Marathon

I am FINALLY getting around to blogging about my marathon. Sorry it took me so long - been a little busy.

So as you know -- I ran in the Nike Women's Marathon - Oct. 18,2009. Ok - wait lets start from the beginning. Sometime at the beginning of the year, my friend Lisa told me that she was signing up for this marathon - but it was a lottery and hard to get into. But she wanted me to sign up to hoping to increase the chances of getting in --because if you sign up as a team - the more people in the team - the more chances to get in. So in my head - I thought - "sure I'll sign up - but we wont get in and at least I can tell people I tried". So I signed up - which is where I made my second mistake. My pride got in the way when signing up -- I could have easily signed up for the HALF instead of the full. I would have recieved all the same cool prizes - but as I said - my pride wanted to be able to say that I ran a FULL marathon. So that is what I signed up for -- still fully thinking there was no way we were getting in and that I would really have to run this. Anyways -- a few months pass and I get a text from Lisa "we are in!!" My response: "OH CRAP!!!" I have never run farther than 6 miles before. So then our training began. Lisa had found a great program that would slowly work us up to be able to do those high miles. Well after a few weeks of training - I injured my knee pretty bad. I had to get a MRI done and everything. So I rested for a few months. And Lisa also rested during that time because she was about to have a baby -- THAT"S RIGHT - she was pregnant! Okay -- so during this break -- my knee started to recover and Lisa had her baby. Now we realized - the run was only 10 weeks away. So 3 weeks after Lisa had her baby (I know she's crazy) - we started up our training again. However this training was much more intense then our original - obviously since we had MUCH less time. But we did it. We ran and ran almost every night -- we had to do it at night because Lisa had school and I have the kids and have to wait till Sam gets home. Our attitudes would not be the best some nights -- but we still got out there and did it. I really never truly believed it would REALLY happen. I figured something would come up or happen that would make it so I couldn't go. But still I ran. Then we bought our flights. It started to feel a little more real then. Then we were on the plane. Then we were in San Francisco! Much more real then. :) So the night before the race -- I of course could not sleep AT ALL. I tried and tried -- but I pretty much was awake all night. So the morning of the race there were suppose to be 20,000 runners - but I read that there ended up being 28,000 runners. And let me tell you -- it felt like there were 28,000 people around me for most of the run. It was very crowded. I had to make myself stay calm because I REALLY hate being in crowed spaces. Lisa did a good job keeping her eye on my to measure my anxiety level - and kept us over to the side - so we were not in the middle of the crowd. That was very helpful.

When the race began - it was VERY exciting. There were so many people out there cheering everyone on -- it was a very cool feeling to be a part of such a big thing. I felt then - that I could run this thing non-stop - all the cheering gave me so much energy. I kept that energy for a while. But then realized around mile 10 -- this is a marathon. I have to pace myself - or I WILL DIE! So we got really strict with our pace. We were on a system where we would run for 5 min and then walk 1 min. So we stuck with that really good -- thanks to Lisa's sister Rachel - who ran with us. She trained on her own in Utah and met us there and we all ran together. She by the way - had a baby by C-section 5 months before the run. Those sisters are seriously crazy!!

Around mile 17 I was SOOO happy to see my mom, my sister Amber, my aunt Janice and my friend Carley on the side lines cheering us on. I can't explain how much that helps to see a familiar face in the crowd cheering you on. We really needed it and it gave us the boost we needed to keep going.

Then came mile 22 and I was TIRED!!! Since I hadn't slept the night before and since I had been running for hours -- I was so tired and I felt like all my emotions were right on the verge of spilling over. I felt like breaking down and crying at any given minute. But I held it together and kept going. That last mile still kind of gets me when I think about it. It is such a cool feeling to be so exhausted and get to the end where strangers are cheering you on - giving you the encouragement that you need to finish this goal. They would yell out -- "It's right there! You have done this!!" Then right before the finish line I looked to my left and saw my mom and sister -- when they saw me coming they started to run along the side with me. That really made my eyes water. PLUS as I ran into the finish line - the music that plays for everyone started playing "the eye of the Tiger" -- I felt like a real athlete. :)

Anyways -- at the finish line there were firefighters there dressed in tuxedos - they had our little blue boxes - with our Tiffany's necklaces inside. Instead of a finisher medal -- they had Tiffany & Co. design these necklaces for us. It is now my most prized possession. :)

My family met us at the end and my aunt massaged me a little :) -- that felt soooo good. I could have stood in a line for hours to get a massage -- but my aunt was nice enough to do it for me -- and I bet she was just as good.

After that - we hobbled - and when I say hobbled I literally mean hobbled -- to the car. We were starving so we went and had a fun lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.

I am so glad I did this. It is a great accomplishment that I am proud to say I did. I am so grateful for Lisa - I could never have trained for this on my own. She was a great partner and is a great friend. I am also so so grateful for Carley, my mom, Amber and Janice for coming and cheering me on. It really, really made the run for me.

Oh and lastly -- I am grateful for Sam for being so supportive of me. He watched the kids as I trained and while I was gone all weekend for the marathon. And when I came home he had the house clean and had surprised me with a certificate for a spa day. That meant so much to me because it just showed me that he was proud of me. :) I love my family and friends. Thanks guys!!