I did it!!! I actually did it!!

I have been a runner for a couple of years now. I started by running with my friend Jill early in the mornings before school. We would run three miles or so through our sub-divisions and neighborhoods. Last year Mike joined the gym, and I started going with him to run on the tread mill. In the back of my mind, I always wanted to run in a race, but didn't know if I had the stamina or courage to do it. My goal was originally to run a 10k. Some girls from my ward encouraged me to start running with them on the weekends, they were training for London's Run 1/2 marathon. (London's Run for those of you who aren't from QC...is an annual race held in memory for London Solomon, a little girl who died from cancer. The profits from the race help other children with cancer in the QC area). I signed up for the half marathon, with Mindi, Jennie, and Lindsay. I still had doubts but was excited for the race!!

This is me at the starting line. It was a cold morning in Queen Creek, although the sun was shining. I had my i-pod ready!

Here I am with Mindi and Lindsay the first few minutes of the race. Jennie broke through the crowd and set her pace. Jennie wanted to finish the marathon in less than 2 hours. I never could catch up to her. A few minutes later, I plugged my i-pod into my ears, and took off at bit faster pace. Mindi's had knee problems and I was so proud of her. She ran the whole race in pain! I loved running through the country on the country farm field roads. It was so awesome to see bystanders, people that I didn't even know cheering me on! Along the path, every so often was a poster of a child or someone in our area with cancer. One of the posters said "Running is way easier than cancer!" It showed a little girl with no hair sitting up in a hospital bed. It made me think of the people in my own life that have been affected by cancer...my grandma, my sister, a friend, and a mom of one of my first graders, who died in October. I can't imagine being a mom and having to say good-bye to my children. I will never forget how she would bring her children to school, with a face mask on and a cute bandanna wrapped around her hairless head. I felt pretty good all through the race, until mile 11! At mile 11 I thought I was done!! I could see the finish line in the distance, and knew that it wasn't much further, but wondered if I really was going to cross the finish line. THEN THIS SONG started blaring into my earphones......

I knew I could do it!! This was my motivation!!

A few minutes later....Mike catches me running down victory lane with Katy Perry in my ears and a smile on my face.

Here I am!!! I did it!! I actually did it!! I finished the race in 2 hours 14 minutes. It felt so awesome to finally reach a goal that had been in the back of mind for a while.

This is my sister in law, Noelle, who ran the 10k with her friend Rhonda, as they run down victory lane.

Here we all are! We finished.