THE MARATHON!

I finished my first (Atlanta ING) Marathon today in 4:00.16 - it feels great to have accomplished something i have wanted to do for so long.

the drama of the race... My friend (who was running with me, R,) and I were going along pretty well, well ahead of our target pace to finish in 4 hours. Around mile 9, R started to feel nauseous etc and we started losing time. It so happens that my house is right around mile 15... so i ran ahead to the house (from mile 14.5ish) and grabbed her some ibuprofen and another shirt to wear. while was getting her stuff i told her to run ahead and ill catch up... so i run to catch up and give her the stuff... anyways she still doesnt feel so good around mile 19, so she insisted that i go ahead and try to break 4 hours... My last 7 miles were ridiculous. i passed at least two hundred people and was going much faster then my original goal pace ( i was trying to make up for lost time from going slower earlier while R wasnt feel well) i ended just 17 seconds slower then what i wanted... im still really happy because just the time i had to make up in those last 7 miles means i really was going pretty fast.

the course was hilly. and it was raining. and it was cold. and it was AWESOME!. i cant wait to do my next marathon! im going to sign up for next year's atlanta ING marathon!

it was a great day, except my whole body hurts. R's mom said i looked like i was walking "with a stick up my ass." lovely. It was totally worth the hurt!

also - my sister and her good friend ran the new york half marathon today too! they are awesome mighty!! (inside joke, sorry!)

good job everyone!