26.2 post

URGH... its taken me FOREVER to get a video up .... I had to keep making it shorter and shorter.. .. it only seems right that a marathon video should be a marathon length dont ya think? .... I finally got it to work :) yipee.. (see below)

If it doesnt play when you click the arrow... click on the upside down arrow :)
I added this second video... its the same but a bit bigger.. or you can go to vimeo and watching it even larger if you want :)

Untitled from ruthie swed on Vimeo.

If that wasnt enough for you... heres some text scoop :)

first of all friday didnt turn out like I expected. I didn't get all my meals in and I got to bed later than i wanted-needed too. Saturday morning I woke up very tired. I considered just skipping it and running the Marathon another day. I tried to go back to sleep but just couldnt. I got up and left the house by about 610am. I knew this would come back to haunt me.. an hour in west texas makes a big difference when you are talking about morning heat-temps.

When i left the house it was dark. I drove up to the campus and left my car with all my goodies (snacks and water) there so i could get to them when i needed it. I did my first lap with long pants and long sleeves. It was 60 degrees. I was cold. After the first lap I was HOT :) ... so I stopped and left my long pants-sleeves in the car.. got a bit of a snack and water and kept running.

I kept thinking I felt surprisingly good esp for not getting enough sleep the two nights before but as I continued I got more and more tired.

My sister came and said HI! and also told me that they had admitted my daddy to the hospital. AS I continued my run I thought of him downtown in the hospital bed. (he is fine and is at home today)
I also thought about a LOT of other things:

• my friends hubby who is deployed and I praised God for his family and what the give for our country.
  
• my friends and how encouraging they are to me
• my amazing hubby and how he was going to be at the last 2 miles to help me through it!
  
• my kids and how much I love them
• my life and how different it is today than 3 years ago.
• how could I encourage others to find hope to change

I could keep going... I mean... 5hous 41 mins is a long time. ... so i will spare you the rest :)

things I LOVED about it:

• two ladies who needed directions, I stopped and helped them find their way.... to one lady I said... "oh.. just follow me.. I will will run over there and show you" :) and i did. :)
  
• the little old man with the cane
• my new friend Mandi, who is in her late 60s and runs around campus all the time. She saw me and ran with me.. encouraged and inspired me. She was to run 4 miles.. but she said I inspired her to keep going.. so she ran walked a total of 10 miles.. the longest she has done in YEARS! (so cool how we can inspire each other)......she found me at the track with 3 miles to go and walked 2 laps with me :) I love my new friend. She is amazing! (and she didnt start running until she was 39 :)
  
• the signs my friends put up "Ruthie Rocks" Go Ruthie" :) (so sweet)
  
• the way people looked at me... thinking.. "is that the same person I saw over an hour ago?"
• the friends who yelled from the cars or honked their horns
• sharing it with my kids and my hubby!
  
• how when I put my ipd on shuffle.. just the right song comes on.. the last mile... only a mile to go.... and guess what song came on??? The Motions by Matthew West! .. Yes.. the "theme" of my whole training.... my favorite song..... first song on the last mile.
  

Miles 21 to 26 were aweful. really. i didnt think i would make it. I wanted to run, jog.. but struggled to find it........I kept walking the curves on the track and jogging the straights. My hubby did the last 2 miles with me.. he made me laugh, and encouraged me.. i could feel his strength pushing me to finish, to not quit "i am not going to let you quit" he said... "you have come too far to quit".. yeah... he is amazing.

so..
I made it.

the hardest and yet most amazing rewarding thing I have ever done.

For me.. its not about the t-shirt, or a medal, or an experience with crowds all around....
it was about conquering my fears, about finishing what I started, about not giving up. A year ago about this time I signed up and paid to run the San Antonio Marathon. Yesterday.. I ran it. It took me longer than most to get to the starting line... but I didn't give up.

It seems almost like an outer body experience now. Almost like it wasn't me. But I was there.. and I know I did it.. I think it will take a few days to have it all soak in!

I have plans already for my next few goals ......what I want to accomplish over the next year but I will have to share those with you on another post :)