The "Mini" Recap

I DID IT!!! Saturday was the day...we got up bright and early, (about 5:30 a.m.) got ready, and made our way downtown despite all the road closers. We had a little setback because we forgot our dental school parking pass so we had to search for a parking place, but we finally parked and started our warm up walk/jog to the starting line where we met up with the other 35,000+ participants. I was placed in Corral X, which was really far from the starting line so we didn't actually start the race until about 30 minutes into it. Once we actually crossed the starting line we had to do a lot of weaving in and out of people because we had started back with the "walkers." Because of all the weaving, our first mile took us longer than ever but once we passed a bunch of people we were able to settle into a better pace for ourselves. There were bands by the side of the road playing all kinds of tunes, people lining the streets cheering everyone on, and even kids standing with their hands outstreached waiting for a high 5. These little highlights and more made the race so memorable. Just after starting mile 6 we entered the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (for those of you who don't know, this is where the famous Indy 500 and NASCAR Brickyard Race take place). The track (speedway) seemed to last forever but we made it out and had just under 5 miles left. Things were going great and then I hit the wall...at mile 11 I hit a point where it seemed like every step was an eternity. I kept looking for the "12" mile marker and it seemed to be avoiding me. I ran for what seemed like days when I finally saw it in the distance I thought to myself, "Only 1.1 miles left I can do that, no problem." It was totally a mental struggle for the rest of the race. My body kept wanting to stop but my mind continued to override that desire. When there was about 1/2 mile left I gave myself a few seconds to walk, I was worried I wouldn't get going again but I did and Iwas surprised when I had enough energy to sprint (at least the closest thing you can do to sprining after runing 13 miles) the last 1/4mi. When I saw the finish line I can't explain the flood of excitment that ran through me. After crossing the finish line there are tons of volunteers handing out bottles of water, medals, bananas, apples, chips, gatoraide, and cookies. They dote on you, tell you great job and congrats, and make you feel like a million bucks. After that you get to go to the family reunion area to meet your family. This was definitely a highlight for me...As soon as I came through the gate my amazing husband and beautiful kids were standing there with flowers and open arms. It was so great to have them there and feel the excitment they felt for me. I loved this experience. Although at times I haven't always looked forward to the training, I loved it. I loved the anticipation building up to the big day, I loved the actual race, between mile 11 and 12 I wanted to die, but I loved it. I am so amazed at what your body can do when you train it and I'm even more amazed that I was able to do it. It is not just something I hear about anymore It is real for me. All of you that told me you are thinking about doing this...DO IT! I couldn't be more excited for those of you that are training, you will love it. Oh, I almost forgot, of course all of you I'm sure want to know how I finished...well I am proud to say that I came in 7225 place. Okay so that makes it sound bad but my goal was to finish in under 2 hours and I did it...my final time was 1:58:18. Here are some pictures of the big day.

The Finish Line before the heards started crossing.

Caden and Kamrie watching and waiting for me to run by.

The moment they had been waiting for. Brady said he actually got a little motion sick scanning all the heads as people ran by.

A couple of us from the dental group that ran, after the race. There were actually quite a few of us...I wish I had a picture with everyone in it.

My training partner and friend Aimee and I just after finishing.

I guess there are pictures taken as you actually cross the finish line but they aren't up on the website yet so I will have to post them (if I can) when they are up.