I finished!

So, I finished the marathon on Sunday.  It ended up being HOT and I didn't have my best day ever, but I ran it in under 5 hours which was my goal (4:57:10, to be exact).  Lots of walking happened after mile 22, but I did finish running!  Thanks to all who supported me from far away, my running partner Kim (who I stuck with until mile 17), my awesome training group (go Niles CARA!), and my friends and family who made it out that day (Scott and Emily, Dad, my brother Jon, Joshua, and Andy).  A special shout out to Andy who made it possible for me to train for this thing and made the day special.

Here is a pic of me with my friend Kim around mile 12, while we still looked good ;)

I'm so excited!

I got my official confirmation ticket for the Chicago Marathon today! Only 20 days away. I did read through the entire booklet like a dork. If you want to try to find me running the course, let me know!
On a related note. I made it through the 20-miler this past Saturday. It poured (think torrential downpour with thunder and lightning) for the last 3 1/2 miles. My running parter (shout out to Niles Kim!) and I kept shouting "We rock! We are so hardcore! You are awesome!" to make it through those last miles when our legs were dead and it was cold and rainy. The scariest part was running over the Oakton Bridge, which was a concrete and metal river while there was lightning. I am so thankful for my training group as they are so supportive and encouraging.

I have officially gone nuts!

And I am registered for the Chicago Marathon. It is being run on my 33rd birthday. Now hopefully I have the discipline to stick to training and preparing so I can run this baby!