The End

This blog has gone from "Once upon a time there was girl who was completely out of shape but decided that if Oprah and a bunch of other people can run a marathon, she can run a marathon" to "and the girl finished her marathon seven months and 4 hours and 31 minutes and 1 second later and lived happily ever after. The End." Well, the "happily ever after" thing is still up for debate, but I did happily finish the marathon:-)

It's now been over 1 1/2 weeks since I finished the marathon and I am feeling 100% back to "normal." No more aches and pains! I recovered pretty quickly within a few days and I'm glad that I have no injuries. I guess I did things right! Last night I went out for my first run since the marathon and I felt great. I ran 4.5 miles around Aliso Viejo and kept up my normal pace. The sky was very clear and I took in some great views of Saddleback Mountain. I felt very accomplished when I finished this short run: Not only can I run a marathon, but I can run one without killing myself and I can continue to run afterwards.

So, what's next? Well, I definitely want to keep running. But I also want to mix up my workouts with hikes, bike rides, and other cardio activities. I'm thinking about maybe...maybe running in the Long Beach Half Marathon in October (Diana is planning on running the full marathon) and definitely the Arizona Rock n' Roll Marathon in January (Katie is running in that).

They say all good blogs must come to an end and so must this one. I accomplished my goal of running 26 miles while I'm 26. Soon, as much as I hate to admit it, I'll turn 27. There are new things to accomplish and new goals to work towards. I have really, truly enjoyed my training and marathon experience and I enjoyed blogging it all. I hope you all enjoyed reading about it!

Well, that's all folks!