21 or 22 Miler Recap :)

I think my Garmin may have had an aneurysm because I mapped my run and drove it and both said it was 22 miles. But alas when I went to log my run this morning it says 21!!! I couldn't see for the last 4ish miles last night and didn't care enough to look once I got inside- all I could think was 'ice bath, ice bath, ice bath!'
But, pretty sure it doesn't really matter.
Becauseeeee.....(drum roll...).....(pause for effect....)... I DID IT!!!
I did it. I DID it! I did it?
Craziness.
My original plan was to run Saturday morning. But, Friday afternoon I got this headache that felt...weird. Took Tylenol, but it didn't do anything (which is unusual for me.) I called my doctor and he said it sounded like a migraine! (WHAT!!??) Told me this nice cocktail of drugs to take and said it should be gone by morning. Right...
I woke up at 3am to the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. I tried to get up to get more drugs, and I must have made some distressing sound because Pat was up immediately. Somehow he knew it was bad, prayed for me, got me a washcloth and while I was crying and felt like my head was literally exploding he held me. At some point in the night he told me there was no way I was running in the morning, and I knew he was right. I wasn't even sure it'd be gone by the morning. Finally the drugs kicked in and I fell asleep. Woke up in the morning and still had it a little bit. I was so frustrated! I had mentally prepared to do this last big run!
At some point in the later morning I made the decision to go for it that afternoon. I just wanted to be done!
I set out at 3pm. I had to plant my Nuun bottles all over the place. I'm planning on running the marathon without my water belt so I wanted to do this big run without it as well.
Got back home and got the dog leashed up, said a quick prayer, sent a text out that said something to the effect of 'if I survive this it will ONLY be because of Him who gives me strength!' and off I went!
The plan was to run the first 2 hours with my trusty road dog, Bogey. He can do 10-11 miles, but that's the most we ever take him. Its such a mental thing for me to have him. So we set out. Not too bad! I alternated listening to music and not. I was feeling GOOD! I had my directions written down (did I mention 54 TURNS!) So, there were a few neighborhoods up here I had to have it out- the turns were confusing!) Then about mile 5 I had to go to the bathroom. Bad. Son of a... Thankfully some wonderful construction site had a porta potty set up!!! Looked around to make sure the neighbors weren't watching and Bogey and I ducked it! Bogey was confused and didn't like it :) But, I felt a million times better!
Kept on trucking and a few miles later I saw in the distance this dog in the middle of the road. Cars were having to stop for him. We get closer and he sees us and I see his hackles rise and he heads towards us. And of course, my pepper spray is in the cupboard at home. I picked up a handful of gravel and chucked it at him. Nothing. Kept growling and stalking towards us. Bogey isn't a tough dog, so he was curling around my legs. Cool, Bogey. So, then I grabbed a big rock and chucked it at him. I missed, of course. But, that stopped him. I got my toughest, meanest, loudest voice and told him to get. And THANK GOD he did. Went into a yard and the guy came out and called him and I yelled at the guy that his dog almost attacked us, and we were on our merry way.
Right around halfway Pat and the kids met me to pick up Bogey the scaredy cat. They brought me a Nutri-Grain Bar and water. I downed it, gave my babies kisses and went back out. Solo. Just a woman and her thoughts... and a car honking and screaming... Oh, they were looping back by me :)
OK, now it was 'put  your big girl pants on' time!
Got to 13.1 and had a little 'Woop Woop' celebration time :)
At around 14 miles the course got very hilly. I decided to walk up the steep ones and use that to take my ShockBloks. On one of these hills an old man on a bike passed me and it just pissed me off... not enough to run up the thing, but pissed me off none the less.
At 17 miles I had The 5 course to hit. Its an almost 1 mile downhill (in gravel) and then ridiculous hills. The downhill was not smart. I don't know what I was thinking! It was so unstable, and bumpy and I kept tweaking my ankle! Got to the uphill part to walk and walking up it was hard. I called Christie for a little encouragement. She was putting her time in on the treadmill, so we talked and joked and got me to the top.

This was it. The end. I had to finish strong and leave it on the pavement, as Christie had said. I didn't want to have regret or an excuse when it came marathon time. So I pushed. The last mile I was sailing. I don't know how fast because I couldn't see my garmin but I know it was around a 9 min mile if not faster. I rounded the corner to my house and got tears in my eyes. The end. I sprinted and hit the finish and stopped my garmin, and shook my head. The end. I finished. I was strong.
I still don't believe I did it. Maybe it was a dream, or I made it up?
But, you know what? I really did. My body hurts enough this morning that I know it wasn't a dream.
I'm a runner. I'm tough. I finished something. I am stronger than I thought.
I saw my shadow a couple times in the streetlight and I saw two shadows. At first it scared me and I thought someone was behind me. Don't really know what it was but in my heart I pretended it was the One I had prayed to through the whole thing. The One I knew had been with me through every step. The One who has been with me through it all :)
God is so good. I couldn't love Him more. He fills my cup and makes my life have meaning. I couldn't have gotten through this training without His strength and endurance!
On to TAPER!!!!