Minneapolis Half Marathon June 6th, 2010

There are days in your life that you will never forget and this was one of those days. To say it was awesome would be an understatement.

I think I was crying about mile ten. Not because I was hurting, although that would have been a good reason:), but because I was so grateful to run this race. A lot goes through ones mind when they accidentally leave their iPod at home on race day. The farther I go on this journey, the more I realize how much my life has changed for the better. I just cannot believe I was 250 pounds two years ago. I cannot believe I used to smoke and drink. I cannot believe I couldn't run a mile 18 months ago and am running my first marathon in ten days! Yikes, that particular thought makes me a tad bit nervous! A marathon? These are the thoughts going through my head as I am dodging potholes and stopping at the water stops. I am not writing this to pat myself on the back, just to share what runs through my mind as I running 13.1 miles!

I ran the half in 2:17:02. It was seven minutes faster than my Disney Half. The last mile of the race was Brutal. The hill was very steep. I did it.

I made some new friends too:). Funny that I would make friends on the train at 5:43 on a Sunday morning! That's another benefit to this lifestyle. I would never have been up and on the train at this unGodly hour two years ago. Don't get me wrong, I'm still NOT a morning person, but will get up at this hour to run:) Great runs Mary and Tiffany! Next race I plan on crossing the finish line next to you two! Thanks for waiting for me at the finish line...that was amazing:)

I am scared of the marathon, but also excited! I cannot wait to get to the finish line! I bought us shirts and we are getting our names screen printed on them. I need the cheerleaders at Grandma's to Holler my name along the race route! Go us!

Edited to add: The race route went under SEVERAL bridges which is challenging for the Mom in me. I train with my kids and we have to yell "Echo!" under every bridge we go under, so I was the freak hollering under each and every bridge I ran under!

Edited, edited to add: Logan ran the half in 1:52:39! I am so stinking proud of my him!

And one last edit: THANK YOU MOM AND DAD for taking our children overnight so that we could do this! You made this possible for us and we appreciate it! We also appreciate you taking care of Hayden when a twenty mile run is far too long for her to be stuck in a jogger!