Cooper River Bridge Run

So here is my official recap of the Cooper River Bridge Run!

My official time was:

Drove down Friday afternoon and did some shopping in Mt. Pleasant. Met up with Sarah and took care of some business. We check into our hotel and headed downtown to find out where exactly we needed to be for Saturday morning.

Here we are at dinner at a delicious restaurant called The Mustard Seed.

I didn't sleep very well the night before. I really worked myself up and I think my nerves definitely got the best of me. Lesson learned.

Here we all are at about 6:00 in the morning before the race.

Our friend John Thomas was wearing this awesome shirt:

Rena, Sarah & I waiting at the starting line.

See the yellow banner WAY down there? Yea, that's the starting line.

Here I am at the beginning!

Getting over the bridge! This was the most amazing feeling in the world.

Check out these cool guys in their leprechaun outfits.

I started the race with Kristen, but I was getting a bit of a stitch in my side and told her to go on ahead of me. This next one is me getting over the bridge! It was amazing-knowing that I could push myself to do something I never thought I could do.

SO many people all running the same race.

I saw my friend Spencer while on the bridge! It was very comforting to see a familiar face, someone telling me "You can do it!" Even if he is a Clemson fan :o)

Here I am getting into downtown Charleston.

I was so thankful for the water stations. They just happened to be at the right places at the right time! The volunteers were so nice! It was kind of scary at the first one though because the road was super wet and those cups were all over the place and it was slippery.

Mile 6! Holy Crap! I have never gone that far in a single workout/running session ever. It was the best feeling in the world.

There's the finish line!

And this happens to be my favorite picture of the whole weekend. I found Kristen at the end and her family was there with open arms! We were both all emotional and I was just so happy to be done! Her hubby snapped this picture. This picture total sums up how I was feeling.

All of us Myrtle Beach girls finished!

Rena, D, Carmela, Kristen, Antonella, Sarah, & Me

Here us hanging out in Marion Square, checkin' out all the goodies :o)

Banana phone!

We totally pigged out at Bessinger's BBQ after we vegged out for a few hours.

Rena loved those onion rings :o)

Sunday morning we headed home, but not before snapping a few pictures in the parking lot.

When I pulled into my driveway, I see the sweetest thing my dad put up on our front porch. He made me my very own finish line!

I was totally crying when I saw :o)

Not only did I have a great weekend with some great friends, I learned a lot about myself. I learned I can push myself a lot harder than I ever thought I could. I also learned that we are all running our own race-literally and figuratively. We may have bumps along the way, we may have to slow down and walk, but I finished. I can do what I set my mind to. I could not stop smiling the whole weekend.