Marathon Weekend

The girls and I had been training for this marathon for months...the build up is sometimes worse than the actual race itself as you are going back to back weekend after weekend with long runs.  But the day was finally there and we were ready to do this darn thing!  We met up in Dallas as I was already there with another group of ladies at market.  We spent Friday night with some great food and prepping for the day ahead.   

 We had to wait around for what seemed like eternity that Saturday morning as this race was different from others i have done in the past.  It started at 2pm.  We slept in and sat around just waiting for the moment we could get out there.  Unfortunately, the winds were so strong that day combined with temps in the upper 70's which made a huge difference considering we had been training for weeks in freezing temps.  It is still January but this weather is always crazy!  As I predicted we all took off and stayed to together for the first few miles and then in an attempt to just not die I let them go ahead and we all finished at our own paces.  Mine being a little slower than others but hey we all got it done!  

A few proof pics of the run..unfortunately there was no shade and the course was a big circle that we had the pleasure of going around 4 times (6-7 miles each round) after the first round I was ready to be done...but i was not letting that stop me because we had trained way to long to quit now. 

As I told everyone else...slow and steady and that is what I did!  It was a beautiful sunset of the Dallas skyline so I tried to take it all in and forget that last hour.

 And just  like that we were done!!  See I told you the skyline was pretty!  That smile is genuine I was sooo glad it was over!  My final time was 4:50 I believe.  My last full 26 mile marathon we did an early start so our time had to be over 5 hours.  This time my goal was to get in under 5 and I DID IT!!

I returned home the next day to a few sweet gesture from the hubby and kids.  So proud of myself for doing this and sticking to the training even when it wasn't easy due to my schedule and work restraints got in the way.   We shall see what the future holds but for now my bucket list is complete.  26 miles checked off!