I ran the SLC marathon on April 17th. It was tough training in freezing cold temperatures and there were many times that I would have rather stayed inside than run. Thanks to Paul my husband I don't think I would have made it every time I was thinking about not going he would push me out the door and tell me to get it over with. Every marathon training schedule says to only run 20 miles. After doing 19 and 20 miles my legs would be so sore and I couldn't walk down stairs very well. I was really worried for the last 6.2 miles. Race day came came so fast, there were so many people at the starting line. I ran the first 13 miles in 1hour 50 min I thought I was doing great and would finish under 4 hours. After mile 13 I went down hill I started to get a blisters on the bottom of both of my feet. I felt pain with every step, I tried to get mole skin at the aide station but they only had band aides so I kept going. Then my arms started chaffing so luckily the aide stations had Vaseline. Then at mile 16-17 my legs started to cramp up It felt like I had a huge Charley horse in both of my quad muscles and I couldn't bend me legs. I kept going until I had to stop and walk a little and stretch which only made my legs tighten up more. Emily was waiting for me at Mile 20 I called Brandon (her Husband) almost in tears to see if he could drop her of sooner. He said she was already there waiting for me. The three miles to Emily were so painful that when I saw her I broke down crying because I was so grateful to see her. She talked to me the whole time to take my mind of the pain we had to walk when the cramping became to unbearable. It was cool to run up state street towards the state capital and in front of the Beehive house and down to the gateway mall. It was great to see my parents with my kids waiting for me at the finish line. I finished in 4 hours 15 min. After there were booths for the marathoners to get free food. I drank a small chocolate milk half a banana and a creamy ice cream boy did I pay, I was sick to my stomach for the next 6 hours. I couldn't eat or drink anything I just laid on the couch curled up in a ball with pain in my stomach. I don't think I will ever run one again I might just stick with 1/2 marathons but who knows Paul thinks it is like having a baby I will forget all of the pain and want to do it again. (yeah right!)
