Mission Accomplished!

I'm writing this 2 days after completing my first marathon. It was one of the greatest experiences in my life as well as the most challenging.
I woke up at 4:30 AM to prepare for the race. I was nervous and excited but it was great to meet up with all my friends before the race which helped calm me down.
Before the race I had 1.5 bananas, 1 cup of tea and a bagel with peanut butter and honey.
The weather was cold and very windy. Seeing all the runners get ready for the race was a something I'll never forget. Michael Burgess sang the national anthem and Mayor McCallum (sp) fired off the starting gun.
I was fortunate enough to run with an experienced runner (thanks Theresa) who held me back each time I wanted to run too fast. I don't think I would have been able to finish the race had I started out too fast. I also ran with Nancy and Rob who were doing their first marathon.
All through the run we were able to share stories of our personal life and how we all started running. This helped pass the time and made for an enjoyable experience.
For the first time in my racing experience, I had to use the bathroom. This slowed me down a little but thankfully I was able to make up some time by going a little faster for a brief period of time.
At the 30K mark there was "wall" which we all had to run through. This was supposed to represent the feeling that a runner sometimes gets (both physical and mental) during a race. It's this point in the race where a runner will sometimes doubt him/herself.
Thankfully I never felt this but at the 32 K mark I knew I only had 10K to go so I decided to speed up a little. This turned out to be a mistake as I was only able to keep a faster pace for 2K. The final 8K was hard and it wasn't until the final 2K that I seemed to get another burst of energy. I was able finish the race in 4 hours and 3 minutes which I was happy with.
I couldn't have done this without the support of my girlfriend Cassandra. I can only imagine how she is going to feel after she completes her first marathon in December.
I plan on taking a few days off before preparing for my next race on May 27th.
Thank you for all your support!