I didn't die

In fact, my marathon was a success! I can now say I have ran a marathon. Wahoo! I am still on a high from the race even though my body is sore and tired. This may be a little long but I want to record it all. I will try to be somewhat brief though.

We headed down to St. George on Friday morning. We checked into our hotel around 3:30 and chilled for a bit. The kids were tired of being in the car so they ran around the room a bit. Somewhere around 5:30 we headed over to the Nordictrack Health and Fitness Expo to pick up our race packets and eat our dinner at the all-you-can-eat pasta bar provided for runners and their families. We had yummy spaghetti, salad, roll, fruit and cake. My parents and brother came along too. We cruised the expo and I got a nice tech running shirt for $7. Thank goodness the kids were bored or I could have spent a lot of money- everything was reduced 50-75% off expensive running gear.

We left the expo, picked up some things for breakfast the next morning, got the kids down for bed and were in bed and asleep by 11 PM. Early for us. Kallie woke up a few times and I kept waking up to look at the clock. I didn't sleep well. :) I woke up before my alarm went off at 4AM. I wore my pink tank top, shorts, my Asics shoes and a big hoodie pullover. I also brought some cotton gloves in case it was cold. I had some Ibuprofen, 4 fuel gels, and some Kleenex in my shorts pocket. I noticed that it was quite warm outside, especially for 4 AM and I was thinking it was going to be a hot race.

We boarded the buses very quickly and were on our way! It was a dark and LONG ride up the canyon to the start. I thought we were never going to get to the starting line and I kept thinking 26.2 miles is a LONG way. It started raining as we were driving. Outside it was cold, wet and windy. Koby was very smart and brought plastic garbage bags that we immediately put on after getting off the buses.They kept us dry and somewhat warm. Koby was only wearing his shorts and a t-shirt under his garbage bag. They had a few garbage bags that people were handing out as well. Many people had their small grocery bags on their heads. :) We got to the starting line where there was a huge line of porta potties, fires to keep warm and a ton of people. I huddled by a fire for awhile then headed to the porta potties.

The race was about to begin so I kissed Koby goodbye and found my place near the 4:30 pacer. A lot of people had shed their extra clothing but I kept on my hoodie and gloves because it was too cold. The gun started the race (I didn't hear the gun go off) and I sat there... and walked.... and 7 minutes later I crossed the starting line! We were off! I started running slowly since there were a lot of people and it was dark. We were warned to watch out for discarded clothing and other items on the road. I was ahead of the 4:30 pacer and stayed that way for the first 6 miles I think. Those first 6 miles went by so fast! I could not believe it. At around mile 6 (the race is getting foggy in my mind now) I could feel warning signals in my knee. I slowed it down and kept it easy. I can't remember for sure when the 4:30 pace group passed me.. it was somewhere around this point. I didn't care too much because my new goal for the past several weeks was to finish without killing my knee. At about mile 10 or 11 my knee was hurting pretty bad and by mile 12 I had sharp pain shooting up my leg. The arch in my right foot kept cramping up as well but this didn't bother me as much as my knee. I was very worried at this point because I was just half way there. I kept stopping, stretch, walk, stretch, run a bit, stretch and the cycle kept going. It helped to stretch and I could run awhile, but then my knee would hurt. I took one Ibuprofen along here somewhere- I had taken 2 earlier before the race. I then tried something the sports medicine doctor had told me when he gave me a shot of cortisone 2 days earlier. He had said that he found that when he changed his foot position so that his toes pointed slightly inward, it helped. So I focused on pointing my foot inward. It felt very weird, but it helped!! After running like that for awhile, the pain would go away. I also started having the aid station workers rub icy hot on my knee. I did that at every aid station. By mile 17 I realized my knee wasn't bothering me and hadn't for awhile so I ran normally again.

The miles just kept flying by and I couldn't believe how fast the marathon was going. I kept waiting to "hit the wall" as most people do somewhere around mile 20 or on. It never happened for me! I felt awesome. After my knee stopped giving me trouble, I felt like I was flying by people. I fully expected to get the side aches that I normally get when running, but that didn't happen. I didn't dare take off my black trash bag until mile 20. :) I must have looked kinda funny since most people had dropped those way back in the single digit miles. I was fully enjoying every minute of the marathon, taking in the amazing beautiful scenery (still raining) and the runners and spectators. I saw a barefoot runner- a big man with absolutely nothing on his feet- ouch! I ran by 2 young boys around the age of 10 or 12, one running his second marathon. A young girl that was 8 (?!) years old running the marathon! Anyhow, it was awesome.

I got to mile 23 when we were entering St. George and people were lined up along the street. I still had not "hit the wall" (where you feel like you can't go on and you are exhausted) but those last 3.2 miles stretched on because I felt so close to the finish line, but it didn't come. I was so excited to cross and I knew that no matter what, I was crossing the finish line. Emotions started flooding me and I was trying to not completely lose it. I kept trying to keep back the flood of tears because just the day before, I wasn't sure if I would make it. I felt so incredibly blessed and I knew that Heavenly Father had helped me SO much. I picked up the speed the last hundred yards and finished at 4:48:57 chip time. I negative split the last half, running it much faster than my first half by 15 minutes! I was more than happy with my time. I do wonder how I would have done injury free. My family cheered me into the finish line and I found Koby waiting for me at the cool down area. By then I couldn't hold back the emotions and I started crying into Koby's arms. He had been waiting there for over an hour and I think hypothermia was setting in for him. :) We booked it out of there so he could get a hot shower.

It was an absolutely amazing feeling crossing that finish line. It was an amazing journey getting there. I've learned a lot about myself along the way. I am even more amazed at what the body can do. I started out never running more than 3 miles in my life, and my body adapted to running. It was an amazingly organized race and I can see why people love the St. George marathon. The majority of race reports I read were not good ones so I think a lot of people really struggled with the weather conditions on this race. I have nothing to compare it to so I thought it was awesome!

Koby did amazing as well! He finished at 3:36:48 chip time. He is very happy with his time and now wants to Boston Qualify. :) Considering we were running in the rain, cold and with a strong headwind the entire way, I think we can both improve our time. I think he wants to do another marathon next spring. As for me, I totally want to do another marathon. If you'd have asked me last week, I think I probably would have said maybe. When will I do another marathon? I don't know. I want a break for awhile so that I can do other things with my time instead of running several hours 4 out of 7 days a week. I want to be there for my kids. Besides, I'm not sure I want to run long hours in the cold winter. And I would like to be pregnant sometime in the next few years. I could not have done all the training without the help of family members who watched our kids so many times. I don't want to be a burden for awhile. So... I will do half marathons or other smaller races for awhile.

Oh, and the winner? He ran it in 2:22:22. Fast and awesome numbers!

Unfortunately we got very few pictures of our entire trip. Right as my mom was taking a picture of Koby coming in to the finish line, my camera died. When my sister emails me the pictures she got, I will post them up.

Congratulations to all you made it this far in reading my never ending post. That is a huge feat in itself! This is the "brief" version. :)