Rejoice, we conquer.

Well, I did it! I ran 26.2 miles, and I raised $4,985.17 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It's been quite an experience.

Running this marathon really was an amazing experience. Before I started training in November, I think I had never run more than four miles at a time. I remember being scared of the week we were supposed to do five miles. I remember being terrified of the jump to eight miles. Then double digits!! Yet a couple of weeks ago, I literally said the phrase "only ten miles". ONLY! This has been a huge lesson for me in how possible the seemingly-impossible can be, and how much a like-minded community and the support from the people in my life can make all the difference in the world. My goal was to finish the marathon in under five hours, and I did it in 4:50. It was a gorgeous day in New Orleans, and I felt totally prepared and ready. Many of the miles flew by, and it didn't get hard until well past the halfway mark. When I started to get very tired and things began to hurt, I thought of all of the people that donated and it was like this huge crowd of (nearly 100!) people was behind me pushing me on. I finished strong and very, very happy.

Here are a couple of favorite moments from the 5 hours on my feet:

I ran past a woman who was saying to her friend, "Boxers can be pretty rambunctious too." A mile or two later, I realized she was referring to the dog, not the undershort.

The morning of the race, we had to meet in the lobby of the hotel at 4am. My mom and I step into the elevator to an overwhelming odor of athlete... pre-exercise athlete, not post (thank god).
"Well, good morning!" says Mom.
"That Vicks VapoRub will always wake you up!" says someone squeezed in the back.
"Oh! says a woman by the door. "I was wondering why it was getting mintier and mintier in here!"

I loved all the signs and posters people were holding or had posted along the course. Some were hilarious. My favorite was the one I passed at about mile 8: "You can stop running now; the Kenyans have already won!"





If you or anyone you know wanted to donate but never got around to it, there's still time to donate here. In fact, if I raise a little bit more money, I get some good swag :)

And now my craziest news: now that I've done this ridiculous thing, I'm going to do it again!! I'm running the L.A. Marathon in less than 3 weeks. If you want to come out and cheer for me on 3/21, I'd be deliiiiiiiighted! Let me know and I'll give you the heads up on what to look for so you can spot me and how to track my progress!