Salt Lake Marathon 2010

I ran the Salt Lake Marathon! Again!

And I hope I never do another one for the rest of my life.

It was so hard!!!!!!!!! I really wanted to beat my score from last year, and I wanted to beat it into the ground. So I pushed really hard at the start. That was probablly a mistake, because I hit a wall around mile eleven. ELEVEN!! With fifteen more miles to run! It became markedly harder to continue the pavement pounding, in spite of my best efforts at ignoring all the pain.

Todd met me at mile 14, (more than half way) and he could tell something was wrong.

"Are you hurt?" He asked.

"Yes!" I cried.

"What hurts?"

"My legs!"

Of course my legs hurt. Everything hurt at that point. With 12 more miles to go.

I kept running, and somehow things got a little easier for 4 or 5 miles. I was feeling hopeful of making my goal until around mile 21, where I hit a SERIOUS wall. I could not run. And it was breaking my heart. I walk-ran and saw Todd again at mile 22- he ran through Liberty Park with me and I probablly complained his ear off about how I wanted to stop running and be done.

To say that I struggled is an understatement- I practically clawed my way along and at mile 24 came to an aid station and burst into tears. The lady handing out Powerade put her arm around me, walked with me, and gave me a pep talk. I coughed her powerade all over the road (oops) so she gave me another. She told me that she had walked an entire marathon, and I could walk too. And if she could finish it, so could I! She hugged me and told me she loved me, and sent me on my way. Thank you, powerade lady for the support!

The last mile was awful. My knee hurt like the dickins, and felt ready to rupture with any extra pressure. So I did this limp-run thing where I looked like Forrest Gump when he ran with braced legs. I didn't want to walk- the faster I completed the race, the sooner I could STOP MOVING. So I forced myself along, and saw someone leaping beside me calling my name. It was my dad :) Cheering me on! And then I saw my mom cheering for me too! :D Dad, if you read this I realize you probablly weren't leaping, but that's what it looked like to me, lol.

And eventually the finish line was within view. It's the strangest thing, I thought I had completely used up all my energy but boy did I get a surge of adrenaline when I saw the end. I ran-- full force-- toward that bitter end. (And saw my niece Allison, which was awesome!) And I crossed that finish line without a tear, but filled with anger at the pain and relief at the completion of it all.

I beat my last score by 20 minutes, but didn't make my four hour goal. I guess I'll settle for 4:19, because I'll be darned if I ever try to run a fast marathon again!