I came, I ran, I conquered… sort of.

Behold, my newest running medal, likely to sell at a garage sale when I’m 80 for maybe 50 cents 🙂

Mercy’s wearing it because she didn’t feel a part of the race, as we left her at home! A dog and baby was just too much for Keith to handle on race day.

The medal says Niagara Fall International Marathon, but I actually ran the half-marathon. A small inscription on the back indicates that I ran the half. But from the front, it looks like I ran the whole crazy thing!

This was my first real race since Sweet Pea was born. It was a beautiful course, running along the mighty Niagara River for 13.1 miles, finishing right next to the falls.

About halfway through the race, when the wind shifted from a nice tailwind to a ridiculous headwind, I decided that the difference between running the half marathon and the whole marathon was a little bit of insanity. I couldn’t imagine running 26.2 miles yesterday.

After I crossed the finish line, I realized another difference- the half marathon is significantly LESS painful. This morning I was happily able to walk up and down stairs, not hobbling like a 90 year old with osteoporosis like I was in 2006.

I finished in 2:03:30. While I did not break the 2 hour barrier as I had hoped, I took a cue from Ryan Hall, who despite coming into the Olympic stadium struggling in 10th place, decided to enjoy the moment anyway, and praise the Lord no matter what happened.

That was my mindset, to praise the Lord no matter what happened, to enjoy the run, no matter what happened. I was actually on target for the first 9 miles, and had a minute and a half to spare, but nature called and I nearly fell into the river trying to use the facilities 🙂 I lost some time there and it was too difficult to catch up.

Next time, I think I can do it.