Me at the starting line-see how it's still dark! Yeah, it's 5:50am!
The starting line which also transformed into the finish line. Convenient!
My cheering section at the finish line!
My kiddos running with me to the finish line
My finish line dead face!
My adoring fans! Back L to R: Robert, Marie,Leo, Heather, Steph. Front L to R:Carly, Gus, Max
Giving Joey a sweaty hug he didn't really want!
My finishers card
My prize! My very own beer stein
Joey found a hawks nest on top of a power pole!
July 30, 2011- Today I embarked on a great adventure that was my first marathon. Now, despite what a few of you might think, I did know what I was getting myself into when I decided to do this race. Granted over the months since I signed up the information given by the website shed more light on how difficult this race was actually going to be. Then, when my brother-in-law drove the course(at least the part you could drive on, and a few we really shouldn't have)last night, I was feeling quite overwhelmed. So much so that I was at the point of dread about 4:30am this morning. About 2/3 of the course was on dirt roads or trails that went through the Snake Creek Canyon. I even had several people say, "This is a tough race, are you sure you can handle it?" Now, why does everyone keep saying this to me? Do I look like I can't handle it? Well, I will tell you now, I did handle it and I have successfully completed my first full marathon. Let me tell you a little about it! First of all I want to rename this race to, "The Best that I Can Do Marathon" and you'll see why. After five long months of training I did feel pretty good about my preparation for the race. We drove up to Midway yesterday and spent the night at his brothers house, who lives there. At 5am I rolled out of bed and got dressed and ready to go. Joey took me almost up to Soldier Hollow where the race was to begin. Which is where I realized that I forgot my bib, so back to his brothers house we went to get it. We had time to do this, but it put me back an extra 15 minutes which meant I didn't have time to warm-up except to run to the start line! I had to take a potty stop before the race started and I barely got to the front of the line before the call to the start line came, so I has to jog over. Then I stood in a clump with the other runners to receive race instructions while the mosquitoes ate at me! Then the start was sounded and I was off! The first 6 miles was down from Soldier Hollow through Midway and up to the mouth of Snake Creek Canyon. This was my first memorable mile because first, this is where the real uphill began, and second, my MP3 player died so I spent the majority of the race without my music! I was really bummed about that. Then, up to mile nine we were still on pavement, then the blacktop ended and the dirt road began. The basic gist of this course was the fist half you went up the canyon and the second half you went down. But really once you got to the canyon miles 9-16 were almost completely uphill. Some of the hills were manageable but a lot of them I was dork walking and some I was downright trudging. At this point my strategy changed a little. Because I had gone over the course and knew what was coming, I knew that if I could just make it to the peak around mile 15 without expeling all my energy, then the downhill would start. I would need to save some energy for that part as that is where I would be able to make up some time. So, I decided NOT to try and run up all the hills(which, by the way, I wouldn't have been able to do even if i had wanted to). I would do the best that I could to get to mile 15 as fast as I could. Those miles went slowly by in a bit of a blur even though I can see every mile marker in my mind still. I remember passing mile 13 and thinking, "If this were a half I would be done!" That was also a memorable spot because I was halfway through. Miles 11-13 were really rocky almost like a hiking trail with big rocks all over the place. This was particularly hard to get through.Then, after 7 grueling uphill miles as the uphill actually kept going to mile 16(with a small flat between 15-16) I could see my first downhill! Plus the terrain evened out and it was soft dirt for a while. Then at mile 18 you came upon this massive hill that was practically carved out of the hillside! I knew this was the end of the big hills but after 2 miles of a nice pace I was annoyed by another hill! I think that was one of the hardest parts. Because of the terrain and the ups and downs I never really felt like I got into a real rhythm. A lot of it reminded me of hiking and not racing. Anyway, after the BIG one at mile 18, it was fairly level and pleasant to mile 20. Here is where the dirt road turned into a single track ATV trail. Great! So re-enters the big rocks and rugged terrain again, except now I'm going downhill. From 20-22 my knees took a real beating. I just kept praying that they would hold out with me just a few more miles. I didn't really have a ton of endurance or energy problems but my hip flexors took a beating on the uphill and my knees on the downhill. At mile 22 the trail came out onto Cascade Springs road, which was the main road that went through the canyon, so it was a gravel road that was easy running compared to the trails I just got off! Miles 22-24 1/2 went down this road. I did have to stop a few times to stretch and rest my knee as it was really throbbing at this point, but I made it to the turnoff. About 24 1/2 miles you had to turn off Cascade Springs Road and take this one foot wide sheep track that looked like it had been weed whacked to even get through, and it was straight down about 500 feet to the biathlon trail. I took one look at it and thought, "Really? After 24 miles you want me to go down that!?!" I could not hurry down this part at all so I carefully picked my way down to the flat trail, which was also in a field and looked like it had been weed whacked too! The dry grass was about six inches tall and I kept getting pokies in my socks! I went through there for about a mile then the last half a mile was on the pavement back to Soldier Hollow to the finish line. About the time I got down the slope of the sheep trail, I made a friend who had been trying, he said, for quite some time to catch up to me. He told me I was a strong runner, which I kinda snorted at. It was also his first marathon and we exchanged introductions and I told him if he was going to keep the same pace I would just stick with him to the finish, and that's exactly what we did. It was actually a relief to have someone to chat with to distract me through the last mile and a half. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could chat at this point and that I wasn't completely exhausted, just trying to get to the end. I was also annoyed that we could see the finish line and we still had to wind up and down three more(yes, I said three) hills before crossing the finish line! I saw Robert and Marie at the top of one of the hills, and then Joey, Max, Carly, Gus, Leo, Stephanie, Ben, Wilson, and Bennett all at the finish line to cheer me on! I have to say, this was my first race that my family has made it to the finish line and it was pretty cool to see them cheering me on. Max, Carly, and Gus even ran the last 100 yards with me! I finished at 5:28:15, which was a bit longer than I had planned on before I saw the course, but I am very happy and proud of my time. I put my feet in the ice water pool, we got some fruit and donuts, chocolate milk, and water. Took pictures and I stretched. I got my time card and found out that I had won a prize! I NEVER will a prize! Turns out I finished 3rd in my age division and 8th overall for the women! I rock! I got my very own stein! The first finisher came in at just over 4 hours, which goes to show how difficult this race really was. I am glad that I did it and am very proud of my accomplishment. If anyone is looking for a tough, challenging, agonizing, and downright difficult marathon to run, this is it. But don't ask me to do it with you! I think I'll find a flatter one for next time!
