run Like a fish: If You want to Experience something run a Marathon -Ebbi

It is True! If you want to experience something run a marathon! I feel like you start the race as one person and end it as another! My experience seems surreal, especially now looking back on it two days later. I am still on such a high, yet I have an empty feeling inside because it is over. I can honestly say I loved every minute of it, even when the last three miles seemed to drag on and on. I wanted them to be over and at the same time I never wanted them to end. I knew I would never have the feeling of running my First marathon again.

The four of us crossed the starting line together and then we never saw them again until the finish line! I don't know what happened other than there were thousands of people and we just got too much space between us. Candi and I headed out and honestly the first six miles flew by. I kept our pace on my watch and we were going faster than we had planned for, but with the cold weather and down hill course we were loving it! Before we started up Veyo hill I saw Mindy Visser and I stopped to tell her how years ago she Inspired me to run a marathon. I remembered watching her train and heard her stories of her finishing and it was really inspiring to me. After that we were on our way up Veyo! We conquered it with no problem. Looking back I wish we would have ran all of it instead of half of it.. But there is always next time.... We hit mile 9 and almost before realizing it it was almost over. We yelled Jayci's name and reflected on her and her trials she has been faced with. If she can endure this trial we can endure 26.2 miles. I thought a lot about her when she was younger and how her life has changed. I didn't want to dwell on these hard times, I wanted to recognize her strength!! When I would look to my arm for encouragement and see BRAVE I would think of her......I had so much fun talking with other runners, some would talk back some would not haha but that didn't stop me. I swear every other mile Candi would see someone she would know. It was really cool... Who knew a small town girl from the Valley haha.... I can honestly say there was not one time I questioned myself and what I was doing. I loved running with Candi! She is quiet but I love her witty personality and we get each other. We have a good pace together and we encourage each other when times seem a little hard. I couldn't have asked for a better running partner! I honestly would not have wanted to do this with out her! Everything seemed to be in my favor.. My bib number was 6622 ( 22 being my favorite number), I loved every song that came on, the weather was perfect, my partner was the best, my hip seemed to hold up just fine, overall I just felt Good! I was tracking Lax on my phone and when it came in that she had finished in a faster time than she even needed to i was emotional! I was beyond Happy for her! I told Candi earlier on in the race that i knew she would be in the 3:20's and she was! Lax finished in 3:28:11!! If she would only listen to me sometimes hahaha... About mile 20 or 21 I asked Candi how she felt about me going on ahead and she was ok with it so I did... I remember looking back and seeing her smile and waving her hand up in the air and I knew she was good! Off I went. To finish what I had started. I loved it. I couldn't wait to see people that I knew cheering me on because just seeing all of the other spectators was amazing! They were all so encouraging. I got to mile 24 and I hit a wall, luckily I saw Rachael and her crew and it was awesome! I wish now I would have stopped and taken pics and enjoyed them more, but I was worried about my music and finishing. Right after them I saw beckas family and Dason, I gave him a big ol sweaty hug. I couldn't wait for Becka to see him!! So cool! I knew the next group would be Heather and Jayci. I even walked where I thought they would be, but we missed each other. I was sad! I waited 25 miles for that. I went on and made some friends and talked and got to three blocks left. I saw the orange fences lining the streets and I ran taking it all in! I saw a few people I knew and they yelled my name and it was Awesome! I kept looking for my family and I heard Tyler yell "Ebbi" and that was the best sight for sore eyes ever!! Seeing my kids jumping and screaming for me was pure Awesomness!! I ran into the finish line and Maryann met me with open arms. I didn't expect to just cry in her arms, but I did!! I bawled! It was the best feeling ever! I was done! 26.2 miles down in the books!! I kept bawling and hugging everyone. I was uncontrollable but I was ok with it!..... I learned a lot about myself through out the training and mostly running of this marathon! I learned I Can Do Hard Things! I Will Do Hard Things, and I Will be a Better Person because of it!!

I was so happy to see my family!!

I love this picture.. I'm not sure where Tyler was, but I know he is proud of me because he text me this today "How are u feeling? I'm still proud of ya. Puts a smile on my face to think about u finishing. Love ya!"