26.2 miles of straight running. Without stopping once.

While some think it’s crazy, all I can say is that you’ll never be able to understand unless you lace up some running shoes and give it a whirl yourself. As an avid runner, completing a full marathon has been something I’ve always wanted to do.

When I came across an ad for a marathon held in my college town, I simply could not pass up the opportunity.

Training for a full takes months of planning, determination, and sacrifice. Sacrifice was easily the hardest part for me; Sunday after Sunday my alarm would sound at 7 a.m. and, begrudgingly, I would roll out of bed. Not that I didn’t enjoy running, because I genuinely do, but the sleep deprivation that college brings made it hard to wake up early on the weekends.

Six weeks out from the big day was when my whole world came crumbling down.

I remember my left knee feeling super tight on my run the day prior to my 20-miler, but I didn’t think anything of it. The next day, however, I could not push aside the pain when nine miles in, I felt a sharp sensation causing my IT band to lock up. The pain was excruciating, but I was too deep into training to quit.

The next month and a half were challenging, to say the least. With the help of a chiropractor, I somehow made it to race day, but saying I was nervous would be an understatement. Running 26.2 miles is extremely taxing, and even if you’re lucky and make it to race day injury-free, chances are, you won’t come out on the other side feeling completely normal. Even if you don’t suffer a physical injury, the amount of time spent focusing on this one thing will leave you mentally drained.

Before my injury happened, I was set on finishing in four hours, but once I got hurt, I was just hoping to cross the finish line still standing up. Somehow, I beat my original goal time and ran it in 3 hours and 57 minutes!

As I’m writing this it’s only been three days since my race, so honestly, I am still in shock and it has yet to fully sink in. From this experience, I’ve learned that in order to be successful, your self-discipline and motivation levels have to be stronger than all the evils in your head nagging at you to quit.

According to my mother, I was smiling the “whole race” but I know for a fact that I was not smiling miles 21-25. There were several times during the later portion of the race that I thought I wouldn’t make it because my knee was so hurt and I was so tired. Luckily, my family and friends cheering me on was all I needed to keep going and push through.

Getting to run the last mile of the race on Hillsborough Street and crossing the finish line at the NC State Memorial Belltower was an indescribable feeling. By this point, my whole body was numb so I didn’t feel pain. I only felt excitement for how close I was to the end. The adrenaline and runner’s high pumping through my veins left me feeling on top of the world the whole rest of the day.

Now, a few days post-race and I’ve officially crashed, mentally, physically and emotionally. But the pride I felt crossing that line after four months of training is something I will carry with me the rest of my life.

If you’ve never picked up the sport of running, I encourage you to give it a try. Maybe you’ll still hate it like you thought all along, but if you’re anything like me it’ll be the best decision of your life. I promise if you let it, it’ll change your life in ways you never expected.