The Loooooong Beach Marathon

4:16:04!

We did it! Our very first marathon!

Do I say it was fun? That doesn't seem quite right... it was half fun, half knee-pounding torture.... so somewhere in the middle is a word that can describe what it was. Maybe you can help me find it. My brain is still not quite cooperating with the rest of my body right now.

I am very proud of both of us for getting through to the finish line, and happy that we did it together the whole way. Even though we didn't make our goal time of under 4 hours (which was admittedly lofty for a couple of first-timers) I know for a fact that if either of us had done this alone we would NOT have finished in the time that we did. We encouraged each other the whole way to keep going, that we were going to finish, that we could push through the pain and fatigue. It was a great bonding experience, and now we can say we finished a marathon! Even if we never do it again (which is a distinct possibility) we at least did it once. And survived. :)

In fact, though the pain was 10 times worse than I imagined it would be (especially in miles 19 - 24) I find myself today in better shape than I thought I would be. Maybe it was all the yummy post race recovery food: protein shake, banana, bagel, and cupcake at the finish line, followed by deep dish pizza and pizookie watching the Hawks game at our neighborhood bar, followed by home made turkey chili and leftover birthday cake.

I say one of the nicest things about running a marathon is all the yummy food you eat guilt-free afterward. :)

To the next! Whatever that may be!