What I learned from running a marathon

I ran my first marathon on October 20th in Cedar Park TX. It was an amazing, life changing

 experience. The whole story is way to long (I wrote the whole thing in my journal) to put in the blog post, I will just write what I learned. 

1. There were times in the race when I felt dissapointment, discouragement and even failure. When I was at my lowest I asked my Heavenly Father for help and He changed my perspective and kept me going even though it was hard. I know that I can use this memory to help me throughout my life

2. I am stronger than I even thought possible

3. My family is the most important thing in the whole world to me. We should strive to strengthen each other when we are struggling and sometimes all it takes is someone holding your hand to lighten your burdens. 

4. Don't worry what others think of you. Run your own race. 

I have so many people to thank for helping and supporting me in my training and the actual race. First all of my wonderful friends here in Dallas. Your encouraging words keep me going during the long summer months of training. My husband helped me so much. I could not have done this without him. He watched the boys during my long runs, woke me up to run even when I did not want to, gave me supportive words when I wasn't sure I could do and was just so awesome. Last I have to thank my Heavenly Father. I often prayer to help me get through a certain run and I know that he gave me the strength to finish my training and the race. 

 This was pre-race. It was so dark when we got to the start. Liam wanted some hugs before I started.

 The start! 

 The boys played played while I was running. 

 This was my favorite part of the race. It was about mile 23. I was dead tired and then I saw my boys. Liam ran up and held my hand and started running with me. It gave me the strength to finish and it is a memory I will hold with me always. 

The finish! What a race. The hardest, but best race of my life.