I've been running marathons for thirteen years. I've gone through a lot: pregnancies, injuries, and the craziness of life. I've ran most of the major marathons in Utah (some of them twice) except the St. George Marathon. I've wanted to run it for quite some time but it requires travel and it's always conference weekend. This year was the first time when it was not over conference weekend. I decided this was the year.
I had surgery in March and was recovered by the third week of May. I slowly got back into running and felt great. I decided I was recovered enough for marathon training and I signed up. Training went well. I ran four days a week, swam and biked two days a week and weight trained two days a week. The weight training helped me feel so much stronger and prevented injury.
At first I was planning on my whole family going to my race. After all of the soccer schedules were released I realized it wouldn't work out for the kids to go. Betsy was available to stay with my kids. Marshall and I left to St. George around 2:00 on Friday. We went to the race expo first.
That night I had grilled chicken, salad (Chick-Fil-A) and rice (Mo Bettas) for dinner. I got to bed early and had no problem falling asleep so that was so nice!
Marshall took me to the bus at 3:30am! Your bus time is determined when you register for the race. Since I didn't register for the race right after registration opened, I had a really early bus time, one of the earliest. I sat by a nice lady who was 25-years-old and running her second marathon. We talked the whole way to the start line and that was so nice!
The start line had an exciting energy and was so big. I got to the start line a little around 4:30 and the race wasn't starting until 7:00. I sat around a camp fire to stay warm. I read my scriptures and conference talk. Then as it got closer to start I went to the bathroom and dropped my bag at the gear drop.
The start line chute was so long and huge. There was a sweet drone show while we were waiting to start. The drones showed the race logo as part of it. The drones also formed numbers and counted us down to start.
The first mile seemed surreal. There were so many people and it was just barely starting to get light. I wanted to stay on top of my nutrition and hydration so every mile I drank some water and ate a bite of fruit bar. I loved the fruit bars from Costco for training and loaded my pocket full of them for the race. They are so yummy. I'm so sick of goo, chews, and gels. My stomach felt a little funny through mile four and five but then I felt good through six and seven. Then we got to the hills. I had heard about the hills but I didn't realize how long they really would be. There was a big hill for mile 7.5 to 8.5. I pushed through and felt strong. Then not long after there was another long slow hill. So long! It got discouraging because it was so long and the sun was beating down on me. I started to feel frustrated. The hill ended around mile 10 and I felt tired. I saw Marshall and I was tired and told him how rough the hills were.
Then he told me I was in for a lot of downhill. I took this as we ran by Snow Canyon State Park. It was beautiful. From miles 12-23 I just pushed and enjoyed the downhill. I felt good. Marshall rode his e-bike on a paved trail for miles and miles. He cheered me on, check on me, took videos and pictures.
I started to cramp a little after 22 miles but just pushed through. I tried to do high knees, butt kicks, and some other didn't forms to use different muscles. That helped. I learned that when I ran the Ogden Marathon a few years ago from a race pacer.
I felt really good through mile 24 and 25. I had some good music going and there were so many people along the race course cheering everyone on. I felt so emotional and supported.
The last mile was rough. I was really cramping a lot. The mile felt like forever! I pushed through though. The only time I walked during the race was through the water stations. It's better that way so you can actually drink efficiently.
I wanted to finish the race under 4 hours and I finished in 3:59:47. I was so happy! It felt so good accomplishing my goal. I also felt really good because I stayed hydrated the whole race and nourished. I had bananas and oranges at some of the aide stations. I had an otter pop around mile 25.
Marshall was at the finish line cheering me on. I appreciated his support so much! It was a great race and met my expectations. I would definitely do it again! This is by far the best race for start line support and resources, aide stations, fans cheering along the way, and an awesome finish line.
Marshall took this as I was running by. I thought this sign was awesome and I felt so important.
Marshall also got a picture of Snow Canyon.
I enjoy what I wear running. I had these awesome capris that were tight and acted like compression sleeves. I wore my waist pack and water bottles with NOM hydration in them. I wore a comfortable Under Armour shirt that I've worn a lot. Then my favorite trucker hat.
The hotel gave us a late check out so it was really nice to shower and clean up before driving home. I had a tasty turkey from Einstein Bagel for lunch. I thought I would feel really tired on the way home but I felt really good. I was so glad I had Marshall to drive home though because my foot cramped up occasionally on the way home.
