I Did It!

Get ready for lots of pictures!

Arriving at the event site. I look like I'm not quite awake yet. Or maybe the thought is, "Am I sure I want to do this?"

Here we are lining up at the start: my daddy, my personal trainer, and me. Yes, Belle didn't sign up to actually run the race, but she ran with me encouraging me the whole way. It was a little chilly and windy this morning.

Here's the whole bunch taking off. Notice I started in the back (yellow arrow). That way I'd have lots of people to pass up. Actually, it was so that no one would knock me over as they ran past.

Into the first half mile. Notice I'm still smiling.

Here's Daddy running strong after the first mile.

They had a water/gatorade table set up along the course. My first thought was, "Is this a marathon?" I didn't take the water, but Belle did and made a little show of stopping to drink it, then ran to catch back up to me. She said, "This is cool. I've never had water at a race before!"

After the water station, we ran through the woods and completed two miles and into the third. I was starting to get hot, so somewhere in the woods, I took off my sweatshirt and tied it around my waist. All that deep breathing and heart pumping really tend to heat things up.

Right here I'm thinking, "Man! This is HARD!" You can tell by how far hunched over I am.

Here is Daddy finishing the race. He did so good!

Here I am "sprinting" to the finish. I heard someone call out to me, "There's another girl behind you," so I ran a little faster. I had passed some people up by this point and I didn't want them to get in front of me again.

Yeah!!! Crossing the finish line. Boy, did that feel GOOD! And my time was pretty good. Especially for someone who only recently starting running.

After the race! Whew! We made it!

Then we waited around for everyone to finish and they tallied all the times. Then they gave away medals to the winners of each age group.

Here's Daddy getting his medal for first in his age group!

And I got second in my age group, 35-39. There were four female runners in my age group.

Posing for the Press. :)

Well, I couldn't have done it without my family and friends cheering me on. They were really an inpiriation -- and not just today, but the whole time I've been training. You guys are awesome! Thank you so much for your support! I love you!

Here's the cutest cheerleader I had today!