Marathon: Mind over Body

I have done it. I have run 26.2 miles and survived. This wasn't just a hard physical feat, but a hard mental battle. This experience forced me to dig so deeply into a place of strength I never knew I had. I read this quote today by a marathoner named John Kelly and I have to agree, "Marathoning is just another form of insanity." It is definitely insane to think your body can run for that long. But if it was easy, then I guess everyone would do it!

I got to the start line at 5:00 a.m. ready to conquer the impossible. There were over 7,000 people running in this race and you could feel the energy and excitement.

Grant was such a great support throughout the race. He met me at mile 7 to take a few snap shots and give me a kiss. At this point in the race, I was feeling great. My body was strong and I was still feeling mentally excited.

The course was stunning. St. George, UT is just full of beautiful scenery. It was a nice distraction from running.

I felt really strong up until mile 19. This is often when people hit their wall and start wishing they had never signed up for a marathon to begin with. At 19 my IT band started to really act up. This was SO frustrating because I haven't had this pain for most of my training. I hadn't taped up my knee because I didn't even think it was going to be a problem. The road was really slanted and a non-flat surface aggravates that knee pain. I wasn't predicting that.

The pain got so bad that I started to cry and feel like I wasn't going to be able to finish. I hit a low point and felt like quitting. It felt like someone was literally stabbing a knife into the side of my knee. I called Grant and my mom frequently to talk through the pain. At mile 21 I had a MacGyver moment and tied my arm warmer into a knee brace. With that, the pain was still bad, but I was able to run slowly.

The last 5 miles were excruciating. I had to call upon some unknown place of inner strength to get through it. I was hoping to finish the race around 5 hours, but that didn't happen. I was a bit disappointed, but then I realized that it didn't matter. I was finishing a huge accomplishment and dealing with an unexpected amount of pain.

And then I was there, at the end of the race! It was an emotional moment to actually finish. Grant was there with the camera and a huge smile.

My mom wasn't able to be there in person, but she watched me finish via a web cam they set up at the finish line.

I finished the race at 5 hours and 50 minutes. The moment they put that medal around my neck was when I started crying. I was so proud of finishing after thinking I might have to quit.

Today I am pretty sore, but happy. Thanks to everyone who called, texted, and Facebooked me messages during the race. You don't know how much that helped. It definitely helped me keep going.

And now I can say that I run a marathon. Will I do another one in the future? Today the answer is no, but you never know what is in store for next year.