I did it!!!! Marathon - done, done, and DONE! :)

I did it, I did it, I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only did I finish my first Inline Marathon (26.2 miles), I knocked it out of the park! It was the absolute most amazing thing I have ever done since starting this process, and I can't wait to do it again! My dear friend Sarah and I have been training for this together, and I can't imagine doing it without her. She was a great partner, we started together, finished together, and kept each other motivated along the way.

Leading up to this past weekend, I was having some anxiety about the race. I was scared, nervous, anxious, excited, and just the fear of the unknown was eating at me! We have been training hard, so the distance was not my concern, I am not sure why I was so anxious. When we arrived to Duluth on Friday, we went to the DECC to pick up our racer packets. Once we got to the arena, I saw the finish line, and was surrounded by the atmosphere of the race - I WAS READY! I just wanted to get started and do it already :) Sarah and I agreed that we were not going to push for a certain "time" to finish, but just wanted to finish. We have been pacing at apprx. 2hrs and 30 min while we have been training, and thought as long as we did our best and stayed near our training time we would be happy. THEN, once we got around everyone, we decided it would be even more awesome if we finished around 2hrs 15 minutes. Hey, what can I say, we are competitive :) Saturday morning, we woke up, ate a nice protein filled breakfast and headed down to the race! My nerves faded, and I felt more ready than ever to get this under my belt. Team "Pink" was ready to dominate!

Once we got moving, and started the race we felt strong, and confident :) The view was amazing, it was along the North Shore of Duluth, and was truly breathtaking. Each time we passed another mile marker, we were getting closer and closer to our victory, and making GREAT time at that! Our husbands were our biggest fans, and stopped along the 26 miles to cheer us on, and take pictures of us in action. It was such a great feeling to have them there pushing us along the way. The support of the local residents was so incredible. It was very emotional to see the people lined up, just to support all of us. This is nothing like I have ever experienced before!

The last three miles, we pushed it hard, and wanted to finish strong! Crossing that finish line was the best feeling ever, hearing the crowds, I get chills just thinking about it. We both killed our time and finished 2hrs 7 minutes! Woot woot! Cannot wait for next year :) So awesome! Here are my official stats: Time: 2 Hours 7 Minutes 41.8 Seconds Paced: 4:53 per mile (view kilometer pace) Placed:1005 out of 1586 Placed: 240 out of 603 Females Placed: 32 out of 108 Females in the F2529 Age Group