No. 5 :: No. 11

Here it comes ... City of Oaks Marathon report. Seriously, we had an amazing race.

Expo on Saturday:

They gave us socks. :)

GU stop ...

... and new hot pink shorts for the race. A necessity, you know?

Made my list: 26 people for 26 miles. Glad I took a picture of it - it disintegrated in my pocket during the race. I love doing this for marathons ... keeps me focused and gives me motivation to think about everyone as I run.

Pre-race dinner was delish. Spaghetti is a staple - and a new addition: pomegranate seeds for dessert. I downloaded a few songs, realized we were getting an EXTRA hour of sleep (score!) and off to bed we went.

The rain woke us both up at 4am. It was pouring outside. We both groaned and tried to sleep for another hour and a half before we had to get up. Unfortunately, the rain really didn't stop, but we headed out the door anyways at 615a. Off to the race!

I love this man.

The race was small - only 3,500 running and maybe only 700 running the full. It felt empty compared with the 25,000 I ran with a few weeks before, but I like small races. They give you room to breathe, to have the course by yourself for a bit. I prefer it.

The race was surprisingly hilly. Really hilly, but you wanna know what? We rocked those hills. One after the other, we pounded up them. Man it felt so good. We were soaked 10 minutes into the race, but we didn't care. The rain was a great distraction. My legs were completely numb so I couldn't feel the pain (it was pretty cold), the drips from my hat brim were cool, and you know, running in the rain makes you feel like a rock star. I honestly didn't have a low moment the entire race. I felt strong and confident, the whole way through.

Mile 16 was for Molly. I took a picture of it because it was so pretty and thought she would totally love running there. Umstead Park was in incredibly fine form that day - less the mud. Bleh. So much mud.

After I got through Umstead Park the miles got hard. 20-23 for me always are. You're close, but not THAT close. But I think after 11 of these suckers, I really had the tools to balance the emotional, physical, and mental stress. I took it one step at a time, telling myself to be in the moment, to enjoy THIS step. I looked up - on Hillsborough Street - and saw mile 24. Heck yes, peeps. Rock it all the way home. Everyone kept telling me it was "downhill from here!" and they were liars. :) But I didn't care. I enjoyed the hills. Bring on the challenge. Could I get up this one? Yes. And I did. Every single one.

And we finished. Just like that. Jona - 3:56 and Julia 4:56. I swear I could not have asked for a better race. We both felt amazing before, during and after. Enough to make me want to do another, fo sho. I apologize for the video. Not "shot" very well - but I thought I'd share anyways.

We are very happy camper Wades. Awesome day. :)