We got up way early and headed to Garden City (about 20 minutes away from my parent's summer home in St. Charles) and boarded a bus full of a bunch of buff people- old and young- but all of them looked like they were in great shape. As Mark and I started talking to them we got more and more nervous... "Ah, you've done how many??? Working toward one in each state??Sheeesh!!" We were beginning to feel a little out of our league. I honestly thought I was going to throw up right before we started... which would've been too bad considering there were no potties at the starting line... what's up with that? A bunch of guys AND girls- mind you- just went for it in the sage brush and no one seemed to mind, either. What a world these runners live in!
So here's the difference between me and my hubby. I've trained pretty faithfully for six months-I never missed a long run, I've done a little research, bought some gear, got advice from as many marathoners as possible, etc.. Mark has gone running MAYBE ten times over six months, hasn't really done any research or honing down on his favorite techniques, etc... The most he'd run before yesterday in one day was 8 miles.... So needless to say, I was a bit concerned for him. I was worried he was going to really hurt himself or have to quit because of the pain or something- um, NO!!! After a little potty break I took, who do I see in front of me?, going a pretty decent pace I might add? My hubby... just trekking along with his mp3 player. Yeah, I had to work to catch up.. and he would've beat me had it been a half marathon. Anyway, long story short... I was able to run the entire time- except for through the aide stations (running and drinking isn't a skill I possess I just end up choking) and when I called my mom at 5 miles from the finish. Can I just tell you how excited I was to see the signs "2 more miles" "1 more mile" AH!!! I pretty much picked up the pace that last half mile... I felt like I was sprinting, but when you've been running about a 12 minute mile it probably wasn't really sprinting. Regardless, I was like yelling, "26.2 miles baby!" and "yay!!" and I jumped over the finish line all excited and elated- I was!!! I was so happy to have done it, to have accomplished my goal of running a marathon! Yeah! So my daddy was there... I love him so much! He was so proud of me and was telling me to get food and water and stretch for a minute.. There were so many nice people there. The guy that's trying to run a marathon in every state told my dad how I was a "tough cookie" going up this four mile incline and not stopping once- I don't really remember what he's talking about, but I go pretty brain dead after running for so long... anyway, that was really nice. So my dad and I decided to go try and find Mark to cheer him on the rest of the way, well, unfortunately, the path looped around for the last 2 miles, and he was closer to being done than expected, so we totally missed him and he just went home. I was so bummed! I missed his finish at our 10 k too. That's what I get for underestimating him. Oh well, he did it! And he came in a mere 30 minutes behind me... that bum! Could you imagine if he actually trained? He is pretty achy today and he had cramps in his legs the last 10 or so but he did it! What a natural athlete. He does hike a lot and play ball so I think that helped him. He also was probably blessed for all the early hours of watching Sawyer while I went running or to the gym... I really don't know how I would've been able to train without him and his flexible schedule.
I did have a pretty bad tummy ache afterward- I think from all the gu and it's sugar and caffeine that my body's not used to- yeah, I probably should've gone easy on that, but all in all, we had a great experience. The race had such a different feel than all the other long runs I've done. It went by so much faster(even though we ran from about 6:45 to noon).. that adrenaline is something, isn't it? It was s uch a fun thing to do together. We're still so pumped and happy that we can just relax up here in Idaho for a few more days... thanks to my parents letting us stay at their house. They really took care of us and little Sawyer. I was so glad they were able to actually come up and watch. My whole life they've always made it to my special events... and there were so many games, track meets, concerts... wow! and they've been so supportive. I have the best parents ever!!
