five hours : forty-two minutes : twenty-two seconds

one of the greatest accomplishments of my life so far has officially been checked off my list.


so the san diego rock 'n roll marathon was yesterday and i think anyone who knows mackenzie, whitney and i would agree that we are rockstars. we were all first timers in the marathon world and we crossed the finish line running!


it all started two years ago when i went with my sis-in-law whitney to watch her husband matt run this same marathon. and watching all those people cross the finish line is so inspiring. there are so many different types of people that you find yourself thinking, "if they can do it, i can do it." and so the seed was planted.


but that seed didn't grow at ALL during the next year. but after matt finished the following year, whitney said she wanted to finally crack down and do the training so that we could do the marathon. but this time, the seed actually grew and whitney and i decided to do it together. i went online and found some training schedules that said a beginner could get the proper amount of training in six months. so i organized a whole schedule by date and workout for the six months leading up to the race and gave a copy to whitney. (i might have put it into an excel spreadsheet, but you can't judge because i just like things organized).


whitney and i, maybe, followed the schedule for a couple weeks and then the schedule became more of a suggestion. we ran on a weekly basis, but we didn't really train seriously for 3 or 4 months. we were back and forth and back and forth as to whether we really wanted to do it. but eventually we made the decision, got in a few longer runs, and signed up for the race. mike and matt's little brother mackenzie also decided to run it too somewhere along the way.


so the three of us were finally going to follow in matt's footsteps and try to do it together.


and all of us finished! mackenzie finished about 15 minutes before whitney and i did (we lost him at the very beginning of the race because whitney and i had to go pee in the bushes. obviously girls take longer to pee and we just never caught up to him.)


i can still hardly believe we actually did it. the only thing that reminds me of that fact is that i can barely stand today. my legs are SOOO sore, but it was well worth it. this was the single most difficult thing i've ever set out to do. it's so much of a mental game and i couldn't have done it without whitney. she pushed me through the whole second half when i was really struggling to keep going. but i kept going and the feeling i had crossing the finishing line was pure ELATION! everyone was cheering for the runners and i felt such a sense of accomplishment. nothing compares.


and i'm so glad it's over. i'll probably keep running on a weekly basis (once my muscles feel better, of course). i don't know if i'll be able to do the marathon again, but i think that participating in some shorter races on a regular basis is definitely in my future.


here are some pictures from all the fun and festivities...

mack, me, whit, and matt at the expo picking up all our goodies.

this is megan who came down from bakersfield with mike and matt's cousins to come watch the race.

ryan and olivia at our carbo load dinner.

me and whitney (please note this picture was generously taken by six-year-old megan).

the whole gang at buca di beppo.

before the race at o-five-hundred hours (translation: it was EARLY!!!)

me and whitney with our matching outfits and new jackets.

some of the runners on friars

me and whit at the halfway point. still smiling.

there was a batman and robin duo running yesterday.

my mom heading to the finish line.

some of the many elvi running in the race.

the crazy guy running in with the cape was completely naked. not sure at what mile he decided pants were no longer necessary. my parents took this picture. too funny.

me and whitney running to the finish line. almost there.

we barely had the energy to stand up for this photo, but we are still smiling and we got our medals.

the four finishers.

the whole family at the finish line.

me and my medal!!! woohoo, it's over!