St. George Marathon

I somehow got talked into doing the St. George Marathon again. That's 26.2 miles. Crazy idea. Even though I totally trained right on schedule the past four months, I was still near tears about mile 20 and from there on it was all I could do focus all my inner gumption, for lack of a better word, to put one foot in front of the other.

I finished. In fact, I set a new PR by four minutes. It still took me over five hours, but I'll cut myself some slack since I've had two more kids, and a little more added weight, since I did it in 2005.

And some advice: Nearly anyone can do a marathon. I discovered that back in 2001 when I was working for the City of SG cutting up fruit at the finish line. I saw some pretty big girls come through the finish line and thought, "Heck, if they can do it...." I was passed by people who were bigger and older than me, and I passed younger and thinner girls than me. Not sure what the secret is.

However, do not use a marathon as a weight losing strategy. Your body requires a lot of calories to be able to run long distances. But then again my idea of carbo-loading is chocolate cake (probably not such a swell plan).

Running/training for a marathon really is an emotional rollercoaster. I've enjoyed getting up early on Saturdays to train with a group of women from my ward who've become great friends. I've loved being out in the morning before the sun comes up. I've needed goals since I've become "just a mom." I've loved sore muscles. I had to dig deep during the marathon to keep going and keep the tears from coming. My friend, Katie, was a strength by my side while enduring physical and emotional injuries. And I looked forward the entire race to seeing my family at the end pushing me on.

Katie and me near Winchester Hills, about mile 16
Don't you love action shots? I look like I'm about to fall over. Nice.

Pushing through - I couldn't even move my head to look from one side to the other. All my energy was in my legs.

Finally finishing!