365 days can do alot

Last year on Halloween I was running the Marine Corp Marathon. My first. I ran it with Alyson, well - I ran it because of Alyson. She said after a 1/2 Marathon in Sept "Let's just keep training and do the marathon." I almost puked on her shoes. I wanted to do it, but was terrified. So, I said yes and we kept our training going. We raised money for Neuroblastoma research, which at the time her brother Nick was battling.

Me and Alyson. Puffy eyes from crying - pretty happy to be done. wearing our Nova Chicks run for Nick shirts

With Meg - our biggest cheerleader

at mile 26.19 sooooo close to the end

Sam is my biggest supporter and best hugger.

Since then alot has happened. The year since the marathon focused more on triathlon than just running. Sam and I joined a Tri Team (Team Fexy) and bought 1 million dollars worth of gear. :) I am now working at a different Middle School. The boys have done their first "race", which Sammy won. Sam applied to be on Chopped (Food Network). My brother got married. I got and survived Lyme's Disease this summer. And I've already had the flu this season - after I got the shot, of course.

Alot of change in a year. Anyone else have changes over the last year?

Marine Corp Marathon Race Recap

Well, I'm a marathoner! I still can't believe it! It was awesome. It was painful. It was inspiring. I was the craziest and the most amazing thing I've ever done. Wow!

The morning started early. I got up at 4:30 and got ready. Alyson was picking me up at 5 so we could get on the metro at 5:30. We bought out metro passes the day before, they were saying 30,000 people were racing with 200,000 spectators! That's alot of people!

I did some pre race posing (very important)














We got to the race course around 6:10. TONS of time to walk around, get oriented and figure it all out. We walked, warmed up, got ready, fueled up, and did the ever-needed porta potty stop. At 8am sharp the gun went off and the 10K and the Marathon started.


Alyson and I stayed together for the first 15ish miles. We didn't stop once. We saw everything. Amputees, wheelchairs, handcycles, cancer survivors, old, young (youngest is an 8th grader from my school!) It was great. The weather was amazing, the spectators were great....couldn't ask for more.

At mile 15 Alyson and I seperated. She was able to pick up her speed and I was slowing a bit. I waved her on and we did our own thing. I did not run with music. It was very peaceful. My friend Marah found me at Mile 15ish. She jumped and screamed and we hugged. It was GREAT to see her. At mile 19ish JimJim found me (Nick and Alyson's dad). That was a hard hug to recover from. I cried a bit while running and re-grouped. At mile 20 Marah caught me again (at the bridge) and ran with me for a minute or so. That was really nice to have! I called Megan at mile 21 - needed to hear her voice. I called my husband at mile 24, 25, and 26. He told me they were right in front of the finish line, at the top of the hill (what!? A HILL?) I powered up the hill to see my kids, my mom, my husband, and my inlaws screaming their heads off! Totally worth it!



I did have some tummy troubles at mile 16. Miles 16-26.2 were a walk jog. I was totally fine with that. I needed to finish. I loved every painful minute of it. I got emotional a few times thinking about how hard I've worked, my family, my friends, etc. It was great. So many amazing people around me - amputees, wheelchairs, just married groups, military........

I will do it again. Probably this one next year. It was just plain awesome!

My time was not what I thought it would be, but I don't care. 5:49:28 is the longest I've ever gone! 26.2 is the longest I've ever gone! I finished. I am a Marathoner. I feel unstopable!