I finished!!!!!

Note--that's the Capitol behind me! The race had some awesome scenery! Although I had to force myself to look up from the pavement and try to enjoy it at times.... I had to promise myself I was never doing it again by mi. 23......but am already planning the next. I came in at 4:03, beating my goal time by 17 minutes! So I was pretty happy about that. Towards the end I heard someone yelling out, "beat Sarah Palin". I didn't even know she'd run a marathon, but now am a little ticked to know she beat me by 2 1/2 min. That dang Sarah Palin. At least I beat Oprah by 27 min though. And she's African-American.

I had a great time hanging out w/my friend Ellen, who moved a couple of months ago. It rained Sat. night, but was fabulous weather Sunday morning for the race. Yes, I KNOW my outfit doesn't match, but are my favorite running shorts and the only shirt I have w/a pocket on the back for my phone. I was disappointed Adam wasn't running it w/my like we'd planned, technology is amazing though---he was able to track me every 5k and called me a couple of times to cheer me on. It was great.
I saw things this race I'd only heard about or seen in mags before: 2 men w/BLOODY nipples---so gross---It gave me a good laugh though thinking about the episode of the Office when they had that race, a girl who crapped her pants--hello, she was barely in front of me---no Olympic time! I can see doing if you're running under 3 hrs or something. But truly at that point in the race you're in so much pain you don't care much about anything. And lastly, a man running w/a prosthetic leg--so incredibly humbling. And he was keeping good time. It sure made me forget about my aches and pains for a few minutes. I can only imagine the rubbing on that thing. Some people are so inspiring.

There were a lot of spectators at the race, probably covered about 1/4-1/3 of the route. Not as many as Tokyo though, where they covered about 98% of the route. There were a lot of Marines in uniform helping along the sidelines--drinks, crowd control, etc, and I decided about 1/2 way through that I was going to "OORAH" each that I passed on my side, and I did. I got lots of "OORAH" 's back. It was a lot of fun. I was wishing I'd worn a shirt that read, "My husband's a marine, in Iraq, and we have FIVE kids". Not for sympathy or anything, just for something interesting for spectators and runners to read. I know I sure read other runners shirts, anything to make the time pass. I did see one poster that read "Becky is a Rock Star" and decided it must have been for me.

I felt like I might puke for about the last 10 miles of the race. Then again later that afternoon it hit me and I had to throw my head between my knees, but still never did. But I got a nice delayed reaction on the metro on the way to the airport the next morning! Luckily I had my race drop bag handy. And it was clear, so nobody around me missed a thing! Actually, not too many had to endure it, I was trying to switch trains--but because of the puking I didn't get off in time--train ended there-- so doors shut, lights out--but someone heard me yelling thankfully, and the doors opened back up. And after a little more puking by the garbage can, I felt much better and was able to move on. Better the train than the plane I figure.

A HUGE thank you to Jeannie, my mother-in-law, who flew in to watch the kids for me. It was so nice having the break, and knowing I was coming home to a clean house and laundry done too!!!

If anyone's interested in seeing more stamp-sized photos of the race, you can check them out at:

http://www.marathonfoto.com/order_assigned_photos.cfm?BFI=rz2mix9u7s&OID=13692008F1&BibNumber=19822&CustomerNumber=S03J99&Currency=USD&Language=en

Church shoes?

Emma was a little extra helpful this morning w/our Sunday morning rush. After getting herself ready, she dressed Luke, and gelled all three boys hair. I had told the boys they could watch TV for a few minutes after the were ALL ready, including shoes and socks. The TV motivation worked as I'd hoped, and all got ready quickly. Emma got the boys in the car for me. And we were off and on schedule to be on time. Yeah for us! After I pulled in, I walked around to the back of the Volvo to let Jacob and Isaac out, and this is what I found on Jake's feet:"What on earth?!?" I asked him.

"I couldn't find my church shoes", he replied. "Why didn't you ask me?" I asked, "because" was the best answer I could get. Apparently when you're in a race to watch TV, there's no time for finding the right shoes, and slippers will work. I was a little jealous though, the shoes I wore to church were anything but comfortable.

Hopefully he'll forgive me one day for putting a pic of his crack on the blog....I just couldn't resist though. All 3 boys were desparate for haircuts, so while the girls were at Faith in God, I got out the clippers and suckers. Luke was first, he was excited, although it didn't take long to wear off and the wiggles set in. Adam really wanted me to trim the sides, so I did. I miss them though!!!

My day started dark and early this morning...3:40 am! I had to run my 20 miler, the marathon is three weeks from yesterday, and I taper from here on out--yeah! We (duch and I) passed three skunks, but were able to avoid being sprayed each time. That is my worst fear, not breaking an ankle, not blowing out a knee, but getting sprayed 10 miles away from home. So, this morning's run was a success. That, and I made it home in time to get the kids off to school.

Adam's doing well. Things were a little slow with Ramadan last week, and he was happy to be back in court this morning.

Eight + weeks down!! We're staying busy as ever w/school and activities and so time is passing, which is good!

It has really cooled down the past few days--I refuse to turn on the radiators yet though, the winter will be long enough. So time to bust out the sweaters and put storm windows down today.