Last year my experience running the marathon was so fun. This year....not so much. Don't get me wrong, I am so glad that I did it and also that I actually finished it, but the weather conditions were horrible. Pouring rain with head winds the whole 26.2 miles. I was very excited to meet up with Hailey the Thurs. before the race. She was staying with her friend at a family condo and I was staying in a hotel with a friend from Boise. The first night Hailey's friend and her husband were stuck in Orem trying to put songs on her ipod that her sister erased. Totally understand that because if you are use to running with music you don't want to be without it on a marathon. But that left Hailey, Kyle and Dallin with no place to go until midnight so we decided to get a hotel somewhere and I would share it with them. It actually was really nice because I was able to spend time with them and cute little Dallin now knows that Nanna loves him. The next day was fun, I went to the expo and the pasta dinner. Gotta fill up on carbs. The next morning I woke up in a room with 3 other ladies and we all nervously got dressed and tried to eat something at the breakfast that the hotel put together at 4:30 am. It's hard to eat when you really just want to throw up instead. I was getting so nervous. But I was so encouraged when I went to my car and it was pretty warm. Last year it was 38 degrees at the start.....not good for an Arizona girl. Then it started to rain. Anyway, the bus ride up seemed to take forever. By the time we arrived 26.2 miles up the canyon it was pouring down. I tried to find Hailey but I couldn't. I was yelling her name for awhile but then it was time for the race to begin. My phone didn't have any service. Oh well, no good-luck hug for Hailey. I hurried and took off my warm ups and put them in a bag that they give you and threw it at one of the volunteers and started my 6 hour run from h---. About 2 miles into it my feet were wet and cold. When my feet get cold my toes cramp up so for the rest of the run I was trying to relax them so they wouldn't cramp. About mile 10 I had to decide if I wanted to keep wearing the jacket that I planned on shedding after I warmed up. I decided that I was not going to get warm from a wet jacket. It was dripping wet but the head winds were a little crazy and I was afraid of not having any protection even if I was so wet. I finally just took it off, it probably weighed 10 pounds by now and it splatted on the side of the road like I just took it out of a bucket of water. When I looked down at my running garmin at mile 13 I was encouraged because I was ahead of last years time by about 15 minutes. But then at mile 15 both calves and both hamstrings tightened up and started to cramp......AAAAAHHHHHH long story short......I was seen stopping every mile or two by the side of the road and stretching was only working a little bit. I noticed that my time was increasing not decreasing and I was getting a little bit discouraged. Every 3 miles was an aid station and I took advantage of the massages. I would just yell, "icy hot" and someone would appear. I would hike up my shorts and tell them, "both legs, everywhere". They would rub and I would be off running again till the next aid station. I was not the only one doing this. There were more Aid vehicles this year and 10 times as many people on the side of the road stretching. Man, where was that heat from Arizona that I complained about all summer? Well, about mile 23 right when you get in town, my legs were so cramped up I really didn't think that I was going to finish this running, much less faster than last year. In fact, I was now wondering if I was going to finish it in the 6 hour time limit. I started to walk then cry, then I said a little prayer.....I was pretty embarrassed at this point, thinking that I must look pretty pathetic with my 50 year old body walking and crying. But the spectators, and other runners who, if you think about it were not doing any better than me, (and I'm talking 30 something men and women), were so encouraging that I started to run again. I got through that 3 miles somehow. I was a blubbering mess by the time I ran over the finish line at 5 hours 57 minutes. Woo hoo 3 minutes to spare. What an ordeal!!!! Not doing that again!!! Glad I did it though. I was already checked out of my hotel so I showered at Hailey's condo and did not get warm until I crawled into Dallin's bed and put socks on my feet. (At the first aid station at the finish line they were actually giving people warm saline IV's to warm them up. Didn't hear about those until the next day....Oh well, I survived.) About 4 hours later I drove to Las Vegas where I had a hotel waiting for me. I was so glad to see my hotel. I went to Wendy's drive thru and made sure I ordered a frosty with my meal(I was warm by now). I hobbled into the hotel around 7:00pm. I looked like a cripple limping and cringing. I was sure to wear my marathon shirt in case anyone had any opinions as to why I was walking like that. Man that Marriott bed was nice. I lay in bed til conference was over at 11:00. Showered and headed for home. Kelly had a yummy steak dinner waiting for me. The smartest thing I did was schedule a full body massage for Monday. By Tues. I was doing awesome and this morning I yelled at Kelly to "look at me walking down the stairs like a normal person". Now that the "dust has settled", I am still not going to run another marathon, maybe a half but no more marathons for this chubby 50 year old girl. Hailey on the other hand has the bug. She definitely wants to do another one.
