Marathoner

Sketches: Girlie Love by Amy Martin
Hot Mess V.3 by Allison Pennington
Delighted Paper Pack by Allison Pennington
Celebrate a Year of Memories by Allison Pennington
Markerific by CD Muckosky
Lookie Here by CD Muckosky
Sweet Storytelling by Sahlin Studio
Touch of Magic {Click of Love} by Kitty Designs

In Summer 2003 I was looking for ideas to shed pounds and get into better shape. I discovered an opportunity through the American Stroke Association to train for a marathon while fundraising for stroke research. I recruited JoAnna and Lisa to join me and we spent the next six months raising pledge money and training for the marathon. During training we exercised three days a week on our own and walked every Saturday with the full team. I never even considered trying to run or jog, instead we were practicing to walk the entire marathon. As part of our practice we completed a local half marathon and just a few weeks before the main event, we walked our last Saturday practice - 22 miles!
On the day of the marathon everything went well. I took aspirin in the morning which helped alleviate aches and pains throughout the day. We kept a good pace and luckily the weather was a cool, low 70 degrees. Towards the last few miles JoAnna and Lisa were wearing down and having problems with blisters. I experienced a second wind and all I could focus on was that it was almost over, just a few more miles. Keep going, one foot in front of the other.
We did it! We all successfully crossed the finish line. It took nearly seven and a half hours (within the allotted time limit) to walk 26.2 miles. There was only one little hiccup to the day; I didn't realize how dehydrated I had become. As our friend was driving us back to the hotel, I started to feel really dizzy and I fainted! Luckily with a lot of water, juice, food and rest, I was better within a few hours.