Good Hail! I ran 26.2 and liked it.

Mom I wrote EVERY detail, and then some, just for you.  Missed you.  :)  And please don’t ground me permanently even though somehow both camera batteries were dead.  Caleb’s phone does just as good as our DSLR right?!

Friday was crazy.  I thought running against schools like BYU and Boise State was scary, I guess I didn’t know what scary was back in my college days.  My pre-race-jitters hit an all time high and I think the people around me could sense those feelings.  Everyone was trying extra hard to show me the love.  Mr. Herzog went out of his way to make sure EVERYONE knew what I was doing the next day (great, no pressure at all to finish) and he counted down the hours more than I did.  Thanks.  All 930 students wished me good luck.   Somehow the staff was also informed, couldn’t have been Herzog, about my madness and they gave me a super cute running jacket- maybe they knew what was to come the next morning, or maybe they just jinxed me...  Some students also showed the love by bringing me way too many candy bars.  I’ve taught them so well about pre-race fuel, or maybe I was really grumpy and they know how to give me a cheerfulness fix, or maybe they just wanted extra-credit.  I have no idea who would’ve ever told them they would be my favorite students and get bonus points if they brought me candy.   ;) 

Friday night Caleb was being sooooo sweet to me.  I feel bad now because I’m pretty sure I was ornery.  And we all know what happens when I’m in a bad mood, no bueno.  We drove up to Logan to pick up my packet.  Caleb made me sphagetti for the 25^th night in a row, I drank enough water to stay hydrated for an entire year, and all I wanted at this point was for the race to just finally begin. 

My dad called me a million times through out the week, or maybe his extra nervous first-time marathon runner daughter called him a million times to get some more wise words of advice, I can’t remember now, but Friday he told me he scored big at D.I. and found the perfect clothing bag for me to keep all of his sweats in.  Yes, his sweats.  I love mine too much.  Heaven forbid I might loose some of my ten year old, bleach stained, torn sweats.  So I turned to the next best thing, my dad’s sweats.  I am so nice to him, no wonder I'm his favorite.  He brought me the bright orange trick-or-treat pumpkin bag with his sweats (which was the best idea ever because it took us all of five seconds to find that bag at the finish line), I popped some sleep meds, and zoned out.

Fast-forward to 3:15 am.  I slept like a rock, and only dreamed one bad thing, the stick on the trail turned into a giant Rattlesnake that bit my ankle and I died.   I woke up and was delusional.  I heard something really loud outside, RAIN!!!  But I was so confused because it NEVER EVER rains like that in Utah.  GREAT!!!!!!  Notice my dad's mountain man jacket he let me wear?!  He must have really liked our Halloween costumes from last year.  

Caleb drove me to Logan and I got right on the bus.  The only thing I was thinking about on the bus ride was the huge need to go pee feeling I had.  I swear I was going to pee my pants.  Seriously, enough fuel in my bladder to hydrate your mom’s cow… The bus ride up the canyon seemed like 52 miles, definitely not 26, and the long ride was not helping the mental note that I knew I was about to run down what we just drove up.  The old man next to me was really tired and didn’t say one word.  We got to the start and the bus driver stopped the bus and everyone just sat there.  I was so confused because I knew we were at the start but no one was getting off the bus.  I was at the back of the bus and was the first to stand up.  Everyone looked at me like I was crazy because I stood up, I yelled to the bus driver something like hey I am about to pee on your bus, can you please open the doors so I can get off?!  I got off the bus and realized the bathrooms were a quarter of a mile up the road, I guess that’s why no one was getting off because they knew eventually the driver would take them to port-a-potty land.  I peed in the bush and made my way to the heated tent.  

30 seconds before the gun went off, the skies thought it would be funny to pour an ocean on all the runners.  It lasted long enough to get my shoes soaking wet, and went away.  Glad you cared.  Right then I decided that if I wanted to have a positive experience, I couldn’t let the monsoon bring me down.  I turned on my music and started dancing.  (Dancing in the rain, bucket list check.)  I was completely SHOCKED when I ran past the mile one sign because it felt like I had been running for 60 seconds.  Then all of the sudden there was mile 2, and 3, and 4…I was pleasantly surprised at how fast the miles were flying by.   I got to mile 6 did a double take with the course digitial clock and my time, thinking there was no way I was really running sub 8 minute miles.  OOOPS!!  I was feeling sooo good but knew if I kept up that pace for much longer I would either die, or I would be hating life come Mile 18, so I slowed my pace.  The canyon was so beautiful and peaceful.  At mile 8 the rain hit really hard again.  It continued for, don’t even worry about it, TEN MILES.

 

 After I got over the fact that my hair was ruined, I was cold, my shoes now weighed at least 20 lbs. each, I couldn’t see, my ear filled with water and ruined my niece’s left-ear head phone I was wearing, it felt like I was wearing a swimming suit, I couldn’t feel my legs because they were so cold, I made the mental note to be the Tigger in life that my mom always taught me to be.  And started thinking something like, the faster I run, the faster I finish, the faster I get to be with Caleb, the faster I’m out of the cold rain, the faster I can go back to bed, and the faster I get to take a hott shower.  Mile 13 was at the bottom of the canyon and my time was right around 1:45ish.  I was feeling good and knew that if I kept my pace I would be in good shape for qualifying for Boston.  This was a good motivator to keep moving.  At mile 14 I saw my dad and sister and couldn’t have been more happy.  My dad must have been really worried about me cuz he kept asking me if I was okay and really wanted me to put on his jacket. He seriously has been the best coach through this entire process and he was more worried about the rain, coldness and hail than I was.  Bless his heart I've caused him a lot of stress and anxiety the past 7 days.  At mile 15 I saw Caleb and was freaking out!!  Then I noticed the scenery and road I was running on looked very familiar, it was the exact road I ran on for my first leg of Ragnar, freaking out even more.    I wanted Caleb to know he had a super hott sexy wife even in the rain, so I picked up my pace again.  BUT I guess my spirits needed a humbling fix, almost as much as BYU needed a humbling fix after they scored their one and only touch-down yesterday and were cheering as though they had just won the superbowl, they lost 5,000 to 10, or something like that, boy were they humbled, so back to my running, it started hailing!!!!  I was humbled and slowed way down.

Andy and Shay, Caleb personally made this video just for you two.

I continued to see my cheerers every few miles and was feeling good.  Then it happened, I hit the wall at mile 18, and tried to ignore the fact that the entire mile was a hill.  I may or may not have walked all of it.  :/  Somewhere a long the run a lady runner next to me told me she could hear the water in my shoes sloshing around!!!  Oh my luck sometimes, it's okay to not be jealous.  Eventually I made my long way to mile 21 and ran into Caleb and Caitlyn.   

Caitlyn was a complete rockstar and drove all the way to Logan to pull me a long the last five miles.  She seriously was my saving grace.  She just did a marathon this summer and so she knew the exact feelings I was having.  We carried on and met up with Aubrey at mile 23!!  Wahoo another person to pull me a long!!   I think the race people got confused with their distance calculations and I’m pretty sure the last 3 miles was actually 10 miles.  Eventually I finished and was quite emotional, in a good way, crossing the line.  I loved the marathon so much that despite my muscles screaming bloody murder when they come close to stairs, I can’t wait to do it again.  My time was right around 4 hours, and if your math skills are any better than mine, you know more than I know that I slowed way way down the last few miles.  But oh well, I feel good and I know I gave it my all. 

26.2.  Whoo whoo!!

Thanks to everyone who’s had to put up with my race anxiety for the past 90 days.  It was well worth it and I can’t wait to do my next one!!  And a special thanks to these people!  Best motivators, coaches, supporters ever. And as a side note, my dad told Caleb and I a few weeks ago that he heard a song on the radio that he really likes.  He started singing it and it's Beyonce's Single Ladies song. No joke!   Caleb and I have since been making bets on what radio station my dad listens to.  Apparently it's the same radio that plays LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem because all he kept saying was to just keep shuffling.   Everyday I'm shuffling...  Which was funny because I lost track how many times I listened to that song on repeat to get pumped for the race, before and during...