Marathon is over

I did it.  I wish I could say that I felt that elation of accomplishing something when we finished, but I was just so thankful to be done that I did not even have any inclination to cry at all.  That surprised me.  It still does.
It was hard.  It was definitely one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life.  We finished in 5:23:44.  The record books has us down for 5:31 and change, but we stopped to pee twice and I stopped the garmin during that time.  I do not consider that time too bad for two ladies who really did not train in the last two months.  I think I need a marathon in September when I am still at the peak of my training each summer.  What I do know is that I will do a marathon again.  What else do I know?  It will not be next year.  There is a trail race half marathon close by that I want to do next fall.  There are also some other half marathons that I want to do next year and some other trail races along the way.  I love running, but not the dramatic, 3-4 runs.  I do not mind the 1 hour to two hours runs, but anything longer than that and well, I feel like I should be with my family and not out running.  Then I feel weighed down which is not helpful in running.
I learned yesterday that I can carry my BFF and I running.  Normally she carries us.  I carried her for a good deal of the race.  My boss was right.  It was good for me to do that for us.  I also learned that when you have already run 23 miles, a 5k seems like another 10 miles!!  I learned that it gets quiet in the back from miles 18-26.  No one talks.  We are all so pissed off and just wanting it to end at that point!  I learned that I can avoid chaffing of my sports bra by putting chaffing cream all over my stomach and chest.  Post race meal, I learned that french fries and onion rings do not taste as good as I remembered.  The same goes for a Reese's Blizzard.  (It was good, but I do not need it.)  I learned that I still smile as I am running even 25 miles in.  I wish I could explain that.  I was the only one at that point.  I felt crazy and lucky all at that same time.  My knees hurt so much at that point, but part of me was still happy.  Maybe it is because I was the girl who said I only ran when chased.  There I was finishing a marathon, something I never thought in a million years I would do.
I want to thank my BFF who keeps me running and who advised us along the way.  You are amazing, strong woman. You inspire me every day.  I told you that we would finish it together and I am glad that we did!  I want to thank my kids.  This morning at breakfast my son said to me that is cool that I ran a marathon.  My daughter made a sign for me that she wanted to stick in the ground along the way.  Very fun!  I want to thank Connie and Kimberly from work.  I feel honored that you wanted to be there for one of the biggest events of my life.  I can never fully express how thankful I am for that.  Your support means so much to me.  It helped to keep us going! Ironically enough, I need to thank my mother.  Your constant criticism when I was growing up has made me constantly push the limits of who I am and what I can.  Sure, because of it, I doubt myself all of the time, but without, I would never have the drive to push as I do.  Last but not least, I want to thank my husband.  You let me go run out the door for hours and never complain about it.  You listen to me when I am feeling insecure and incompetent and constantly doubting myself (which let's face it is frequent.)  You do not take it personally and you do your best to help as much as you can.  You put up with a lot.  I love you more than I can ever say.  You, too, inspire me every day to be a better woman and wife.  You are a good man and a fantastic husband and I know it!