Well, I never again can say, "I have never ran a marathon!" Because, I have now ran a marathon! Quite a journey, quite a day! A marathon is not a 26.2 adventure, it started several months ago. I was hoping that all would be perfect for my first marathon, but that was not to be. However, I feel so good about getting over that finish line that perfect doesn't seem to matter anymore! We've been hearing that there would be rain and wind but everyone says, "Don't worry, they always predict rain for St. George, but it never actually comes." Well, everyone down in St. George must have been praying and paying their tithing and they were blessed with lots of rain today! How grateful they all must be! It was fun to meet up with the bloggers last night. I was happy to meet Razmataz, Cheryl, Peggy, and Shimelle. I heard Tarzan had been there but I didn't get to say hi there.
I had a fairly decent sleep and woke up feeling good. Tom, Terry, and I headed to the park at 4:45. As we walked to the buses we almost felt a little foolish to have long pants, jackets and blankets with us. It felt almost too hot at that moment. However, the rain and wind came along to welcome us to the starting line. We were then glad to have the extra gear. We had about an hour before the start. Met up with a few other people. I was glad that Christina and Tracy1 recognized me and said hi! I started out on my own and really wanted to stick to my plan so I didn't burn out at the end. I felt great .....until about mile 5. Ouch...that's a long way from 26.2! Luckily the pain I was feeling in my knee at that time was only warning signals. I actually really liked miles 8-13! The up hill felt much better on my knee. I never felt out of breath. And other than my bad knee, the rest of my body was feeling really good.
I was able to push through without killing myself until about mile 17. It was there that the warning signal was now a lot more than a warning! I really wondered at that moment if I would be able to hobble to the finish line or not. I had to stretch, hobble, stretch, hobble for a while. It was then that I was sent a little angel by the name of Christie! She saw me and told me to join her. She even walked with me for a bit. She was doing some hurting of her own. I was able to get a hobble/jog going there with her for a bit and was able to continue without walking. Her and I traded leads back and forth, but I think she ended up coming in a few minutes before me. Thank you so much Christie! I may have still been out there at this moment if it weren't for you! :o) I think my favorite part of my whole marathon experience was seeing Tom waiting for me at the finish line! A big hug and a warm blanket and a few tears...very nice moment! Tomorrow I may add my splits and some more info. But for now I am home with my kids and my bed and I think I want to be with all of them. I kind of messed up my garmin a few times so I need to try to figure things out.
Some info for my records: (me/all) 2351/5030 finishers, 790/2180 female finishers, 115/279 age group finishers. 2850 male finishers.
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