Many of my friends have taken luxury vacations to celebrate their 10-Year Anniversaries. Not us.
Instead we had on our schedule a trip to Utah; First to run the St. George marathon again and then to have Sage's baptism near family.
We made the beautiful and LONG drive to St. George from Denver.
The first 5 hours were spent counting how many yellow cars we could see along the way. I think we got into the 200's before we lost daylight and had to give up.
The first morning there we hit the marathon expo and enjoyed the chaos of all that event has to offer!
We hung out with family and got to bed as early as possible for the next days race!
I really do love this race. So well organized and they think of everything!
The issue I had going into this race was that I was actually training for an ultra-marathon later that month and the St. George was supposed to just be a long easy training run. I felt like I was between a rock and a hard place. If I ran it full out it might affect my training for the bigger race I was actually training for. But how could I really hold back during this race and just make it easy? If anyone knows me they know I pretty much give it my all, all the time. Yet even if I did race it how could I really expect my best results seeing as I hadn't tapered or rested my legs up for the race and was at the peak of my training for an ultra? I debated back and forth up until the week of the race, until I finally decided that I would give it my all (was there really any question?) even if it would be affected by my training program. I didn't think my ultra was going to be about time anyway.
Given this situation, I didn't have quite as much anxiety going into this race as I did on my last marathon since I didn't really know what I could realistically expect from myself. I knew I was ready to give it my all - whatever that looked like.
Off to the start early in the morning
We enjoyed the fires and the enthusiasm of the pre-race waiting area. I was pretty excited and ready to get the race started.
Off we went each of us running our own race but in it together!
I had awesome cheerleaders waiting at about mile 8 and I saw them in a flash as I ran by!
The race went pretty well for me.
I was more prepared for the downhill pounding and more mentally prepared for the two big up hills that can catch you off guard.
I settled in and just rolled along. I was glad that I had been training at altitude this time for the race (as opposed to the last time we ran this). But altitude training or not, one thing that was reinforced again to me was, you need to train fast to run fast. I didn't run this as fast as last time, but close enough!
I knew that this is a "lonely" race, especially in contrast to the Boston marathon. There aren't a ton of spectators and doesn't seem to be much conversation between runners. But I kind of looked forward to the solitude of running, being in my own head, and trying to take in the amazing scenery around me. This is one of the most beautiful races I've done, and I wanted to see it all this time!
So I did.
I felt really good for most of the run. My quads started cramping just like they did last time and I stopped to get rubbed down with Icy-Hot a couple of times. Other than that though, things felt good and I was hanging in there and feeling strong. What's 26.2 miles when you're training for 31? haha
It wasn't until about mile 21 or so thought that I thought I was going to die. haha My legs were hurting so bad by this point that I didn't know how I could keep going. I wished that I could use the downhill to my advantage but it just hurt too much to let loose and haul down the hill.
The last 4 were excruciating and as I came across the finish line you can definitely see the pain on my face. There was no energy or state of mind that could make me smile for a photo at this point.
I met my goals? I guess! I ran my second fastest marathon, enjoyed the view, gave it all I had, and hung on for the entire thing! I'd call that a success! I was pretty pleased with myself.
Justin also had a good run. He was all in for this race and wanted a certain time of course. But training is so hard when you often times have to work 80 hours a week. He did the best he could for the training that he was able to do.
He was feeling pretty good for most of the run, but the heat didn't do him any favors. He's really affected by it. I mean just look at how soaked he is from sweat!
Just like me he started to feel things with about 4 miles left (who doesn't though?). And he kind of started to crash and burn.
He didn't make his time goal but I think he feels like he ran this smarter than usual and is still happy with the outcome.
Hey he finished a marathon! How could there be no joy or pride in that?
I'm proud of him. Here's my guy who said he would never even run a mile with me for our first 4 years of marriage, let alone a marathon, and he just completed his 6th marathon! Now that's awesome!
I waited for Justin at the finish line and after he got past the pain that comes rushing over you after you stop running we actually could pose for a photo. I know that sounds weird but that's really how it is. You're in pain while you run obviously, and especially as you finish a race, but a different kind of pain comes flowing through you as soon as you're not required to run anymore. It'a like once you're not placing such a physical demand on your body any more it's like "oh you're done? Good! I'm just going to shut down now, thanks!" It takes a bit to get past that.
We ate and drank, tried not to puke, found our family and celebrated our accomplishements!
We rewarded the kids patience and heartfelt support in cheering us on all morning with an afternoon of swimming and huge ice cream cones! Then we hopped in the car and made the 4 hour drive up to SLC for the big day that awaited us in the morning!
