I still can't believe I'm typing 26.2 for my total distance! Crazy! It was a beautiful, amazing, extremely difficult experience and I'm forever changed for the better! I RAN A MARATHON!
Splits are as follows (this includes walking through every water station): M1-10:01 M2-9:42 M3-9:40 M4-9:57 M5-10:03 M6-10:31 M7-10:20 M8-9:5M9-9:41
M10-10:04 M11-9:28 M12-9:28 M13-9:13 M14-9:59 M15-9:28 M16-10:26 M17-9:45 M18-10:34 M19-10:08 M20-11:11 M21-9:47 M22-10:16 M23-10:44 M24-10:57 M25-10:14 M26-11:14 and last .59 was10:13
Garmin time says 04:28:49 so that's not far off but it says I ran 26.59 miles so.....? Burned appr. 3,106 calories and my AP was 10:07. Lysa and I left to go up to Logan around 3pm. We were hungry so we stopped at a gas station in Brigham City and I went for a protein bar and Lysa made me choose a candy bar cause HELLO we're running a marathon tomorrow! So, I chose a snickers with almonds and loved every last bite of it. I hadn't eaten much that day cause I was so nervous (I did force myself to eat pasta for lunch). It was a beautiful drive up to Logan. We drove to our hotel and checked in and then went to pick up our race packets at the expo. We got there around 5:30 and there were already a lot of people. We got in and out quick and some guy stopped us to have our time chips checked. I thought it was cool that they were on our bib. We ate dinner at Fredrico's (suggested by Kelli) and it was great! Fresh garlic bread, salad with BEETS and pizza. We both ordered our own with chicken and artichokes. I got Alfredo sauce and Lysa marinara. I thought the waitress asked me if I wanted beets on my pizza (she said salad) and I said yes and then thought that beets would taste better with Alfredo. Totally misunderstood her and Lysa and I laughed about it later. I blame it all on "marathon brain." We couldn't finish cause we had nervous tummies. Went back to the hotel, watched TV, put on jammies and ate a little more pizza. We tried to go to sleep around 9:30pm. I fell asleep around 10:30. Woke up once around 1am and fell back to sleep until right before the alarm went off at 4am. We dressed and put our stuff in the car and drove to the park. We were in line for the POP's and I saw Allie walk by. Lysa and I got on the same bus she did and I walked to the back to meet her. It was fun to see her and talk to her in person. Such a humble, beautiful, talented person. And a great runner of course!:) She was sitting with some girl who had no idea she was talking to the soon-to-be winner of this marathon! The drive up the canyon was...long. Lysa and I kept looking at each other and talking about how far we were driving and how much farther this was than Hobble Creek. The sky was dark and filled with bright stars. It was cool. There were a lot of guys on the bus who were either quiet or trying to sleep. We were sitting in front of a very chatty, potty-mouth girl. She almost sounded drunk to me. I had said to Lysa earlier "I hope we don't sit by any annoying people on the bus" and voila! We pulled in to Hardware Ranch at the top of the canyon. It was super cold. I was so glad I had on my long-sleeved shirt, fleece pants,sweatshirt, kid gloves, and buff head band over my ears and visor. We stood in line for POP's over and over. We saw a tall guy with super long, skinny legs and he was wearing the shortest shorts I've ever seen a guy wear. It was seriously gross to look at. Lysa said "He must be one of those elite guys" and I said "or he's a wanna-be elite runner" (the rest of this story comes later) The sun started to come up. (I found out later that there were heaters in the white tent down below duh! My bro-in-law said it was packed with people though and he could hardly breathe) We went down when they were calling for the drop bags, took our stuff off and went to wait for the race to start. We lined up near the 4.5-5 hr sign. We looked for Kelli but didn't see her. It seemed like only a few minutes before the gun went off. I looked at my watch and it was 7:03. I was very impressed with this after the Hobble Creek mess. I got teary eyed while we were waiting for the gun. I couldn't believe it was actually happening and the race was about to start. 4+ months of training for my first marathon and the moment had come. WE WERE OFF! The canyon was so beautiful. Filled with gorgeous colored leaves everywhere all the way down, 14 miles of it! Didn't want it to end. During mile one I heard some guy yell "Logan, 22 miles?!" and I looked up and saw a road sign that said Hyrum ? miles and Logan 22 miles. Everyone laughed. We ran a little farther in that first mile and I looked to my left and saw two cute girls running in matching flowered running skirts. I knew right away it was Kelli and her friend. We called to them. Talked for a minute and they ran off. It was fun to see them. Lysa and I stayed together, talking and having fun for about the first 6 miles. Oh, I forgot about transformer/tron girl. I wanted to take a picture of this girl from behind so she could see how bad this looked. She was wearing black (sort of see through though) spandex pants with a funky looking design all over them. She was not the skinniest of women :) and there was a white heart shaped design that outline her buttocks and upper back leg area. Smack-dab in the middle of heart we see her white bikini underwear. Not a sight you wanted see and "ouch" for chaffing later. Wear under-armor girl and ditch the tron pants next time. Seriously people! I had to pass her. Couldn't look at that for too long. Lysa and I were glad to have our long sleeves, gloves and ears covered. We ended up ditching them too soon. Should have kept my long-sleeves on and handed them off at mile 14 to family. Oh well. It was warm in the sun but cool in the shade up the canyon. I turned on my music after Lysa and I split up and I ran at a comfortable pace but tried not to push it. I was worried after leaving mile 9 water station cause they were out of gu's . Relieved to find oranges and bananas at the next stop. I was feeling hungry and that did the trick. The volunteers were all wonderful and I thanked everyone each time I walked through. Looks like my fastest mile was 13 cause I was excited to see my family at the bottom of the canyon and we had a wind pushing us out of the canyon. It was nice. Thanked the Lord for that help! I first saw Lysa's husband and two boys walking up the side of the road as I came down to the bottom. I high-fived them and then saw her parents and hi-5'd them. I saw my family and gave Josie a kiss, Jeff's parents and his sister and her kids, hugs and kisses. I was so happy to see everyone and wanted to enjoy it! I was looking for Jeff and he was up the hill a ways filming it all. I waved and ran on. Loved that whole part of the race route!!! Next 5 miles was good but not as great. It was fun to see people I knew. More of Lysa's family. There were runners making small conversation. One nice lady asked how I was doing and found out it was my first marathon and wished me luck, was very encouraging. There was a girl who sat behind us on the bus who said hi to me. I just wanted to take it all in and be happy and grateful and not rush it. I was really nervous for the last 10k and wanted to save up. I saw Lysa's brother when I turned to go on Main st. for the first time. After I turned the corner I saw JD walking up the sidewalk (to meet Lysa) and I called out to him. He was surprised and cheered for me. It was such a boost every time I saw someone I knew. Main street was full of cars. I tried to wave to all who cheered for me and waved at me. People cheered for Ragnar cause I was wearing a Ragnar shirt. The sun was out but it didn't seem too hot. The weather was nice. The race seemed to get harder at about mile 18. I could not believe how many hills there were the last 8 miles of this race! That should not be allowed! I really had to talk myself through those hills (though small) to not walk them. I DID NOT WALK AT ALL EXCEPT THROUGH WATER STATIONS! Miles 19-21 I was looking for the downhill, I knew there had to be one. I need a gu with caffeine at this point so I took my vanilla. Remember Mr. Elite at the POP's? I saw him walking somewhere around here and passed him:)
Mile 21 was a faster mile because that was a downhill and I came around the corner with a burst of energy and then I saw Kelli and her friend and was excited I caught up! They were walking as I passed them and Kelli told me I was doing great as I ran off. ( So sorry to find out later that her friend was sick and not doing well) Mile 22 to end were so hard for me. I really had to push myself to stay around 10. I wasn't happy with the route, I was hoping to see my family and didn't. I just told myself just deal with it and run! You can do this! I was so tired of running! I just tried to pick people off one at a time to keep myself going. I couldn't believe how many people were walking at this point too. A lot of walkers. Coming back around to main street between 24 and 25 I could NOT believe we were going up hill again. That was tough and my legs were killing me! I guess I pulled off that 10:14 at mile 25 because of that downhill. I had to be a little careful there though because I seriously felt like my legs would give out any minute! I was thinking about that youtube video I watched the "funniest marathon finish" of those women collapsing and crawling across the finish and I finally understood what that might feel like ( I know they were running a lot faster than me). I ran with a young guy for a minute and said " this is the longest mile of my life!" and he said "my legs feel like lead!" Some guy yelled out "you're almost there, 2 blocks." I was doing all I could to not stop and walk. I wanted to finish strong and I did the best I could. I was done. I wanted to stop running more than anything!!! I turned the corner and was startled by a loud blow horn and looked to my left a little but just kept running (found out later that was my husband cheering me on and warning my family that I was coming around to the finish line, I was wondering where the hell that finish line was)!!! I turned the last corner and saw FINISH and I put my hand over my eyes started crying. I was crying and running and I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was hyperventilating. I was astounded at what I was about to do. I was about to finish a marathon. Something I never thought I would do in my lifetime. I kept running. I ran as hard as I could while crying and not breathing very well (hello! I was thinking about what Lysa had told me, she had read that no matter how you feel, straighten yourself up and smile as you cross the finish line) I tried to straighten and smile but that's hard to do while crying, I saw my husband to my left with my daughter and I reached out but kept running. I heard my name and that was unexpected and made me cry harder. I crossed the finish line!!! Whew done! So happy to be done running and I swore I would never do this again. Who does this voluntarily? Anyway, I can't believe how long this is. I had to write it all so I'll never forget this day. One of the greatest days of my life! What's next? I'm already considering Ogden Marathon 2011 if my friend Cathy wants to do it (her first) and I'll try for St. George 2011. I wanna get faster and that's why I'm on this blog. Boston... someday... maybe...:)
Monday: I couldn't sleep last night cause I felt I was too harsh on chatty bus girl, tron girl and Mr. Elite. I really didn't mean to be making fun. You guys are awesome for running a marathon and you made my experience very memorable! My apologies.
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