The 26.2 mile recap

So we survived the marathon. Barely. I honestly don't quite know what to say about it. It is kind of anti-climatic. We've been building up to this for the past 6 months and now it's over. And I'm kind of disappointed in how it went. We finished. It took us a REALLY long time. (Our official chip time was 5 hours and 47 minutes.) It was painful. Our goal was to finish before the 6 hour cut-off time, which we did. But I'm still disappointed. I don't know why though.

I really thought we were ready for this, but it was so much harder than I ever imagined. My cute visiting teacher brought me this little marathon care package the day before. It was great!

These are all the braces we used throughout the course of our training and during the actual race to keep us in one piece.

We did stay in a place that was up Ogden Canyon and this was our view. It is a really pretty valley up there.

We stayed up there because we didn't want to get up at 2:30 in the morning to drive up to the bus loading place. So we got up at like 4:45 and went over there. We almost got lost and we were worried that we would miss the bus. But we made it to the start line just fine.

The start line was a bit chilly, but the weather for the race was really gorgeous. And it was a gorgeous course. The nice thing was that you could shed your layers of clothing at the mile markers and they would take it to the end for you. That helped a lot.

I think I got dehydrated because I went to the bathroom at the start, but then I never went again until like 2 hours after the race was over. That is SO unlike me!

We were doing really well until about Mile 19 or so, and then we hit the wall. We walked, we shuffled, we jogged, we almost cried, we kept telling ourselves we could do it. When it hurt to shuffle, we'd start walking. But then it would hurt to walk, so we had to start shuffling again.

It was a very long and painful 6 miles to the end. Honestly, it didn't even feel like an accomplishment to cross that finish line. All I could think about was how much I hurt. It was so disappointing because I felt like we had worked so hard to train for this and it didn't even feel like we had succeeded.

I know in my head that we did succeed and that running a marathon IS a HUGE accomplishment, but I just didn't feel it. I really thought we were better prepared. I think I know what I would do differently if I ever do it again.

For this one I did the bare minimum training program. I did the whole training program, but I did the minimum requirements of it. I just didn't have the time to do the maximum training program. Next time, I would do the maximum recommendations, and I would cut down the total training time from 6 months to 4-5 months. I would do the interval training and strength training and stuff more diligently during my workouts. I would practice the walk-run method throughout the whole training period. I would develop some methods to implement around Mile 19 when I really need something extra (like saving my music until then or having someone who is not running the marathon come and run with me then or having a cheering sqaud at that mile marker or something.)

Anyway, here we are after finishing. We look pretty dead, I know. My dad and Nathan both finished as well. Nathan did it in about 4 1/2 hours and my dad beat us by about 15-20 minutes. I was glad he was able to run. And I'm so glad Matt and I were able to run together. That really helped to have someone there the whole way.

We were in so much pain that we couldn't even enjoy the post-race festivities (and they were mostly over by the time we actually finished anyway). We couldn't move for the rest of the day or on Sunday, but we are feeling back to normal today.

A few hours later, we were famished so we had our post-marathon feast at Sizzler. We all ate a TON! Except for Nathan, who ate a ton and a half!

Anyway, that was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. But I am glad I did it. And even though I didn't do a very good job, I CAN say that I have run a marathon.

Melissa (my sister in law) took some videos of us crossing the finish line, so I'll have to post those as soon as I can. A big thanks to my parents and Matt's parents and Melissa who came to cheer us on. We love you!

I think I just feel a little bit defeated. Like the marathon defeated me instead of me defeating the marathon. Grrr. But now I am ready for my marathon reward...my trip to Kentucky!

P.S. Leslie was the winner of the time guess. I'll send you your prize soon. Email me your address though. :)