The St. George Marathon

Well I survived. It was hot. It was hilly. It was harder than childbirth.

On the bus on the way up to the start of the marathon, I kept saying, "I feel like I'm forgetting something. All I need is my Ipod and I will be okay."

Well, I did have a fully charged Ipod but it froze right when I started the marathon. I was stuck on two ABBA songs. I've always been a music person. It really motivates me so I was really bummed. I alternated deciding which was worse, listening to "Dancing Queen" for 100th time or listening to my own haggard breathing.

I thought it was going to be a lot cooler. I love running in the cold. The water at the water stations was warm and not refreshing at all. There were people passing out left and right. The hills killed me too. In Florida, the highest hill is 19 feet. I honestly didn't even feel the first 7 miles but then mile 7-8 of the marathon increased by 250 feet (we climbed a volcano).

Scott, Shelly, and I all got the Runners Runs. Next time I will take Imodium before. It's no fun. Next time we will eat lighter the night before.

Can you believe I am talking about a next time? Seriously Mile 24 I swore I would never run again and that people who ran marathons were masochists. I didn't hit the time I was going for but I did okay considering. But I could have done so much better and that's what killed me because I trained hard. I usually am a cram the night before a test girl and even ran a 1/2 marathon without training. That's what works for me. But this time, I did it the right way and followed a training schedule.

After I passed the mortuary at mile 25 I ran as hard as I could. I just wanted it to be over. I just wanted to get to the Ben and Jerry's they had at the finish line. But when I got there, I almost threw up and didn't want to eat anything for almost a day.

I couldn't even walk for a couple of days. I fell halfway down my stairs because my knees buckled.

So there's the long story. I survived. Barely.

Carbo loading at Brick Oven the night before.

We went to an expo and Scott got some bracelets for the boys that are supposed to make you more flexible and strong so we were trying them here.



4AM isn't pretty on anyone.




Except for Shelly. She looks like a model.



Feeling strong.

The medal.

Shelly's poor blood blisters.

Connor, Porter, and Sam cheering us on.

The whole supportive family.


I forgot to mention that Janece wins the award for the most supportive fan. She woke up at 4AM to take picture of us and waited in the hot sun forever to take pictures of us crossing the finish line. She made shirts for her family and ran to the store for ibu profen after the race. And thanks for the pretzel m&ms which were the only thing I could stomach after.