My FIRST Marathon and Some Life Lessons

As many of you know I have been preparing for a while for this marathon, maybe not as long as I should have been. And for that reason I was freaking out the week prior because I had only run 16 miles at once ONCE in my whole life. And even then I had walked a few of those miles.

On friday night Kim and I didn't even know what to think or do, she was pacing nervously and  I was a little out of it.

We got up SUPER early, got ready and headed out the door. Where we were welcomed by a cold breeze and wet ground.

Full of energy we waited for the bus and tried to get people excited about the race. Really we were freaking out inside and had a ton of energy to exert.

I of course did some dancing and cheering and chatting with random people when a familiar face called my name. It was Trent, a friend from Oregon. Well, I should say, my bro's friend from Oregon (one of the many that I had crushed on;).

We caught up for a minute and then went our separate ways to get in line for the race.

Kim and I made some more friends as we hung out at the start line. We had a moment of silence for the Boston Marathoners and sang Sweet Caroline.

Of course right before we started to go I got hunger pains and it started to really rain, negative thoughts began to flow into my mind. I knew I needed to start thinking positively and then the race began.

Since I only had ever run 16 miles I knew that I needed to take it slow, pace myself. So I turned on some good tunes thanks to my awesome coworker and friend Jonny. And I got focused.

Thousands and I mean THOUSANDS of people passed me the first 3 miles. Including Trent who gave me a slap on the butt and went on his marry way. It was quite depressing, but I knew that if I wasn't careful I would hate myself later. I couldn't help but make a dating analogy as  I saw all the people passing me. Thinking about my own life and feeling like everyone else is quickly passing by be and moving on with their lives. I began to think about how I could blog about this lol.

Then I saw my sis in law's mom Denalee, can you believe at her age she is running a marathon!? Her 1st one none the least! It was nice to see another familiar face.

Little did I know what was about to come...

I saw the pacers for the time I wanted to keep up with at about mile 3 and I stayed with them for 2 miles chatting, but I knew that if I wanted to actually get that time I would have to get a little bit further ahead to account for when I might slow down. I got some energy up a mountain saw a camera and danced for all those watching KSL live haha. And then I just got a good groove and ran on my own for a little while.

When the break off came for mile 8 I was feeling tempted to go to the right instead of heading straight, thousands of people were heading that way and I so badly wanted to be with them! But I stayed straight knowing that I would be happier to finish the 26.2 miles then the 13.1 miles could ever give me. Sometimes we settle for things in life because they are easier, but I promise good things come when we choose the path that we were meant for...

I started running next to a girl named Katie and I learned that she wanted to finish the same time as me, I thought this could be great! I found someone else to chat with who was at my same pace. 

But then I saw Trent and I knew I wanted to hang with him. I ran a little faster to catch up with him. And this is where the race really began for me. We just started chatting and realized we were going about the same pace and could keep up with each other. We silently decided to just stick with each other. 

We spent the next 10 miles chatting about life, all our ups and downs for the past few years. We even joked about how a Marathon is a lot like life and how sometimes it feels like everyone is passing you by by getting married and then you finally find someone who is stoked to run with you and is going the same pace.

I couldn't believe how easy it was to pass certain mile markers. I thought by mile 14 I was going to hit a wall but I didn't, then I expected to hit it at 16 but I didn't. Running with him made everything so much easier. And we shared a quick moment after 16 miles knowing that I just hit my personal PR by running more than 16 miles.

At about 18 miles the talking stopped and we just ran next to each other. That is where I started to hit a wall. At about 19 I really wanted to stop. I didn't say anything but I know that Trent could tell and he easily could have passed by me but he didn't. The pacers that I originally wanted to stay with passed us by and I kind of had a freak out. Trent eased my mind, told me not to worry about them and just stick at my own pace. 

The next couple miles were torture, but we kept going, both wanting to walk but never verbalizing it. 

At about 22 miles Trent's friends came to run with us for a while. And I got some extra energy while Trent was struggling. Then the rain came even harder. Every single step hurt, and as much as you want to think about something else you cant. I just wanted to get going faster and finish but I knew that I wouldn't have been as far along as I was without Trent, and I wanted to finish with him. 

At the last mile we came together without saying much we just kept going. When we saw the finish line the energy flowed in and we picked up the speed (I of course did a little dance) and we throw our hands up in unison and finished together. 

The feeling was so surreal. I couldn't believe that I had finished running 26.2 miles. It's INSANE!!!! 

And I couldn't believe that I had someone who ran most of the way with me. I couldn't have done it without him. No way. He was heaven sent and I am so grateful for it. We didn't walk the whole race, we pushed each other beyond our limits, we cheered each other on in tough times, we talked when we could and not when we couldn't, more importantly we didn't let each other give up. 

We had friends and family waiting for us and went our separate ways to say hi to the amazing supporters who sat out in the ran waiting for us. And came back together for one more picture.

Oh and my friend Kim got 3rd place. Good thing I didn't try keeping up with her!!!

Would I do it again? Of course! But honestly I don't know if I could do it without a "Trent". I don't know how people do these things alone. I don't know how anyone gets through life alone. It's a good thing we don't have to go through life alone. We always have someone by our side, we have a loving Heavenly Father who makes sure we don't have to go through tough times alone. And on this day He made sure I didn't have to do it alone.