My New Favorite Number...26.2

I am so proud of Jose and I. We decided to try to accomplish the impossible. We decided to run the St. George Marathon. Now for Jose it wasn't so crazy because he has already run two marathons, St. George and LA, but for me not only did I think I was crazy...I knew I was crazy. We started training 16 weeks ago and in the beginning it was a piece of cake. As the miles increased, I began to question my sanity.

St. George is a popular marathon and can be very difficult to get into. Even though the race is in October, you have to register for it in May and a lottery is held in June to decide who the elect are that are privileged enough to run. Jose asked me if I wanted to register, and not thinking we would get in, I accepted.

Ever since then, the anticipation has been building for me. The night before the race I was like a little girl on Christmas Eve. I couldn't sleep. We went to bed at 10:30 PM. I proceeded to wake up at 12:45AM, 1:30AM, 2:30AM, 3:45AM, and 4:10AM. By 4:20AM I gave up on sleep since my alarm was set to go off at 4:30. Who needs sleep anyway?Anyone who has ever run a race before knows that the line to the port-a-potty is very long. This is exactly where we were standing when the race started. We didn't even cross the start line until 10 minutes after the gun went off. Fortunately, the timing is done from the time you cross the start line until the time you cross the finish line, so we weren't penalized for answering nature's call.Jose carried the camera for the first couple of miles. This is about 1/2 of a mile into it, notice we are still both smiling. You can tell by my red nose that it is cold. The starting line temperature was predicted to be 34 degrees. I didn't see any thermometers, but I have seen warmer freezers. We shed our sweaters after two miles and for some silly reason I took my gloves off too. My hands got so cold I started losing feelings in my fingers. I couldn't think of anything else to do, so I stuck my hands in my shorts. Throughout training, Jose kept telling me that marathoners lose all dignity while running...I guess I proved him right.
Then after 4 hours 9 minutes, for me and 4 hours 22 minutes, for Jose we were able to taste the sweet victory of success. That may not sound long to you, but to put in perspective, it took us less time to drive home from Las Vegas. Don't get me wrong, it was not easy but it was worth every single minute of it, even the painful ones.

Jose and I ran together for the first 18 miles and then we split up from there. I love that we have found something we can do together that we both enjoy. It is such a feeling of accomplishment to complete something that was never within the realm of possibility in my mind. I started to run just 15 months ago and now I'm a marathoner! It's awesome to be able to say that. Yay me.
Poor Jose had some issues with his feet. He got 6 blisters and had a bloody toe nail. Yikes!! But even with all that he beat his personal record by over 32 minutes. Go Jose!!
So you would think the night after the race I would sleep like a rock and not wake up even once, right? Not so lucky. I rolled over at 4:30AM and the soreness was so severe that it woke me up. If you need a good laugh come over and try to watch me walk down the stairs. Let's just say, it is not so graceful.