imposible.WAS.nothing...MY.MARATHON. - moving.right.along.

.you .will .have .days
where you wonder if you can run a marathon
but a .LIFETIME.
knowing that you have.

-impossible is nothing

sorry this took so long!

haha I guess people who actually read my blog are interested in how the end of my marathon journey went! my sister Becka did her own spiel on it, if you want her twist, and some of her pictures go to these links!

there are two parts, here is the first one:

http://bultsmabunch.blogspot.com/2008/11/dublin-marathon-2008.html

and here is the next one with most of the pictures

http://bultsmabunch.blogspot.com/2008/11/dublin-marathon-2008-part-2-pictures.html

and now I will tell you my piece. running that marathon was probably the hardest thing I have ever done physically. it was kind of a blessing that I FORGOT my headphones I think....I had some serious reflection time...I kept going in my head "Rachel, you have been through harder things this year, you MADE.IT.HERE. you worked through and you are still standing, and you WILL be still standing after this marathon is over. and I am standing. - .taller.than.ever.

lets start from the beginning of our journey.

.DUBLIN.city. - Becka and I got there before everyone else, so here a couple of pictures from us going around the city just exploring!

then, after a series of dramatic events, Becka twisting her ankle....world war 3 in our apartment (don't ask) Jared arriving, dad arriving about 12 hours before the marathon with no luggage....(still on Calgary time...so about 6 hours behind, we ran the marathon at like, 2am Calgary time...IM.STILL.NOT.TURNED.AROUND....hence why I'm blogging this at 1am)

after all that, at 7am on Monday morning we set off to the Dublin Marathon.

there were about 12,000 people in this marathon. we got our stuff together...then everyone squished into the streets to begin with a .BAM. - gunshot.

the beginning was SLOW. much slower than I would have liked. there were lots of people and it got all bottle necked up at one point....I.WAS.WALKING. it was way frustrating. but once we started running at was all good. run...

run...

still running...

I felt slow. honestly, I let myself get a little out of shape on the taper, if im being honest...it was hard. i felt heavy and slow.

after encouragement, water, candies and orange slices (for energy) porta-potties (twice...blech!) .GU. high fives, foot cramps, passing drunk old women dancing to traditional Irish music on the side of the street I crossed that finish line with my hands up in the air and a prayer in my heart at around 4:11....

( it was ODD, tho, I have to make this point in my small defence... my watch said that I actually ran 42.8 km in 4:08. ha ha but hey. whatevs...I ran a freaking long way in whatever time I did it in!)

coming across the finish line I felt a huge rush. runners high i guess they call it. I was in shock I think...I wandered down a line where they took my chip off my number and smiled and congratulated me, and then shipped me off to get my out of the way. I wandered down the street a ways to find my things and there was my sweet old dad....I.BROKE.DOWN. into tears the minute I saw him "oh dad.....oh dad" that was all I could say. my dad just held me and rubbed my back while I cried into his chest. I wasn't sad...I was very happy...I just felt this huge rush of every emotion from everything come over me...and seeing my dad, such a huge tool that I had in my success....the key almost...almost made it all worth it.

this is me right after, I had wiped my tears away, but I definitely looked like I just ran a marathon! I have my little finishers medal on and PEACE!

I didn't get in under 4 hours like I would have liked. I was 11 minutes off...but hey...around 4 hours on my first marathon...is a dream, I never imagined it would be so difficult! during my training I experimented with using things like ephedrine, and caffeine to improve performance, but since I have a bit of a heart condition...in the end, I decided not to use any of it. and I think I got blessed for it. none of my injuries affected me in the end. except THIS ONE...and I'm warning you...this is a little gross...ha ha CAN.YOU.HANDLE.IT?

I knew my shoes had been bugging me...ha ha but when I finally hobbled back to our apartment, I took off my shoes to see the biggest bloodiest blister I have ever had!

so what do you do with a blister? well...call it .THE.BEST.BATTLE.SCAR.I.EVER.HAD.

the drain the damn thing!

and I have to put this last picture in...just because its plain gross. ha ha the aftermath

awesome huh?

so after all that, we became tourists....true tourists...I'll just put headings under the next pictures, I wont bore anyone too bad. some of these turned out really nice!

Becka and I

Dad.like.daughter...

the cliffs of Moher ( the cliffs of insanity from the princess bride!) I Love this picture, but it doesn't do them justice!
this picture is view from the top of a hill we scaled in the mud and dirt. we headed up to some caves that looked amazing...and well, the scenery of Ireland is what ended up taking our breath away.
from inside the cave
just me. darn that blue jacket. it looks cool...WHEN.IM.RUNNING. haha

All said, the trip was a huge success. I'm glad I got to share it with my big brother and sister and my dear dad...

impossible is nothing??

.IMPOSSIBLE.WAS.NOTHING.!

now Rachel,

gather yourself...

where to next?

It has been quite the recovery from this marathon. now, in case some of you forgot...you know...sometimes I forget too...

just.kidding.

...

.I .LEAVE .FOR .SOUTH .AMERICA .IN .5 .DAYS....

just typing that gave me a mini panic attack! i'll blog about this tomorrow!

xx

Rach