New Orleans Rock and Roll Marathon...

This past Sunday I ran the New Orleans Rock and Roll Marathon, which was my second full marathon.  For years, I had done half marathons and never thought I would do a full...well, I got the fever and did one last March and then again last weekend.  And I must admit...I really like them!

I did my first marathon with my friend, Kelley, from work, but I ran this one with a different group of friends.  Melanie (my left) and I did the full, but we did lots of training runs with Alicia and Amy.  I formed the sweetest friendship with these girls and look forward to continuing to run with them...

Ready for our FULL marathon...my 2nd and Melanie's 1st...

Melanie, Alicia, Amy, and me...

This guy...best cheerleader EVER!  I could NOT do a marathon without him.  And when you see all my smiling pictures throughout the course it is because I saw this guy at the start, mile 3, mile 6, mile 10, mile 13, mile 20, mile 24, and the finish.  See what I'm saying...best cheerleader EVER!

At the start line ready to go...

Let the fun begin...just 26.2 miles to go!

Mile 3...the rest of our crew was running the half marathon. Melanie and I knew we had to maintain our pace so we didn't stay with them...but...we saw them several times throughout the half and would run with them until they got too fast for us.

Mile 6...

Mile 10...

Mile 13...Kelley, friend from work, was also running the full marathon so she ran with us some.

Mile 20...this is like a breath of fresh air to me...13 to 20 can be a little mental but once you hit 20, you know you are on the home stretch.  And 6 more miles is nothing at this point. 

Mile 24...

We had a "secret" goal of 5 hours, but we actually finished in 5 hours and 28 minutes.  At mile 20, we were still on track for 5 hours...but...poor Melanie started feeling sick.  She was dizzy and nauseous...she was awesome and never quit...we just had to do a little more walking than we had planned the last 6 miles.  But you know what, who really cares about time?  

The finish line is in sight, and I'll be honest...I was fighting back a few tears at this point.  Just something about realizing you just ran 26.2 miles...makes you just a little bit proud to say the least!

And we did it!  This was such a fun journey for me...from the training, to the friendships, to the race day!

Sweet Alicia, her husband Will, and Melanie's husband Adam all waited for us to finish even though they finished the half 3 hours before we finished the full.

So proud that Matt is my husband...and yes, everyone was jealous of him because like I said, he is the best cheerleader EVER!  And really...he cheered for many of our friends not just me...I had to sort through 400 plus pictures to find a few of my favorites to blog.

And last but not least...our home away from home.  Sweet Tim and Beth have been so kind to us...we've stayed at their house for cheer competition, the marathon, and now we are going back for another cheer competition (all within a month).  We really love to stay with them because they are the best hostesses and there house is just right off Canal so the perfect location.  We loved seeing it for the marathon all decorated for Mardi Gras...so festive and inviting!