Mel On...My First Marathon - Part 1 (come on, you knew this would take several posts!)

Let me tell you, 0500 came early this morning...check that, 0245 came early this morning...because that is the time my husband's alarm clock went off so he could get up to watch the Bama game...and therefore that is when I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep....

Bless his heart, he tried to be quiet, he did.  But all I could here was cheering and announcers and him going "block him!" I wanted to throw my pillow at his face but he was sitting at the other end of the hotel room.  One word, Sanders, HEADPHONES!  I eventually fell back asleep, about 1/2 hr before I had to get up, but even if the game wasn't on, I don't think I would have gotten much sleep anyway!

The good news was that, Tracy, a girl from my running group - a "Kenyan" -  was staying at the same hotel we were.  We ended up sharing a cab to the bus stop...neither of us wanted to walk an extra 20 minutes on top of the 26.2 miles we were about to run!  It was also a lot more comforting having someone there with you (especially with the language barrier and race day jitters).

Bus pick-up went surprisingly smoothly.  We basically got into one of the first buses and didn't have long of a wait before we were off.  It took about 45 minutes to drive to Marathon.  I kept thinking in my head what a long bus ride it was...lol, silly me, I WOULD BE RUNNING THAT DISTANCE IN 3 HOURS!

Buses loaded and ready to head to Marathon!

The stadium in Marathon was small but well stocked with volunteers and porta potties.  We had plenty of time to get a few photo ops while we waited to line up in our starting blocks!

First view of the starting line! 

With Tracy, this is her 4th marathon!  She ROCKS!

Random shots of people getting ready...

People starting to fill in...

Trying to get a pic with the American and German flags in the background!

The weather was BEAUTIFUL...and the scenery wasn't too bad either!

Time to line up!  HERE WE GO!!!

Before we knew it, it was time to line up!  I was surprisingly calm until the first wave of runner's went.  The bang of fireworks and balloons releasing got the adrenaline pumping pretty quickly!  The announcer's last words before our block started, "I wish you love, a good race, and good health!"

Found the perfect spot!

Trying to get a pic of the country flags and the torch from my starting block...

Lol, in the "back of the bus!"

There goes the first wave of runners!!!

"OMG, OMG, OMG, breathe, THIS IS IT, THIS IS IT, THIS IS IT, 5...BREATHE....4...OMG OMG OMG...3...b-r-e-a-t-h-e....2...OMG OMG OMG...1...you got this baby girl....BANG!"

No turning back now...LET'S DO THIS!