Well, I DID IT! I accomplished one of my new year resolutions as well as a bucket list item. I ran and finished my first full marathon! Yep all 26.2 miles of it! (Well according to my Garmin watch it was actually 26.5 from start to finish...) Anyway I was so excited to accomplish this life long goal.
The weather was perfect for a race. The start line and all the way down the Blacksmith Fork Canyon was a little cold. I could see my breath the whole way. In a way though that was good because we didn't get too hot. Once I got out of the canyon, it warmed up and was the perfect temperature for running.
I had a lot of supporters cheering for me as I ran. My parents came up from St. George to see me race and Russell and the kids had made signs to wave as I ran passed.
I was so grateful for their cheers. Each time I ran by them and heard the cheers I just got a little more energy to keep going. In fact I looked forward to the places I told them to meet me because I always needed that little boost.
Here are some pictures of me running down the canyon. I felt really good at this point.
Mile 14 was at the bottom of the canyon and the first spot for people to come and cheer. I was still feeling pretty good.
At about mile 18 I was really feeling it. This was also the point where the course kind of took a turn uphill. I had done an 18 mile run and a 20 mile run in training and was fine but by the time I got to this point in the marathon, I was wearing out and I still had 6 miles to go... Here I am at mile 21 trying to look positive as I ran passed my cheerleaders.
The last 6 miles was really a mental race. I really had to will myself to keep going because my body and legs were saying it was time to stop. I would run for about a mile and a half and then walk through the aid stations and pray for a bit of down hill. I would tell myself to just run to that tree or that sign or anything I could see in the distance. Each time I stopped to walk for a bit my body said okay we're DONE! and I would have to tell it no sorry lets get going again... At a few of the aid stations, the volunteers were cheering for me by name saying, "Go Tiffany! You can do it!" It was so cool but I wondered how they knew my name and then I realized my name was printed on my bib number and they were reading my bib. It was cool anyway and I love hearing a personal cheer. At one point though when I heard them cheer my name, I just thought to myself, "I wish I could run right now." That was during one of my walking times...
There was one guy that I ran with for a little bit that was so funny he made the hard part worth running. We kept passing each other during the first part of the race. I would pass him then he would pass me. At about mile 17 he caught up to me again we chatted for a little bit and then he went on and said, "Well if you pass me again, give me a hard time!" I told him I would. So later at about mile 19, I passed him again. As I ran passed I just said something like, "Good job! Keep it up!" He yelled back at me, "That's not giving me a hard time!" So I said, "What, are you going to let a girl pass you?!" He laughed and said "That's better!" We kind of stuck together until about mile 20 when I got ahead. It was fun to have someone to make me laugh during that hard time.
I finally made it through Millville, Providence, River Heights and into Logan. By this time I only had about 2.5 miles to go. I was so tired but I knew I would finish.
My goal at the beginning was to run the marathon in just under 4 hours. I was doing great and was right on course to meet that goal running 8:30 minute miles until about mile 20. At that point I hit the "wall" and my goal changed to just finishing! And that's what I did!
I have never been so glad to see a finish line. As I ran passed my mom toward the finish line, she asked me if I was dead and I said yes! I finished my first marathon with a time of 4 hours and 12 minutes (9:33 min/mi). I wasn't that far off my original goal and to tell you the truth, I am pretty happy with my time.
Well it is official, I am a marathon runner! I have earned the right to put a 26.2 sticker in the window of my car. I am even going to loose two toenails because of it! After the marathon, I was so glad to be done but once I got some of the post race food and chocolate milk and walked around for a bit I was feeling much better. After the race, I was able to get one of the complementary massages. It felt soooooo good! I am glad I got a massage because I could walk a lot better after the massage and I think it helped with the soreness for the days after the race.
I am really glad I was able to accomplish this goal of mine. It was definitely hard but definitely a learning and growing experience. Do I see myself doing another marathon? Well... not right now. I am happy to say I have ran one and only one.
To celebrate, after the race, we took my parents up to see the Kokanee Salmon spawning upstream. It was really cool. We even saw a few attempt to jump up a small waterfall. Then we went out to eat at Angie's. I was so tired and ready for bed that night but it was a good and fun day. Now if I could only walk...
So on the Wednesday before the Marathon, we saw our first snowfall of the winter! It was just the tops of the surrounding mountains but it was cold nonetheless. I was hoping the cold would hold off until after the marathon but no it came right before. Luckily though it warmed up a bit and the snow melted before Saturday.
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