Day 112: Marathon Day

5 1/2 years of thinking about it cumulated into this:
16 weeks of training
2 marathon books read
440 miles run
58,000 calories burned
and
1 goal reached

When my little sister ran her first marathon a man that was pacing her told her that the ideal time for a woman to run a marathon was when she was 35. When Katie told me that I committed to run a marathon with her when I was that age. After all my life plan included having my 6th baby at 34 so I would be ready to run at 35. Since I got off my "have a baby every other year" schedule, I decided I'd better bump that goal up a bit and signed up for the Utah Valley Marathon. I was thrilled that my sister signed up too, even though she'd just had a baby. It was a great blessing to me in the end that she was here from West Virginia to keep me going.

We got on the bus in Provo at 3:30 am and were dropped off in Wallsburg. It was freezing but we stayed sort of warm by the fires that were lit.

Here we are at 5:58 am, ready to start:

The first 14 miles were great. We maintained a 10:30min/mile pace (really good for me). There were various uphills, but overall it was a nice run through Wallsburg, past Deer Creek and through Provo Canyon. Even up to mile 20 wasn't so bad. When we hit mile 21 though it started to get really hard for me. (Here we are just coming out of the canyon)

My sister was so great though. I know she could have run the marathon a lot faster (she'd run 2 previously with awesome times) but she stayed with me and encouraged me. She was actually happy to have people cheering her in Provo, whereas I was kind of bugged by everyone telling me, "Great job." At this point I didn't feel like I was doing a great job. It was nice though being able to see the finish line from a couple miles out. And even though it took a long time to finally make it to it, it was awesome to finally reach it. It was really fun hearing the announcer say my sister's name and then mine, plus see my family. Special thanks to my siblings and in-laws that came. I so appreciate the support. My official time was 5:01:30. Nothing special to the real runners of the world, but pretty good for the regular ol' mommy. Here I am, barely alive, with my many good things.

And here with my sister....don't run a marathon alone, bring your sister.