So I ran the Detroit Marathon...

Apparently I'm crazy.

For whatever reason (I blame the hormones), when I was about 6 months pregnant, I decided to run my first marathon only 6 months after I would have my first baby.

Crazy. 

I also roped a good friend into running it with me.

Training was less than ideal. Funny how a baby tends to disrupt your life like that. There were times during my training when I actually went 2 weeks in between runs. Again, not ideal. But, nonetheless, when the time came, we woke up early (5:00am), ate, and headed from our hotel to the start line. 

Getting ready to start! Completely rethinking my decision to run... It's about 40 degrees here. If that.

The start/finish line!

There were 6,000 marathon participants. It was a little congested at the beginning, but did thin out. I never really felt slowed down by the people. Of course, maybe they felt slowed down by me? It's also hard at the beginning, because along with the full marathon, the international half marathon starts at the same time. 

It's a pretty awesome course. It goes over the Ambassador Bridge into Canada, and back into the US through the tunnel. Which means at the expo when you're picking up your bib, they check your passport. You're also supposed to carry it with you, in case anything happens. Mine fit nicely in my Spi-belt, and I didn't even notice it was there. Small inconvenience to run into another country. It was pretty cool to run in and out of Canada!

Side note: on the way out of the tunnel, I really appreciated the police officer offering high-fives, yelling, "smack a cop!" 

The course runs around the neighborhoods of Detroit which is nice. Especially nice from miles 17ish-19ish where a lot of people have set up tables outside their houses and are handing out things like jelly beans and beer to the runners! 

From there, you head over to Bell Isle, which I had heard many people say was awesome. I think I got my hopes up too high, because this may have been my least favorite part. It's pretty over there, but they basically shut the island down, so there are very few people cheering you on. It's pretty quiet, which lets you think a bit too much. However, as you're exiting the island, right after you come over the bridge, the road gets pretty narrow with all the spectators cheering you on. That was awesome! 

At about mile 25 1/2, I was spotted by Paul and Emily which was awesome. I ran over, gave them both a kiss, and was ready to finish strong!!

We hit mile 26, and shortly after, turn the corner and see the finish line! Such an awesome feeling. So many spectators cheering everyone on. It was great! 

After finishing!

Some things about this marathon were really awesome. I love that it's international. So cool to run in two countries! We also had green bibs, which meant it was our first time. A lot of the volunteers made a point to make a big deal about that. It's a relatively flat course, only a few hills (the worst probably being the one coming out of the tunnel).

There were a couple of things that really helped me for this marathon: 1) We ran with a pacer. We had the greatest pacer ever, who ran with us right up to the finish, shouting from behind, "keep going!!" We definitely wouldn't have pushed ourselves as hard without her. 2) Every now and then I would listen to Eminem. You're running through Detroit. You have to. In fact, right before we started, they were playing Eminem over the loud speaker. Definitely got us ready to go!

Right after the race, in the hotel, with Em!

Em's onesie I made her!

The real reason I ran: to get a new "toy" (my medal) for Em. 

So that's it. We did it. I have no plans for another marathon anytime soon, but who knows. Maybe in a few years. When If that time comes, I will probably wait a little longer than 6 months postpartum, and also maybe wait until I'm no longer nursing. But hey, at least I finished this one!