Sunday, August 9, 2009

reporting in



I ran the Provo River 1/2 marathon yesterday.

It was a COLD morning. I had brought along gloves, a sweatshirt, and a headband. I felt prepared for the most part. I had ran the miles I should have beforehand. There were a TON of people there: approximately 1500, which made for a crazy start.

First 4 miles felt good, next 2 were BEAUTIFUL! I ran the whole thing. RAN meaning, I DID NOT WALK... even during the little uphill portion they threw at us in the middle of the course. My aunt had filled me in the previous day on what to expect, but neglected (intentionally... I found out later) to tell me about the uphill part. Mile 9-11 were the most difficult. They had left a mark on mile 9, but not on 10. I kept waiting and looking and hoping to see mile marker 10... but never found one. Finally I saw the mile marker coming up ahead, and was glad to finally be hitting mile 10. There is was: MILE 11. Mile 11? MILE 11??? SWEEEEEET!!!
I was so happy about this news that mile 11-12 passed by quite quickly. The last mile seemed to never end. Partially because it was the last mile, and I had lost my energy GU somewhere along the way, and partially because my feet had started protesting. I had to trick myself into thinking that the pain, in fact, was a tingling pleasure in order to press on. It worked until the second the race ended... then the fantasy was over.

I passed Hayden and Aspen when I started reaching the end. Aspen started crying because she wanted to come run with me. Turned another corner and LO and BEHOLD... there was the finish line.

It was a big accomplishment. Never had I run that far before in my life... and all my previous miles I had done (even my two 12 mile runs) had been quite a bit slower, and I had walked in portions. I try to pretend that my sister didn't dust me by 5 minutes, and my sister in law by almost 30 minutes. I just concentrate on the fact that my PREDICTED time to finish was a 10 minute mile time of 2 hours 11 minutes, and I finished in 2 hours 5 minutes. I just concentrate on the fact that it is OVER and I LIVED.


6 comments:

going gordon said...

You are awesome! It always feels so good to reach difficult goals. Just remember, you will always beat me because I will never do it. : )

BriAnn said...

Good job!! You are my hero.

Liz said...

Ha! I love it, you're such a good writer! Makes me want to go back and do it all over again!!! Kara and I are talking about doing the same run on Halloween. Did you get the flier? Just something to keep working towards. Maybe I hit you up about this once your sore muscles wear off :D

Liz said...

Ha! I love it, you're such a good writer! Makes me want to go back and do it all over again!!! Kara and I are talking about doing the same run on Halloween. Did you get the flier? Just something to keep working towards. Maybe I hit you up about this once your sore muscles wear off :D

Nathan and Shanna said...

Way to go!! I'm so glad that you were able to do that! I am so not a distance runner. GREAT JOB!

LaurieJ said...

You did amazing! Good job and I hope you didn't have to go up and down too many stairs soon after!

On this Blog: