26.2 BABY!!

Yea I finally get to post about my FIRST EVER FULL MARATHON!! I First have to tell you that I have the most amazing husband that during all of this was so supportive and I could not have trained for this if it wasn't for his love and support. For those of you that don't know, training for a full marathon is SUPER time consuming. Towards the end of the training, Saturday runs took almost 4 hours. I tried to run as early as I could so I wouldn't take up all of our day but sometimes with this years crazy weather, kids' sports activities and husband's meetings and stuff, it was hard so I'm very grateful for all of that.
Ok, now one more thank you! To the amazing girl that talked me into running this that stuck by me this whole year while training! Without Jill Riley, I would have not have been running at 5 am in the freezing cold winter storms, rain or shine, sometimes so foggy we couldn't even see each other! Through IT band issues, back spasms that were so bad that even one time an ambulance had to come to my house and rush me away...crazy stuff. I have learned that I LOVED accomplishing such a big goal for myself and proving to myself that I was able to finish such something I thought was completely out of my reach. BUT, I also learned that training for a marathon is SUPER SUPER time consuming like I said earlier, so I think I'm going to stick to the half marathons...for now anyways! It's alot of wear and tear on your body running any farther then that and I definitely felt the results of that every weekend on our long runs. I would be so sore sometimes it would take me FOREVER to walk down my stairs. And come Sundays all I wanted to do was sleep the day away because I was physically so so drained!
Now for race day. Kind of frustrating because after all of that training, it actually wasn't my best race day. I didn't feel good from the start thanks to mother nature deciding to visit me a few minutes before, felt like I had no energy from the get go, and pulled a hamstring with about 5 miles still to go which is STILL affecting me. That's the thing about running though, you can train for something forever, but you never know what race day is going to bring..kind of annoying. Jill and I saw Ben and John and right before mile 7 where we were walking for a few to drink some water and take our first energy block. As we walked up to them my sweet husband says, "You're already walking? Are you going to make it?" He seriously thought we were supposed to run the ENTIRE thing and not walk. Seriously?!?! It just cracked me up because sometimes I feel like he doesn't even know me!! I have ran my whole life, but for those of you that don't know Ben, he HATES running!! Not once since we have been together has he ever gone running with me, and this was the FIRST race he has ever come to, so he couldn't understand why we were walking and drinking water..I still laugh when I think about it. And then to top it all off, my sweet Austin says to me, "Um mom...you're not winning." with the most confused look on his face. (p.s. there were over 2,000 runners JUST doing the marathon, let alone a half, a 10k and a 5k. So A TON OF PEOPLE!) Well thank you to the men in my life for having these huge expectations of me not stopping for 26.2 miles and winning the whole marathon....but not happening!! ha ha!
Anyways, as we ran though the Ogden Canyon it was GORGEOUS! It was actually a really beautiful run and I enjoyed that part a ton! By the last few miles Jill and I were both spent and pretty much talking each other through the rest of the race. And I have a few choice words for those who cheer people on during races. For those of you that don't know, during a race, when the runners have already ran 23 miles and you yell,"You're almost there! You only have a 5k left!"...worst thing you could ever say!! If I could have mustered together some energy during that part to talk during that time...I would have yelled at you all to stop saying that! 3 more miles is A LOT MORE when you have already gone that far! So as we turned down main street in Ogden, we were able to see the finish line which was a pretty sweet feeling. But, looking at my watch I knew it was still a whole mile away. LONGEST MILE OF MY LIFE!!! Thanks to Chanudi (who rocked this marathon by the way and even qualified for the Boston in it!) and her husband Scott, they were waiting at the mile marker to cheer me on. I was so thankful for that extra boost and was able finish strong. I was greeted at the finish with my sweet daughter running with me and my family at the end. I can't even tell you how much I love my in-laws by the way. My sister in-law Brittney and her little family live in Ogden so they came to watch, along with my mother in-law, and my brother in-law Jake with his fiance (now wife!! yea!) Summer. They were all so sweet congratulating me and making a big deal out of it. I love them all so much and was so grateful they were able to be there for me.
Sooo, that's it! Since then I have ran here and there, trying not to loose my mileage but at the same time I am a little burnt out running and still trying to stay motivated for my Red Rock Relay race I'm doing in September! Anyways, way happy I did it but way happy it's over!! 26.2!!!!


Thanks husband for all of the love and support!













Me and my side kick! She was seriously the best
person to have ran this with and we became such
good friends through the whole process. Thank
you so much Jill, I could not have done this
without you!













mile 7 looking for my extra energy blocks














Yea we did it!...and you can by the way I look

in these pics!!

Am I done yet??

The supportive fam

Here we come!

Me and Britt...thanks again so much!!

I heart you!!