Son of a Fitch!: I was running.

It's over. The training--over. The anticipation of what to expect--over. My first half-marathon--over. And I'm full of emotions: happiness, sadness, relief, muscle pain.

I can't stop looking at the pictures from yesterday and reliving it; you'd think it was a vacation or something. It's all still so vivid.

Start line: after hitting play on my Shuffle and "Eye of the Tiger" comes on---which I downloaded (kind of) as a joke but was coincidentally the first tune on my playlist: "Is this happening? Am I in a movie? Whelp; here goes nothing."

Mile 1: "Hello Kappa house! Man, I need to pee already. Ah, there's a bunch of Kiewit people in this. TFitch could have ran with me. And, hey, there's a group of Kappas. Hey sistas."

Mile 2: "Hey! There's TFitch and my bro! I thought they'd be having Bloodies at The Bar. Hey guys! What a fun surprise."

Mile 3: "If this was a 5K, I'd almost be done. Which would be nice considering how much I have to pee. Excuse me team of three frat guys that are walking. This chick needs to pass you. Ha ha ha ha ha. Hey, that shirt that says 'this sounded like a good idea months ago,' is funny. Isn't that the truth!?!?"

Mile 4: "Cool; our first water stop. How nice they put lids and straws in the cups so the water doesn't splash all over. I'm thirsty, but I have to pee too bad to drink and the porta-potty lines are too long. Think I can hold it for nine more miles? Excuse me, spectator dude that's smoking? The runners do not appreciate breathing your carcinogen into their lungs at this time."

Mile 5: "This isn't so bad. I'm kind of on running auto-pilot. Hey - there's the Person family! Hey Pitsy!"

Mile 6: "I can't hold it any longer. Porta-potty, here I come. Yum. Some fast food restaurant smells delicious. DAMNIT; I broke a nail!"

Mile 7: "Alright, approaching the Bike Rack, where I told TFitch and Kalin to stop and see us. It will be fun to see them. And more than half-way finished. I can do this! I'm so glad we drove the route yesterday so I know where we are going. Hey, Coty and Lucy!! Wasn't expecting to see you out here! That was a fun surprise!"

Mile 8: "I don't see them. They must have bailed. They're probably drinking. Oh, there they are; up on the right. Hey fellas! Good to see you here! I'm feeling pretty damn good!"

Mile 9: "I lied. Going to try this Gu Kelli recommended. It's in my pocket. The guy said Orange Sherbet was a good flavor. Here goes nothing. Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod. I am going to barf. Spit spit spit spit spit this shit out. Back into my pocket the Gu goes. Oh, and fantastic. A freaking hill. Well, might as well run as fast as possible and get this hell over with. Ah, Otoe street. Makes me think of the Neals. I love the little kids giving high-fives. Sorry to these kiddos though; after that hill I just can't do it now."

Mile 10: "I thought this course was flat. I'm going to try one of these orange slices (which will leave my hands a sticky mess). And maybe some Gatorade. I haven't had any Gatorade yet. That sounds like it will give me some energy since the Gu did not. I wonder how they fill all those cups. Do you think there's an assembly line and one person fills, one person lids and one person straws? I wonder what would be the most efficient. Is this Antelope Park? Where are we?"

Mile 11: "10th and A street. That means we're almost done! But I know we have to at least go past O street, and since we're just now approaching B, that means we still have C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M and N streets AND the stadium is past O street. I might die. Dear God, please grant me the strength...I could really use some Rhianna right about now. Uh huh, uh huh."

Mile 12: "OHMIGOD. Surely this water stop indicates mile 12 but there is no sign. I need a sign. I need a freaking sign that says '12.' This freaking sucks. Give me some water. No lids and straws? Shit. I'm not stopping. Instead I will pour it all down the front of my shirt and use it to cleanse my hands from the sticky orange residue. Ah, here's O street, which is full of bars. Damn a Boulevard Wheat sounds awesome right now."

Mile 13: "Ah! The 13th mile marker. I think I am going to cry!" and I kind of do

Finish Line: "SSSUUUUHHHHH!!!! I'm done! I can't believe I am done! That went fast. That wasn't sssooo bad. It was awesome in fact! I need some water stat. How cool to be on the 50 year line INSIDE Memorial Stadium. I did it!"

Since I continue to relive yesterday morning mile by mile, that must mean it was a good experience. But will I do it again? I'm not sure. This was personal challenge I made with myself months ago, that I successfully completed. I'll never have the experience of a first half-marathon again; do I want to compete with the feelings I have today? I don't know.

What I do know is how awesome it was to have the amazing support from friends and family like I did. While Josh and Shannon were ultimately there to cheer on Dianna, it was so nice to be able to see them in the stands after. TFitch and Kalin--who chauffeured us to Lincoln at 5:15 am on a Sunday (the morning after a golf tournament, nonetheless) and played route stalkers--were awesome and made a huge impact. It was one of the first things Lindsay and I discussed after crossing the finish line. Mom and dad--now I think you know why I was so excited to have you come to Lincoln. And to my friends that mailed cards, sent text messages, left voicemails and posted Facebook messages--thank you.