I couldn't believe the week before that it was finally here! All those months of anticipation, training, excitement, and soreness had finally paid off and it was time to start carbo loading. I had a terrible week at school the week before and I hardly got ANY sleep. My laptop got broken by a student who threw a basktball (missed the shot) and slammed on my laptop screen. So I was suffering from that whole escapade, and on top of that I kept having nightmares about the marathon race. I once dreamed that I was running with a group of friends through a big city and every 2 miles they would stop and take a break for like a half an hour. I kept thinking "come on guys, we're never going to finish the marathon under 6 hours if we keep stopping! They're going to kick us off the road." It was quite hilarious since I wouldn't even be running with ANY of my friends anyways in the real race. I had so much school work to get done since we had been given a bunch of new deadlines and I finally finished them all Thursday night. I ate a lot of food the week before and drank tons of water. Two nights before we had a big chicken fettucine alfredo dinner, and the night before I ate a chicken and vegetable salad.
Spencer and I left at about 4:20 p.m and had such a fun, bonding drive down to St. George. We listened and rocked out the whole way down to his new music collection that he inherited. Before we knew it we had arrived at the Expo center where I picked up my packet and t-shirt. The posters all ran out which I was bummed about because that was part of the $80 I had spent to join the race. (Where would I even put the poster, anyway?). After the expo center we went to his grandparents house and ate a light meal (the salad), visited for a while, took a shower, and went to bed at around 11:30p.m--I was hoping to get to bed by 9! Ooops...so anyway, when 3:55a.m rolled around, I rolled out of my bed and got ready. Spence made me a bagel with butter and cinammon and I had an apple and drank tons of water. I didn't get very much sleep that night but I had so much adrenaline that I felt fine enough. I was one of the last people on the bus up the canyon because the line was SO long and I had to pee before I got on. hehe. I sat by a really nice guy from Cedar City who told me he had only ran up to 13 miles to prepare for the race, so I was feeling a lot more confident (even though he beat me by like 10 minutes--I saw him at the end of the race--I hate boys that are naturally fast). So anyway, it took about 26.2 miles to get to the top of the canyon (go figure). By the time we made it I only had 15 minutes before the race started to get ready. I quickly took off my sweats, went to the port a potty one more time, and it was time to start! There were thousands of people! I couldn't move hardly an inch without running into someone.
When the race started I felt pretty good. I felt strong and I carried my traditional water bottle with me for safety. The first three miles went by in a flash and I started out with a great pace. The canyon was absolutely gorgeous. The starting temperature was perfect, although I could tell it would get much hotter as the day went on. Several people (mostly males) decided they couldn't wait for the port a potty and used the bushes on the side of the road. It was amazing to see how many people had also decided to run a marathon. Throughout the entire race course I couldn't believe how many signs I saw encouraging people along the way. There were also demotivational signs like "I'm glad I'm not you!" I got annoyed with how many people put signs on the road for this guy named TAUD. Who spells their name that way anyway? I mean don't get me wrong it was nice of people to cheer on their friends, but none of the signs were for me or anyone else around me, so I sometimes would insert my name into the signs i.e. "Go Jennifer!" a.k.a. "Go Julie!" So I guess in that sense it could help. I could go on and on about the race and how wonderful I felt the whole time, but it just got harder as time and temperature went on and up. However, each mile I completed was an incredible accomplishment. I drank tons of water, ate lots of food at the aid stations, and just kept my mind focused. At mile 13 I thought "ok, only 13 more to go!" The last 6.2 miles was probably the hardest, but the Bengay and blister bandages I used at a couple stations really helped ease the pain in my legs and feet. Spencer and his grandparents cheered me on at mile 16 and 21, and my dad cheered me on at mile 25. It was very fun to see them while on the course. I guess you could say that they were my "motivational poster."
The last 3 miles of the race were extremely exciting and hard and I couldn't wait to finish. At mile 25.2 I was surely on my way to the finish line. I sprinted the last half mile and totally beat this lady at the last second. It was awesome and my adrenaline was going crazy. Because I sprinted I felt really sick when I finished but there was this wonderful mist that sprayed you after you finish and that is when they give you the finisher medal. I saw Spencer right after and he got some pictures of me all misted up. After the race I got some ice cream (which totally made me sick), drank some more water, ate a piece of bread, and met up with my family who bought me a sno cone (cherry's favorite!) because it was SO hot! We took some family pics, met up with my dad and went out to Chuck A Rama where we all ate salads (due to the severe hot weather) haha. My final time was 5:08...not bad, not great, but I'm just glad I finished! I felt like I had done a great job. I finished strong and finally accomplished my goal--which is all I ever really wanted to do.
Here I am on mile 16 where Spencer and his grandparents met me.
Here I am at the finish line! Yeah, I smoked her!
My dad came down to visit 300 miles to see me race. It was really fun to see him and his new wife, Kristine.
Matching Blue Babes.
Spencer, Ruth Ann, Julie, Carl Harper
Oh yeah!
