I still kind of can't believe that happened.
Just over a year ago, I ran my first 10K. I knew the next season with Galloway, I'd be training for a half, and I started training for that earlier this year. But when I saw that my friend Karen had "run a marathon" on her 40 before 40 list, I thought that maybe I could do that, too. So we signed up for the St. George Marathon and started training.
Leading up to the marathon, I was really struggling. My training hasn't been great since I've moved. It's hard to pull myself out of bed when it's darker and colder and I don't know the area as well. It's even harder when I don't have people to run with, as running has become such a social thing for me. I've had some foot, hip, and knee pain that's bothered me some. But I didn't want to give up on this goal. Though my parents and some friends were questioning me week of if I really still wanted to do it, I still went down to St. George.
As I was in my hotel room Friday night, I was really nervous and I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. (St. George has a strict cut-off at mile 23.1. It's only a bit slower than my race pace and I've been worried about that since the beginning.) I called Louise, the Boise Galloway director (and my running coach and friend). She told me that she had tried to talk me out of doing the marathon, as she saw that I wasn't enjoying running as much since signing up for it, as I was always so worried about it. She told me that I better have fun or she would slap me and if I wasn't going to have fun, I might as well not get on the bus in the morning. She said just to enjoy the day and do my race. I think I needed that rebuking.
So I got up early Saturday morning (sometime around 3:30am, I think) and tried to start enjoying the day. It was actually pretty nice walking to the buses, but really cold at the start line. I grabbed a mylar blanket they were handing out and wrapped it around my legs and just tried to enjoy the atmosphere. I also got my foot professionally taped, and I think that really helped. As the time for the marathon approached, I still couldn't believe I was doing it, but there really wasn't a backing out at that point. The race started a bit late, which made me anxious, as the sweeper said that they weren't adjusting the cut-off time and we still had to be at the cut-off by 1pm, even though we were starting later. That meant I'd have to run each mile a minute faster than planned. But then... we were off. It was a really pretty morning as the sun was coming up and it was just really peaceful and pretty. People spread out pretty quickly, with people passing me all over the place.
A few miles in, Karen came up from behind me and we ran a few miles together before she went on ahead to run her own race (and she did awesome, finishing almost an hour ahead of me). I continued on, with it kind of being me and the road. The scenery along the course was pretty diverse and beautiful. From the meadows, to the Veyo hill/volcano, to the gorgeous red rock. I tried to take it all in, and actually didn't even listen to podcasts like I normally do. I kept repeating my mantra over and over, "I am strong, I am powerful, I am enough."
That "I am enough" one became important. After I had talked to Louise, I realized that I was so scared of being swept because to me, that symbolized total failure. As she pointed out, it wouldn't be the end of the world if that did happen. But in my head... it kind of was. And as I thought about why that was, I realized it was because it would reinforce some of my more negative thoughts about myself, about never being enough. So with that mantra, I was reminding myself that I am enough, even if I fall short sometimes.
As I enjoyed the course, I was just was really impressed with the St. George Marathon. Yes, it was pretty. Yes, it was a decent course. But I was super impressed with the volunteers. In addition to handing out water and Gatorade and snacks, they also handed out Vaseline (which I was so grateful for around mile 7, when I realized the body glide I put on wasn't going to be sufficient) and even had nurses at aid stations putting on IcyHot wherever you needed it. I stopped at three different stations to get that done. My lower back kind of starting spazzing out around mile 10, so that was great to have that and it calmed down. And I'm pretty sure there were PortaPotties at every mile marker. (Bonus: by being a slow runner, there's pretty much never a wait.)
As I continued to try and enjoy the course, I tried to notice accomplishments along the way. When I got to the 13.1 check-in clock, I looked at the clock and then at my watch and then at the clock again, and realized that I had run my fastest half marathon. When I was around mile 16, I was able to see my parents, which was a bit of a fun surprise (they said they were going to the spectator spots, but I wasn't sure where they were). And when I passed 20 miles, I celebrated running the farthest I ever have. (I definitely slacked in my longer runs towards the end of my marathon training.) I met a few people and enjoyed talking to them. (Slow runners are fun and generally more easy to talk to, as they're open to just having experience instead of beating a certain time. Or maybe I just tell myself that to feel better about being a slow runner. Haha.) As it got closer and closer to 1pm, I got nervous as I wasn't going to quite make the cut-off by that time. But some of the other runners said that they heard that they had extended the time due to them starting late. And it turns out they did and I definitely celebrated passing the cut-off point, as I knew that I was going to finish the marathon at that point. Once you passed the cut-off, you could take as long as you needed. And at that point it was only another 5K. Super doable when you break it down like that (though I think it ended up being one of my slowest 5Ks ever). And even that last 5K was super supported, even for us slow people. I know a lot of spectators had left and they were cleaning up the aid stations, but they were handing out ice in addition to everything else, and I put some cubes between my visor and my head and it felt wonderful. There were also icy cold washcloths towards the end, and a random St. George girl was in front of her house, misting people with a hose if they wanted (I definitely took her up on that). There were police officers on motorcyles kind of accompanying an older man who was running his 40th St. George Marathon (yes, a 70-year-old man finished about the same time that I did) and the police officers were singing over their microphones, including "The Final Countdown." That really made me smile. The sweeper passed me with about a half mile to go, but it didn't matter at that point, as I beat him to the cut-off (only by a few minutes, judging by when he said he crossed it, but I made it).
It was an absolutely amazing feeling crossing that finish line (in just under 7 hours chip time). There were so many times I wasn't sure if I was going to make it (even during the race), but I did it. I did a really hard thing! It was so taxing both physically and mentally, but I made it. Louise told me that after her first marathon, she saw someone wearing a shirt that said, "Now that I've run a marathon, I know that I can do anything." I really felt that after I crossed the finish line and I'm hoping to hold on to that moving forward. (Though I'll admit, that it's already been a struggle over the past 2 weeks.) I can do hard things. I'm continuing to do hard things. And, just like the marathon, I'll one day be able to cross that finish line and be amazed at what I was able to accomplish... while enjoying the super awesome misters. Haha.
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(And yes, I accidentally got sunburned during the marathon. Whoops.)
So I was able to kick off this 101 list with a bang! Marathon complete! And as far as running goes, one of my other 101 list goals is to run a race every month for a year. I was planning on doing that starting with the marathon, but my foot got a bit injured during the race somehow and my runs have been really slow and pathetic. (Walking around during the course of a normal day aggravates it sometimes.) So I need to figure that out so I can continue in that goal, as well. But if nothing else... 5Ks count as races, right?
