I guess I'll just recap a little. All of this has probably already been written in the other blog posts from my fellow fishies but I just want to remember the parts that stand out to me. Friday was a crazy day for me! I woke up just flustered and had so much to do with so little time. This was my horoscope!
I finally got everything packed and I immediately text Becka to come get me ASAP. My nervous energy was off the charts! She showed up instantly. (Good Job Becka) and we went to get Ebbi. We picked up Ebbi and she gave me the most awkward wave when we pulled up. I could tell she was a little nervous too! Makes me laugh.
I finally got everything packed and I immediately text Becka to come get me ASAP. My nervous energy was off the charts! She showed up instantly. (Good Job Becka) and we went to get Ebbi. We picked up Ebbi and she gave me the most awkward wave when we pulled up. I could tell she was a little nervous too! Makes me laugh.
The three of us went to Rach's in-laws to give Rach her shirt. Rach drove all the way down from Roosevelt to cheer us on! It was so good to see her and hug her. She was seriously so pumped to see us and sincerely excited for us to run our marathon. I've gotta just throw in a cute little snap she sent me. Just because I love her.
We talked to her forever and then picked up Candi. We drove down to the high school where Lexie had been waiting for years and years for us. Lol. Poor girl. We gave April, our dear yellow fishie, her shirt and goodie basket we put together for her. She has been the best cheerleader and we all have felt like she should have been running this marathon with us.
We talked to her forever and then picked up Candi. We drove down to the high school where Lexie had been waiting for years and years for us. Lol. Poor girl. We gave April, our dear yellow fishie, her shirt and goodie basket we put together for her. She has been the best cheerleader and we all have felt like she should have been running this marathon with us.
Her "I just ran over a wagon" face.
My beautiful nervous friends!
The expo was fun! We went and sat in what we thought was a "beginner's clinic" which turned out to be the keynote speaker. He talked about a Boston race back in 1982 and Candi, Lexie & I teased Becka and Ebbi that we weren't even born when that race happened. Haha. He was good and all but we ended up leaving midway through his talk. Rebel Becka left first and told us all to come out sporadically. We walked around the expo and got our packets. Candi and Ebbi got held up in the "weight division". I know it ticked them off but it was just too funny. I can't help but giggle when I think of them being taken to a different location to be weighed. There were a lot of cool little gadgets for running and awesome apparel. If I hadn't been so anxious I probably would have bought a lot of stuff! We took the best picture at one of the booths. It will forever be one of my favorites.
I read a story about last year's winner Amber Green while at the expo. Her first marathon she ran in 4:23 and ended up winning last year. She runs 95 miles a week which is a ton... but I thought it super cool that anyone could potentially be a winner of the St. George Marathon. You never know what's in store!
After the expo we had to run to Target to get a few last minute items. I needed earrings. (Look at my fish okay!) Ebbi needed a sports bra... and she made sure that it fit in the store. (As she practiced running) Haha.
We ate a yummy dinner at the Pasta Factory. We finally met up with Bryant and MaryAnn our long lost fishies. Dinner was amazing and funny. Seems like we are all laughing more than talking most of the time. Bryant was stuck with all of us girls and he is such a good sport about it. It sucks that we didn't get to see MaryAnn or have her with us but inner was a blast. After dinner, we headed towards the cabin. This was the first time I had ever seen the St. George Marathon course. I was pleasantly surprised! It didn't seem as rough as I had imagined in my mind. It did, however, seem extremely long. I tried not to think about it. We took a funny pic in the freezing cold at Mile 13 because well why wouldn't we do that?
After the expo we had to run to Target to get a few last minute items. I needed earrings. (Look at my fish okay!) Ebbi needed a sports bra... and she made sure that it fit in the store. (As she practiced running) Haha.
We ate a yummy dinner at the Pasta Factory. We finally met up with Bryant and MaryAnn our long lost fishies. Dinner was amazing and funny. Seems like we are all laughing more than talking most of the time. Bryant was stuck with all of us girls and he is such a good sport about it. It sucks that we didn't get to see MaryAnn or have her with us but inner was a blast. After dinner, we headed towards the cabin. This was the first time I had ever seen the St. George Marathon course. I was pleasantly surprised! It didn't seem as rough as I had imagined in my mind. It did, however, seem extremely long. I tried not to think about it. We took a funny pic in the freezing cold at Mile 13 because well why wouldn't we do that?
The cabin was perfect. Ebbi almost freaked because the cabin door wasn't unlocked. She cracked me up. But we made it in and all was well. Lexie built us a nice fire because she is the bomb like that. We all stretched and talked. I just love everything about each of these girls. They are so amazing. I've learned so much about each of them! We wrote motivational quotes on our arms and got prepped for the morning. I honestly couldn't even think of everything being any better than it was. It was perfect! This was my motivational quote:
The morning of the marathon came too early! I tossed and turned all night long which I knew I was going to do. Good ole Ebbi slept like a baby! I could just tell she was out cold. Haha. Becka came and tried to flip on our light and I was just dreading waking up! I was soooooo nervous.
We all got dressed and headed out into the cold. It was a cold, cold morning! Thank goodness for our marathon blankets from Becka! I would have died without mine. It seriously kept me so warm. I did not want to get out of Becka's car. I knew that there was no turning back after that! But we did. We got out of the car.
We all got dressed and headed out into the cold. It was a cold, cold morning! Thank goodness for our marathon blankets from Becka! I would have died without mine. It seriously kept me so warm. I did not want to get out of Becka's car. I knew that there was no turning back after that! But we did. We got out of the car.
I loved the start line! It was amazing to see all the people and the bonfires. I hung out with my fishies for a bit in the port-o-potty line but then got too nervous. I felt like I needed to get in the start line! I said goodbye to the girls and honestly teared up a little as I left them. It was scary going off on my own! I walked over to the 3:45 pacer but then I walked back to the girls. I was too nervous! haha. I said goodbye for the second time and walked back over to the pacer. My plan was to meet up with Chad there. I went over and stood directly next to the 3:45 pacer but I never saw Chad. I made friends with the lady next to me and we talked a little while we waited to cross the start line. I remember hearing the big boom when the race started but I didn't actually cross the start line until around 6:55. I asked the lady next to me what I did with my blanket and all my clothing and she said "just drop it" and I was like "here? right here on the street" haha. That was so weird running over everyone's dropped clothing. Haha. I passed by my fishies at the port-o-potty as we started to head out. They waved me goodbye! I felt like a little kid going off to school for the first time or something. I really was so scared!
I really couldn't tell you where the actual start line was. I actually asked the lady next to me "so is this the start line" haha. She told me she thought so and I took off! It was hard at first with all the people. It seriously felt like you had to take turns to get into the passing lane. I spent the first couple of miles weaving in and out of people. My first mile was a little faster than I had planned on at 8:08. I couldn't believe thought that 1 mile had already passed. I also couldn't believe all the men peeing about 10 feet from me! A little shocking. The next six miles went by so fast and each mile got a little faster. Before I knew it, I was climbing Veyo! Veyo was actually my faster mile of the race at 7:09! I just remember wanting to get it over with! Mile 9 I thought of Jayci and everything she is going through. I tried to focus on how truly lucky I am to be healthy and able to run a marathon. I thought of all the trials that Jayci and her family have had to go through this year and what amazing attitudes they have. They are incredible people!
I was talking with Becka about the difference in runners at the aid stations for us. When I would run through the aid stations you had to hurry and fight for a cup of water because so many people were whizzing on in and grabbing cups. It was so weird to me also how you just chucked your water cup on the ground?? I felt so guilty doing that! I also hated throwing my GU trash anywhere so I carried most of them in my bra and one I put next to a GU that was already on the ground. Haha. I felt so guilty just tossing my trash around. The volunteers are amazing though! I cannot emphasize that enough. I cannot believe the kindness from absolute strangers. It makes me want to volunteer one day and cheer other people on. They are amazing.
At mile 11 I had an "I HATE RUNNING" moment and was worried I started the course way too fast. I started second guessing my plan and became stressed. Then I remembered what I had read about the course from good ole "Fast Corry". He said if you can get to 14 you've made it. The rest is cake. From that moment on I just put my focus into getting to 14.
I happened to glance down at my phone when I was changing a song at 14 and I saw a text from April telling me how incredible my times were and how amazed she was. It just made me so excited to know she was tracking me! It gave me motivation to keep going knowing she was keeping track of where I was! I saw texts from Clayton and Amanda and a couple other people too once the race was finished and it made me feel so special.
Rachael, Amanda & Elisa told me they would be at mile 16 with my extra pair of shoes that I had given to Amanda in case I was having problems. I was so pumped to get to 16. It really gives you motivation when you know people are waiting for you. There were so many fun families and people cheering at 16 but I never did see the Kanab girls. I got my phone out at 17 and saw that they were asking where I was and that they were at 16... I typed 17 to them and felt bad that they had gone there and I wasn't even there. I was worried I ran right past them without noticing. It kinda bummed me out for a second and I felt so guilty that they had gone all that way and I didn't even see them!
Mile 19 was my slowest mile of the race at 8:27. I hit a rough patch for a second. My hips were starting to hurt a little more but I wasn't so much tired as I was achy. It got me worried for a second though that I was going to blow all my work thus far. I think I was also starting to get anxious about going past 20 miles since I had never done that before. I was mentally shutting down a little thinking about hitting the dreaded "wall".
Mile 20 came and I was really excited to take my special "GU with OCTANE" from Julie Jenson. She came to my house (well all of our fishies houses except Lexie Little (lol)) and gave us a these cute fruit gifts with some GU. She said it would really help us at Mile 20. So coming from Julie Jenson, the amazing woman who just ran the Grand 2 Grand... I took her advice like it was from the Bible and downed that GU at mile 20. I was just sure it was going to make me fly to the finish line. It actually really did help and I never hit the wall. Before I knew it I had forgotten about the wall until mile 22 and remembered that I should have ran smack into that wall by now. I started to feel more confident as the miles left got lower and around mile 22 I did some calculations in my head to figure out the slowest I could go and still meet my goal. I realized that I was going to reach my goal!!! I was so happy. I had this huge weight lifted off of me. All of these months of wondering if I was capable of reaching my goal or not was finally set to rest. I was going to do it! The thought of me reaching the finish line before 3:35 made me so pumped that I actually started to pick up speed again. I flew through mile 22 and reached 23 and to my surprise I see a bunch of girls waving and screaming my name!!! It was the Kanab girls! Rachael held her arms out open for me and I jetted across the street towards them and hugged Rachael as I cried. It was so good to see her, Amanda, Elisa & Kamie Lee! Kamie Lee even drove down to see us! Jessika was there too but I didn't see her! I have to add how truly humbled I am that these girls would take their entire Saturday to spend cheering and supporting us. They have families and other things they could have been doing but they spent it outside waiting for us to run by them for a few minutes. I just think they are awesome and seeing them was a HUGE highlight of the run for me. It just made me realize how important it is to support each other and build each other up. I want to be that for my friends! Amanda ran a lot of the Saturday runs with me and I just am so glad I had her!
I was talking with Becka about the difference in runners at the aid stations for us. When I would run through the aid stations you had to hurry and fight for a cup of water because so many people were whizzing on in and grabbing cups. It was so weird to me also how you just chucked your water cup on the ground?? I felt so guilty doing that! I also hated throwing my GU trash anywhere so I carried most of them in my bra and one I put next to a GU that was already on the ground. Haha. I felt so guilty just tossing my trash around. The volunteers are amazing though! I cannot emphasize that enough. I cannot believe the kindness from absolute strangers. It makes me want to volunteer one day and cheer other people on. They are amazing.
At mile 11 I had an "I HATE RUNNING" moment and was worried I started the course way too fast. I started second guessing my plan and became stressed. Then I remembered what I had read about the course from good ole "Fast Corry". He said if you can get to 14 you've made it. The rest is cake. From that moment on I just put my focus into getting to 14.
I happened to glance down at my phone when I was changing a song at 14 and I saw a text from April telling me how incredible my times were and how amazed she was. It just made me so excited to know she was tracking me! It gave me motivation to keep going knowing she was keeping track of where I was! I saw texts from Clayton and Amanda and a couple other people too once the race was finished and it made me feel so special.
Rachael, Amanda & Elisa told me they would be at mile 16 with my extra pair of shoes that I had given to Amanda in case I was having problems. I was so pumped to get to 16. It really gives you motivation when you know people are waiting for you. There were so many fun families and people cheering at 16 but I never did see the Kanab girls. I got my phone out at 17 and saw that they were asking where I was and that they were at 16... I typed 17 to them and felt bad that they had gone there and I wasn't even there. I was worried I ran right past them without noticing. It kinda bummed me out for a second and I felt so guilty that they had gone all that way and I didn't even see them!
Mile 19 was my slowest mile of the race at 8:27. I hit a rough patch for a second. My hips were starting to hurt a little more but I wasn't so much tired as I was achy. It got me worried for a second though that I was going to blow all my work thus far. I think I was also starting to get anxious about going past 20 miles since I had never done that before. I was mentally shutting down a little thinking about hitting the dreaded "wall".
Mile 20 came and I was really excited to take my special "GU with OCTANE" from Julie Jenson. She came to my house (well all of our fishies houses except Lexie Little (lol)) and gave us a these cute fruit gifts with some GU. She said it would really help us at Mile 20. So coming from Julie Jenson, the amazing woman who just ran the Grand 2 Grand... I took her advice like it was from the Bible and downed that GU at mile 20. I was just sure it was going to make me fly to the finish line. It actually really did help and I never hit the wall. Before I knew it I had forgotten about the wall until mile 22 and remembered that I should have ran smack into that wall by now. I started to feel more confident as the miles left got lower and around mile 22 I did some calculations in my head to figure out the slowest I could go and still meet my goal. I realized that I was going to reach my goal!!! I was so happy. I had this huge weight lifted off of me. All of these months of wondering if I was capable of reaching my goal or not was finally set to rest. I was going to do it! The thought of me reaching the finish line before 3:35 made me so pumped that I actually started to pick up speed again. I flew through mile 22 and reached 23 and to my surprise I see a bunch of girls waving and screaming my name!!! It was the Kanab girls! Rachael held her arms out open for me and I jetted across the street towards them and hugged Rachael as I cried. It was so good to see her, Amanda, Elisa & Kamie Lee! Kamie Lee even drove down to see us! Jessika was there too but I didn't see her! I have to add how truly humbled I am that these girls would take their entire Saturday to spend cheering and supporting us. They have families and other things they could have been doing but they spent it outside waiting for us to run by them for a few minutes. I just think they are awesome and seeing them was a HUGE highlight of the run for me. It just made me realize how important it is to support each other and build each other up. I want to be that for my friends! Amanda ran a lot of the Saturday runs with me and I just am so glad I had her!
The next two miles flew after I saw the girls. They gave me more motivation and I was just so happy. As I was about to turn the corner for the last mile I see a big ole guy out in the street! It was my old high school basketball coach Hal Hamblin! He was cheering for me and it made my day! I wish I would have taken a picture! I just love that guy. Who better for me to see them him! And then I see Angie and the whole Hamblin family! I didn't see Jayci and that bummed me out! It was all a blur. I just was so happy to see those guys though.
The last stretch to the finish line seemed to take forever for me but I tried to take it all in! I had so many emotions as I was approaching the finish line. It was an amazing feeling that I will never forget. As I crossed the time said 3:32 but I knew that wasn't even the right time because I started later than the gun. I knew I had met my goal time and I was so happy. There is something about setting a goal and reaching it that I can't describe. It makes you want to work towards more goals. It gives you a "anything is possible" outlook. Haha. I'm probably overly optimistic right now but really... I think that we can all do hard things! We are proof! I'm so proud of us.
After I crossed, I was a little out of it. I hadn't stopped running since 3:28:11 minutes before that and my legs were tired! I could barely walk but I just kind of aimlessly walked around for a second in a daze. I finally figured to call Clayton and he told me to walk over to the fence where he and the rest of my family was. Casey, Lydia, Grandma Jill, Kenna, Taylor, and Clayton and my girls were there waiting for me. I lost it when I walked over and finally just let my emotions take over. I was so happy to be done... yet sad to be done... yet happy I reached my goal... yet hurting like hell. Haha I was a bipolar mess. I was so grateful to see my family.
My phone died right after I met up with my family. I had no clue as to when MaryAnn and Bryant were going to cross and I missed seeing them cross. I felt so bad! Casey got a hold of Tyler and he told us Ebbi would be crossing around 12:00 and so I figured that was when the other girls would be too. We made our way over to the stands and waited for the other girls. When I saw Ebbi coming I was so happy! I cheered so loud and loved watching her face as she ran down the homestretch! She seemed to be loving it and on a running high! I was so happy her hips let her finish the marathon. Next came Lexie and she was almost sprinting in! I looked over and her family was just a cheering! Becka was next and I was so worried that her family missed her. Little did I know she had the perfect ending to her marathon with Dason running in with her. Candi was next and she was the only one out of the fishies that actually made eye contact with me and saw me cheering for her! She looked so happy as she ran in and it made me cry. I was sooooo soooo sooo proud of my fishies! I hope you guys can all hear me on those videos Casey took!
Anna told me later that night that she was proud of me. She told me that before I had crossed she had seen so many people come in and collapse. She was worried that was going to happen to me. I thought that was sweet she was so concerned. I hope my girls want to run with me later in life. I couldn't think of anything more fun than to run with them.
I don't even know what to say. I've written a novel but wanted to remember everything. Oh I almost forgot. Ebbi was crying uncontrollably when I met up with her after she finished! Haha. I never want to forget it. Running a marathon was life changing. I just can't put it into words how I feel. It's taught me the most important thing you can be is a cheerleader for someone else! It's taught me to dream big and set your goals high. It's taught me how kind and generous people are! It's taught me how organized people are! haha. I could go on and on. I'm going to stop. I love all my fishies. It's been a once in a lifetime experience!
You are amazing! You are so on track to win this thing in a few years!! bam. and I'll be there cheering you on and taking pictures!!
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