maRathon Recap...

4 days later...

& I'm alive & kicking after running my first marathon! 

It has been quite a journey....

& it went great! 

I'm not even sore today! 

Can you believe it?

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It was raining the morning of the marathon.  We woke up super early, got all of our stuff & kissed the kiddos goodbye....& took off. I was a bundle of nerves. 

excited. skeered. nauseous.

I'd been super sick the 2 days before & when I talked to my mom the night before the marathon, I asked her to pray for me...I was worried I'd still be sick in the morning...but, prayer works! I felt great!

rain. dark. busses. lines.

it was fun.

Jeff & I got on the bus....& headed up the canyon with all of the other runners. crazy to think that the whole time we were driving (it was about a 45 min. bus ride) we would be RUNNING that! oy vey!

I tweeted & instagrammed as long as I could...but, once we got up the canyon....I didn't have any service.

for a while.

hence, no touting. tweeting. or instagrams. sad, but hey....ya gotta roll with the punches.

so...it was still rainy & COLD at the starting line. I kissed Jeff goodbye & he took off.

I ran slowly, pacing myself the whole time...careful to NOT give in to my adrenaline that was egging me on to sprint! It was so exciting!

Pretty soon, it started to rain harder.

mile 6. raining. i'm wet. still have my jacket on & had been planning on leaving it at one of the aid stations early on in the race. 

no. go.

pouring.

 mile 10. still feeling great, even though I was getting wetter & wetter.

each aid station I took some gatorade. I ended up stopping 3xs to use the bathrooms. oy!

mile 13. felt amazing. sooo excited. loved the scenery...loved my music. happy.

hail. yup...it hailed so hard that it was actually HURTING me! LOL! but... i went on.

sometime around 10AM, my dear friend Sande picked up my kids at the hotel. (her hubby was running, too) So, they could be at the finish line to see us. Thanks, sweet friend...you'll never know how much I appreciate that! 

mile 16. I got the text that Jeff had finished 21 miles. I was giddy for him! giddy. i think i giggled out loud!

still rained. 

mile 19. I felt great, but could NOT believe how hard it was raining. It was going sideways & I was drenched...still left my jacket on cuz it was COLD rain! LOVED the great volunteers at the aid stations...they were troopers in that weather!

mile 20. got the text that Jeff had finished. I'm not gonna lie. I cried a little bit. I was so sooo proud of him! 3:25!!!! He is amazing.

raining.

mile 24. I lost it. I mentally had a break down & started bawling. miles 20-24 were tough for me. I seriously was wiping the tears off my face, & started panicking cuz I couldn't breathe....my lungs started closing cuz of the emotions....

I had to calm down.

I started to talk myself down...pumping myself up...& then this song came on my playlist: 

Press to Play's Let's Dance.

all I heard was: Let's RUN.

it.

was.

just.

what.

i.

needed.

I pulled it together & kept my eye up on the Logan Temple...seriously.....it's what I kept looking at to keep my focus. 

the sun started shining.

I blew through the mile 25 aid station cuz I could feel that if I even slowed down, my legs would freeze up....

so. I ran.

strong & hard til I hit the finish line.


26.2 miles.

the sun shone bright.

I was soo excited, I ran through fist pumping & hollerin'....

some guy was there & held out both hands...I slapped them & jumped up & down.

it felt.

a.mazing.

sadly....my chip didn't warn my family with a text at mile 21, so they weren't prepared & only got the text that I'd finished...& they were at the car.

It was OK. I cheered for myself & frankly....it was celebration with them later. so no worries.

We brought a huge cooler full of ice in the back of our car so we could ice immediately after.  and...the sun felt amazing! 

Stretched out...& was in heaven.

felt sooo great.

amazing, really.

I learned so much from this entire journey... Here goes:

if I worked hard enough & was consistent with my training...i got stronger.

when I had ANY negative thoughts come in like:

i'm too tired.

i don't feel like it.

i'm fat.

i don't like this.

i'm not fast.

i hurt.

i'm sick.

i can't do this.

then, i was right.  

But, if I didn't give in to any of those feelings, I came out stronger. happier.

training for a marathon does NOT help you lose weight! LOL! 

music put a spring in my step.

it was a mental game as well as a physical game. no joke.

i had to fuel up & sleep well & drink up. or my body no likey.

I have to talk to myself whilst I run. really. it's part of my mental game.

running quotes REALLY inspire me.

Support means *everything* to me. I'm so thankful. for family. friends. bloggers.

a heartfelt thank you to everyone!

my body is a miracle. seriously. it amazed me. grateful to have been ABLE to run.

Jeff is my hero. 

Nature is so beautiful, it makes me want to run!

Hail, buckets of rain & temporary melt downs only make the journey more interesting!

I really & truly CAN do anything I put my mind to....it's true.

I believe.

I do.

and...4 days later..I'm already planning on my next half marathon & trying to decide on my next full marathon.

yea.

i got the bug.