I didn't die!

Most of you may know that for the past 4-1/2 months I've been training for my first marathon. Well, I did it! I finished the race and though I didn't finish as fast as I know I could have I'm still proud of myself. My finish time was 4:02:26. The race itself was great with a lot of crowd support, people handing out all sorts of treats, beautiful scenery, and well laid out. Both of my calves were a bit stiff right in the beginning and by about the 3 mile mark my stomach was starting to give me problems. These only got worse as I continued on, and by the half way point I knew it wasn't my day. I just kept on keepin' on and by about mile 20 I had to start walking on and off. My stomach was cramping and I was burping up this nasty tasting gu gel. It was great to finally finish, but I still felt awful afterward, mostly my stomach. It's weird how your body can change day to day. I did my best to control all the variables and I had practiced with my eating and everything. I'm not sure how I feel about doing another one; 18 weeks of training is a long time. We'll see. For now I'm happy to be done! Thanks to all for your support in my endeavor!