who wants to run that many?

13.1 miles...who wants to run that many miles? (in little old lady voice)

That's the response my mom got from her friend's mom when discussing my race during a lunch date with my grandmother, my mom's friend and her mother earlier this week.

...Apparently me.

When I started training earlier this year my two goals were to a) run the entire time and b) finish. I had no goal set for time seeing as how any finish would be a PR. Good news though...I did better than I thought.

I ran the whole time. I paced myself. I drank a ton of Cytomax and water. I didn't have to use the bathroom at all. I timed my energy gel just right with a little practice during my 12 mile practice run. AND the storms that were suppose to hit Nash didn't roll in until about 15 minutes after I crossed the finish line.

Was it hilly? Yes. Did I want to quit at times? Only within the first 5k. It took me that long to get in sync. Did I almost cry twice during the race because of the ways I could tell I had changed both mentally and physically? Yes until I realized it affected my breathing so I tried to prevent it when I felt emotions rising. Did I cry at the finish? No...I had no water left in me to produce tears. Haha.

I finished about 4 minutes faster than I had predicted. I managed to dead sprint the last quarter mile because I could see the finish line so I wasn't completely out of gas but I don't know how much longer I could've made it.

I had my parents and brother there for support along with amazing fans that lined the roads. I think I high fived about 20 kids during the race. What a great feeling.

One stretch of the race is strictly residential so folks were outside tailgating with mimosas and bloody marys in hand. They had all this food laid out and I even saw one table with a bunch of tiny mouthwash cups full of beer. One of my coworkers and I were talking about it and he said that he saw one guy take a couple of beers and then a mile later saw that same guy off to the side...not racing for the moment.

So I guess you can say I am officially a distance runner. I enjoyed it enough to do it again so we'll see what the future brings. I will say this. If you think there is no way in heck you can do it, that's just not true. I couldn't even run a mile without walking when I started earlier this year, and now my short runs are 3-5 miles. And the best part is...I enjoy it.

Pictures to follow.