This was a tough, tough, course. Why did it have to be so hilly?! I ran half of the course with the 4:15 pace group because I wanted to run somewhere between 4:15-4:30. I felt pretty good for the most part running with them. Started feeling a little fatigued around mile 13 in Decatur and fell behind the pace group. Soon after seeing my friends on the sidelines cheering for me, I felt a lot stronger again and picked up the pace. Started feeling really tired around mile 16-17 when the hills just kept coming at me. I started walking on/off on the hills, on many occasions. I kept counting the number of strides I walked b/c I didn't want to get too comfortable and not be able to pick up running again. That helped. Surprisingly, I felt really good running mile 20 and was actually enjoying the run. Maybe it's because I knew that I was almost done. I pushed on until mile 23, where I knew that my friends and family were going to be there to cheer me on. I picked up another round of energy, but the last 3 miles were really tough to get through. Again, hills didn't stop coming. I did regain a little bit of energy coming through the finish line and finished my first marathon just under the goal of 4:30.

Overall, I had an amazing first marathon experience. I am so grateful for my amazing friends and family. They kept me going!
If I were to do this course again, I need to train a lot more on the hills!