Finishing is WINNING!

There is so much to cover. I don't even know where to start. I'll start by telling you that we had 4 cameras going and the following pictures are only from one camera so you'll have plenty more pictures coming your way in the next few days...

I woke up early Saturday morning, ate breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, showered, packed the car, and got everything ready I'd need for the day. Walking to the car I checked my iPod with my Nike + sensor to make sure all was good... that's when PANIC struck! My iPod froze! Why, why? I couldn't remember if I reset the thing if all my music would be deleted... that is a very bad thing. What would I do without my iPod? So I reset it and hoped for the best - crisis averted! It worked! Phew.... that is not exactly how I wanted to start my day. But from there on everything seemed to go smoothly.

We met my parents and grandparents downtown, ran into my second cousin (Julie) and her husband (Richard) who was running the race, and chatted a little with the family before I took my place in line.

I went to almost the very back of the line because I didn't want to feel pressured to run faster than my pace I had already decided on. I actually knew the guy from work who was holding the pace signs at the beginning. He has run several marathons before and was able to keep me calmed down a bit before the beginning of the race. I was so excited! I couldn't believe what I was about to try to do!

The gun fired and we were off! I passed my family on the way out. My mom had made 'Team Ashley' sweatshirts for us all! That was great!
Here I am running in my 'Team Ashley' sweatshirt. This was about Mile 6 I think.
My faithful crowd was cheering me on!
Then they'd hop in the car and chase me down a few miles later! Haha!
Rafa had a little 'Team Ashley' sign pinned to his sweater! What a cutie!!
I felt pretty good and was having a great time! Between mile 8 and 9 I ran through Julie and Richard's neighborhood. They had music playing loud, people on both sides of the street cheering, balloons hung across the road, and signs everywhere! They were even handing out water and cookies! I passed on the cookies but that water was delicious! One yard in their neighborhood had a bunch of plastic cows in their yard and big letters that spelled out 'KEEP MOOOOOVING!' Haha! That was cute! A few yards down there was a yard with those same letters that said '9 DOWN' and '17 TO GO'. In front of the 9 letters there were 9 pink flamingos and 17 under the 17 sign. It was great to see so many people cheering us on! Believe me - it really helped.

I had a big smile on my face through about Mile 15. Then I started feeling the fatigue in my legs. I knew I had come too far to give up. I was definitely going to finish somehow but not sure if my body would ever forgive me for it. Ha!

We crossed through my neighborhood at about Mile 18. However, I was thinking I was at 19. So when I met my family I was telling them I only had 7 to go and I could see the light. My mom helped me take my pants off.... because I couldn't bend my knees! My dad had a banana and gatorade waiting for me. Then I was off again. A short while later I realized I was crossing the 18th mile... not the 19th... and my spirit was a little broken.

I caught up with my family again at mile 20 and I guess I must have looked pretty bad at mile 18 because Lucas was now in running clothes and shoes. What an incredible husband he is. He ran with me the last 6 miles!

Here we are at about mile 22 I think.

After mile 22 I really wanted to walk but I knew I only had 4 miles left. I had run the entire race and I really wanted to be able to say that I had actually 'ran' the entire 26.2 miles. And I did. I ran the entire thing! Of course, my mile times after about mile 15 were less than desirable but at least I was running. I only walked through the water stations.

As I crossed some of the major roads heading back downtown I knew I was getting close. I saw my family and friends again at mile 24 and they wished me good luck for the last two miles. The next time I'd see them I'd be crossing the finish line!

At mile 25 my runner-friend Linda and her sister Beth met up with us to run the last mile. The girl is incredible! She ran her marathon in 3 hours and 43 minutes.... then walked a mile to meet me at mile 25 to run another mile back to downtown. Just incredible!

So they cheered and pushed me to the finish line.

AND I MADE IT!
GLORIOUS FINISH LINE!!!!!

I was really so happy right then. So proud of what I had accomplished! Still sort of disbelieving that I actually did it! Overjoyed to not be running anymore!

Thanks for running with me, Lucas. I could have done it without you but it would have been much, much more painful!
This is my last mile running team!My proud parents!
AND TEAM ASHLEY (minus Rafa, Chris, and Aida)!
(Aida is a nurse and was on call. She got called in to work somewhere between mile 13 and 19. I hate they missed out on the rest of the run and I didn't get to celebrate with them!)My grandmother was so nervous during the race. I think she was literally feeling all of my pain. But I SURVIVED, Grandmother! You can breathe now!

I love my new hat and medal. It says 'Finisher' on the back with the rest of the race information. To me, that reads 'WINNER'! Oh, yes! I won a marathon! ;)
Team Ashley went to eat Mexican after the race. I know that sounds like it may be dangerous but it was actually quite delicious!

Later that night, Lucas and I went over to Brandon's house to hang out. They surprised Linda and I with a 'Congratulations' cake..... only the bakery (Wal-Mart, no doubt) messed up and put 'Happy Birthday' instead of 'Congratulations on 26.2'. So Linda and I celebrated our 'birthday'!(We had already dug into the cake before we got a picture. Notice how the cake says 'Mom'. I told you: they are my boys, I'm their mom. They need guidance. ha!)

Mom approves the birthday cake!
Notice I'm still wearing my medal. Yea - it's never coming off!

A bubble bath, a hot shower, a couple naps, and several meals later I was feeling pretty good. Sunday morning we woke up and went shopping for some last minute gifts we need to take to Colombia (oh my gosh - we are leaving for Colombia on Friday). I shopped! I actually shopped! I couldn't believe only a day after running 26.2 miles I was out and actually able to walk around.

A few hours into shopping I got a text from Chris telling me to check out the front page of the Huntsville Times sports page.

Check my family out! We're famous!


I'm excluding the names to protect the innocent but below it the caption read, "Granddaddy, Grandmother, Mom, Lucas, and Rafa the dog support runner Ashley." My dad was on the other side of the street taking pictures and missed out on the photo-op.

Brandon took some really good photos so those will be coming your way soon.

And for those of you who are wondering - yes I did run with my iPod. I still don't know how I would've done without it. I just had it on underneath my outer shirt and ran the earphones under my shirt so it was not very noticeable at all. There were quite a few runners running with headphones. My running crew at the end took my iPod and headphones so there was no signs of disobediance as I crossed the finish line. I'm such a rebel! ;)

I'm feeling really good today. Still a little sore and stairs are difficult but I feel great!

Thanks to all of you who supported me - both at the race and in spirit!!!