Top of Utah Marathon

The big race day finally came!

After all the early morning runs and over 400 miles ran I was ready to run my first marathon.

I have to say that I never thought I would ever run a marathon in my life. Never had the desire and never thought I could physically do it. But once I started running and once I got over that "5 mile hump" I can't stop thinking about running. I LOVE it. I love the feeling I get, I love the sweating and the rush of racing and seeing progression. I think I may be addicted.

It was such an awesome experience and I am so glad that Deidra, Tyler and I did it together. The Bradshaws came into town on Thursday night and stayed at my house. We stayed up way too late talking about the big day, our nerves and fears. Most of all I was excited. I'm pretty sure I have never pooped so much in my life (thats what I do when I get nervous, I poop). On Friday we hung out all day with Tessa and then when my dad got into town (my mom was not able to come because of her siatic nerve, I was so sad knowing that she wouldn't be here to cheer us on, she is the glue that holds our family together) we drove up to Bob and Mona's so that I could drop the kids off there to have a sleepover (TJ was going there after work) and go to a princess concert. We drove up to Logan to pick up our racing packets and eat some dinner. I'll save all the details and just say that we were in the car for a LONG time. I was with my dad and him and I in a car is not a good combo due to the fact we are brainless when it comes to directions. We were lost...over and over again. Finally at like 11:15pm we find our hotel in Ogden. I was about to have a nervous breakdown because I was supposed to wake up in 3 hours to run the race! We wake up in the morning after I swear we just layed down and Justin took us and dropped us off where the buses were loading. It was a nice ride up getting to talk with Deidra, I really love her and her advice. Once at the top right as the race was to start it started to pour rain. I'm pretty sure it rained 95% of the time. And when I say rain I mean it was as if I had jumped into a pool with my clothes and shoes on and then went running. I was soaked. My shoes where slouching and my face dripping and I was having trouble seeing because of all the rain. It was cold. At one point it hailed on us and it hurt. But it was AWESOME!! When else would I have run in the pouring rain to the point where I was soaked? It was really cool and I actually wouldn't trade it for sunny weather. Deidra on the other hand would have. Every one of her toes on her feet had blisters on them because of the wet shoes. When we took our shoes off after our feet were bright white and grossly pruned. My stragedy for the race was to run slower that normal for the first 13 miles so I could save energy and run the second half with speed and energy. When I got to mile 18 I was shocked I was already there because I felt so good. The picture above is me at mile 21 I think and I was so happy because I had just seen TJ's parents and then TJ and my sweet girls. And I really needed to see them when I did. I was loosing it and wanted to quit. There was nothing like coming around that corner and seeing TJ and my girls sitting in the back of the car under a blanket and having them wave to me. It kept me going. Soon after I saw Tessa pass by in her car which was another big boost but once they were gone I hit my wall again. When I stopped to walk thru the water station (I have to stop and drink water or none of it goes in my mouth) I felt like my legs were going to give. It was actually harder to walk than to run. So I made myself keep going. Plus I didn't want family to see me walking. TJ passed by me agin in the car and drove for a minute next to me. I wanted to open the door and jump in. He told me I only had 2 more miles, that was it. Little did he know that what he was saying translated into you only have 2 more mountains to climb, thats it. A little less than a mile to go I see Tessa and she starts to run with me. It made me cry. Which I had to stop doing that immediately because it's ridiculously hard to cry and run at the same time. You can't breath. She helped me finsih and I love her for doing that. I mustered up enought energy to run my fastest to the finish line passing Justin, Savanna, Sadie, Coby, TJ, Tallie, Chloe, Lexi, Bob and Mona, Tandy and Tyler (who sadly beat me) cheering me on. It was something I will never forget. I finally did it. I wish it could have been the time I wanted. I really thought I would come in under 4:20 but after having to wait in line twice to go to the bathroom (which I never have to do) and basically crawling through mile 23 to 26 I came in at 4:38. And even though as I was running I told TJ I would never do this again I'm starting to ask myself already, Will I? I proboly will. But I think I will have a baby first. However I will be running the Halloween half again this year. I have 5 weeks to get ready to get finally get out of the 1:50's for a half marathon. It should be cake compared to what I just did. I love LONG runs and I think I am crazy. I'm going running tommorrow! After the race and a million pictures we went out to eat with the whole family and then we headed over to the condo that my dad got for the weekend. It was fun being with the family and having the cousins play together. On Sunday afternoon Tj and I and the kids said our goodbyes and went to spend the eveing with TJ's family because it was Bob's birthday. It was a really great weekend.