Monday, November 17, 2008

WE DID IT!

YAY!!!! We finished the half marathon, and in under 3 hours Our (mine and Karen's) was 2 hours and 54 minutes! Yay!!!
It was another AMAZING experience and passing through that finish line is the kind of high I just could not explain.. We went OVER our goal! We raised $2625.00 for The Children’s Tumor Foundation! YAY!!! This may be a long one, but please read about out journey!
The entire weekend was awesome! Saturday was our first full day there and it a fun day! We went to the expo to get registered and look around; however with about 50,000 people in one place it was packed to the fullest extent so we got out of there as soon as we could! Saturday afternoon we went to the riverwalk. I had never seen it before (at least in my adult life) and it was fun to see. Denver loved it, of course! He loved the boats, and the ducks. He could not get enough of them! Saturday night was our Pasta Dinner with the team. It was great! As the co-captain of this race, it was pretty cool because there were a lot of people there that already knew who I was and would come up to meet me. There were a couple of people that I had talked with through email before the race and they wanted to run in Denver's honor because they did not know anyone directly that was affected by NF. It was pretty awesome!
Here are what pictures we got from the Pasta Dinner.
From RnR SA

From RnR SA

Saturday night was surprisingly easy to get to sleep. Staying asleep was another story. Karen and I set the alarm for 5:00 AM to get there on itme. I woke up way before that, but tried to make myself sleep a little longer. Everything and anything was going through my head. I was excited, nervous, anxious...all of the above! Of course it had to be the coldest weather so far this year, but thankfully we did not get to the start line until just before we began the race...so we were ok - and we warmed up quickly. It is always so easy starting out....mile one...awesome! We feel great!! SWEET, mile 2...we are doing so good! We did that until about mile 5 where we started to struggle. Karen and I ran together the entire time. We're sisters...we don't leave one behind. Running the half marathon by myself in Phoenix was a lot harder. It was so great to have Karen there with me.
It is really amazing the people that you see on the course. People of all ages, shapes and sizes...and the are PASSING us. WOW!
Karen and I probably walked about 3 or 4 miles total. We walked the water stations and maybe a 1/2 mile every now and then. I must say that Karen did an awesome job. She did not get all the training she needed, but it certainly didn't show!
We saw my mom, Jason's mom Sandy and Denver on the course. They were at mile5.5 or so. It was awesome. Seeing them...seeing Denver gave us a burst of energy that we totally needed. He was/is the reason we do this, and it gave me reason to run harder.
From RnR SA

From RnR SA

We made it to mile 12 and thought that we were almost done, and it was all easy going from there....think again, there was a huge hill to climb up on the last mile. OUCH! THAT HURT...and it was so hard getting up it while keeping our pace. Karen and I passed the finish line together, and it was awesome! Seriously a feeling of no other. It is awesome, emotional, hard, rewarding, and..just plain sweet! We met up with mom, Sandy and Denver and it was so good to see them. They had both of the husbands (jason and jason) waiting on the phone to talk to us and it was so good to talk to Jason. He had woke up early and stayed up to track us online. His excitement and encouragement was just awesome, and I really wish he could have made it. It was not the same without him there. He is a fantastic husband and encourager and I could not have done this without him. He was my rock.
From RnR SA

From RnR SA

From RnR SA

From RnR SA

I have so many thank you's to write to those of you that donated. THANK YOU. Thank you all also for your prayers. We felt them on the course. Thank you all for your words of encouragement and your support for us. It means more to me than you will ever know. Denver is such a special little boy and he deserves to live his life without the worry of what could be from neurofibromatosis...and that is why I run. That is why I will continue to run - nothing...even a sore body (yes, the WHOLE body) can stop me from this passion.
See you next time around!
REMEMBER TO LEAVE COMMENTS...CLICK ON "SHOUT OUTS"

Katy Wakin #26872

Burleson, TX
Age: 28 Gender: F

2:54:15
DistanceHALF MAR

Karen Chandler #28937

Burleson, TX
Age: 32 Gender: F

2:54:15
DistanceHALF MAR

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

YAY!!!! I am so proud or you! (and Karen) You are such an inspiration for me to get off the couch! I love you and miss you so, so much!
I'm glad so many people came out to support research for NF also. Can't wait to see you!

Mel said...

Congrats Katy and Karen!!!! Denver is blessed to have an awesome Mom and Aunt! I second what Jess said, getting off the couch! Thanks for sharing.

NF Endurance Team said...

Congratulations!