I AM a firework!

The build up this week to the marathon has been undeniably intense for me. In my mind I'm constintly going back and forth with the idea of whether or not I even want to do it due to complete lack of training. Why did I sign up for this, what was I thinking? 

I'll tell you what I was thinking, I was thinking of how amazing it would feel to cross that finish line and what a personal accomplishment it would be to do it. To top it off, how freaking fantastic would it be to do it with almost zero running leading up to it this year.  I already know my body is capable of doing powerful things(three un-medicated births), why not this one?

Wasn't too hard to do....or was it?

Oh also, almost forgot to mention. I would be doing it ALONE! Something came up with my mom and she wasn't able to fly out to be with Winnie so Nate opted out this race and I took one for the team. *wink* After all this was my bright idea in the first place.

Friday night I went to bed at 7:30 but in true Renee style I didn't actually fall asleep until 10:30. I was super frustrated at myself for not being able to just turn all the thoughts in my brain off. I had to be awake at 3:30 in order to catch the bus up the canyon at 5am. Why oh why was I torturing myself with thoughts of how embarrassed I would be if I couldn't do it, not to mention all the people I would let down.

Morning came and I was feeling OK and wasn't turning back, I had to at least try.

Boy that bus ride up the canyon totaling 26.2 miles was a looong one. I couldn't believe every mile more we were going and how soon I would be taking it by foot.  I was fortunate to have the company of Nate's uncle to distract me from counting the distance.  He was no first timer like me, in fact he thought I was a wee bit nuts for biting off a full marathon as my first race. Perhaps I should have started with a 5K.....

He learned a lot about me that day. I like a challenge. In fact I like CRAZY challenges. And when people doubt my abilities it pushes me harder to complete them.

The top of the hill had the coolest vibe, I definitely enjoyed the atmosphere. Music playing, fires in trash cans (to keep us all warm, it was in the 30's) and fit people EVERYWHERE (surely some of them were crunchy like me). I tried to keep my cool because in all honesty I was terrified they would find out my secret. Here I was about to embark on their journey with no training when surely these guys/gals had trained months, years for this event. How dare I take it so lightly. 

Once the time approached to head to our places in the startling line, me waaay in the back at the 5:30 pace group, I got a little bit star struck to see the amazing dad who pushes his son along the way. I guess the Ogden Marathon really is a big deal. People were there from all over and while we waited to start it was interesting to hear their stories. And surely they thought it was a little big funny that I was there sporting my fanny pack with breast pump inside. Yes folks, I'm here for the entertainment. Not to mention I pumped in the port a potty before the race and dropped it on the floor! Yuck, but terribly funny. That had to be a first!

Let the race begin!

I couldn't believe how fast mile 1, 2 and 3 came. Every mile sign I hit felt so great and I was feeling pretty fantastic the first couple of hours.  Whenever I would come to an aid station I would get butterflies in my stomach knowing I would get to grab water from encouraging volunteers and drink as I ran and then the best part, I would get to just toss it to the side like I have always seen in movies. And yes it is as fun as it looks (don't worry they cleaned it all up). In my normal life I would never do that but in my alter ego running life it got me high, LOL.

Things were sailing along pretty smoothly until about mile 8 when my pelvic bone was aching with every drop of foot. I was staying pretty positive and not letting it get in the way but towards mile 9 it was hurting even more. It was then that I decided to just take it mile by mile and not worry about getting to 26.2 but getting as far as I could without the pain taking over. My first goal was to then at least make 10 miles. Once there I made it my goal to finish a 1/2 marathon, after all I was only three miles out. It really didn't take much pushing to keep going. I knew I wasn't quitting before a half, there was just no way, I had come this far.

I was tempted to be disappointed and majorly  bummed to not make the full marathon, and just as I was thinking that I saw a sign someone made on the side of the road that read "Baby you're a firework" and as cheesy as it sounds I was uplifted by those words. Nate has mentioned more than once that he thinks of me when he hears that song. In my mind it was a reminder of what I have accomplished by coming this far.

Once I hit twelve I gave it my all until I reached the halfway mark at a little over 13 miles.  My regret at that moment was that I didn't sign up for the half in the first place because there was not the crowd of people or my family to see me reach this goal. I was OK though, I had done a half marathon! ( I ended where the 1/2 marathon started a few hours earlier so they shared the same finish line as the full)

You can imagine my excitement when I got on the bus with some others, some were part of the relay teams and others like myself, and find out that we all would get to go across the finish line and receive our medals. I would get to see my family cheering me on, a far cry from the countryside where I officially hit 13.1. Here I am coming down the homestretch toward the finish line. Yeah, I was pretty excited to be D.O.N.E.

My body is pretty achy today as I write this, actually it's a lot achy. Running a 1/2 marathon is indeed a wee bit challenging when you don't prepare. The weird thing though is my legs and feet feel absolutely fine and not achy at all. My hips on the other hand hurt way more than they did after birthing Winnie. How does that work? LOL

There will be a next time and I can't even imagine how much I will kill it with some preparation! I can't wait. In fact since being here in Utah Nate and I have had a lot to think about and ponder, one of which involves gaining family/friend sponsors as we run to help us adopt in the future, but that is an entirely different story that deserves its very own blog post. It always amazes me how one day's blessing can change your entire life's purpose. But really, I mustn't go on about it on this post.

Looks like we all ran huh? Poor girls were exhausted! Winnie was of course pumped to get her mama back but in all honesty I'm pretty sure she was taken care of just fine.

Who has a modern day wet-nurse that comes in the form of a great friend and runs half of a marathon with no training other than chasing three girls around? I do my friends, I do.

*Also worth noting, oranges have never tasted so good in my entire life as they did along the run. Seriously oranges trumped any type of food possible that day!

Here's to next time!