The first 13 miles were great. I had a lot of fun once I found the people I’d be with the rest of the day (us ‘easy runners’). After the first half it was a different story. The winds were very<\/em>, very strong. It was really cold even when there weren’t any winds. So that took some life out of you. Plus being in the neighborhoods was kinda boring. But I pushed through it. <\/p>\n The last 6 miles were the toughest. I ran down the hills, taking advantage of gravity. And walked up them. Everything started to hurt. I realized this is why only 2% of the population runs marathons. It hurts and then you are stupid. What kinda torture was this? But if I wanted to get in my car and go home, which was parked at Mandalay Bay, I had to finish. <\/p>\n So I came around the last corner and people were still there cheering everyone coming in. I heard my name everywhere, “Go Jessi!!” “You can do it!” For a second there I thought I had some fans, but then I remembered my name was on my bib. See the smarts were gone. One voice I did recognize was Justin’s. He was standing on something that made him look like a giant. For all I know he could have been on Todd’s shoulders. I sprinted towards the finish line and thought, “I’m never doing this again.” I don’t care about my time, I just wanted to finish. <\/p>\n I got my medal, my silver blanket (wow, that kept me warm) and met Justin and Todd. I took a finishers photo then J and T took some photos. By now, I couldn’t think or walk very well. But I knew I was done. <\/p>\n So thank you to all the well-wishers and fans along the route. Thank you Todd, Laura, Carly and Diahanna for waking up early and coming out in the cold (or for partying all night and then<\/em> coming out. Either way works!). To both sets of parents for the basket-o-food (much needed carbs) and the beautiful roses. <\/p>\n And of course the man who drove me there at 4:30 am, Justin. Who told me that he’d never run more than a mile with me, but ended up doing 6.5 one time. You rock! And I didn’t forget all the other people who wished me well and in the same breath, told me I was crazy. I wasn’t crazy before I ran, but I sure was afterwards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Finally, the big day happened. I got married! Oh wait, I did that already. Oh, what happened yesterday? Oh ya, duh the marathon! First off let me tell you, your mental capacity is at a critical stage at the end of it. Basically, you can’t really comprehend anything because all your smarts went to your read more ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/photos1.blogger.com\/blogger\/1212\/1386\/1600\/FremontStreet.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> I don’t know that Bear’s fan, but he looks happy to be in my photo.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n