Marathon

Training:
About 2 months ago, if you would have asked me if I might run a marathon, I would have told you "Heck no! I'm not crazy!" Alas, I am crazy and I am no longer a marathon virgin. When I was training for the Wasatch Back, I ran 10 miles and I realized about 8 miles into it that my legs just kept moving! They just kept on going despite the insane amount of 10 miles that was my goal. I was impressed! If my body can run 10 miles, maybe it can run more. Teeny tiny marathon thoughts kept creeping into my brain and I wondered if I could do it. Heather, my friend who lives in Murray has run FOUR marathons this summer! She invited me to run the Top of Utah marathon with her, and I responded the same way I mentioned before! But I kept thinking about it and decided I'd give it a try. Marathon training takes lots of weeks and lots of hours. You run one long run a week and add 2 miles onto it each time. You work your way up to 20 or 22 miles and then cut back down, so you never run a full marathon before the big day. That was crazy to me!! But that's what all the experts say, so I listened. 16.5 miles felt pretty good. 18.5 miles was VERY hard. I was SO tired and ran out of fuel. I wanted to walk SO bad, but my sweet husband was right next to me and helped me to keep going. 21.5 miles - I was surprised to see that I felt good! I could have kept going! Mark hurt his knee right when we were supposed to start getting the high mileage in so he couldn't train. So sad! After all his years of passionate running, I ran a marathon before he did! But even with that disappointment, he was the BEST support ever. He encouraged me, drove next to me, brought me cold water and ice cold rags, massaged my sore legs and scrubbed the tub so I could soak! He watched the kids so I could spend 3 hours running. He's amazing.

Marathon:
Heather came up and ran it with me! As we were walking to the buses at 5:37 am, I realized I forgot my number!! Ahh!!! I had about 8 minutes to drive home and back for it! I drove WAY too fast. But I made it!! Heather and I ran comfortably at the same pace! Yeah!!! We talked almost the whole time, it was so nice, and we ran 9:05 minute miles. She had some issues for the first 15-ish miles and I pushed her, then after mile 18 I got tired and she pushed me. After mile 18, it got hard. I was tired, I wondered if i didn't have enough fuel and my thighs were feeling it. I kept going with her, lingering a little longer at each water stop that I should have! I had to try really hard to think positive. We both had our ipods and started listening to music about then. By mile 24, I started to walk and Heather yelled back at me "Don't stop!" So I ran, then I did it again, and again she yelled, but finally I just had to walk. I couldn't! I knew I just needed to walk for a couple minutes then I could finish, so I walked for about 2 minutes, looked at my watch and knew I had just enough time to run (not fast) and finish before 4 hours! I couldn't get myself to run fast by any means, and I felt like my legs weren't working right, but I made it in at 3:58:19. I heard my sweet hubby yell, and I heard my dad yell! Heather was waiting for me in the shoot. I'm so thankful for her help!! I'm SO glad I didn't have to run it alone! I'm SURE I wouldn't have done as well without her.

Anyway, it was awesome to be done. I honestly related the marathon to natural childbirth!!! :) So hard. Painful. Tried and tried to think positive. I know that it's only hard right now, but soon I'll be done and I'll have a great reward, you know? If I can just keep going now and get through the hardest, I'll be so happy as soon as I cross the finish line! And I was!!!! I cried! It was so awesome. I did it!!! I hugged my family with my gross sweaty salty body. I was so happy to see them there!

Bridal Faire:
So, after I finished the marathon, I took a shower and headed over to USU for my booth set up at the bridal faire here in Logan!! I spent this week making cake dummies, flyers, business cards, and a million other things. It was INSANE!!! I'm pretty sure I've never been more productive in my life! My super incredible awesome friend Malia and my sweet husband set up the booth, and Malia sat at it for the first half. Okay, she didn't sit at all. She was perfect for it and learned more about the brides she talked to than I learned about the brides I talked to! Next time, right? It wasn't as busy as I had hoped for, but I talked to a lot of brides and a lot of vendors too, and gave away a few stacks of flyers with my DARLING new logo. Rob Davis, graphic designer extraordiare, designed it for me. He's amazing. If Windows will cooperate, my new site will be up in a couple days.

Anyway, if we want to expect a great reward, we better put in great effort!!