you think you know, but you have no idea

the title of this post is how id like to sum up this past weekend.

marathon weekend 2012 is officially in the books. led by coach susie kelley, the entire weekend was flawless. lets recap, shall we:

mom and i met at the philly train station around 1pm on saturday. already on a high from getting to hug her, we hopped in a cab and went to our hotel. hello holiday inn express!!! all checked in and snacking away in our room (i came prepared, haha), we awaited the arrival of DK. about 15 minutes later, he arrived...shaved head and all!!!!!

we went across the street to grab some lunch and then headed on over to the expo! once i had our gear in hand it all began to feel real....i kept saying to drew "dude, i cant believe were running a marathon! i mean really!"

we walked around the expo for a bit enjoying all the excitement of the city and all the runners! what was cool was that all of this stuff was happening right where i used to live...on our way to the convention center we actually walked right past my old apt!!

we headed back to the hotel to rest a bit and get ready for dinner with a fun crew. trish, dean and matt joined us at a sports bar for a fun, relaxed dinner. it was the perfect way to end the day! tons of laughs, memories, stories and jokes were shared (it was really such a special dinner!)

we hit the hay around 945pm in anticipation of a 5am wakeup call. it was hard to go to bed cause drew, mom and i were still  having fun and laughing but we had to do it!

5am hurts. no matter how often ive done it, it never really gets easier. especially if youre cold. or trying to mentally prepare for a marathon. per usual, drew woke up last :) haha. once he got dressed we headed down for some breakfast (i stuck to water, as i dont like to eat before i run). drew munched on a bagel with peanut butter and a banana, mom had eggs. the breakfast area was packed with runners! it was fun!

we ran back upstairs to finish getting ready and headed out around 615am. thinking it was supposed to be a nice day, i sported shorts and a tshirt and zipped up my fleece for the walk to the start. i was about 5494590 layers short of being warm/comfortable. IT WAS FUCKING FREEZING. i mean it, STUPIDLY, FUCKING FREEZING. from the moment i stepped outside to the moment i crossed the finish line my legs never really got warm. id like to blame me not getting a better time on that. its my story, im sticking to it.

drew and i started together...and stayed together for about 10 miles. with the amount of bodies, it got harder to stay right next to each other, but it was fun! he then went ahead (go drew!!) and i tried to mentally prepare for another 16.2. miles. running a marathon was a mind game for me. miles 14-19 were tough in the sense that we had been running so much (i mean in every other day in my life, anywhere between 14-19 miles is A LOT!) but you have to remember you still have SO much longer to run. miles 21-23 were KILLER. my legs legitimately stopped functioning properly. i stopped for a moment and told myself i would just walk the rest. i then started to think about what i would say to all my family and friends who cheered me on and who i would now be letting down. i pushed through the wall (veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy slowly) and got to mile 24. i stopped again for a moment thinking how in the hell i was going to do this. i told myself to go! go hil! as soon as i hit mile 25 and saw the thousands of people cheering i knew it was almost over. (no way in hell id walk in front of all those people). i ran...fast. i ran strong for that last 1.2 miles...and ceossed at 3:56:28. i crossed with a high-5 and "congratulations hilary" from bart yasso. yea. i know. it still hasnt sunk in. drew finished with 3:43:xx (not sure of his seconds)

we are now marathoners! for life!

and then my mind was blown. i was walking to where drew, mom and i decided would be our meeting spot...the fountain close to the finish. as im walking i hear my name being yelled and it was christine!!! roommate christine!! roommate who flew down to see me from her trip to boston christine. i know, ridiculously impressive! the funny part was she was wearing a #team kelley shirt with the slogan "beating cjd one mile at a time" and handmade posters! what was she doing here?!??!

THEN i see my mom whos also wearing a tshirt and holding posters. in shock, i was like "what the hell is going on?!" she told me that my roommates came to surprise me. right then i turned around and had janine sprinting at me also wearing a shirt! she was literally the happiest, most excited thing i had ever seen....she gave me the best, most awesome hug ever. wait, what was SHE doing here?!?!

as you can glimpse on FB, my roommates schemed with my mom to come surprise me with shirts, posters and spirit!i am the luckiest girl in the world. it funny, i was in such euphoria the rest of the day i forgot about all the pain and tiredness.

i am so proud to be so close with janine and christine, and so humbled that trish, dean and matt made the trip. this weekend was so special on so many levels...and the amount of support drew and i received throughout the months leading up to the event ($880 raised to date!!), and the entire weekend during, i am so thankful to everyone!! it was such a special moment...finishing the marathon, that i can imagine spending it with anyone but our close friends and support crew. it was such a cold day and everyone had to get up so early...true sacrifices. special shout out to christines amazing looking posters despite being hungover. true talent sister :)

a very special thank you to everyone involved in #teamkelley marathon 2012. drew and i are very humbled and very lucky to have such amazing friends and family.  same time next year???