The race was awesome. We made a weekend trip out of it. We got a great room in Logan and had fun relaxing with the kids on Friday. We tried to go to a nice dinner, and well, I remembered why we don't take the kids out to eat! I went to bed around 8 and probably woke up every 30 minutes because I was so excited (and nervous that I would sleep through the 3 alarms that I set!!). I got up around 4 and got on the shuttle bus around 4:30. The shuttle picked up everyone from all of the hotels in Logan (how sweet is that?!) and took us to the bus loading area. The bus to the top took forever. It was pretty intimidating thinking about how long it was taking to drive the course and knowing that I was about to have to run all of that!
We got to the start line at about 6:30 and they had a really big tent set up that everyone sandwiched into... and then the rain started. It POURED. I had brought a bunch of my flashcards from a test that I was supposed to take a few days later (I think I am always doing more than one thing at once!), but I was too nervous and it was too dark to see them anyway, so I just sat and tried to breath and relax... and not think about the thunder and lightening outside.
The starting line was really exciting. The wheelchair athletes started about 10 minutes before everyone else, so I watched them get ready and line up. I got really emotional thinking about how they stop at nothing to reach their dreams. I just kept thinking about how I hope that I can teach my kids to have that kind of confidence and determination.
We started the race at about 7. It was a little chilly for the first few miles, but I still dumped my jacket about 2 miles in because it was wet and was getting heavy. The rain didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, it was actually even kind of nice after the sun came up and it stayed cool. It started to hail around mile 9. That's right, HAIL. It was awful. I said a prayer and about 5 seconds after I said 'amen', the hail stopped. It's really encouraging to know that God is in your corner :)
My pace was great; I stayed at around 9:00-9:15 for the first 18 miles. I slowed down a lot between 18 and 20, but then my awesome brothers, Dallin and Cory met me at mile 20 and it really lifted my spirits again. I was focusing every bit of energy I had to keep putting one foot in front of the other, so we didn't talk at all, but just having them there helped so much.
My goal was to finish under 4:15:00. I stayed ahead of the pace girl until mile 25. I tried SOOO hard to pick my pace back up but I had NO gas left in the tank. I finished in 4 hours, 17 minutes. My first marathon time was 4 hrs, 40 minutes, so I was still proud of my self for cutting off that much time.
The race recovery was 1000x better than when I did the Atlanta marathon. I think that I was much more prepared and in better shape this time around, and my boys didn't let me stop long enough to cramp up I guess.
The race was an amazing experience. I'm so grateful that Russ is so supportive to me. He is always telling me that I can do great things and helping me to be more confident in myself. When I was a child, I was not athletic at all, and I usually came in last or nearly last place when we would do the mile run at school or anything like that. I hated it. I was always too self-concious to sign up for the track team, so everytime I run a race, it renews my faith in myself. I'm really proud of my accomplishment. I worked hard. There were many mornings I would have to get up at 4:30 to get my run in. I had injuries, was dehydrated, sick, and just plain tired some days, but I prayed for stregnth and I worked through it. I know that with God, all things are possible (even marathons!)
I always like to compare marathons to life. Sometimes, you feel great and the scenery is beautiful and people are cheering you on and everything is perfect. Other times, there's not a soul in sight, everything hurts, it's raining... even hailing... and your socks and shoes are soaked and you still have 19 miles left to go. You don't give up though, because you know that your family is waiting at the finish line with open arms and smiling faces. You just say a prayer and keep putting one foot in front of the other... and eventually, you make it. In the words of President Hinckley, "God be my helper and I can do it".
So that race is done and I'm on to the next... school. It's hard. Darn hard. I get up between 4:00 and 4:30 every morning so I can try to get everything done before the kids wake up. I have had about 2 seconds of spare time in the last 5 weeks. It's like I'm already exhausted and it's only mile 2.5 :) But I keep on going because I know I can. Heavenly Father will help me and one day, I will get to that finish line. In the mean time I just keep running (... and try not to think about how much farther I have to go)!
So here are the pictures. I hate posting them because I look like I just ran through you-know-where in the pouring rain, but let's be honest... that's what I did!!
