My St George Marathon Adventure

Du da da da...may I get a drumroll please......I DID IT! I RAN THE ST GEORGE MARATHON!!!! Let me just say, Woohoo!!!!

Ok, so I enough of the upercase letters and the million exclamation points, but gosh dang it, I am so stinkin excited! I have been working toward this goal for almost a year now and to finally say that I did it, is just so awesome!

The marathon was actually an amazing experience. Ok, so here's how it happened: I woke up at 3am (2am arizona time). I had my clothes laid out perfectly the night before so I could be ready to go at a moments notice, you know, just in case, the alarm didn't go off. (I have a horrible fear of that...there was a time at Ricks my first semester that it did not go off, and I missed the bus ride home...yikes) Ok, back to St George. I fix my hair all cute and tightly attached to my head with Chi's helmet head. (luv the stuff) I had to look cute and I hate it when my hair touches my neck when I run. So Courtney and I meet Maegan and drive to the buses to load at 4am (3am phoenix time..remember that...so stinkin early.) Basically they drive you 26.2 miles out of town, drop you off and say ok now run back. Well, it is pitch black and freezing....35 degrees to be exact. Now I was in my shorts because hey that is what I have been wearing for the past eight months and I was not willing to try something new for race day. So they light these bonfires to help everyone get warm. Courtney and I had no idea we would be camping before the race! (Did I mention we are not the camping girl types?) The race didn't start until 6:45, so we had to wait for quite some time. Which was actually pretty fun, except for the whole gagging on smoke part. But hey it adds to the adventure of it all.

OK, so the race begins finally, woohoo! Super Maegan was trying to qualify for Boston, so she started off ahead of us. Go Maegan go Maegan! Courtney and I had soooo much fun running together. We laughed at the crazy signs and got upset at some of the stupid ones that people had taped to the mile markers on the highway. I mean seriously people, do you really think, "Don't be the biggest loser" is an inspirational phrase? Come on, if you are actually running the marathon you are a winner! We died when we stumbled acros a decapitated dead dear on the side of the road. Holy cow! (or should I say dear?) Where are we running? Wouldn't they clean the roads prior? People, people....heehee.

Everyone kept telling us that this was a fast course because it is basically down hill and there is really just one hill in the race. I thought cool, I have trained on South Mountain for this, I can totally handle this. OK, so they lied!!! I swear it was all hilly. Yes they did have the mother of hills at like mile 8, which I swear was straight up. Then there was the neverending hill that started at like mile 9 and didn't end until mile 13. People! But despite the miles and miles of hills, I actually really enjoyed it and it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. Ok, so I did think it was funny the amount of people that did not want to use the portapotties that were convienently located at every mile, but opted for the side of the road or behind bushes. More power to ya!

So I am running along, having a good ol time, dancing and singing with my music, and feeling like I could forever. I am right at mile 18 and I start to feel these funny sensations (actually sharp stabbing pains, but whatev) in my shins and down the top of my foot. Being the crazy woman that I am, I just think oh whatever body, you so do not feel any pain, just keep moving. Well, this continues to get worse as I continue to go up and down hills. So I have seen people stop at the aid stations and get lathered up with ben gay. I think ok, I will stop at the next one that doesn't have a line. It happened to be mile 20. After apologizing to the lady rubbing me down for being so gross and sweaty and promising her, that yes I did shave this morning, I was off again. I did have to stop and stretch a bit just to see if that would help at all. I mention to Courtney that I am feeling a little icky and she asked if I still had my tylenol in my stylishly dorky fanny pack. Of course, how could I forget! I pop those babies...can I say awesome! Now I know that tylenol doesn't work that super fast, but for some reason, my brain thought hey its working instantly lets go!!! (Apparently, if I was given Placebos, my brain would totally believe they are the real thing...good to know.)

OK, so we have 6 miles left, I can totally do this! Pump up the angry music and get moving....you can do it! We finally get into town. I think alright I am so close I can feel it! Let me just say, the last six miles are like an eternity. But I thought there is no way I am stopping, just keep going faster and faster, you will get there. So I finally turn the corner and I can see the finish line. Can it be? Or is this one of those crazy oasis things that crazy people lost in the desert see? No it was actually it. Woohoo!! My super friend Maegan runs up to me and starts running with me telling me you can do it, you are awesome! Now Maegan is the sweetest most awesome girls in the world and she truly is one of my bestest and dearest friends. But at that moment I wanted to kill her! She was so positive and happy and even pointed out where my adoring hubby was cheering me on. (which thanks babe for being my number one fan on the side lines) But it was making me so stinkin mad. I am one of those people that gets angry and focused at the very end of a race and someone who is so chipper and happy just makes me mad and even more focused! I kept thinking focus on the angry pink song you are blasting in your ipod right now. And I had the words from a sign that the town's mortuary put up...dig deeper. (awesome, right?) I was proud of myself, I didn't call her a bad name or flip her off, it actually made me focus and dig deeper to the end. So thank you Maegan for that. You do Rock and I was thankful after it was done to have a familiar face. And let me tell you, the feeling I had as I slammed my feet down as I crossed the finish line was awesome! In fact, with all the endorphins running through my body, I thought wow, I totally want to do this again in the near future. I know, crazy!

I also can't forget to mention our amazing massages we had a few hours after the raise. Let me say, awesome!!! It was so nice to relax and massage my poor muscles. Next time, Maegan, you will have to use Courtney's low voice maesues, Rafael...heehee.

OK, so I had a couple inspiring moments as I was running. There were moments when I got a little emotional as I thought "Wow I am actually running a marathon. I have been working so long for this, I am actually doing it." As I was texting my sister Kelli at Mile 10, I thought "Wow I am really loved and supported back home." I can't tell you how many texts and emails I got wishing me good luck. Thanks to everyone, love ya bunches! I also thought, "Wow, I have the bestest friends in the world." Courtney and Maegan and I have had so much fun training for this and I loved being able to share this with them. There was one point when Courtney said it is great to have someone to do this with. I thought yep, I would not have wanted to do it with anyone else but my two besties! Thanks guys, love ya and let me just be the first to apologize for any bad words that may have slipped out. Remember, the whole runners brain thingy....heehee. And last but not least, I was so thankful for my dear hubby who put up with my early morning runs and my super early and very long saturday runs. He was so supportive through it all. It was so great to have him come and share it with me! Love ya tons babe!

Here are the few pics that I took from our awesome weekend:

The trio after the race. Notice the ice cream, bread and water in my hand.

I was all over that...yummo!

Warning...poor quality.

All ready to walk to the buses.

Did I mention it was 3am our time?


The bonfire....

Courtney and I trying to stay warm.

Jon and I after the race.

Chillin in our hotel room with the Snows before lunch.

During the weekend, we made a quick stop in Vegas at

the Bellagio.

Courtney and I outside of Tiffanys.

This was the ceiling in the lobby.

Super pretty.

At our fancy smanshy lunch.