four hours, eleven minutes, twelve seconds

This post is dedicated to Prelita.

Mile 0: ::tickling in my stomach - not butterflies...I'm vegetarian :) ::

Mile 1: "8:10! Awesome! I got this"

Mile 2: "Run happy" ::smiling::

Mile 5: ::see the hill ahead of me:: "Shit, that is one steep hill. I have to climb that for one mile!?"

Mile 6: ::climb 300 feet over the next mile...not much thinking going on at this point::

Mile 6.1: ::cheers from Sean, Amanda, and Steven when I need it most"GO JACKIE GO!"::

Mile 7: "Up and OVER!! Wow, this view is breathtaking!"

Mile 8: "Another hill?!"

Mile 10: ::downhill:: "Weeeeeeee"

Mile 11: "This whole hill thing is getting old."

Mile 12: "I gave up sleeping in on weekends"

Mile 13: "Oh please, please please no runner's trots"

Mile 14: "If I'm running at this pace and there are 12.2 miles left, then..." ::to take my mind off the pain, I try to do math when I run::

Mile 16: "I can do this! I can finish in 4 hours!!"

Mile 16.5: ::greeted by Sean, Amanda and Steven with posters and cameras::

My right knee

Photographed by Sean

Mile 18: ::coming downhill:: "Fuck, my right knee hurts. What is this!? Just slow down and it'll go away"

Mile 19: "First Aid Station! Should I take ibuprofen? But I don't have anything in my stomach...ugh, just push through"

Mile 20: "I trained four months for this day"

Mile 22: "Every step after this mile is the farthest I have every ran in my life" "Whoa"

Mile 23: "I guess I'll be enduring this pain for the rest of the run"

Mile 24 to Mile 25: "This is the LONGEST mile ever!"

Mile 26: "Ibuprofen is just on the other side! KICK IT!"

I crossed the finish line onto red carpet, a fireman dressed in a tuxedo holding a silver platter with Tiffany boxes neatly stacked on top, smiles at me and hands me my Finisher's medal.

Two minutes after I cross the finish line: ::Prelita calls Sean, "How's Jackie doing?"::