Memphis Marathon

This weekend was the culmination of 16 weeks of training and dedication to running. After running 5 days a week for the last 4 months, most of the running done at 5 a.m. in the morning, I ran my first 1/2 marathon on Saturday. I can now check that off my list of "Things I would like to try". I am not a natural long distance runner, so this was a bit of a challenge for me. However, I have grown a new appreciation for running longer distances and the fun you can have doing it. I probably would have never have run a 1/2 marathon if it hadn't been for Jan, one of my old basketball teammates at Morehead State. She invited myself and 2 other ex-teammates, Shawne and Crystal, to train with her for this run. We all met up on Friday night before the race and enjoyed catching up and talking about how "crazy" we were to run. The race itself was exciting. There were approximately 12,000 runners, some serious and some not so serious. The course took us through downtown Memphis which is filled with history and is actually very beautiful. I set my goal time to finish the race in under 2 hours and 20 minutes, but I would have loved to have finished in under 2 hours and 10 minutes. Ultimately, I finished in 2 hours and 11 minutes after pooping out the last 3 miles. I'm not going to lie...running the last 3 miles of the race was one of the hardest things I have ever done physically. It was tough and every part of my body hurt towards the end. At the finish line, I vowed to never run a 1/2 marathon again, but my friend Jan said just wait, tomorrow you will start planning for your next one. I have to say she was right...I am already contemplating training for another race this spring. I love being in shape and when you are running this much you can eat just about whatever you want...and I LOVE to eat! Jeff and the kids accompanied me to Memphis and spent most of the time at the hotel. Unfortunately the kids are still a little under the weather, so we weren't able to do as much as we would have liked in Memphis. However, after our visit we definitely will visit Memphis again and hopefully get to do a few more things!