Marathon

I DID IT!!! My first marathon under my belt and I did it. By the week of the marathon I was just ready to do it. I was getting sick of all the training and was ready to just give it my all. I had been looking forward to it for 10 whole weeks and it finally came.

The week before the marathon for my taper run I decided to run the Brigham City Peach Days race again. I didn't wanna push to hard because all the marathoners out there were saying you gotta conserve it for the race but in my mind I'm thinking...really...I have a whole week and a 10k will take it out of me? So I tried to hold back but after all it is a race so you gotta try. I didn't run as fast as I did last year but still ended up 2nd overall for woman with 45:03. After the run I went and got Dakota and Zach and we came back for the parade. Dakota didn't have as much fun as he did at the Perry parade but who can beat the Perry parade...right?! :)

Watching the parade with my friend Emily's two cuties!

Zach and I decided to take Dakota one night to the carnival for Peach days to ride the rides. Once we got there  I was REALLY disappointed that none of the rides that Dakota could have handled going on would let me get on with Dakota. So the only stinkin ride that we could take him on was the Ferris wheel.

He wasn't too sure about it when we got on

We started out like this but as the ride got going and the horse went higher and higher up I couldn't reach high enough to hold him good so I ended up just holding him for the rest of the ride. Next time I'll just have to get on the horse with him. :)

So the morning of the marathon I woke up to this.

I was thinking who did that?! The only person that would have done something like that I could think of would be Zach's family but it didn't look like any of there handwriting. I loved it but at the same time I was like...WOW...that's a lot of pressure. I know I wanted to qualify for Boston but just finishing my first marathon would satisfy me as well.

Emily and I had to get up at 4 a.m. to be up in Logan to get on the bus by 5:45. It all went smoothly until we got to the lines for the bathroom. They were out of control and took FOREVER! By the time we got down to the starting line we only had a couple of minutes before the race started. As we waited in line at the bathroom it started to rain and for the first 14 miles it kept going and going! By mile 10 it was a COMPLETE downpour and even throwing in a little hail. It was crazy! My dri-fit clothes had no chance at all. Now normally I love to run in the rain but when your running a marathon, it's not as fun to be soaking wet and your feet feeling 10 lbs heavier then normal. Despite the rain, the first 14 miles were so gorgeous running down the canyon with the overcast clouds and the thunder roaring. It was seriously so beautiful. Because we were in the canyon there couldn't be any spectators until mile 14 so I was getting pretty excited to get to that mile to see my family and get some more motivation.

When I got to mile 14 I had NO idea about the greatest surprise of all...my cutest sisters came ALL the way from AZ to be there! There isn't a picture that captured my look of confusion at first trying to figure out who in the heck was cheering for me but when I finally figured it out you couldn't wipe the smile off my face for the next few miles!

This was my surprise!

When I finally figured out who it was!

They were the culprits of the sign in my yard and a few more. Zach's mom had done some cute ones too. I didn't realize til the end what they said, I was just so excited to see all of my fam that came out and cheered me on at each point.

Working on the signs right on Walmart's floor!

My cute hubby with the sign his mom made for him! What a sport!

The race was SO fun but it was hard. Mile 18 is where I hit my wall. My legs were starting to kill and it would have felt REALLY good to stop running. But I popped some Ibuprofen, kept up my Gu, and what really kept me going was thinking of some angel boys that would give ANYTHING to run! I thought of course of my sweet Dakota, sweet Dylan, and another sweet 19 year old boy that is a cousin to Christi at the chamber who got paralyzed from the neck down in a snowboarding accident (his name is Gates and his blog is gateshopeandmiracles.blogspot.com). I just kept thinking to myself...if these boys could run they would never stop. They would love to feel the pain in their legs from running so much (although Dylan gets to run now). But this just pushed me even harder and I wasn't running for myself, I was running for all of them!

Because of these boys and my AMAZING fan club...I was able to meet my goal and finished the marathon in 3 hours and 32 minutes with a qualifying time for Boston.

The finish line never looked SO good!

My sisters decided to spray me with silly string...such a great idea!

What a BEAUTIFUL sight!

My fan club!

Zach's sweet Aunt Becky and cousin Holly with the kiddos were there to greet me at the finish line! Holly was my go-to girl to for marathon tips cuz she is a pro!

My sweet husband that supported me and helped with Dakota for my long training runs. Couldn't have done it without him!

Ashley, Beau, and Houston came out and supported...rain or shine!

Dakota and Grammy were there the whole time but stayed in the car because of the crappy weather and Dakota wasn't feeling too hot! He still had a sign for me though! Thanks Vicki for ALL of your help!

My sistas

Cuties

Just some fun ones

This is what I looked like afterwards

So happy to be done!

Later that night when I was REALLY feeling it.

My beautiful medal

My amazing running partner and dear friend Emily! DEFINITELY couldn't have done it without her. She is such a trooper and agreed to do it with me when  I had this crazy idea. Did all our long runs together even if it meant getting up at 4 a.m. Love you girl!

So surprisingly I ended up 3rd in my age group of about 150 woman and even got a little trophy for it. I was 38 out of 864 woman overall, and 228th out of 1831 total racers.

After the race my sisters and I went for a yummy lunch at Firehouse and went for a much needed massage. It felt better then ever and I didn't ever want it to stop! It was SO much fun to have them there and get to hang out for a couple of days! I know I always say it but sisters are the best! (My oldest sister Shana didn't get to come cuz she was just up the weekend before finalizing her adoption of sweet Avery...sure missed ya though)

Zach and Vicki stayed home and watched Dakota

Watching a little Buzz with daddy. Love those smiles!

After all was said and done I definitely had a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment but I'm still not exactly sure what I was hoping to get out of it when I first thought up this crazy idea. Back in reality my life is still hard but I think I know I can push through...even through the toughest of times. I think I prefer physical pain and endurance over the emotional pain of watching my husband and son persevere through so much but that's not my choice  I guess. During the marathon there were a couple of girls on the sidelines holding a sign that said..."If it were easy, we would all be doing it." This is true with my life as well. I guess Heavenly Father trusts me enough to give me such a heavy load. As I talked about in a couple posts ago, I don't know why I have been given so much but I want to do the best with what I have been given so I will keep trying...and keep pushing through!

A HUGE thanks to all of you who are helping us along the way...whether by your comments, prayers, faith, or physical help. We couldn't do it without our own personal "fan club!" :)