My First Marathon - "just one more thing".....

I ran the Tucson Marathon in December of 2006 - my first marathon.  My husband wanted to start running with me and we planned on running the marathon together.  He was working out at work with his co-workers and I found a running program that I liked and began in August.  At the time, I was substitute teaching at my daughters Christian School and I was enrolled to begin a masters degree program.  That summer we began construction on a home that would take about 6 months to complete.  We, also, brought home a German Shorthair Pointer puppy that summer; he was and still is a huge part of our family.  A perfectly energetic dog for our energetic family.  We were the typically busy family... 

I did great in September and then came the big news:  my husband was volunteering to go to Iraq.  It was something he really wanted to do and felt passionate about.  He was very affected by 9/11 and when the opportunity came up for him to use his skills to help with border issues, he jumped at the opportunity.  I was happy for him; it was his dream.  I decided to hold off on the masters program - there was just too much going on at once.  I continued my running regimen, but it was a lot more difficult to fit in the runs.  It was hard to do a long run and be exhausted for the rest of the day.  October was a whirl-wind while my husband got ready to go and went to various training courses and briefings.  There were so many things to fit in before he left.  Everything went pretty well until November when my son fell from the monkey bars at school and broke his arm.  We had appointments with surgeons and he missed a lot of school.  I was hardly running at all.  I didn't think I was going to be able to do the marathon.

I decided to do the race at the last minute.  I figured I would just try it.  After all - I already paid.  My husband didn't want me to do it, because he wanted us to do our first marathon together, but honestly I felt like there would always be something; some reason would always hold me back.  A good friend of mine was shocked when I told her and said "it's just one more thing."  I guess it was.  I did terrible.  The first 20 miles weren't bad, but those last 6 were brutal....