I did it!

I finished the Indy 500 Festival Mini Marathon - all 13.1 miles of it!!! This was my first half, and I plan to do it again next year. My girls did GREAT. They ran it in 2 hours and 4 minutes.

I was SO nervous all last week. I was struggling with the idea of it all -questioning what in the world I had done, signing up for this thing and thinking that I had any hope of finishing. It's true that they sold out the Mini this year, 35,000 people signed up and paid to run, but only 29,000 showed up yesterday. I didn't have to do it.

Yes, I did have to do it. I said I would, I paid my money, and I did the training. Most of all, I wanted to set a good example for my girls. If a Crane woman says she is gonna do something, like make art every day or run a half marathon, let's say, YOU CAN TAKE THAT TO THE BANK!

The girls followed the mini with a soccer match, playing almost all 70 minutes. All of us a sore today, but getting by. My only regret is that I was so nervous for the first 5 miles, I couldn't really enjoy myself. Next year, I'll know better.

I see the footage on t.v and I cannot believe I was actually part of that sea of humanity. I went to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time and stopped for a second on the yard of bricks. Danica Patrick was there when the girls were. They saw her. She was cheering her sister on. One lap is 2.5 miles - that's 10 times more than the 1/4 mile track I do laps on in town!

I knew I had it at 9 miles. I never felt sick or like I wanted to quit. The biggest trouble I had was a blister on the ball of each foot. I could feel them squishing with every step. But I finished.

Try something you're not good at - in public, in a big crowd. It's not embarrassing. It's liberating.