Runner Girl

Four months of training, fours hours of sleep, three potty breaks in the trees, and 26.2 miles later I can now say that I have finished a marathon! Had the race ended at mile 24 I would say something like "that was the coolest experience I've ever had, I loved every minute of it." But once I hit about 24.5, I was ready to stop. The last mile was the longest mile I've ever run-- it was all I could do to finish! My legs were so tired and sore, and the end just never seemed to come. I didn't stop until the finish line though. In fact, miracle of miracles, I only walked to drink water at the water stations through the entire race.

So now I have a new appreciation for the word "endurance". In general conference today, one speaker said, "Enduring to the end can be challenging." I chuckled a bit to myself because enduring to the end of that race was extremely challenging. But it was a great experience. Lisa, my 2nd oldest sister, and I ran it together. We wore matching outfits and dedicated the run to our mom who beat breast cancer a few years ago. Our shirts had her photo on them and said "Mom's Runners." On the back it said, "She beat cancer, we can beat 26.2."

I felt so great starting out. We ran a slower pace than I normally do, but I think that helped a lot. I couldn't believe it when an hour flew by and I hadn't once felt like stopping to walk. I really wanted to finish in under 4 hours, and Lisa was shooting for under 4:30. So I told her that at mile 13 I would decide how I felt and decide if I would try for under 4:00. When we got to 13, she was hurting a bit from a previously sore achilles and was stopping to get some ben gay rubbed on her. So she said, "Go get it Lane!" I told her I loved her and I'd see her at the end and started out for the last half on my own.

At that point I was at 2:10, so I knew I needed to make up 20 minutes to make it under 4 hours. I ran hard and felt really great. I passed several hundred runners from that point, which was pretty exciting. At mile 23 I was at around 3:40, so I knew I would be coming in after 4 hours, but was still hopeful for around 4:05. Running into town around mile 24 I still felt good. I tried to pick up the pace, which may have been my downfall. I was hurting so bad and all I wanted to do was stop. I kept wondering when the finish would come. Finally I saw the balloons and it was all I could do to keep running. But I did. I kept thinking how it was kind of like childbirth. No matter how much you want it to end, you just have to keep pushing.

Passing over the finish line was so relieving. I walked around and caught my breath and then headed back to the finish to see my sister come through. I was so excited to see her pass by, she looked really strong and passed a couple people coming in! I screamed and screamed her name, but she didn't hear me. Then I had to get back to the racer area so I wouldn't lose her. I walked as fast as I could (which wasn't very fast) back to the area, but instead of taking the long way around to the entrance, I asked a 16 year old kid to help me jump the fence. He was a bit taken aback, but was kind enough to give me a boost over the 4 foot divider. I ran and hugged Lisa and cried. We did it!! I felt so overjoyed!

I am amazed that I was able to do it. Honestly, I felt so blessed as I ran the last half. The longest I ran in training was 15 miles, and I did it really slowly and stopped many times. So when I had passed mile 16, 17, and 20 without stopping to walk and still felt great, I almost cried. All I could think was, "Our God lives and loves us!"

So my official finishing time was longer than I wanted, but I'm satisfied with it (particularly given the fact that 4 months ago it took me an hour to run/walk 3 miles). I finished in 4:09:52 and Lisa came in at 4:22:24. I was right around the 50th percentile of finishers overall and in my division. It's pretty rewarding.

My brother came to see us run. He decided the night before to drive down, so they left around 6 am and made it in time to cheer us on at the end. He's a cool brother to come see us. And his wife is cool to go along with the ride-- particularly since they had to drag their children out of bed at an awfully early hour. Thanks to both of you! I love you lots. And thanks especially to Lisa. If it wasn't for her suggestion 9 months ago that we run a marathon, I never would have done this. And I'm so happy she did it with me. I love you, Lis!!

Will I ever do that again? At mile 10, I told Lisa we should keep doing these together and even run one when she's 60. At mile 23 I was thinking how much I loved running marathons. At mile 25 I decided once was enough and that I would never again do this to myself. But now I'm thinking maybe next year I'll run a 3:45 and in 2011 I'll do 3:30... we'll see.

So I guess it's official: I'm a runner. I love it. I'm healthier than I've ever been and look forward to becoming even healthier in the future. My next race is in February. I'm going to run the Del Sol Ragnar with Lisa and my brother, Byron. It's a relay race, so we'll have 12 people on our team and each of us will run 3 legs over a 24 hour time period totaling 202 miles (running around 12-21 miles each) through the Arizona desert. I'm really excited to do it. Plus, it will keep me running in the winter months when I don't feel like heading out in the cold.

Hopefully I'll be able to walk soon. I'm pretty sore. Stairs are the worst. My friend, Cody, carried me up some stairs last night and today Tyler carried me around a bit. Sadly neither are here now and my kids aren't quite strong enough to carry me yet. :) Oh, and I have some pretty serious blisters on my heels and toes (I had to show a photo... sorry to those of you who find that so incredibly disgusting...). In fact, I have a blister on a blister. It's a bit cold around here for flip flops, but I think I'll sport them for a day or two.

I should be up and running again before the end of the week... I can't wait. :)