26.2 Miles

I did it, and I didn't die! This last weekend I ran the St. George marathon, and it was awesome! I had been training for about 5 months with my friend Heidi, and I didn't think the day would ever come, but now it has come and past. So, here is what it was like.....


We woke up at about 4:30 in the morning and quickly got ready. We were staying and Heidi's sister's house who has ran the marathon about 3 times. So, she drove us to some park in St. George where there were about 90 school buses. We hopped on one of the school buses and drove out into literally the middle of nowhere, or exactly 26.2 miles away from the finish line. :) When we got there it was one of the craziest things I have ever seen! There were about 15-20 huge bonfires, a couple of tables full of gatorade and water, and a line of port-o-potties longer than I have ever seen. There were about 6,000 runners all hudled around the fires, or in line for one of the million port-o-potties. There was also a DJ playing some really loud music that was supposed to pump us up I guess. But, the only bad thing was that it was FREEZING out side! So, we waited around for the start of the race for about an hour.

We started about a little less than 10 minutes after they shot off the gun. They have a chip that you put on your shoe that starts your time when you cross the starting line, and stops it when you cross the finish line. The race went really smooth, Heidi and I stayed together the whole time, and kept each other company. There were water stations every two miles, and so it made it easy to break the run up into two mile increments! We saw some really interesting things along the way, for example a guy who ran the whole marathon barefoot! There were also some extremists, like people who were running the marathon for their 14th time, and people who had just run a marathon a week before!

The marathon seemed to go by pretty quickly, but I have never been so happy to see a sign that says FINISH LINE in my entire life (and I have run a lot of races!) Bryan and Brian (me and Heidi's husbands) were at the finish line cheering us on, along with Heidi's parents and sister, and some of my coworkers. Our finish time ended up being 4:44:20 (our goal was 4:45, so we beat our goal) the picture above says a different time but that was because we started awhile after they shot off the gun. At the finish line there was a huge park with tables with water and popsicles and ice cream and other yummy treats. The popsicle I got was probably the best popsicle I have ever had in my life, not because it was some kind of extraordinary popsicle, but because I had just run 26.2 miles, and it was a delicious treat!

For the rest of the day Heidi and I sat on her sisters couch and watched TV and slept. It felt so good to just lay down! Later that night, my coworker Staci invited us to her parents house to go in their hot tub, and man did it feel good! I only ended up being sore for one day, but I am still paying for the marathon with a pretty sore toe! I got a blood blister under my big toenail and man does it hurt! But, overall it was an awesome experience that I am so glad that I did! Maybe I will do another one someday....we will see!