I did it! I ran (and finished) the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in San Antonio last Sunday. And even more amazing, my time for the 13.1 miles was 3:28:49 (3 hours, 28 minutes, 48.7 seconds, including bathroom stops)! Thank you to everyone who helped me prepare for that major challenge, each one of you who donated in support of my goal, and all of you who provided emotional support, positive vibes and more. (And apologies for the delay – this post has been a week in the making.)

Crossing the finish line was literally one of the high points of my life thus far. Even five days later, it still amazes me that I was able to get my body and mind in shape to accomplish this ambitious goal. The photo to the right captures the emotions I experienced – despite the physical aches and pains – at the moment of crossing the finish line. (By the way, the runner to the right of me who is barely breaking a sweat is our team&nrsquo;s running coach Rick.)

Before the Race

Our Wisconsin team woke early and gathered in the hotel lobby at 6:00 am for some quick stretching exercises, then stepped out of the hotel and got in line for the bus ride to the Start. Thanks to some major planning snafus on the part of race organizer Élite Racing (and which have been covered elsewhere), our shuttle bus didn’t actually get us to the Start Line until 8:30 am, or about an hour after the race had started. Fortunately everyone’s time is calculated on the basis of a chip attached to their shoe, so we were able to start the race when we arrived without any real penalty.

Despite having trained for 16 weeks at distances up to 10 miles, I experienced the typical “first marathon jitters” in the moments leading up to the start. What had I been thinking?? After all, I’ve have two major surgeries in the prior year, one just 12 weeks ago. Standing there in the corrals before starting the race, I looked around at my Team Challenge teammates. Everyone was running or walking this half marathon for a reason. Like myself, several of them suffer from Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis*. Others have a daughter, father, relative or good friend fighting those diseases every single day. I realized we all were there, preparing to go 13.1 miles, for an incredibly good reason. And just like that, my jitters were gone and I realized I would finish – we all would finish – because we all had a reason and the drive to accomplish this.

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