Seattle Marathon

A couple of months ago I decided to run a marathon. I'm not sure why because apparently running is not in my genes and I have never been much of a runner. Nonetheless I found a four month training program and a marathon that happened to be over Thanksgiving break. Training sucked, but the up side is that I can eat anything I want and not gain a pound. Anyway so last weekend Ryan and I, along with my parents, went to Seattle so I could run my first marathon. I have never been to Seattle so it was quite an adventure. The night before the big event, we went to the Westin hotel to pick up my bib, number, shirt and goodie bag. It was a little overwhelming with all the people there, but I was excited for the next morning. The night before I didn't sleep at all and to make matters worse, a drunk guy tried to break into our hotel room at about 4 in the morning!!

The race started at 8:15 am and the traffic was a little worse than we had expected so we parked and followed the mobs of people to the starting line. The race started and I was off. I ran the first 10 miles with no problem. We ran through the streets of dowtown Seattle and then across the floating bridge. Besides the thick fog that made it impossible to see past 5 feet in front of you, it was rather warm and perfect for running. After the 10th mile I stopped to eat my mid-race snack and made it to the half way mark. After that things got a little crappy. Apparently I did not bring the right thing to eat because I was nautious for the next 6 miles or so. However, some wonderfully amazing woman was passing out gummy bears at mile 20 and she saved my life. After that I got my second wind and ran to the end. Seeing the mile 26 marker was like the greatest gift I could ask for and even better was having my wonderful husband and my awesome parents at the finish line waiting for me. I was so overwhelmed by the amount of support and love they showed me even though I know they think I'm crazy. Because of all the walking in the middle I made it in about 5 hours and 47 minutes which isn't the best time, but now I know what to expect and I plan to run another one soon!! AND I can feel my legs again!!