Daigle Family Happenings: I'm Alive

Flat Miley went with us, but I knew I wouldn't be able to take her with me, so I took her picture with my bib number the night before.

I did it! My stomach turned in flip flops until I started running. That was probably {one of} the worst parts about it. I was in the car with Lane and the kids trying to stay warm and dry because it was anything but that outside, but I had to get out. I had to get moving. Once I was out and on my way to leave my jacket, meet a friend, and just let loose, I was so much better. I stopped thinking about how many miles lie ahead!

Karin and I together before splitting into our waves.

Once I got going I felt good. I felt great through most of the beginning of the race, and I kept a great pace. Lane brought the kids out to the race and I saw them at about 3.5 miles. I feel like I looked like a rockstar when I passed them. I'm not sure that I looked that way to people watching, but I felt it and that's what I needed! I hit the turnaround point, and there was Anna and her girls! I didn't think they were coming, so I was surprised and excited to see them. I was 6.6 miles down, and I had to do it all over again!

Some stranger told Anna that she crapped herself when she ran a half marathon. The woman didn't realize it, stopped to pee, found the culprit of the horrible smell she couldn't pinpoint, and she quit the race right then. It was Anna's joke that I wasn't allowed to do that! Good news...I didn't!

Turn around point!

After the turn around, I started to feel it. I knew I could make it to 10, I did that last week. Once I hit 10 miles I was wondering who thought this was a good idea! I was hurting and I still have a 5k ahead of me to finish. Then I hit 11 miles {I was one more mile closer} and then 12 miles. At mile 12, there residents of Carlsbad out at their driveway were pouring tequila shots. Yep, I grabbed one of those! I figured I deserved it and there was a water station close behind, so I was able to rinse the after taste! Who knows, maybe that was just the extra push I needed to not "feel" what I was doing to myself. Once I was beyond mile 12, we went down a hill and it was flat to the finish. I was hitting the high that I started with and only had half a mile left! I knew I could do it, and I pushed just a little bit harder. At 13 I saw Anna and the girls again and then rounded the corner and saw the finish.

I heard Lane and the kids cheering me on, but I knew that I needed to keep my eyes on the prize and just push to the end. I sprinted from the time I saw Anna until I got through to the end.