would DEFINITELY agree.
After 5 months of training the day finally arrived.
The Top Of Utah MARATHON.
Some of you might understand the amount of dedication and hard work it requires to prepare yourself for a marathon. At our last Half Marathon our finishing time was right on track for us making our marathon time goal (somewhere just under 4 hours), and even maybe put me close to qualifying for the Boston Marathon.
However, the day after our half marathon I found out I was PREGNANT, and everything changed.
My father, the OBGyn HIGHLY discouraged me from running it. My brother-in-law, the OBGyn, somewhat discouraged me from running it. My OBGyn in Boston definitely didn't encourage me to run it.
I went back and forth. Should I? Shouldn't I? I kept up with the training cutting WAY back on the intensity, and missed my 20 mile run. Training pregnant/tired, pushing two kids in a stroller by myself was quite a challenge......not to mention, feeling morning sickness 24 hours a day!
We decided to go for it, but to just take it WAY easy. Now my goal was just hopefully to finish, and hopefully before they stopped giving finishing medals away (7-8 hours). We thought it would be nice though to finish before the volunteers/aid stations left (6 hours).
The first 14 miles were down a beautiful canyon, where the fall colors were starting to change. We saw two Moose. Nice and cool with the wind at our back. It was very enjoyable. This is just after mile 14 when spectators could finally come and cheer for us!
I think this was about mile 21. Still feeling pretty good, but it was getting mighty hot - somewhere in the mid 80's.
My OBGYN(s) said that staying hydrated was the most important. I'd have to say I succeeded at that since I had to stop for a pee break every 2 miles.....no exaggeration!!!
I know it looks like we are walking...but we actually are jogging. Let's not mention though, that we're jogging so slow that a speed walker passed us at mile 3, never to be seen again!
About 1 1/2 miles left. Still feeling ok.
We did it! Under 6 hours! Actually I think the hardest part was forcing myself to hold back the entire race. Especially those last few miles, I wanted to just bolt! I had quite a bit left in me! Being 11 weeks pregnant though, I wanted to keep my heart rate under 80% MHR.
Still laughing and smiling. That's a good sign. And see, we weren't even the last to finish! Good sport Justin, ran the entire thing with me (at like 60% of his MHR). He said this was "OUR race." I think he just wanted to make sure he was there to force me to not push it. Good man.
Let's not even get into our stats this time. They were horrible. Maybe next time I can do better! I think it's a pretty safe bet. Not running for two should hopefully make a difference!
FYI: I went with my dad for an ultra sound after the race....and everything with the baby still looks good. PHEW!!