Well, I did it. I completed my first marathon. It was the most painful experience of my life, but I’m glad I did. My whole body hurts at the moment and I don’t think that I will be signing up for another race anytime soon.

On Sunday morning, my dad and I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and had breakfast (I had peanut butter toast and a banana). We left the house at about 5:30 and got to the racing grounds at about 6:15. By 7:00 we were in our corale and ready to race. There were about 20,000 people participating in the race, but most of them were doing the half marathon. The road was packed from front to back and side to side for several miles. At mile marker 7, the course split off, separating the marathoners from the half marathoners.

I was feeling strong until about mile 18; that’s when I really began to struggle. The course was very hilly which posed as a huge obstacle to me, because I had trained on mostly flat terrain. My hip flexors and quads were burnt out and my back felt like someone was punching me with every step I took. My dad ran in front of me, and then would wait for me to catch up periodically. We shared a Snicker’s bar at mile 18 (which was delicious), but the only thought in my mind was that I still had 8.2 more miles to go. I didn’t want to walk, because I knew it would just take me longer to finish if I did. So, I just kept on trundling along until I got to mile 22….

At the top of the hill I could see my dad talking to someone in a big orange sweat shirt and someone else in a black jacket….it was my boy friend and my big sister . They had made signs and brought each of us another Snicker’s bar (which I couldn’t stomach). Seeing them boosted my morale and gave me the courage to keep going to the end. Although 2.5 miles doesn’t seem like a long way, after 24 miles, it feels like forever.

Finally, we made it to the finish line. I was so happy that I had finished and all my family was there to cheer me on. We then went to Chili’s for lunch where I had some cheese fries and a black bean burger topped with onion straws and bbq sauce and a tall frosty bud light (dad had real meat of course). It was absolutely delicious, but the taste of success was even better!