Yesterday, Aug 22, I woke up around 4:00 AM to prepare for the Park City Marathon I had trained for all summer. I was really excited but also nervous that something would go wrong... hurt my foot, pull a muscle, roll an ankle, have no energy, have a sick stomach the whole time...
I picked up my neighbor, Janene, and my sis-in-law, Jessica, and we drove up to Park city, giving each other tips and advice about running marathons, but secretly hoping we'd all do better than the other. Actually, I know for myself that I didn't care who I beat as long as I kept an 8 minute mile pace, which would bring me to the finish line at around a 3 hr 30 min time.
For the first several miles, Janene and I were the first two girls in the lead, running at a 7.25 minute per mile pace. Eventually I told Janene that I would need to slow down in order to make it to the finish line because running 7 minute miles for 26 miles was too much for me. I also noticed a slight pain in my right foot, but tried to ignore it. Around mile 9 the pain had worsened and was starting to shoot up the inside of my right leg. I realized that it wasn't a muscle pain, but a bone pain. I didn't stop running, though, because I told myself I was going to finish no matter what. At mile 13, my two biggest cheer leaders, Jameson and Melody, were waiting for me to cheer me on.
I stopped and told Jameson about my pain, and he grabbed a different pair of running shoes out of the car for me to put on. I purchased this second pair of shoes during my training, but they ended up giving me lots of blisters on my long runs, so I decided to use my old shoes for the marathon, even though they were falling apart. Well, at this point I felt like I would rather have blisters than continue wearing the shoes that were causing a stress fracture.
I stopped and told Jameson
Well, I eventually made it to the end, with pains shooting from my right foot and leg, but not too terrible to keep me from finishing. I crossed the finish line with a time of 3 hrs 50 min... not as fast as my goal, but considering the pain I was in, I gladly accepted the results.
Didn't quite reach my goal...oh well!The Park City Marathon is extremely difficult, with TONS of steep hills and gravel roads. One experienced marathoner said this was the hardest one she had ever run. That made me feel better!
Me and my super fans, Jam and Mel
Jess and I are so glad to be done!
Jess, Janene, and me
What a cute cheerleader!
3 comments:
wow! hooray you did your goal, too bad about your injury. What's amazing is that you are all standing and smiling after your race- crazy!
YEAH!!!!! Congratulations!!!! That really is awesome. Great job!
Steph, You're amazing. 3rd female in your division even! That was wonderful. And you took a break to get your shoes. Too amazing.
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