if you MUST travel 26.2 miles...i'd recommend driving

ran the top of utah marathon saturday in 3:41. which beats my goal of about 4 hours, but i'm very very sore now. worth it? not sure yet.

some memories of the day:

PRE-RACE

1. loud jabbering lady on the bus ride up to the starting line (about 30-40 minutes), talking about everything from the benefits of allergy shots to poorly planned races she's run. i hope she saved some energy for the last 6 miles of the race.

2. at the port-a-pottie lines. the door to one of the johns hadn't opened in some time, so one lady took it upon herself to march from the back of the line up to the door, knock, and yell, "IS ANYBODY EVEN IN THERE?" brief pause, then a quiet, "yes." i was annoyed by the lady and embarrassed for the dude. imagine how awesome THAT guy felt coming out of the john.

3. being stopped by some middle-aged guy, who pointed at me and said, "wow. you look really fast." me: [confused] me? i do? him: "yep. i mean, look at you. you've got the body, the whole look, for this race." i was 1/4 proud, 3/4 weirded out. i mean, i was wearing a cotton t-shirt...doesn't he know that REAL runners aren't caught dead in such garb?

4. two different people were showing off their new toe-shoes (or whatever they're officially called) before the race. i'm going to have to pass--i just don't dig stuff in between my toes.

FIRST 6 MILES

1. i was determined to enjoy this race, and so i started out by just listening to random conversations and people around me instead of my music. very interesting stuff, actually, but boring to recount here.

2. some guy had to pee and started climbing up a pretty steep hill on the side of the road (the race follows a canyon road for the first 14 miles). i felt bad for the guy; he must've used up a lot of energy doing that. marathons are interesting that way--you have to make a lot of decisions and trafe-offs on the fly. like, he maybe could've tried to make it to the next mile marker (there are johns at every one), but apparently he decided it would be better/easier to hike a bit.

to each his own.

3. pretty chilly. i kept my long-sleeved t-shirt on until about mile 14.

4. beautiful scenery. really.

5. started feeling a hot-spot on the bottom of my outer left toes. whuuuut. not a good sign. i was wondering if i was subconsciously overcompensating because i'd had a bit of trouble with my right big toe. concentrated on that for a while.

6. forgot to walk through the mile 5 aid station, but i walked through all the rest as per my plan. i think i'll do that for every marathon i run.

7. mile 6 time: about 53 minutes. a fine pace.

MILES 6-13

1. my left toes were really starting to bug me, so around mile 8 i stopped, took my shoe off, and readjusted my sock. it helped a little but not much. figured i'd just have to ignore it.

1b. started listening to tunes around mile 8. why didn't i do this sooner? much better.

2. one guy in front of me was tall and thin, and he wore the SHORTEST teensiest shorts you've ever seen. i got a very real half-moon view with every step he took. ew ew and ew.

3. lots of matchy-matchy runners. i'm not a huge fan, but whatever motivates them is great.

4. i found myself in various degrees of pain already. my right quad, my left calf, my left toes, and others. not feeling my best. i was really really trying to *enjoy* the run, because i knew from experience that all of a sudden it's over. but, frankly, i had a very hard time truly enjoying this race. which is okay, i guess. just one of those things.

5. strong winds near the end of the canyon, which i LOVED. i forgot about "pace" and whatever and just let the wind and downhill slope push me along...i figured that, pretty soon, i'd have to propel myself, so it was nice to let something else push me for a while.

6. i noticed about 90% of the people checking their watches/pacers every few minutes. this was intruiguing to me, because, really, if you're "behind" schedule, is it really wise to start pushing yourself harder at mile 10, when there's still more than half the race left? like i said--whatever works for different people. i just prefer to hone into my own body and run at whatever pace is both possible and wise at that moment. that's one reason i like running so much. my brain and body are totally clued into each other.

7. mile 13 time: about 1:48 (i think). a little too fast, but i credit the wind & downhill forces; i didn't feel i exerted more effort than i use on my regular pace.

MILES 14-20

1. was feeling pretty sluggish and tired. fortunately, i got to see paul & the kids at various parts. it's weird just how much of a boost that gives when you kind of just want to quit and/or die (either one).

2. below: photo of me at about mile 16, when i first saw paul. i was so happy to see him that i had to stop and give him a kiss...til he swatted me to keep moving. "don't stop for me, get going!" his exact words. love him.

3. i was trying to follow interesting people throughout this stretch (and the rest of the race) to keep my mind distracted. there was this super tall, thin kid that kept me company (within about 30 feet) for miles and miles, until about mile 23. he'll never know it, but he was my pacer and became my mental friend. that's a weird sensation, hard to describe, but i kind of internally bond with some runners who stick with me (or vice versa) for a long time.

4. don't really have any uplifting or interesting comments about the rest of this stretch. it was pretty hard, but i just tried to keep listening to my body and going at a comfortable pace.

5. mile 20 time: 2:45 (i think). surprisingly faster than i'd planned on. i calculated that i'd be able meet my 4-hour goal as long as i didn't totally die in the next 6 miles. which, with my having to constantly keep my mental pessimism in check (abnormal for me while running), i wasn't ruling out at this point.

MILES 20-26.2

1. below photos: to my surprise, my father-in-law (who was watching our kids for us, because the finish line is CRAZY) brought the kids down to cheer me on with paul at about mile 21. i needed this SO BADLY. i heard all three kiddos screaming, saw addie waving frantically with her wild hair and happy face, carson jumping up and down (whole-body wave), and layla doing a little bobbing-dance-wave move. i'm blowing them kisses below.

2. i'm waving to the kids below. i wanted to run over and hug them all and was aching to just be done so i could do that.

3. below: i can still hear addie at this point, yelling, "hi, mom!" and "dad, i saw mom! i see heh (her)!" i literally battled an asthma-like attack for the next half mile as i had to keep running by them -- a lump formed in my throat, and i felt my airways closing up a bit. it was very strange; i had to physically work to consciously keep breathing. that's never happened to me before; shows what a fragile emotional state i was in.

4. um, this is kind of getting redundant. sorry. every aid station, i stopped and walked. i guess you could say i hit the wall around mile 21, although it's tricky, because i felt like i hit it mentally around mile 9. this race was a total gut-it-out experience. i wanted to feel magical. i wanted to love it. but i just didn't. it's hard to explain.

5. i remember passing certain spots that i specifically remember the last time i ran TOU and thinking, "i should be feeling pain by now, but i feel great!" that was a little surreal, because i didn't feel great at all this time around. maybe i really should train for-real.

6. below photo: a couple blocks away from the finish line here (it's hard to see, but i drew an arrow to me). i didn't see paul at this point, which is probably good, because i would've wanted to try to smile and give a thumbs-up or something, to fake like i was doing great. it was grueling. i wanted to die.

7. it's kind of funny, now, how mad i look at those two probably-very-nice-ladies standing on the right of this photo. just seeing this brings me pain. but, on a happy note, look how awesome my right bicep looks! thank you, random tree shadow. :)

8. mile 26.2 time: 3:41:39. apparently i'm about a minute and a half off of qualifying for boston. which is cool. gives me something to shoot for next time. if there is a next time...

9. below: done and done. ew on this pic. but what can i say. i'm ready to crawl into a hole and die.

10. did i mention how much i adore paul? because i do. adore him.

there you go. an honest, although depressing, account of my 2010 top of utah marathon experience. i'm a blessed girl to have a healthy body and mind and a supportive husband & family to accomplish something like this.

p.s. my very cool niece, rylee, ran this race as well--her first marathon ever, and she rocked it at 4:03. coincidentally, my friend and neighbor adam smith ran it for the first time and got 4:03 also. way to go, friends!