My 26.2 Miles

My headphones rang with "U Can't Touch This" as the starting announcements were made.  The group huddled around me in anticipation, bobbing and throbbing with heat.  Over 20,000 people stood around me waiting to run the next 26.2 miles, and you could feel the excitement.  I made it to the halfway point in just a little over 2 hours and I felt great!  I had a blister to take care of around mile 9, and had rolled my ankle a couple times (that comes back later), but I was smiling and breathing easy.  At mile 14, my ankle started to swell pretty significantly.  I tried powering through, but the pain was incredible.  Meeting with mom at mile 16/17 was relieving.  At mile 19, Joe came in as my human crutch and together we hobbled across the finish line.  This was 3 hours later.  Yes!!  I made it!  A group of Team In Training coaches formed a love tunnel and cheered me through every painful step.  I couldn't have made it without their, and your, support.  It was beautiful.  The highlight of my run was finishing and having a woman come up to me crying as she hugged me, telling me that I was her inspiration for doing next year's marathon and having her daughter join her.  Thank you everyone.  Now I have to try it without injuries!!  We'll see.. ;)

Thank you all, again, for your incredible support.