Geoff and I ran the Marathon. I am so proud of both of us. I was really worried about being able to finish the race. I was nervous that I would not make it to the cut off spot by the cutoff time. I had been preparing for the race for a while but then didn't do anything for about a month before the race. Geoff and I done a 20 miler a few weeks before the race so I knew that I could go that far.
The day before the marathon we went to the Dixie Center for the Expo. We got this picture taken. It was a lot of fun to walk around and look at all the booths. One of the booths had a thing where they told you your body fat and also what your levels in your blood were. I thought it was pretty cool that they were able to do all of that stuff.
The next day, we got up early and headed tot he park to get on the bus. I was so nervous. The whole bus ride up I kept thinking what have I gotten myself into. I was so freaked out about being able to do this race. When we got to the starting line it was so cold. Everyone was standing around big bonfires trying to keep warm. It is really a surreal feeling being up there with all of these other crazy people that are about to run the marathon. We were so far from the starting line that it took almost 10 minutes to get from where we were to where we crossed the starting line.
It was so awesome to see the sea of people running down the street. For the first couple of miles there are just people running everywhere. As the race goes on in starts to thin out and for awhile I swear I was the only one on the road. It was so cool to run past all the people that were out on the street cheering for the runners. There is nothing more helpful in a long run then having someone to cheer you on. I feel like it helped me out so much!
My dad is a volunteer at the last aid station and when I saw him I ran up and gave him a big hug and then had to keep on running because I was starting to cry. I never would have thought that running a marathon could be such an emotional thing. But it really is. It is one one the hardest, best things that I have ever done in my life.
I finished the race in 5 hours and 45 minutes. I was so proud of myself. Geoff finished in 3 hours and 52 minutes. Geoff asked me if I would ever run a marathon again and I told him that I was a one and done kind of girl. Now that I have had time to recover I am considering running another one. I think part of the reason I was so against ever doing it again was because my feet and legs were so sore. Come to find out I had some pretty awesome blisters on my feet. They were pretty bad. My big toe and the one next to it rubbed together and it was not pretty. I would post pictures but I don't think that anyone wants to see that.
After heading home and taking a nap and a shower we decided that we would go out and eat instead of having to make something for us We went to Black Bear Diner and let me tell you I was so glad to have someone make something for us instead of having to figure out what to make and having to make it.
