{ A Marathon Story + some pics }

Ogden Marathon 2011

It has been an awesome journey leading up to this day...so I thought I would share my experience because people have been telling me I am amazing. Well, I think I am a normal person who did an amazing thing, something that anyone can do if they put their mind to it.

For me running was a motivating factor to get back in shape in between and after having 3 babies, thankfully it was something I already enjoyed doing. But I decided to do a half marathon after my second baby and I did in 2008 but really only trained for about 3-4 months (starting pretty much from scratch). I injured my hamstring pretty early on because I had no idea how to run further than a few miles. I still did the race but was very unprepared for the distance. My sister in law advised me that I should be running consistently for one year before I start to actually train for a race. And this time around that is what I did. I ran from August 2009 to October 2010 before I signed up for the marathon. I started with one mile and it was really hard for many months to get comfortable running one mile. I stuck with that mile for longer than I probably should have because I wanted to run it faster before I moved on. But was then advised to just start getting some miles under me and the speed would come after. So that is what I did. Pretty soon it got comfortable to run 3 and then it got comfortable to run 6 and then it got comfortable to run 6 a couple minutes faster per mile than when I started. So that process took me about one year. For me, the first 3 to 6 miles were the hardest to get comfortable with and after that it got a little easier to add more miles. But it also became more mentally challenging.

Luckily I had two good friends who were starting their training for the marathon when I did and that was a huge motivating factor, to have someone to talk to and run with too. We started adding on the miles for our long runs on the weekend, generally one or two miles at a time.

All the time I put into this really paid off and helped me have a great experience. I was able to run the SLC half marathon in April, and it was really just another run for me because I had already trained up to 20 miles. So I was very prepared for that and it felt great. It was also a big confidence builder leading up to the marathon, because as much as you train, racing is SO much different than any of your training runs. The marathon was harder than I thought it was going to be, but I felt as prepared as I could have been. Another friend told me that is why the marathon is such a special distance because you can only prepare so much for it and the rest is the great unknown.

I'll never forget the sound of hundreds of people running down a remote country road but really only hearing the sound of a beautiful morning. I'll never forget passing Team Bart at mile 8 and not being able to hold back the tears. I'll never forget how motivating it was to see my husband at mile 13, and for him to tell me how great I was doing when I wanted to quite right then. I'll never forget how great it felt to pass tons of people up and down the hills that I had trained well for. I'll never forget getting to the bottom of the canyon after I had told myself for 6 miles "just get to the bottom of the canyon" and only having 3 miles to go. I'll never forget the stranger who became my friend as we motivated each other to finish the last 4 miles. And then I'll never forget the crowd of my family and friends, let alone the hundreds of people cheering me on after mile 26 to finish the last .2 of a mile.

It was one of the most physical, mental, emotional and spiritual experiences I have ever had.

{Lindy, Robyn and Marci @ mile 13}

{Mile 26 ~ .2 to go!

And that is it...I did it. What now???