The Full Monte

I mentioned a while back that I was training for a marathon. Well, the big day was last Saturday and what an amazing day it was! Friday night I was so excited and nervous. Excited because I was actually confident in my ability to do it and nervous because I finally got the cold my family had been passing around 1 DAY BEFORE THE FREAKING RACE!!

I woke up that morning feeling like death came to sit on my head, forced some oatmeal down my unwilling throat and waited for my over-the-counter drug cocktail to kick in and preform a miracle. My brother picked me up and we got to Huntsville just in time to catch the shuttle up the canyon.

Have you ever been on a shuttle taking you to the starting line of your race?

It.feels.eternal.

That’s when you realize that this is actually the quick trip. The one back will be much much much longer.

And that is when your bowels loosen in fear.

Or so I’ve heard.

My brothers, Mike and Jon, me and Mike’s friend, Brandon

When we finally reached the starting line we waited. And shivered. And peed (in a port o’ potty, of course). And giggled. And shivered.

 

They called us to the starting line at 10 (yes, waaaay too late for a race), someone said go and we were off! We were towards the back trying to keep a tolerable pace. As we got going we realized that we were going faster than we had ever run since it was a downhill run. I kept turning to my brothers and asking if they thought we were going too fast but even when I tried to pull back, I couldn’t! It was so weird! In all my long runs I’d kept 10-11 min/mile pace. We were going between 9-9:30! I’m not gonna lie, I was a little nervous that we’d run out of steam but figured it felt comfortable so go with it. My phone died at 18 miles and we were still holding our pace strong! I couldn’t believe it!

This course was so beautiful! I couldn’t get over the fall leaves and the bright, mild and sunny day. There was no where else I’d rather be.

My only complaints were 1) It started so late that the last hour or so was hot under that sun. It was a beautiful day but that sun was still stealing some of my energy. 2) And this is a big one that I hope they change-The road wasn’t closed at all so we were in some tight spots with cars coming at us fast. My brother said he had one guy run over a traffic cone right in front of him! ON PURPOSE!! The guy was totally laughing about it! Dillhole.

There were three participants that really inspired me (besides my brothers and I). The first 2 were, I assume, a husband and wife, the husband was running while pushing his wife in a wheelchair! I thought it was so amazing that she had the desire to complete a marathon and he had the willingness to make it happen for both of them! When I watched them cross the finish line you could just feel the joy exuding from their tired bodies! The other one was a woman we came across around mile 21 or 22. She didn’t look like your typical runner, in fact, she was quite overweight. You can tell she was struggling but she was determined to finish. We cheered her on as we passed by but I wanted to do more! I wanted to hug her and stay right by her screaming and shouting about her accomplishment, bravery and strength! Having been almost every size I know how hard it can be when you’re bigger to get out to the gym or even walk around your neighborhood thinking everyone will notice your size and judge you. But this woman set that all aside and did something for herself to prove she could do it. Later, when she came across the finish line, I saw that she had a few little kids who ran out to cross with her and I thought what an amazing example she was to her kids. It wasn’t just about the exercise or health or whatever-it was that she knew she was worth it to start something hard and finish it for herself! I may not be making any sense, I hope you understand how I really felt about this awesome woman! My only wish is that I found her after the race to tell her how amazing I thought she was.

We told our families that the earliest we’d be done would be 4 and a half hours and I was being overly optimistic. I ran the Top of Utah race in 2005 and finished in 5 hours and 21 minutes! Granted, I ran that race injured, but the thought of shaving almost an hour off my time seemed almost ridiculous to me even though I was running strong and felt really good about it. When I realized we were very close to our time goal I got very worried that our families may miss us! My phone was dead and I had no way of letting them know our time. I couldn’t believe we were going to make it in that time! As we got closer to the finish line I thought I heard my name said over the loud speakers….at the time I wasn’t sure if it was loud speakers or Jesus calling me home…but that’s when I saw my husband and kids and I just started crying. Here’s a piece of advice: After 26 miles of running and with .2 to go, this is not the best time to start sobbing. There is no more liquid or oxygen in your body to waste on such a luxury. But I couldn’t hold in the joy, relief and pride I felt in that moment as I see my little family, my parents, two of my other three brothers and their families holding up signs and cheering us in(1 couldn’t make it since they just had a baby but for those who came it was well over an hour drive just to see us come over the finish line!)! We did it! And in 4hours and 30 minutes!! I actually shaved 50 whole minutes off my last time. In other words, I creamed it!!

I cannot tell you how grateful I am that my brother, Mike, convinced me to do this with him this summer. We then ganged up on Jon to get him doing it, too. Talking and running with them has been one of the greatest experiences I have had and I wouldn’t trade a minute of it for anything. I am lucky to have my 5 brothers. And I will cherish this experience-running with Mike and Jon and having everyone else there cheering us on-for the rest of my life and beyond!