2:01:02!!

Thank you for all your prayers! Today could not have been a more perfect day for a run! The weather was wonderful, the sun came up beautifully, and there was just a hint of a breeze! :)

The race went well. I started off running with 3 other people from my TNT chapter (one being my coach!). We were able to run together for the first 8 miles at about a 9 - 9.30 pace. Around the 8 mile mark, the two other runners needed to slow down a bit, so my coach went with them, and I continued on with some people from the Greenville chapter. One of the guys was actually the dad of a "sponsored hero" (a special patient with a blood disease), so I enjoyed listening to his daughter's story and hearing about how they live with the disease (she's 7 and just finished treatment, fyi). So then he kept going on the marathon track, and I veered off onto the half marathon track. Very glad they had labeled well! There were plenty of people directing traffic and looking at bibs - yellow bibs were marathoners, green bibs were half marathoners. By that point I caught up with another TNT person - thank goodness for those bright purple jerseys! - and we were able to finish. By mile 11, I knew I had to slow down. I had only been training at a 10 pace, so I was really pushing myself the first 11 miles, and after that, I knew I slow down, which I was okay with. I knew I had done well for the majority of the race, so I had no qualms about slowing down and making sure I just finished the race. When I crossed the finish line and saw that I had finished with a 2:01:02 time, I was more than pleased!! I really didn't think I would be able to do that well after my not so fast training runs. But I was able to run with good pace setters, there were plenty of people cheering from the side lines, and the adrenaline of just being in the midst of runners was enough to keep me going - plus Power-aid/water stations and 2 Hammer gel packs (those things are a whole nother story!!).

And then as I came up on the final turn, there they were! The two most important men in my life - my wonderful husband, who was up with me at 4:45 and walked me to the start line and all!, and my amazing dad, who left Charleston at 6:00am just so he could see me cross the finish line! I was so excited to see them there, taking pictures, and cheering me on, that I decided to sprint to the finish line and finish strong! Thank you Paul and Daddy!

Final thoughts - I am amazed at how much support I had, and honored by all the prayers. I couldn't have done this with out y'all. Will I do another race?! I don't know. I want to keep running, that's for sure. I have some new shoes that I've been waiting to test out - they're Newtons and they're forefront foot running shoes and you actually have to retrain your legs and feet to run in them, which takes time and lots of pain! So, we'll just have to see what the future holds and if I want to race again.

Thanks again!

God Bless.

Running towards the finish line!











DONE!!
Picture with Paul after the race. I got a flip flop metal! :)