26.2 is my bitch

and i am a marathon finisher.
i could not be more proud, either.

lets recap shall we?

i followed the weather reports all week long. 60% chance of rain showers-hmmm. 30% chance- yes! and then saturday, 100% chance of rain and snow showers.

sweet...

it was raining when i got up this morning and i was not looking forward to the run. i had originally started learning to run in the rain (in january- can you believe i have come so far), but hadnt run any of my marathon training runs in it... oh well, nothing i could do.

we met at the seattle center as a group and found out irene's husband had been given a no-go by his doctor because of some chest pains. lisas running buddy never showed up. but everything else seemed to be in order.

we were pumped at the starting line, wishing everyone good luck and trying to keep somewhat warm. and it was really fun to run through downtown in the middle of the street. the rain kept up until mile 9 or so, and then tapered off. the sun almost came out. leigh and i made it across 90 and headed toward seward park making decent time. as we came to mile 13 i overcame the wall that was holding me back and then we saw irene. she was shuffling and her running partners had left her. with a half of a marathon left to finish we werent going to leave her behind by herself. from about mile 13 to mile 21 we stayed with her, walked when she needed to walk and pulled her along when she started to struggle. mile 21 we left her (her husband was meeting her at mile 24 to run with her to the end) leigh and i picked up our pace a little more- back to normal- and headed towards the finish.

then the rain started (again).
and then started to come down a little harder.
then it started to get a little colder.
then it started to hail.
then it started to snow.

there could not have been worse conditions for the race.

but we did it anyway. we rounded the corner at the finish to jason holding up a sign that said "go mandy" on one side and "your mom" on the other.

perfect.

bill was there snapping pictures and pregnant, due that day beth was pumping her fists in the air. they ran along the side as leigh and i crossed the finish line. i bawled. i kept telling them i appreciated them being there, but they will never know how much (thank you guys. it fills me up to think about your support).

so as of 3pm today, i am a marathon finisher.

on a low note i left my race belt (which is actually beths race belt) in the recovery area along with my cell, id and debit card. so instead of sleeping all day tomorrow, i may be galavanting around the city trying to replace said items.

at least ill be galavanting around as a marathon finisher.

i keep saying no more, but at this point i know my time could be better, and the weather cant be any worse can it? we'll see.

(*to jason, bill & beth it honestly meant the world to me. thank you...)