One Month Anniversary

My marathon was exactly one month ago today. It makes me sad to think that it's been that long! I miss you Marine Corps Marathon!!!

You were all probably hoping you were done hearing about it, but TOO BAD! Let's recap the experience with some official race photos. :-)

Entering Runner's Village

I was lifting my shirt so the camera could record my number, not just to be weird and lift my shirt, haha. It was chilly out so I still had on some extra layers. This will probably sound strange, but I think of all the pictures, I am most proud/inspired by the girl in this picture. She had a dream, trained for it, and is just about to see it come to a reality... she doesn't know what will happen, but she's going to give it all she's got and try. I'm pretty inspired by me!

The race begins!

I will never forget the energy, the excitement, or the emotion I felt at this moment. It was really really cool.

Mile 10-ish

Andy and I ran most of it together. I was SO glad to have him by my side.

Mile 18-ish

I love how the guy next to me is giving a definite thumbs down, and that my poor running form makes me look like I'm giving a thumbs up!! It's an accurate reflection of how I was feeling... pretty good. :-)

Mile 23-ish

I won't lie, this section was tough. Thankfully the festive atmosphere of Crystal City was somewhat distracting. Notice how the guy next to me is walking? I'm happy to report I ran the whole way! Amazing!

Finish Line!!!

That is a truly happy smile on my face. :-)

Finisher!!!

Thanks for indulging my trip down memory lane. I wish I could relive this experience everyday. Even though it's over it has definitely changed me. Whenever I am doing some sort of exercise that is hard, now I think - if I can run for 5 hours straight, I can do "fill in the blank" for a few more minutes. I'm more confident trying new challenges and less down on myself if I'm not that great at them, because hey - I ran a marathon. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!