DISCLAIMER: This is going to be a very long post. If you are not interested in a very detailed account of my marathon race, stop reading right now and just scroll through looking at the pictures. I will not be held accountable for the amount of time of your life you lose reading this blog post.
Next was straight home to get things all ready for the race and get to bed early. As I was putting all of my stuff together, I realized that the store didn't give me the gel packs that I had purchased earlier. I was freaking out. I looked everywhere for them and couldn't find them. By this time it was 9:30pm, I was supposed to be in bed at 9:00 and I had to hurry off to several stores to find a store that carried them. Without them, I would never be able to finish the race so I was really glad I finally found them.
Saturday morning started at 4:45am with a quick shower and preparations for the race. I put my bag of supplies together, which included ibuprofen, sunblock, bandaids, gum, gel packs, ipod, etc... Body glide (the original anti-chafe) was applied in diverse places, and nipples were bandaged. Got on my running gear and headed out the door at 5:15am. Drove down to the gateway to park my car and caught a TRAX train that took me to the starting line. I got to the starting line just in time to see the wheelchair competitors start and next came the early starters for the marathon. From 6:15 to 7:00 I drank PowerAde, stretched my muscles, moved around to get rid of nerves, used the bathroom and otherwise prepared myself mentally for the big race.
About ten minutes before the race all the runners lined up behind the Legacy Bridge at the University of Utah. We had a 2010 Bronze metalist who gave us a motivational thought followed by a military man singing us the National Anthem. Now it was really time to start!!!!
I was probably half way back in the crowd of runners waiting behind the starting line. As the blow horn sounded to started the race, the crowd started to move and get more condensed. We had a false start of sorts as people got anxious to move and then realized there were still thousands of people in front of them. It became a slow walk to the starting line before I was able to start a slow jog. It didn't take me long to realize that the 4 gel packs in my pocket were not gonna work for me. They were swinging like crazy and I ended up holding them in my hand the remainder of the race. The first several miles of the race were very tight-The whole goal becomes finding a way to get passed all the slower people and find your regular pace amidst many other people trying to do the same. I mostly stayed on the outer right side of the pack which gave me many opportunities to pass and find a good speed.
There were so many people that I never saw a mile sign indicating how far I had run until I reached the 4 mile mark by Sugarhouse Park. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had run 4 miles in just over 30 minutes, I was making great time. At this point the half marathon split from the full marathon and the amount of runners seriously thinned out. But that didn't last long, we rejoined the half marathon right after running around the perimeter of the park and I found this to be a good thing for me as I was able to pass more people and maintain my pace and my motivation. The next few miles were all about getting to about the nine mile mark where I knew my mom and Trisha would be to cheer me on.
As I rounded up Keller Lane, I saw Trisha, my mom and was surprised to see my brother CJ. It was amazing and refreshing to see them. As I passed them I started to get a little emotional because I knew that they were my own little cheering crowd there just for me. I pulled myself together and looked forward to each point where I knew that they would be along the race. I was still feeling really good at this point and felt like I was keeping a really good pace.
Me passing Keller Lane, about mile 9
The next few miles seemed like I was running by the same people the whole time. I also started to appreciate the many people on the side of the road waving, sounding cowbells, clapping, giving words of encouragement. It was really encouraging and made it easier to keep going. I also started to really appreciate the aid stations with water and PowerAde. I discovered that I really like the yellow colored PowerAde and I tried to look for it at every station after that cause it was so delicious and refreshing. By about mile 10 I started to have a cramp on my left side. It would hurt really bad, go away and then come back. I struggled with this for the next 5 miles. I was really excited when I reached the half way point and saw the time clock. I was still making really good time and I had beat my original half marathon time by 3 minutes! Yay!!
Just past the halfway point, mile 14
A closer look at mile 14
I saw my supporters again just past mile 14. I guess CJ kept getting mad at me cause when I passed them I didn't take out my earphones and he was trying to ask me questions and I never answered them. This time he came running up from behind me and ran in front of me taking pictures of me and then running forward some more to take some more pictures. I don't know if he ever got a great picture out of it, but he did get me to take out my earphones so he could ask me how I was feeling. I told him I was cramping really bad and then I gave him a bag of supplies that I was carrying in my pocket and I was well on my way to the second half of the race.
Although lots of people kept passing me for the next few miles I felt like they were a little easier because I was more familiar with the streets that I was running on and I could mentally picture the next point that I needed to get to. The hard part was 500 East- from 4500 South to 1300 South. Straight, flat road. I felt like everytime I got to a traffic light that it should have been another mile but in reality it was more like a half mile. I saw my family again right in front of Granite High at mile 19.5. This time I took out my earphones and asked them what time it was cause I hadn't seen a clock since the halfway point. I thought that I had slowed down a lot and was shocked to find out that I was 3 hours into the race and had only 6 more miles to run. This is the point where I realized that I was actually gonna finish this race!!
Only 6 more miles to go, I can do this, right?! Well just in case you don't know this already, the last 6 miles are completely awful!!!!!!! I struggled so much through them. I just looked forward to every aid station and tried to keep making new goals for myself to get me to the end. I would say to myself, "Okay you gotta get to mile 22. Then you can walk at the aid station while you drink a water and a PowerAde." After 22 miles it was all unknown to me and it was brutal! The walking at the aid stations started to become a little bit longer and starting to run again after walking became more and more painful. I knew that I was gonna get through it with less than three miles left so it became only a matter of time. If I didn't have a time goal, I would have walked the last 4 miles and felt completely content with my run. BUT, I couldn't do that so I made a compromise. I took a little more time but still kept running. Earlier in the race I feared that I had developed a blister at the base of my left big toe. That fear was confirmed around mile 23 when my toe all of a sudden exploded, feeling like my toe had broken off. Nothing I can do about it at this point except keep running. I think one of the other hard parts about the race was right before mile 25. Running up State Street and hitting this very small hill that went from 200 South to South Temple. The small hill was too much for me and I walked up it before continuing my run to the finish.
The last mile was awesome!!! I knew that I was there, I had no desire to walk and I was feeling really good. As I got closer to the Gateway, more and more people lined the streets and I started to feel the love from all the random strangers along the road. As I rounded the corner into the finish line, I was overcome with triumph looking to both sides of me and seeing solid walls of people yelling and the finish line one block straight in front of me. Then the best part came. A big group of my family on one side and friends on the other side of the track right before the finish line!!!! Crossing the finish line was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life and it meant a lot to share that moment with them. I crossed the finish line at 4:19:22 and was really happy about it but was even more happy to find that my official chip time was 4:16:19. This fell right in the middle of my range goal time between 4 and 4.5 hours. Trisha pointed out to me today that my time must have been another birthday present to her because her birthday is 4/16, kind of ironic- Happy Birthday Babe!
The final stretch, just before the finish line
The finish line
Resting on the side rail right after finishing
After the race I got my kneees wrapped in ice packs which felt amazing. As the ice melted it would drip down my legs so basically the lower half of my legs were numb for about a half hour before I took the ice off. Trisha came with me to the runners section and we collected all sorts of food and drinks. I think Trisha really enjoyed walking through there and saying, "I'll take one of those for my husband...." Besides being really tired, I felt better than I felt after most of my training runs. We went to lunch with everyone after at Rumbi's and I was surprised that I couldn't really eat anything, my stomach was really upset. This never happens after I run so I'm not sure what happened there. The other surprise was the massive blisters (5 of them) that I found on my feet. I never get blisters, what the crap?!
First knee getting wrapped with an ice bag
Second knee getting wrapped
Me and my cute pregnant wife
The family supporters
Jill, Rob, Wesley and Beckett
One of my nasty blisters
Another nasty blister
Another blister... Check out how high it is off of my foot! Sweet
Overall the race was a huge success for me and I am so proud of myself. I don't think I have ever set a goal that required so much self discipline and time and strength and endurance. And to reach my goal feels awesome!!! Thanks for everyone who has followed me through this goal, giving me words of encouragement and showing me your support!!I look forward to at least two weeks of rest from running and then starting back into a good running routine.
