when I passed mile 6...the hard part was over, and I just had 20 miles to go. It worked for a little bit...

Miles 9-13.1 - Emmy paces ahead of me (Kick it!!) and I'm still feeling great as I pass the half-way point. At this point I keep repeating Barney's lessons on how to train for a marathon: "Step 1 - You start running. Step 2 - there is no step 2, you just keep running." Then I start singing to myself "Just keep running, just keep running" a la Dory from Finding Nemo...

13.1-18.5 - Starting to feel "not so great" but happy that I know I'm still ahead of the 5:00 pace group. That is...until I stop to stretch at a water station and look up in time to see the pace group running past me. I jumped up (Okay, I didn't jump) and ran to catch up with them. Ended up staying with them for a few miles and have nothing but wonderful things to say about the pace leader. What a woman: completely able to keep up conversation and positive reinforcement for everyone. Thank you! Then, about mile 18.5 as we headed up the hill to Manayunk I had to listen to my body and slow back. That was the moment I realized that this was no longer about time for me. It was about finishing. No one said it had to be fast, and no one said it had to be pretty...
Though I did see Thing 1 & Thing 2 at mile 14 which made me laugh because Emmy & I had seen Thing 1 in the beginning and had made a goal of finding Thing 2. I won! (I think)
Miles 18.5-20 - Manayunk. The first people I saw as I turned the corner into Manayunk were Tony (Emmy's brother) and his girlfriend Christine! What a happy surprise. They held me up for a second while I stretched and until I could make it a little further down the road to Megan & Alison at the Bryn Mawr tent. Meg went on a mission to find me water for when I came back around and then I saw Emily & Patrick! Before I knew it, "this is why I'm hot" was blaring on the speakers at the turn around and I was FINALLY on my way to the finish line. I did not take a beer from the Beer Stop table, but I did have some potato chips and a brownie :)

Miles 20-22 - Utter pain and despair. I start to wonder if my legs might actually detach from my hips and fall off. I start to worry about being able to make it to the finish line. Suddenly, my arm is buzzing, I look down and...

Mile 22 - Lizzy is calling me! (I should have been finished) but her call totally took me through mile 22. Thank you for convincing me that 4 miles was completely do-able!

Mile 23 - I'm thinking in my head about this story I read once about the participants in the Special Olympics: how sometimes, in the middle of an event, they'll just sit down on the ground because they can't go any further. But they all have angels that are assigned to them and they come out onto the course and help them up and keep them going towards the finish. I'm thinking about this story, and wondering where my angel on the sideline is. Because I really need it. I'm talking to anyone who is walking with me, but no one sticks (though I met some amazing people). Then I look over and see a woman wearing a Phillies sweatshirt, "Yay Phils!" I muster; trying to keep up the positive thoughts in my head, and keep OUT the negative ones that were creeping in. She smiles at me, and that is when I meet Phyllis, and she ends up being my angel in this race. She totally paced me in miles 23-26 ("we're going to run 2 light-posts and walk 1"), and I truly believe that this woman's purpose in my life was to be there and pace me in. She is amazing. I doubt I will ever see her again. This was her 17th marathon, and she's 44 and I love her.Mile 25 - I'm telling Phyllis all about my little packet of 26.2 miles of inspiration and how I had been reading all these really inspiring things from my friends and family for the last 24 miles. As we got to mile 25 I told her I'd read it out loud..."You're the a-hole that signed up for this! Hope you're not too sore from soaring. Love, Christa" We both busted up laughing. What a great quote for mile 25.

Mile 26 - I took off and ran with as much as was left in me for the last .2 miles. As soon as I could see the finish line banner I was completely overcome with emotion and just tears were streaming down my face. I could not believe that I was here and doing it. I saw Emmy jump out from the side as I rounded the corner and that made me smile and then I crossed the finish line and just collapsed into my family.What a feat. I cannot thank my friends and family enough for all their love and support. I will never forget this.