WE DID IT!!!!!!

Here I am waiting to start! It was so exciting I could hardly contain myself. I am sure most of you guys know that when I get excited I talk ALOT! Poor Mia, thats all I can say!

It was a wonderful day. There were moments I thought I was not having fun, but in all reality it was absolutely amazing. I am getting ahead of myself...here are more photos...




I woke up at 3:00 AM! I could not go back to sleep and this sweet thing stayed up with me until I left our hotel at 6:00AM. She is darling and was cheering me on while I was getting ready.





Here we are waiting for the gun...







Me passing under the starting line! I was about to scream I was so excited!



The mass of runners...You cant really see it well(unless you click on it) but they go WAY up the road!!




Us stopping (very breifly) to look cute in front of one of the fountains...







This was one of the best highlights for me. We were at mile 10 and tired. Then as we came over the hill I looked over and there was my sweet family. All my girls were jumping up and down and Rich was taking pictures and all of the sudden I felt lighter. It was wonderful and a good reminder what life is all about. Joy in the simplest things! cant beat a life lesson like that!


This is a picture Rich took of us coming up!



Is it just my eyes, or does that look like a finish line?!?!?



My new FAVORITE necklace








Hanging out having some fun after the walk



Agony of da-feet...





So there ya have it, the day in pictures. It was such a thrill and an adventure. I loved it, and more specifically loved the process. Upon arriving at the park to start we wandered around and I pretended to stretch like the “big guys” but in all reality I was probably leaning from side to side or some other lame move, but what I was really doing is taking it all in (and talking Mia’s ear off). It was a buzz of different sounds and there were people of every sort. There were some majorly serious athletes and then, I am sure, a few more like me with no real athletic prowess at all who were there only to prove to themselves that they could do it.

So, the gun goes off and we start walking and talking just like always, and eventually we get to a hill. I thought I might die right there! It was the only instant in this entire thing where I thought “what if I don’t finish”? Up till that moment I had never even entertained the idea of not doing it let a lone not finishing. I could not let this dumb hill beat me! So I grabbed my inhaler and took a couple deep breaths and after few seconds I was back in business! Disaster averted!

We trudged a long for a long time, up and down hills, through interesting (and a few weird ones too!) places in town, past landmarks and even over a dead squirrel. There were people cheering and sometimes they were even cheering for us, not around us to the runner behind us. We were humbled a couple times where we would smile and say thanks and then we would hear the steady foot steps of a runner coming up behind us…to funny. We had lots of good laughs.

When we were almost to mile 12 a lady said to me the sweetest thing I had heard in a long time… “this is the last small incline…the rest it all down hill” I could have kissed her. Turns out she was not completely honest with me. There was one tiny little hill, just before we turned to corner to walk to the finish line. I will forgive her, she did what she had to do.

As we got closer to the finish line I saw that same darling family that had cheered me on past mile 10. The girls were jumping and Rich’s hand was reaching out to give me a high five! I welled up with tears and felt victorious!

When the runners cross the finish line they announce who it is and sometimes comment on them in some way. Mia and I have joked a lot about what we thought they should announce as we crossed the line and our favorite was “thanks for waiting” but turns out they didn’t have to wait for us. We did fine, even better than fine , good even maybe.

When I got back to the hotel I took of my shoes and checked out my feet. I knew I had blisters, I had even announced to Mia when I felt them pop (I told you she was lucky!) so I wasn’t surprised to find the darling things in there, what I was surprised to find are two toenails that I think may not survive. As of today they are purple and its not lookin’ good.

So all in all it was a wonderful experience. I wore me medal all day and even slept in it. I did pry it off myself to go to church, but it was rough! I have learned a lot in the process. I have gained some new strengths and I have made myself a believer in one very important thing...with hard work, a loving family, and a good friend by your side ANYTHING is possible !!!!