St. George Marathon

After a 10 year hiatus from marathons I ran the St. George Marathon!

My sister-in-law Carly ran it to!

Race day started at 3:30 am. It was surprisingly not as hard as I thought it would be getting up...maybe I've trained for that part by getting up with little ones at all hours of the night for the last several years!

Training was mostly done weekdays while the kids were sleeping and

early Saturday mornings.

My family was so supportive.

The people taking these pictures...my parents! I didn't get a picture of them- I don't know how this happens. They came down to support and then they babysat while I tried to nap and shower and went shopping:) My mom and sister picked out a birthday workout outfit that I love!

At 3:46 it wasn't my best run and wasn't my worst run.

I hit a wall and ran the last six miles 2 minutes per mile slower.

I couldn't eat anything to refuel or I would have thrown up. Actually I learned after it's better to refuel and throw up (you won't really throw anything up) and you'll feel better. Maybe I wouldn't have hit a wall then? Having cramps on race day is not. ideal. Let's just leave it at that and say I have awesome timing with all that.

 In another life I would have done more strength training, stretching, and speed work...but that life doesn't involve a young family! 

That I love.

By 2 pm I hadn't eaten since 4 that morning and was so nauseous but so hungry. I finally just wanted something salty and Ben ran and got me chips and massaged my legs. They tasted better than anything has ever tasted. He's pretty awesome.

I can now officially go down stairs without wincing.

Why do people run those again?

I'm glad I did it and it may have been my last.

9 is a good number to end on!

We drove home in this:

I-15 is always overcrowded.

It was fun to have others from our ward there running. They gave me some awesome St. George marathon advice:
Bring DI or throw away clothes for the top, it's always cold.
Take off your pants before you start and keep your jacket until you're warm.
Use the porta-potties at the bottom, before you drive up in the bus, they are way less crowded.
Let your family track you with the St. George app.-that's kinda fun.
(There was none of this awesome technology ten years ago!)
Get a pace bracelet to keep your times.
Adjust it with the elevation pace charts for the marathon you can find online (I didn't do that but it's good advice).