This was a fabulous race!!!! I debated "how" to run this race and talked it over a bit with McKay. He encouraged me to push myself for all I was worth. I knew I wanted to try something different. My last marathon was absolutely wonderful in every way, but did I want to run every marathon exactly the same? No. On my last one (Logan--Top of Utah) I held myself back so I wouldn't wear out before the end. On this one I tried not to push myself to a crazy degree, but I ran faster--let the crowd and adrenaline help push me. I pushed like that the whole way--lengthening my stride whenever I noticed I was slowing. I pushed super hard and was exhausted by mile 23 but kept going. By mile 24 I was having to do self-talk to keep going. I was so happy to see the finish line up ahead!!!! I thought I was at about 4:11 or so, so imagine my surprise when the clock read 4:06:34. I honestly thought something had gone wrong with the clock! When I crossed the finish line I got the "special treatment" for people who look like they're going to collapse. :) A volunteer came up to me and put a very strong arm around me for support and talked to me about how I felt. I really was exhausted, and Rob confirmed with me later that I looked "terrible." But who cares? I did it!!!!!!!! When final chip time posted on Sunday, I had 4:04:32. Guess what? That qualifies old ladies like me for Boston! Oh yeah, baby. Boston. . . here I come.
The pics: The first, obviously, is me. It's after the race about 30 minutes. I've walked and stretched and found my "stuff" and hooked up with Rob. You can see I'm holding my famous purple robe. :) I love that thing! The next two just show the race in general--I'm not in them. I don't have a pic of me running because I was so dang fast that I took Rob by surprise and was past him before he could snap a picture. But you can see the finish chute and also the camaraderie and excitement at the post-race gathering.
For those of you who have nothing else to do and want to read the long version of the marathon--all 26.2 miles of it--it follows:
It was the Ogden Marathon on Saturday (the 16th). And I’ll tell you what; I did great! Yep. Even if I must say so myself. So here’s the long story from the beginning. Originally I was just going to drive up there super early Saturday morning. Then I got the “final” runners email with the instructions. I had to pick up my packet by 8:00 Friday night. Absolutely no Saturday pickup. What the heck? Whoever heard of that? So then it was like drive up to Ogden Friday after work and then drive back and then leave at 3:15 Saturday morning and drive back to Ogden. So with Rob’s encouragement I decided to just have us spend the night in Ogden. I found space at Motel 6. The reviews weren’t too bad—especially compared to some other places I read about! Motel 6 was cheap—my main requirement. So Rob and I got a sub for our temple sealings, made angel hair and myzithra at home right after work, and then headed off to Ogden. I ate my dinner enroute so I could eat just at the time I wanted—not too early and not too late. And I tried to eat the perfect amount—enough for carbs to burn, not too much for my innards to process appropriately. :) (If you know what I mean.) We had a nice drive to Ogden—took Legacy Highway for the first time. Picked up the packet and wandered the expo. Motel 6 was very, very clean. Nice! I tried to go to sleep early. What a joke! I didn’t actually get to sleep until almost midnight, and then I woke up 3 times before my alarm went off at 4:00. Oh well. I got up at 3:45 and got all ready and then drove the mile and a half to where I caught the shuttle bus up the canyon. I found parking easily (I scoped it out the night before) and wasn’t rushed or anything. I sat in the car for a few minutes and then headed over to the Ben Lomond Hotel (meeting spot) at about 4:30. Within 10 minutes the buses were loading and we headed out. A nice lady about my age sat next to me. It was her first marathon and she loved the fact that I was “experienced.” (It was my second.) Nice trip up, in spite of the fact that the buses missed a turn and we all had to turn around up a mountain road! It worked fine. So we got to the start and there were tons of fires in cans set around. Five-thirty in the morning at 5500 feet elevation. Cold! But the fires were warm and I was in my luscious purple Victoria's Secret marathon robe which, by the way, was a big hit up there! Thanks, Alicia, for the idea. We met another lady our age who was also a virgin (first time running a marathon). So she picked my brain too. It turns out my two new friends were in the same stake but they didn’t know each other! We stood around, then hit the porta-potties. I put on my knee braces, took my ibuprofen, put on sunscreen, packed up my long pants and robe and tossed my stuff into the truck. The ladies and I said our goodbyes and headed to the start line. They were both starting towards the back and I was starting towards the middle of the pack (it depends on how fast you run). The gun goes off, and the race is on! It takes awhile til the crowd thins out enough to run your pace. But pretty soon there I am, choosing my pace and running with the pack. My last marathon I held myself back so I didn’t get caught up in the hype and wear myself out too fast. This one I decided to run differently. I obviously didn’t want to run flat out, but I ran faster than usual—let the excitement of the crowd pull me along. I kept going at a faster pace than usual and focused on lengthening my stride. I just kept pushing. I wondered if I’d wear myself out and do the 2nd half slower than usual and end up with a slower time than my last marathon. I pushed and pushed and mile after mile I kept pushing. Once in awhile I noticed myself slowing down and I’d push forward again, lengthening my stride. I pushed hard up the hills. I never walked (I didn’t last time either). Push, push, push. Run, run, run. Lengthen, lengthen, lengthen. Go, go, go. I was watching my watch and figuring times as I passed mile markers. It seemed as if I might be on track for my practical goal of 4:13 to 4:15. It seemed I kept staying on that track, which I was feeling good about. My last marathon was 4:20, so shaving 5 to 7 minutes off would be great! It would give me hope that in a few more marathons I could meet my dream goal of 4:04. At 20 miles I was pretty tired, but OK. At 23 I wasn’t sure how much I could keep pushing. I was really having to push myself hard to keep up the speed. At 24 I had really had it! I started actually having to self-talk, “You can do it, baby. Keep going. Keep going. You can do it. Go, baby, go.” At 25 ½ I could see the finish line way up ahead, thank goodness. I could hardly keep moving, but I did. I saw Rob just before the finish line, and I could tell I surprised him! He immediately broke out of line and tried to move ahead so he could get a pic of me. I looked up at the clock and honestly couldn’t believe what I saw. 6:06:34. What the heck? It was at least 5 minutes slow! There’s no way that could have been the time. I crossed the line! Yay!!!!! I stopped running. Immediately a support volunteer stepped up to me and put a strong arm around me and walked with me and talked with me about whether I was OK or not. I was, but that was my first clue that I must have looked terrible! I didn’t get that “special” treatment at my last marathon! But then I didn’t feel as wasted after that one either! So I wander around a bit and drink and stretch and finally about a half hour later I go over and find my “stuff” (robe, phone, etc) and call Rob. We meet up and he confirms my suspicion when, talking about my unexpected finish, he says, “You looked terrible!” He confirms my amazing time, had already texted the kids, and I was starting to get congratulatory texts. No kidding I was really confused about the time and just couldn’t believe it. It took quite awhile to sink in and I didn’t start announcing it from housetops until the final chip time posted Sunday afternoon. Absolutely unbelievably I had met my dream time—4:04:32. This was my dream time for 2 reasons. One, a few years ago Kimball ran a marathon in 3:03. A few years after that Rob ran one in 5:05. I just plain thought 4:04 would be really fun! 3:03, 4:04 and 5:05 in one family. Now McKay needs to do 2:02 or 6:06. D:) The other reason 4:04 was my dream time is because 4:05 is the qualifying time for my gender and age for the Boston Marathon. So Boston . . . here I come! I was bone tired, almost too sore to move, and intestinally sick for the rest of the day. Sunday I was just agonizingly sore, but once I got the posting of final results none of that mattered! Monday I was just sore. And today (Tuesday) there’s hardly any soreness left. Marathons are the greatest!
