Racing for Hope Journal Entry 21

When I got this idea to run a marathon a month, I knew it would be hard. I really underestimated the mental side of it. Training for this marathon wasn’t the best. Mandy had a procedure during training time and ended up with an infection. Which was another hospital stay and training time lost. This race added a completely new obstacle to this journey. I knew the course was a loop, but I figured it would be a 4 or 6-mile loop that we would do 4-6 times. Oh boy, was I wrong!!! It was a 1-mile loop done 26 times. The mental challenge of seeing the finish line 26 times was hard along with not having a great training cycle, I didn’t think I would finish this race! Then I had people start showing up to cheer me on! I had a patient (Phil), brother-in-law and sister-in-law, niece, nephew, friends, neighbors, my girls, and most importantly I had Mandy! On this run, I had a lot of time thinking about Mandy’s upcoming surgery. I find myself on every run that’s over an hour thinking about our situation, and no matter how I feel about it at that time, I choke up. Back to the race, it was hard! My legs were hurting, my lungs were hurting, and my heart was hurting! But I finished! I have to say I may have been one of the last ones but my finish line was the best because of the supporters I had there! 5 hours 10 minutes and 30 seconds and 26.2 miles later, I was done with marathon 9! After the race, we went home and got ready to have Mandy’s birthday with her family. Moving on to Chicago!!