Salt Lake Marathon 2015

A week ago Saturday I ran the Salt Lake City Marathon.  I started training back in October.  It has been my life (except for my family) for the last six months.  I am very happy I accomplished a goal I made for myself - although there were plenty of times I told Luke I was going to quit.  I'm not particularly fond of running.  That's partly why I did it.  I wanted to challenge myself and conquer something I never thought I could.

The morning of I was as jittery as a june bug.  Luckily I had this guy at the start line to calm my nerves, and build up my confidence.  I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before - the life of a mother - but the adrenaline rush in the beginning helped a lot.  The route was stunning.  Running along the mountainside one minute, and the next, passing the beautiful house of the Lord (Salt Lake Temple) in downtown.  Not to mention the weather was perfect.  I honestly couldn't have asked for a better running day.  

{I received my wings}

I'm paying for that burn as I type.  I was probably hurting more from that than the marathon.  Luke, Lottie, and his parents met me at mile 20 to cheer me on.  By that point my legs felt like they might collapse.  I had not gone more than 20 miles in my training so the last 6.2 miles were a doozy.  Around mile 24 I found a porta potty and just sat in there for about 10 minutes, on the verge of tears, seriously considering calling Luke to come pick me up.  All I wanted was to plop my bum down on the curbside and quit.  Really bad.  I honestly didn't think I could go the last 2.2 miles.  I called Luke for motivation at that point.  He reminded me that I can do hard things.

{I look real pretty while running}

{This is at the finish line - notice the look of relief on my face}

There you have it.  I survived.  I ran my first, and might I add, last marathon.  It was an incredible experience finding out how much the human body is capable of.  In the beginning, it seemed like the biggest mountain to climb, but I just had to take it day by day and week by week.

I remember lying in my hospital bed, right after having Charlotte, and thinking I was invincible.  Haha. It was the drugs.  But really.  I thought, "If I can labor 16 hours and push 7 1/2 lb of flesh and bones out of me, what's a marathon?"  Hahahah I still laugh thinking about that.  In all honesty though, I couldn't have done it without Luke's constant support.  He helped me keep going even when I didn't want to, which was all the time.

The end.