It’s been a long and amazing day.
I could hardly sleep, eyes wide open at 7am. I checked into the marathon tracker app to see that Kelly, runner #1 on my team, started promptly at
6:30am on her 6 miles. She would be followed by Corryn doing 5.5 and then Amanda doing 9.2! I was scheduled for the last leg, 5.5 miles and I was pumped! I planned to get to my relay exchange point at 10am….I could have slept til 8:30, but there was no way!
I got dressed in the outfit I picked and laid out the night before and headed downstairs. I saw on the tracker app that Kelly had finished and she was FAST. For my own sanity I recalculated everyone’s leg start/finish times based on Kelly’s speedy finish and texted them to my team mates via Twitter, cuz I’m a geek 
Ryan woke up and made me eggs and toast for breakfast. Then, I scrambled around making sure I had everything. I did, but I checked and double checked. Sunglasses, Road ID, race bib, iPod, Garmin……engagement ring & key necklace.
Why jewelry? Because running isn’t just about physical ability….it’s also mental…lots of determination and focus. I’m out there, just me and my thoughts. I want to not only think about one foot in front of the other….but also how awesome my life is right now. I’m a healthier weight, I can run, I have amazing friends, I am in love with a man who gave me the “key to his heart” aka the necklace and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. So that jewelry keeps me going with a big smile on my face!
We met up with my friends at my exchange point and I stretched, used the biff a few times nervously and chatted. Then, we saw her coming….I put in my headphones…..gave Amanda a huuuuge congratulatory hug…put on the relay chip, and I was off!
The path was beautiful…and kinda empty. The fast relayers were done, lots of full marathoners had finished, too. A lot of spectators had already left….but it was okay….I enjoyed the peace….getting into my zone….being pushed along every once in awhile by the cheerers that were there. I PR’ed the first 5K, did it in 37:45! Then I kept on trucking the final 2 miles and came in at an average of 12:40 min/mile for my 5.5! My team did the entire Minneapolis Marathon in 5 hrs and 12 mins!
As approached the finish line my team member Kelly, her husband Sean, and my good friend Mel ran me in! I felt so amazing and I got in about 5 mins sooner than we all predicted.
I feel amazing.
Goodnight.
<3 Merbear
