Half marathon completed!

Showing off our awesome medals. :)

I crossed the finish line: tired, hot, sick, hurting, but glad I had stuck with it. :) Our race started at 7 and it was already so warm that we were sweating on mile one. And if that wasn't bad enough, the hills were little devils! The first half seemed like you were going up-hill the entire time and than the second half was a little bit better....except you had a killer hill at mile 12. Very steep, but not as long. Anyway, it was about the worst run I had ever done. I'm not sure if it was because I didn't have as much energy to start with, or because of the heat; whatever it was, I felt like dying around mile 11. I didn't have as much trouble with my legs while running, but my back was really bothering me once I crossed the finish line. I think all of us were feeling rather sick to our stomachs after we finished because of not being able to stay hydrated in the heat. I'm sure it was hilarious to watch us walk back to our room, we were so stiff and sore that we felt like we were 80 years old. :) I know I looked like a decrepit old lady trying to hobble up the stairs. ;-)

The above picture was taken after we had showered and were leaving the hotel. Don't we look great!? :-)

Oh, and now that I've complained about how bad the marathon was... let me tell you something else. :) I've signed up for another half marathon in October. Yes, I know... you're wondering why I did something so stupid. ;) Well, I've joined a group called Team In Training (TNT) which is an awesome group that help raise money to stop leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. My fund raising page is: http://pages.teamintraining.org/gat/nikesf10/hbrownus4g; for those who wish to donate. Elisabeth and I are both doing it, so we'll be doing bake sales and anything we can come up with to reach our goal. :) If you get on and read about TNT it's great to see how much money they end up raising. This last weekend, between two endurance events and 5300 participants they raised $18M. Isn't that awesome!? So, be sure to send my link to all your friends so that together we can help wipe out blood cancer! :-)