13.1 check

I have to say I feel so content today.  Last week I was sick, Thursday I was feeling worse.  I could not breath..much less run 13.1 miles! By Friday morning, I was feeling soo much better, I was so glad I got that shot on Thursday and Jesus answered my prayers! 

Friday afternoon, I went to Nashville to the Expo with Anna and got out swag bag, along with some free goodies.  We were overwhelmed with the crowds of people. That made me nervous.  We actually got to meet up with Libby and Angie and lots of other wonderful people of Team Libby.  That made me more excited!  After the expo Anna and I went to a cute little Italian place down town and chowed down on some chicken pasta. Yummy! We skipped on the amazing looking pieces of cake they had for dessert though. We headed home with plans of relaxation for the evening. 

Friday night, I got home, showered, got in my comfy clothes, got out everything I needed for Saturday, and relaxed on the couch with the hubs and Emma.  We watched the movie Fair Game.  It was really good. Suspenseful enough to take my mind off of what would be happening a mere 10 hours later.

Saturday morning, I woke up to my alarm at 5am.  I was tired, I really really wanted to snooze it. But, I got up and got started getting ready, ate a banana with peanut butter...should have drank a protein shake too...(didn't think about that until Anna told me that's what she had that morning for breakfast when we were waiting in line to start!)   I was lucky enough to be accompanied by my wonderful husband, Ethan, my mom, and my dad.  I promise there are pictures to following all my babbling.  We arrived downtown, we walked to the corral that we were in...got some pictures of before and then we were off to stand in line and wait to RUN!

 Anna and I...so glad we ended up doing this together! She is such a sweetheart!!!

This is pretty much the same picture of us, but look at that guy behind us...bahahaha.

When the blow horn went off, and it was our corral's turn to GO, I looked at my HR monitor and it said my heart rate was 110! And no, I hadn't even started running yet! Once we got to the start line we were off! It was awesome! Slight breeze, the sun hadn't completely started shining yet, nerves were pretty much non-existent.  Then came the hills, I kept on, I was out of breath, I just let myself get in my running groove and I felt better.  The first water stop came, I wasn't all that thirsty, but drank anyway...well, I lost my gum with that sip of water. agh. oh well, still running... the signs that people were holding up and the costumes people had on, just made me feel encouraged and good.  Then after that first hour the sun was out and shining, it was HOT.  I just began to thank God that it was not pouring down rain or threatening a tornado! I remember getting to mile 12 and thinking, "ok, you can do this! RUN!" and I did...all the way to 13.1....Thank you Jesus! I made it!!

At that point I was in desperate need for some H2O! I was out of it...I remember thinking, "where is the water? where is the water? they are herding us like cows, but I still don't see any water!"

I first came to some big barrels people were reaching into and to my disappointment they were iced wet towels, that I later realized would have been nice to have.  Well, what seemed like an eternity was a total of about 3 minutes, I finally got some water.  Then out of the corner of my eye saw a hand go up and start waving...I looked, and it was my handsome husband. I walked over and fell into his arms, so happy to be DONE! 

my love.

 my awesome parents that came to meet us at our house to leave at the crack of dawn.

The Team Libby reunion was fun, hearing everyone's stories, sharing where you are sore, and enjoying the sweet feeling of completion. 

 Angie and I. LOVE her!

Libby and I.

We were lucky enough to be able to enjoy lunch with everyone as well.  However, I didn't take pictures of that.  So, once I find some I will probably do another picture post with those. It was such an amazing experience meeting people in real life that I have only known from reading their blog.  I wouldn't have had it happen any other way.  I am so thankful I was able to be a part of Team Libby, and that I got to meet all kinds of wonderful people  along the way!