I woke up this morning around 6AM, before my alarm even went off! I put on my already laid out outfit, my favorite running short and my Team Hole in the Wall jersey, gunk'ed up my toes, gliding up my body, and packed my bag! I threw on a long sleeve, because it was chilly! My parents came to pick me up EARLY, which is a big deal for them...I can see they got up before their alarm too! They dropped Ryan and I close to the start of the race and parked the car. Ryan walked around the start area with me, which I was so thankful for. Talking to him = less time alone with my thoughts and nerves! We ran into another person running for HITW, which was awesome! She was a nurse at camp and I saw her run by me during the race....kudos to her! At about 7:45, we met up with Meaghan, who dropped back to start the race with me...another huge point of thankfulness! Having her at the start line meant, again, I didn't need to be alone with my nerves. The waves went pretty quickly and the crowd moved fast up to the start line...I didn't have much time to think about. Before I knew it, we were running!!
Meaghan's parents were not too far from the start, so we saw them, and then saw my parents and Ryan shortly after (although they almost missed us...video to come!). The loop in the city went pretty well. I was honestly mildly dreading it, because the one time I ran it with Ryan, it bombed....so luckily it went great! I ran with Meaghan the whole time, and aside from knocking some guy's glasses over, it went well! While I had originally predicted a 10 minute mile, I didn't go into today with expectations of that...I wanted to make sure I'd last the whole time, so I hadn't expected to keep up at that, but running together had me doing it, which was fine! We ran past both sets of our parents again, and headed past the Art Museum up Kelly Drive. After some gu, I encouraged Meaghan to go ahead of me. I wanted to slow down a little bit, and while I was sad to see her go, I was SO incredibly thankful for the pleasant surprise of running almost half of it with a friend!
Just after we split up, I saw Lani on the sidelines...SCREAMING her face off at me, since I apparently didn't hear her! I'm not sure I would've even seen her had I not been going to the side to get water. Kelly Drive went well....I started to play the numbers game in my head, which I've been working all training to stop. How many miles have I gone? How many more left? How far until the next milestone in the course? It was hard to fight it, and I honestly couldn't just go quiet otherwise, which was a little stinky. I crossed the East Falls Bridge, which was definitely a great feeling. It was about half way over that I realized- Holy smokes (that's not really what I said to myself...)! This is actually about to happen!
I crossed the bridge and hit mile 10. Everything after that point was the furthest I had ever run, and I tried to keep reminding myself of that. I knew Rachel and her sister were somewhere along the course, and it was nice that they were further along the way than I had originally expected. It gave me something to look forward to and keep my eyes out for...although word to the wise: be cautious of how much energy you exert showing any supporters how thankful you were. I sorta went crazy and had to catch my breath afterward!
The end was a little hazy. There was a really good band I appreciated, but it came and went fast. Again, I couldn't stop myself, but it was a game. How much longer? How much further? I know that doesn't help, but I was starting to feel the miles and was ready to cross the finish line. Leading up to the end, the sidelines got thick with people and I couldn't believe I had made it. I just kept moving, and to my surprise, was even able to pick up a little bit of speed...honestly, anything to get me over that line that point!
My finish line photo isn't up yet, but as many of you know, it's something I had been looking forward to for a long time now....and fingers are crossed it's a little something I can keep me with (proudly) as a reminder of this incredible journey and amazing day!
There is still so much I want to and need to say about today and everything, but it will come later as I continue to digest it all. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from Janny and even two videos!
