... and then I ran for a really long time.

Anyone else feel like time is just flying by and disappearing without even asking? I meant to post this last week but as per usual, life happens. How rude. (Eww. Olsen twins Full House flashback….)

Okay so St. George Marathon. I DID IT! Over the last couple months I’ve talked to pretty much everyone I know who runs, desperately trying to glean all the experience I possibly could. I heard first marathon horror stories, success stories, embarrassing stories, etc etc. A pretty broad spectrum. And it seemed that those first experiences weren’t always directly tied to the runner’s preparation for the race. I can honestly say that I tried my hardest to put my time in and stay on track with my training. I’m not the fastest runner or the most experienced runner, but I sure tried. Hard. And so with that I was confident that I could at least finish. Possibly hanging on by a very thin thread, but finish nonetheless. But it was those other unknown variables that kept my mind swirling. The weather. How my body would react if I tried the gels/bars they were passing out. WHAT IF I SLIP ON AN ORANGE PEEL AND FALL? (Oh wait, almost really did that)

Well, I can gratefully say that this first marathon was a really good one. Great, in fact. And I feel so lucky for that because I know that isn’t always the case. It was sunny, the atmosphere was (of course) exciting, and things just seemed to fall into place. Let’s just say that one very appreciative prayer was said on Saturday night.

Here’s my rundown. This is definitely longer than what I generally post so I’ll have to ask you and your attention span to please indulge me.

We got down to St. George on Friday evening and stopped by the expo to pick up my packet. Talk about intimidating. Everyone looked so elite and I couldn’t help but think how much I didn’t fit in. But everyone now and again I’d see a “normal” looking person like myself and instantly feel relieved. See? We can do it too! After the expo and a quick trip to Walmart we settled in for the night. Too bad “settling in” didn’t really entail too much sleep considering my nerves were eating away at me. Finally I decided to just get up, get ready, and get myself in line for the bus.

On the bus ride up I sat next to a man who looked like he’d done this a thousand times. The whole drive he was taking down a ginormous sub sandwich. Sheesh. If I had tried to eat an entire sub sandwich right before the race there would be guaranteed puke by mile 3. We rode through the city which was pretty alive for that time of morning. Then we made a turn toward the canyon and the city lights disappeared. As we went further up all I could see in the pitch black was the steady stream of buses up ahead of us. It was almost eerie but slightly pretty, much like my lightening bug Panamanian bus ride last year. Yet the feeling that we were all doing this together gave me an odd sense of comfort.

We were greeted at the top by spotlights and TONS of people. I got off the bus and headed straight for the porta potty lines, knowing they would be ridiculously long and there wasn’t much time before the gun went off. I chose a random line and was surprised to find my roommate, Charlotte, right in front of me. What are the chances? I’m still convinced it wasn’t coincidence. We were able to talk and stretch together which helped calm both our nerves. I had done the majority of my long runs alone and had intended to run the marathon on my own as well, but having someone to start with sounded nice.

We were barely through the line when the gun went off. We rushed up to the crowd and made our way to the starting line. We threw our jackets off to the side, hugged each other goodbye, and started our longest run yet. For the first 3 or 4 miles we yoyo-ed back and forth with each other until we randomly fell into the same comfortable pace. Having never actually run together it was strange for it work out as it did (we ended up running the entire race together which is something that helped us both a quite a bit).

It was really pretty up there. I took water and Gatorade every chance I could and just kinda got into a groove. The sunrise hit at about mile 8 (?) which was definitely a sight to see. About mile 12 or 13 my left IT band starting tinging a little and my right hip flexor tightened up. Not ideal but I did kind of expect it at some point. I could also feel my toes start to curl around the top of my orthotics which I knew would mean blisters. This hadn’t happened in my previous long runs so it was kind of a surprise. But I was able to focus on other things and forget about it for the most part. By about mile 16 I had had enough of my waist pack and decided to carry my gels and throw my pack to Charlotte’s family when we saw them next. And by mile 18 or 19 this was us:

I was surprised by how good I felt. Maybe it was race day excitement. Maybe it was running with someone (did I make training harder on myself than it needed to be??) But no matter – we were feeling good.

By about mile 22 I saw my parents on the side of the road – fresh with some flat Coke to give me a little more energy for those last 4 miles. My awesome dad had agreed to run that last bit with me so he jumped in at this point (I know, I know – frowned upon by officials. But it helped.) And so we went – finally making our way down to St. George. And can I just say how awesome all the spectators were? There were people lined up all along the road cheering us on. Sometimes they’d even call us by name which startled me every time until I remembered that our names were on our bibs. There were even a few misters on the side of the road to run through which felt more refreshing than I can even tell you.

My “wall” snuck up on me when we hit St. George, yet by some miracle I kept moving. I’m continually surprised by how much of running really is mental.

I didn’t know the route that well so every corner we turned I hoped I would spy the finish line. But it seemed that we kept turning and turning. AND TURNING. Until that final turn when I saw the banner of balloons. By this point I was so ready to be done so I pulled some extra ummp out of somewhere (still not sure where) and just went for it. The sooner I crossed that finish line the sooner I could stretch out my aching muscles, right? My dad left the course right before the chutes but I could still hear him cheering me on as he ran on the side. I looked to my left and saw my brother and his cute family holding up signs and cheering me on.

And then the finish line. Can I just tell you what an amazing feeling it was to cross that line? To know that all of my hard work had paid off and I had just run my very first marathon. 26.2 MILES! And with a final time of 4:05:54! My goal had been to get 5 hours or slightly under so to see that as my finish time made me one happy girl (with some very achy quads). 

My only “battle wounds” were a sore IT band and some blisters on my feet. Not bad. I keep getting asked if I cried when I crossed the finish line. I was close, but no tears. But you know what did in fact get me teary eyed? (everyone get out your Kleenexes) All the support I got from family and friends. Some of my family came down to support me and those who couldn’t come made it clear they really wished they could be there. I had countless friends who were so thoughtful to send me good luck phone calls, text messages, emails, Facebook messages. And then afterwards to see how it all went. I was a bit overwhelmed by just how many people took the time to remember and cheer me on. I’m definitely a lucky girl.

And there you have it. St. George Marathon 2010. Not sure if I’m crazy or not, but that following week I signed up for the Ogden Marathon in May 2011. Fitness by fear, right? Here’s to a second as good as the first!