RACE DAY!!

 Race day finally arrived.  April 27th.  I had been training for this day, this one race, for quite some time.  I got friends to run and train with me, family to help with my boys while I ran, a place to stay for the weekend, and plans for that night with a great friend.  I was ready.

Until 4am arrived and then I didn't want to get out of bed.  That's REALLLLYYY early.  I did it though.  I crawled out and sleepily put on my race clothes and shoes.  I could see a storm looming in the distance but had been praying about it not hitting OKC.  My prayers were not answered the way I wanted them to be:(  

I drove to the race for the 5:30am vigil for the OKC men, women, and children who lost their lives on April 19, 1995.  That got rained out.  The rain began pouring.  Lightening everywhere around us.  Golf ball size hail on its way.  Great.  Just great.  Talk about nerves!  Mentally checked out?  Yes, I was!  That's not good when you are about to run 13.1 miles!  We sat there, thankfully we found an awesome church that held thousands of us and fed us free breakfast.  We sat there for 2 HOURS.  Kept waiting and praying they wouldn't cancel the race and all this training we had been putting in.  

God answered those prayers for me and at 8:30am we began the race with a light rain.  Thankfully, it stopped raining pretty quickly, the winds died down, and the storm moved on.  

For those people who have ran in a Marathon before (either Full or Half) because it really doesn't matter, you know the absolute joy you feel when you see your friends and family there to support you.  I can't tell you what it does for you, but it gives you something to look forward to and the desire and drive to push onto the finish.  My family was waiting for me around mile 7 1/2 and I knew that.  I couldn't wait to see them and to hear them cheering for me and grab some kisses from my boys.  I am so thankful for all the family and friends that came out for me.  I feel so blessed to have awesome people like this in my life.

Will I do another one?  I have already been asked this.  My answer?  Probably not.  This was my 2nd Half Marathon and I think I am good now.  Yes, I will still do 5k, 10k, and 15k's.  Those I can say for sure I will participate in.  I am not saying NEVER to another half, but my answer is a very STRONG probably not.  

As for my goal of 2 hours?  Well, I got close.  I finished in 2:07 (which was 9 minutes faster than my first marathon).  I was pretty pleased with 2:07 and thankful that I didn't die or get injured.  It's the little things right???