My amazing running partners . . . Leesa, Jill and Matt
Lots of pictures and long post, but it's definitely an experience to record!
I love running, and I even love races - most of them anyway. I've done a fair amount of 10 milers and half marathons, but I've never really had the courage to do a full marathon. I knew I could do it, but I was afraid of not doing it
well. This isn't a post about my OCD though, so we'll leave that little factor right where it's at. My great running partners, Jill and Leesa, knew that we could run all 26.2 miles of a full marathon if we just did it together - so we did!
We picked a marathon close to home and with a low registration fee so that if any of us were injured (or chicken) we could back out and not feel so bad about it. Little did we know what that meant about the actual race - next paragraph! We trained together all summer and had a great time in the process - minor injuries and all! We were finally ready!
I have never been so nervous for a race in all my life! Rod was such a blessing through the whole process and kept my confidence up as best as he could . . . fast forward to race day. Jill, her husband Matt, Leesa and I met up early that morning to ride down together. On the way down, there was a lot of speculating and nerves about the whole thing. We pulled up to our designation to get on the bus. The race director, who looked like he had been run over by his own truck several times got on the bus to give us our final directions . . . on a piece of poster board drawn with a sharpie, and scribbled out all over the place! We all giggled, and Matt took the paper to study. We started up the canyon and realized that there were only about 70 of us actually running this race and that we all shared a mutual fear - getting lost on the course! It was crazy! We got to the top of the canyon, had about 10 minutes to take care of any final business, and we were off! It was the most casual and low-key thing I've ever seen! No one sprinted out, and we all ran like we were on a long training run! Fast forward to our aid stations - the poor race director didn't even have volunteers for the aid stations, so he left tables every couple of miles with a paper cup of water or gatorade - and some kind of snack - like a raw potato (?), a half a cliff bar, and so on. We ran down to a point that we were familiar with from our training runs - and were told that we had to run up the same way we had just come to get enough miles in - against the wind none-the-less! I split off from Jill and Matt a little after that point - of course, Leesa was already miles ahead as usual, and I thought that I would find someone else to pace myself with. Little did I know that I wouldn't find another runner for another 7 plus miles! That's right! Not a soul in sight! No bathrooms, no spectators, no other runners - and no desire to run my guts out! Thank heavens my sweet friend Stephanie came to support me and run me in for the last 8 miles! I couldn't have made it without her! The finish line was mostly - okay, completely, anti-climatic! First of all, there technically wasn't a finish line, and we weren't sure where to go once we got there, and second of all, there wasn't a crowd, or a time clock or anything!!! The race director handed me my medal and said that he thought I probably came in fourth in my age division - but he wasn't sure! I still can't find the results! :) He congratulated us and directed us to a fine meal of jelly belly jelly beans and licorice - or pancakes, if you cooked them yourself! LOL!
On a positive note though, my incredible family was there and every one of them cheered their guts out for me! It was enough to make me bawl like a baby, and it's a memory I'll cherish forever. My mom and dad met me on the trail at the last mile with signs and smiles, and it was the most comforting thing in the world to have them there. My sister made shirts for her, my girls and Rod, and nothing made my day more than seeing my "crew" all in pink waiting for me - and yes, Rod is totally man enough to wear pink - and look good in it! My sweet daughters ran the last 1/4 mile of the race with me to get me across the finish line, and it gave me a whole new sense of purpose for finishing. I came home to a huge banner hanging across the front of our house made by my three princesses. I have never felt so grateful for the support of those I love, and I have never felt more proud that they're all mine. Thank you to all of you! I love you!
While it wasn't a race - or a time to brag about - it was definitely an accomplishment and a task to check off my bucket list. My goal was to run 26.2 miles and come in under four hours, and I did, and I'm happy. . . . And for now, I'm tired.
Thank you to my great friends who gave me the strength and courage to do this. Maybe next year, we'll try a big-girl marathon -- maybe.
This is my cute friend Steph . . . 
I'm not sure why I did it again, and even though I still feel like I've been hit by a line of diesel trucks over and over, I'm glad I did . . .
I got to run with inspiring people - like Jayna (super triplet mom with her two-time Iron Man dad) . . .
And Stephanie (who broke her leg in several places last time we tried to train for one of these - and trained with me again anyway!) . . .
(I have never been so happy to see so many people I didn't know in my entire life!)
And my husband, who inspires me most of all! He was an amazing cheerleader through it all, and even ran several of my last miles with me to keep me going!
While I didn't finish as strong as I had hoped (Five minutes less and I could have actually qualified for Boston, but six more miles didn't seem as easy as five minutes!), I finished better than I thought I could (3:45:26) , and I continue to learn some of life's most valuable lessons from it!
Even if it takes getting sore muscles, bloody toes, and lots of blisters along the way!
