I am doing a terrible job of blogging. I haven't posted Easter pictures, t-ball, pitiching machine, and a whole lot more. Really it is on my list of things to do tomorrow :) Today I want to remember the grueling Ogden Marathon. The week before the marathon I had the flu. On Tuesday I still wasn't feeling really well. I decided that if I didn't feel better by Wednesday there was no way I could run. I woke up Wednesday morning and my headache had finally went away and I felt a little more like myself. So off to the marathon I went. My goal was to be 3:40 but I had decided if I was under 4 hours I would be happy. I started out the marathon and felt really good. My cousin, Jason, ran with me the first 15 miles. He is great motivation and really helped me out. At mile 13 I was getting a little tired so I ate some gu and a banana. I also ate a cliff bar somewhere in the middle of there. By mile 15 when Jason left me I was feeling pretty tired. I thought if I slowed down a bit that when I hit the down hill I would really be able to speed up. I got to mile 16 and my legs really started cramping up. I thought I could run through it but I was wrong. I kept stopping and walking at the aid stations hoping that my second wind would come. By mile 18 my right leg was shooting a pain up the back of it everytime it hit the ground. When I would walk there was relief. I found myself walking more and more. I never try anything "new" at a marathon because I don't know how it will affect me. I never drank gatorade, only water. I wonder if I would have drank gatorade it would have helped??? I don't know. I kept telling myself I just needed to make it to mile 22 and my family would be there and they would give me motivation. I saw my family and the thought I had was I was so happy to see them and if I quit running I will have them take me to the finish. I was ready to QUIT. I had enough! Somehow my legs kept going. I wanted to cry when I saw my boys smiling at me. I knew I couldn't give up because of them... But I was VERY tempted! The next 3 miles were long grueling miles. I walked a lot. I lost about 12 minutes in the last 3 miles. Jason came back and ran with me the last 5 blocks. I was pretty disappointed in myself and he had very postive things to say. I did get my personal best time at 4:03. I really wanted to break 4 hours - but I didn't. That ride home I promised myself and Dusty that I would never run a marathon again. The pain I was in I never wanted to repeat! I couldn't believe how bad it hurt. I woke up the next morning and thought "was it really that bad" and began looking for another marathon. There is one in Provo Canyon on June 4 and I have talked Staci and Jason into running it. I don't know if it was the flu that made my legs cramp or what. I have had a couple people give me some ideas so that doesn't happen again. So, it looks like I will have another marathon under by belt in 2 weeks... I'll give my body a couple days off - then back to running!
