Marathon finishers

Today, Sarah and I ran and finished the Philadelphia Marathon. Yes, that's right: we FINISHED a MARATHON! I still don't quite believe it, to be honest. The weather had threatened to rain the whole day, which would have probably been quite miserable. However, God held it off until we were done, and we only had to deal with a little bit of "spitting" once or twice. The temperature was as perfect as it could have been--a little cold before the race started, but when we were running, I wouldn't wanted it to have been any warmer or colder.

Our two goals were to (1) finish and (2) possibly get done before noon. We accomplished both! Our final chip time (the time when we crossed the start to the finish) was about 4 hours and 30 minutes. We averaged just over 10 minute miles for the entire race!

One of the best parts about the race was all the people who came to cheer us on. Dan and Krista Carter (who we got to cheer on last year) ran the last 11 miles with us. Sarah's roommate Michelle ran the last 1.5 miles. Melanie and Christian ran a mile at the halfway point. Plus, a bunch of friends from Liberti came to cheer at the start and finish!

The best part of the day for me was the last .2 miles. I had started to cramp up in my left calf, but the last part of the race ended in a tunnel-like opening with people on both sides. Sarah and finished without anyone else around us, which was really, really cool. I don't think I've ever felt anything like it!

Afterwards, my body started screaming at me, and the first 20-30 minutes after our finish were pretty painful. By the time we made it back to Sarah's apartment and I took a shower, I felt much better. Some delicious tomato soup with grilled cheese, Advil, pretzels, bananas, chicken broth, water, an apple, and a 90-minute nap later, I was feeling pretty good. Right now, I'm a bit sore in the legs, but much better than I had anticipated.