3:16:45

My finish time for the Journey's Half Marathon was 3:16:45! I am so proud. Mom and I walked together - we ended pretty much in the middle of the walking pack - despite the fact that we started in the back. We even beat out 22 half-marathon runners. Not bad for a first attempt!

I made a shirt for the event - it reads "In Memory of Jim - My Husband, My Hero". And I wore a hat that Aimee (LaRock) Ciulla, a friend of Jim's from high school, sent me - it's from the American Cancer Society and it reads "I am strong" - I thought it was perfect.

I was very nervous the morning of the half marathon. I feared not being able to finish and not doing Jim justice. To get to the starting line we drove down a beautiful and curvy 9 mile road - a road that Jim has run with my father in the past. (I've also run it with my mom, but I whined the whole time - Jim was much too gallant for that.) Driving down that road made me feel really nervous. As we lined up at the starting line, I thought I might cry. But I saw a friend of mine from scrapbooking, and we saw my Mom's friend who prompted us to walk in the first place. Seeing people I like sort of steeled me up for the morning.

I have a perpetual fear of coming in last. I'm always convinced I'm doing to be dead last, with the pace car nipping at my heels so they can close the finish line. Or worse yet: no one will be left at the finish line. Those fears give me drive to push on even if I think I just can't. And once I know I'm not in last place, I try to pick off people ahead of me.

There was a priest ahead of me and mom that looked like he was just out for a casual stroll. He must have been about 60. I set my sights on him. BOY was he hard to catch. My mother was very unhappy because I basically forced her to pass him, too. We didn't catch him until the second half of the race, but once he was behind us it seemed that we had an easier time picking people off.

We really hoofed it the last 1/3 of the race, which made me proud. I adhere to the "tortoise and hare" theory of running and walking. We passed a number of people that started off really strong but fell behind as the morning went on. We did just the opposite. Walking the distance made it seem a lot more attainable if I choose to run it in the future. And at the finish line, I realized that I could have run some of it - not all of it, but some.

At the finish line, our chips beeped and the announcer said "Jenny Ferguson and Kate... ... ..." {you could hear him thinking "mar...ven...tino?" "mara...vento?" "marvento? "...middle name Marven, last name Tano...?"} and finally "Kate...M-a-r-v-e-n-t-a-n-o! I knew it!" Well at least we're continuing the tradition where people butcher our last name to bits. He got it right, albeit slowly. I have to give him credit for getting it right.

My Dad came and took pictures at the finish line. I got a great medal and had it engraved with my name and finish time. My favorite part of a race is the finish - all the people milling around, a feeling of accomplishment in the air, bananas, bagels, juice and water galore...it's pretty fun.

It was a beautiful Northwoods day. Sunny, but not too hot. A slight breeze, but not a wind. Just the kind of day that reminds me of Jim. The kind of day where his skin would get warm from the sun and he'd wrap his arms around me to keep me warm. I could drink him in on those days.

I think I did right for Jim. I hope he thinks so, too.