Marathon Tidbits and Details

So, here's the nitty gritty deets of my first marathon!

Friday night I was SUPER nervous. I just didn't know what to expect.  Prior to my marathon, the most I had run was 20 miles. It was a horrible experience. I seriously thought how can I run 26.2, when I could barely run 20? I was terrified. 
 But, my blogging/running friend, Elizabeth, saved the day. She was running her first marathon on Saturday too!! She and I texted all evening, she was a HUGE help in calming my nerves! Thank you, sweet girl! You need to read her recap, she did AWESOME at her first marathon, and I can't wait to run a marathon with her!

And then another friend, Carie, made this adorable sign for me!

 That made me so happy! Thank you so much, Carie! You have no idea how much that meant to me. She said her girls were carrying the sign around the house cheering for me! We have plans to run a marathon together someday too!

Friday night, after picking up my packet, we went out to Abuelo's, a Mexican restaurant.

I was hoping this wouldn't effect my race, and it probably wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done! But I have never had stomach troubles when I run, so I figured I would be okay, and I was.

 I've always heard never try anything new before your race...but I broke that rule. Before I left Saturday morning, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I usually only have a banana before a race, but I knew a banana alone wouldn't get me through 26 miles! I think that's another reason why my 20 miler went so bad, because I hadn't fueled properly beforehand! I'm very glad I ate that sandwich, and I really believe it helped!

  Starting at mile 5, and every 5 miles after that, I would take GU Energy Gels. I carried 4 of these with me in my SpiBelt. Love them!

I didn't carry any water with me because I knew there were plenty of water/powerade stops. I drank at most of them. Towards the end I was grabbing both a cup of water and powerade. I was thirsty!! 

  After the race we met with some friends in the area and had lunch together. For some reason, I was not hungry at all, and could hardly eat anything! I thought I would be ravenous, but I wasn't. When we got home that evening, my honey did get me some ice cream. I always have room for ice cream! ;)

My family was so wonderful and supportive of me. My lovely twinnie would send me texts as I was running, just encouraging and praying for me. Every time I would get a text from her was the EXACT moment I needed to be encouraged. Of course I didn't reply, but I would hear my text alert go off on my phone, look at my arm and read it, and be SO encouraged! Thank you, Annie!!

When I had finished, I read a facebook message from my precious Dad. Of course I started crying again. I think I cried pretty much all day long! I love my family!!

Saturday evening and Sunday I was VERY sore. I was walking slow and it was very difficult standing and sitting! Jeremy was such a huge help! I don't know what I would've done without him!
 Of course wearing these shoes for 10 hours on Sunday probably didn't help my soreness!

What can I say, I love my heels (yes, even though they make me over 6'!), and they went perfectly with my outfit, so I had to! :)

 Thank you all, my faithful readers, who I now call friends, for your support, love and encouragement! Thank you to my sweet friends for the little things you did and said that kept me going. Thank you to my wonderful family for your support and for sharing in my excitement. Thank you to the love of my life, Jeremy. This wouldn't have been nearly as fun without you! And thanks to God for running beside me every step of the way. 

 And one last picture... I finally get to put this sticker on my car!!