The Finish Line

I just took my 764th sip of water for the day and the boys are out getting a movie at Blockbuster, so I thought I'd steal away for a quick update on today's milestone event. You know, that half marathon thing we were running.

Well, we finished and it was awesome! Had I not been close to being on the brink of a small asthma attack when I crossed the finish line, I probably would have cried a little harder than I actually did.

And I am pretty certain that my eyes will be closed or bloodshot in my official photographer pictures from the race. My wonderful husband and his best friend were so busy cheering me on at the FINISH they forgot to whip out our high speed digital camera. Oh well.

Back to the point... Never before have I experienced so much pain and yet sheer joy at the ability to rise above that and to finish strong. We started with rain and ended with sunshine. Never once were either of us too cold, too tired, too wet, too lonely or too miserable to at least keep moving forward. Cliff ran every step of his 13.1 miles and if my memory serves me correctly, I ended up walking close to 3 miles of the race in bouts along the way and ran the rest.

Here are the official results for Cliff and I:


I was so proud when I found out his final time and equally as joyful to have exceeded my own expectations for myself, today. I'll have you know that time includes a four minute long break at Mrs. Winners on West End (within the first mile of the race) to use the restroom.

Every sore and pain-laden step we've taken since racing has been a wonderful reminder of something I said last "I could NEVER do" this same time last year.

We got Jimmy John's for a celebration lunch, took showers and stretched for awhile, and then enjoyed the beautiful weather and spent a couple of hours at the Zoo. Walking around was humorous, but probably a much better idea than sitting around at home and locking up. It's bad enough after 20 minutes of sitting in one position... I couldn't imagine more!

There's so much I could reflect on, like the course, or significant moments along the run, or how I'm actually really sad about having to get new running shoes, considering how much these current ones have been a part of taking a 2-mile runner to finish a half marathon. But there's time for that later I guess.

In the mean time, I just want to say thanks for all of your prayers and support. I saw so many familiar faces today and was grateful for everyone who cheered us on. We couldn't have done it without you!