St. George Marathon

WE DID IT!!!!!

Steve and I ran the St. George Marathon!  It was so much fun doing the race together.  Training for a marathon is a huge time commitment and tons of work, but it all paid off.  

We boarded the bus just before 5am.  It was cold, but we knew that at the start line we would find some fires to keep us warm.  The long bus ride was a quiet one, I guess there were lots of nervous people.  I was strangely calm.  Mostly because I had decided before the race to not care about my time.  I just wanted to run with Steve and have a really fun time.

As the race got underway we were feeling great.  We were talking and laughing, watching all of the crazy things people do like trying to pee while they run (this is messy, I don't recommend it) and falling and messing up their whole bodies, and puking off the side of the road.  Sadly, it is all pretty entertaining!  The miles were flying by, and at the halfway mark we were shocked to see that we had already done half of the race.  We were LOVING IT!

The race was crazy because you were either running uphill, or downhill, there was hardly any flat terrain.  I have to admit that it had more uphill than I had thought, but it wasn't too bad.

About mile 16 I started to see that Steve was getting annoyed with me.  I was getting a little antsy because I was feeling so great.  I stuck with him, but finally at mile 18 I couldn't stand it any longer.  We said our good-byes and I took off.  It is so hard for me not to care about my time.  I tried, I really did, but I had no idea where we were at and I really wanted to be under 4 hours.  It was so weird that they didn't have clocks for us, it was KILLING me!

The last 6 miles my legs were in agony!  I cannot even explain the pain, but I just kept on moving.  As I was approaching the finish line the clock was at 3:58:40 and I knew we started around 7 minutes late, so I was safe.  What a great feeling.  I looked over and saw my cute kids and my great friend Emily they were cheering so loud, it was awesome!  I crossed the finished line dazed and confused, but was so relieved it was over.  

I waited for Steve but there were people everywhere.  After a few minutes I went to find water and then sat down and watched for him.  Many, many minutes passed and he was no-where in sight.

I got up and started to search for him in the runners area.  Finally I saw him laying there on the ground passed out.  He looked dead.  I shook him and he opened his eyes and said, "Why didn't you tell me it would be this bad???"  He said he was in so much pain that he literally felt like he was dying.  He couldn't think or move or anything.  I went and got him some drinks and he was able to get up.  I felt so bad for him.  The pain is so intense.  I cannot even describe it.Today the pain is gone, but we will forever have this accomplishment.  I hope that my kids always remember coming to watch us cross the finish line, and that there are so many things that seem hard and and out reach, but if we work and push ourselves, and never give up we can do anything.  And just as they were there to support us and cheer us on, we will be there to do the same for them!  I hope that at some point each of my kids will try to run a marathon, because I know that they can!

I also need to thank Craig and Steve for training with me.  They made it so much more bearable and WAY more fun.  They both probably hate me after all of the training, but I still love them!

And last, but NOT LEAST, here is what running did to Steve's feet.  Is that not the SICKEST thing you have ever seen.  He is in bad need of a pedicure!