We did it!!!

The Finish Line
Kelly finishing
Abby finishing
Kelly & Abby wearing the bracelets honoring Casey.
That's right, Abby & I finished the Madison Half Marathon! 13.1 miles -what an accomplishment for two non-runners ;) We couldn't have done it without all the support from people like you, so thank you!

On race day, the traffic was backed all the way up the ramps and down the beltline so we were just getting there when the starting horn blared. We did well for the first half of the race and stayed together. We even had a beer around the 8 mile mark! Why? Well there were some very enthusiastic spectators there handing out small glasses of beer similar to those being handed out with water & gatorade at the water stations. These people were just so excited & really wanted somebody to take the beer. We figured it was the least we could do since they got up bright & early to cheer us on ;) Besides, if you remember, we are not "real" runners so we can have fun & run.

Around mile 11 we were no longer having fun. It was getting pretty hard to start running after each water station. (We walked while drinking - another lesson learned - running while drinking from an open cup does NOT work). The worst part was probably between mile 12 and 12.5, we were cramping up and slowing down. But then we could see the finish line so after one more brief walk we headed for it. Of course they would put a hill just prior to the last stretch - evil route planner people - and then the downhill side had mounds of grass growing through the cracks in the pavement...why had this not been removed? Did these people not consider the fact that maybe some of us runners would barely be able to lift our feet off the ground at this point!?!?

The homestretch was exhilarating! We gathered an extra burst of energy and crossed the finish line. Official chip times were about 2 hours & 34 minutes. Not too bad for our first time out there and considering at least 15 minutes of time waiting in line for porta-potties. The lesson...find a tree or bush. Needless to say after finishing, we were relieved to be done running but not at all feeling up for Bratfest. And then the pain set in...I sit here, two days later, typing with a bag of frozen veggies on my ankle (and it's not even the originally injured ankle). Yet another lesson learned - tape everything!

We also had some generous donations come in this week. The first was from Michele B. - thanks so much for your support! And then Tom & Kate S. sponsored TWO miles!! They took Mile #19 to commemorate their May 19th anniversary date and Mile #22, which Tom declares from his personal experience, is the last "hard" mile when running a marathon. If you would like to sponsor a mile please let us know - we still have 19 left that need sponsors ;)

Thank you all for your support both monetarily and morally!! Print this post