1 hour 58 minutes

Some days are better than others....this is true with life and with running, also. There have been days when I have loved running, thought it was the very best choice that I have ever made. Then, there have been days that I thought that if I had to take one more step, I might die! Today, my race was a mixture of both of these feelings, the beginning of the race was ecstasy, the second half was agony.
The morning began overcast and warm for February. We were clustered along Ronald Reagan Parkway in Snellville, Georgia. To my right I could see the hospital where my precious Baby Drew was born only 2 years ago. I would have never guessed then that I would be running along that busy highway. There were far fewer people running this race than the Thanksgiving race since this is a smaller "home-town" sort of race. When the starting gun fired I was immediately off and running and my legs felt amazing. I was trucking it, with a custom made playlist ringing in my ears...it was just me, my music and my miles. It didn't take me long to catch my pace. Around mile 1 I looked to the left and my family had come up to the road and my children and husband were waving and cheering. Baby Drew was in the middle of the road with his little hand waving at the runners. Caroline was in awe...she has decided that when she grows up, she wants to be a runner like her mommy! Imagine my pride in that statement! Everything was going great, I made it to the half-way mark in 55 minutes, 6.55 miles, a pretty impressive first half for a 2nd time racer like myself. I was on track to make my goal time of 1 hour and 50 minutes. This was the ecstasy part of the race because as soon as I made that turn around the agony began.
I am not sure what happened. I had nursed my ankle Thursday and Friday, with just a little twinge of pain every now and then. I thought it was just sore and needed iced, so I did that. I guess that was not enough and the combination of the miles ran and the pitch of the road made my ankle begin to ache. Okay, I thought, just get through this. I began imagining myself as a PacMan, gobbling each mile and trying to ignore the pain that shot through my ankle and calf with more intensity each time my foot struck the ground. I tried to reserve some energy for the last 2 miles, then I could kick it into high gear, but that was not going to be the case for me today. At mile 12, my little family came into view again. Cheering for their struggling mommy, they gave me strength to get to the end. Waiting at the end were my friends Brandy, JC and little Kiley. Brandy, my running partner, came to cheer me on! I was joined at the finish by my great friend, Cathy, and her two children. I felt so thankful for their support and belief in me. I have amazing friends and family! My time: 1:58. I wanted to beat 2 hours and I achieved that! Yay me!
I stopped running and the endorphins began to fizzle out and what I felt was pain, PAIN, PAIN!!! Limping and struggling to walk has been the name of my game all afternoon...I am very worried. Ice, ibuprofen and rest has not helped at all and I am praying that when I wake up tomorrow this will all be a bad dream!
Agony and Ecstasy: that is what running is all about.