Marathon!!

Why hello blogging world!! Did you miss me?? Sorry I haven't posted in FOREVER! It's been a long few months with hard, hard training! But, now that I'm done with the marathon and BOTH my kids are taking naps, I have a few minutes to share a quick summary of my marathon.

I woke up early Saturday morning to get ready. I walked down to the bus loading zone to meet some friends. After finding a few of them we loaded up and rode the bus to the start. With there being nearly 7400 people running I didn't get to sit next to anyone I knew. I felt lonely and a little nervous. As we got off the bus I headed over to the bathrooms and made one last bathroom stop before running. The start was kind of rushed so I didn't really get to take in all that was going on. We lined up and the race started. It was really cold out with a nice strong tailwind which helped push through the first 6 miles. At mile 7.5 was the start of the dreaded Veyo hill. This hill was a mile long at according to my GPS watch was about a 7% incline. It was tough but I made it through and felt great. I hit the half way point at 1hr and 50minutes. A 8'23 average pace. I was very happy with that. I felt great until mile 18. Then I started getting really mentally weak. I had distractions and wasn't really focused. I was searching and searching to see my family in the crowd but couldn't find them. That was extremely hard. I really needed to see a familiar face. It would have given me that lift I needed to push harder. By mile 23 I wanted to stop. My muscles began to hurt really bad and started cramping. I was just waiting for charlie horses to enter my entire body. Around mile 24.5 I got one. It was in my right calf and it made my toes curl under and wouldn't release for a few minutes. I stopped and tried to relax and stretch it out but nothing worked. I decided instead of wasting time, I'd continue running. I ran for about a half mile with my toes cramped up. It was such a weird feeling, but it finally relaxed and I started to run normal again. I felt like I was the only one on the course. I didn't really notice the spectators. I felt very alone and very depressed. I kept looking for my family or for someone willing to help push me the last 1 1/5 miles, but no one was in sight. I kept pushing though, forgot about how much I had left and zoned out. I thought about the finish line and what is was going to be like. I turned a corner and saw the finish. It was the last .2 of the marathon. That was THE HARDEST PART! As I made my way down, I saw the pacer for the 4 hour mark pass me. I could have died. I sooo wanted to be under 4hours and it crushed me as she past. I was mad. Mad that I couldn't go any faster. I was just waiting to hit the wall big time. The wall is when your body literally feels like you hit a wall. It locks up and you can't move. Basically one big charlie horse. I felt it coming every time I picked up the pace or got excited for the finish. I literally had to think of nothing. I crossed the finish, got my medal, and found some chocolate milk. My most favorite thing in the entire world! My phone had died during the race because Tanner and I kept calling each other trying to find one another, so I asked a volunteer if I could use her phone. I told Tanner where I was and I just sat in the grass. As I sat down my body got so tight. Soon, all my family found me and got me up to find a better spot to relax. My older brother Tim and his wife Christina, who is a physical therapist finishing up school, helped massage my muscles and stretched me out. I was soo grateful they were there. I would have been a ball in the corner dying if not for them. After a little while of relaxing we went to go find something to eat, but I had no appetite. The only thing that sounded good was the chocolate milk. So I had more. We hung around for a little while but ended up leaving for lunch. While at lunch I talked to Tanner a little and just started bawling. I was so upset that I didn't get under the 4 hour mark. I know I was only off by 3 minutes, but 3 minutes is a long time. After crying it out I felt a little better, hate how that works. Tanner told me how awesome it was to see me running with all those other people and how great I looked. That really made me happy. He doesn't say things like that often so when he does it makes everything worth it. We headed home to AZ and I was so achy. My quads, hamstrings, knees, and abs were incredibly sore. We stopped in Flagstaff to eat dinner and getting out of the car was the hardest thing ever. I literally had to use my arms to move my legs. It was wild.

As I sit here a few days later, I reflect on this past year. It's been a crazy ride getting here but I'm so glad I did it. I learned many lessons, especially from the marathon itself.

Things I learned from the race:

Get there early to enjoy the atmosphere.

Plan on going to bed every day early the week before the race. (I tried to, but my kids didn't cooperate.)

For a first time marathoner...pick a near by race. Pick a flat course. And if you train with someone, run

with someone during the marathon.

Don't plan on seeing family during the race. If you expect to see them and you don't, it takes a huge tole on you. If you do get to see them and didn't know it was going to be happen it will be an awesome lift.

When you feel yourself mentally losing it, pull over and stop for a minute. Gather your thoughts and remember WHY you are doing it.

In training, plan to run a 22-24 mile training run. I really wanted to do this in my training but for a few reasons it didn't happen. I truly think it would have helped me the last 3 or 4 miles of the race.

I'm feeling better about my finishing time now. I'm not 100% happy with it but at least I didn't quite. And I've signed up for another race in February and a potential 3^rd marathon in June with my sister-in-law!

I plan to write more about this past year and what I've learned about life in another post on my birthday. Along with before and after photos. I'm hoping to get some photos from the marathon soon to post as well.

I really want to be better at keeping track of my trainings on the blog. Things just got really difficult during this training and blogging didn't happen. I hope to manage things better and not let things affect me so much in a negative way. I'm very glad my first marathon is out of the way because of so many reasons. I was doubted a lot during training by others and I let that affect me. So now that I've already done one, I won't worry about what others say. ESPECIALLY opinions from those who have never ran a marathon.

I'm so excited to be where I am. I absolutely love helping anyone who has a desire to run. ANYONE can do it, you just have to have that desire. Thank you to all of you who helped me along this journey. The emails telling me that I helped inspire you to get your running shoes on and get out REALLY helped push me to continue. That has to be the best feeling ever. Knowing that something has changed me life so much but then that my story is helping others makes it sooo much sweeter.