In our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we have 13 articles of faith. The first one is: We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. I've been trying to teach it to Gage and Kyah. Kyah got a little confused on the word eternal and here is her version. :)
One day early in the training for the marathon, I happen to stumble across a Rachel Ray TV show. Her guest this particular day was Bob Greene, author of The Best Life Diet. Well, he was showing a breakfast, lunch, and dinner that were loaded with calories, and then the healthier alternatives. He happen to say and I quote, "Unless you are training for a marathon, and 99 percent of us aren't, you just can't eat this stuff." Bingo. A Light bulb went on in my head. I WAS training for a marathon and Bob Greene just gave me the go ahead to eat whatever I wanted!!!!!!!!! Heck yes!!
Well, one marathon and PLUS SIX POUNDS later, I'm going on a diet. And it's all Bob Greene's fault!
Note: I really thought I was going to lose 20 pounds while training for this marathon. I mean honestly, who gains weight while training??? And don't any of you try to tell me it's muscle. Trust me, it's not!!! I really enjoyed eating any sweet treat that floated into my mind!!
This is a very long, very detailed race report! I could have done a Reader's Digest version, but I really wanted to get down all of the details I could remember about the marathon so I could have them forever. I hope you like the details and the videos.
The Decision to Run.
Back in November a fellow marathon mommy, Chelle, put out the idea for everyone to come to Salt Lake City to run a marathon. Jana was nervous about training in the cold and I believe my exact comment was, "I'm in if you're in." And that's how it started. Jana and I were going to run a marathon together. It was so exciting. We started our official training in December. Shortly after that, I got the exciting news that Jana was pregnant. Yay. But wait, that meant my marathon dream had to be adjusted. I would have to do it without Jana. I was really sad about that, but super happy to have another niece. Or nephew. I had been training with a girl here, Debbie, and at least I still had her to run the marathon with. That was until our 17 mile run. She hurt her back and hasn't been able to run since. I guess it was just meant to be that this marathon was something I had to conquer by myself. Sort of.
I had the support of lots of people around me. My husband and kids, my family, my friends, the Will Run For Designer Jeans girls, and the Marathon Mommies! I wasn't alone in the journey and that has meant the world to me. I got to meet some of the marathon mommies and the WRFDJ girls the night before the marathon and it was AWESOME!!! I love them all and have loved sharing our journey together online!!! I just wish I hadn't been shy and had moved over to the other table to meet everyone. Next time. YOU LADIES ROCK!!!
That brings us to race day.
We got up at 4:30am to get ready to be down in the lobby by 5:45am. Part of my getting ready was writing on my feet. My left foot said "Go Feet!" and my right foot said, "26.2 Mind Body Spirit Strong." We were right on time making it down to the lobby at 5:45am. This was emotional moment number one on marathon day. I had to say goodbye to Jana as she went in the van to the Gateway to get to the 5k start and I got on the bus to the start of the marathon. The start was also the start for the 1/2 marathon. This meant that Jeff, Kylee, and Lindsay got to go on the bus with me. Group Shot before we parted ways.
It was so fun to share the pre-race and start experience with them. We were nervous on the bus and made jokes. As soon as we got there we headed straight for the porta potties. We waited awhile in line and then for some reason I couldn't go. So after we were all done I made them get in line with me again! We made it up to the street just in time for the national anthem. That was emotional moment number two. The four of us stood there with our arms around each other and I got a little teary eyed just being so grateful that they were there with me and just grateful for all my blessings. After the anthem we made our way toward the back of the pack on the street and just minutes late the gun went off. That's when I noticed my garmin was not on. Ooopsie. Luckily we didn't get to the start until about 6 minutes after the gun went off so everything was just fine.
The Race
We started out together and that lasted about 20 seconds. Lindsay needed to be at a slower pace and so we waved goodbye to her. Then Jeff took off up the side of the road, and then Kylee went ahead of me too. I was excited and taking it all in. I had decided to not use my iPod until I really needed it. At mile 1, my stomach started growling. That made me a little nervous. I couldn't believe I was already hungry. I hadn't eaten enough the night before. (Sarah, this had nothing to do with the food at the mommies get together. It was delicious and fabulous! I was just nervous and talked more than I ate.) So in between mile 3 and 4 I took a gel pack so calm my hungry stomach. It seem to work. Nate's three sisters were angels and had decided to meet me at places along the course. I had dropped a bag off the day before with them with all the stuff I might need. A hat, ibuprofen, gum, gel pack, moons(gummy energy things), banana, icy hot, body glide, and my camera/video camera. They met me at mile 5 and I gave them a gel pack since having two of them in my back pocket was pulling my skirt down. Here is the video. Don't mind my undies. :)
At mile 6 I saw Kera from WRFDJ blog. I saw her right when she saw her friends Kimmie and Kristi. I went and said hi to them all briefly and then took off. At the start of the marathon, I was feeling good was running between a 9 and 9 and a half minute mile pace. I knew this was faster than I should be going, but kind of didn't care. It felt good so I went with it. Well after a couple of hills around sugar house park, I had to slow down. I already couldn't keep it up. That was right after mile six. I started to get a little nervous about my time at this point in time. I was now running between 10 and 10:15 miles. I remember thinking that I couldn't be hitting a wall already. Looking back, I wouldn't call that a wall. Things were going fine at the slower pace except for the wind!! The news that night said the winds were 25 miles per hour! It was tough. I had put my iPod on when I slowed down, and then quickly decided to only use one ear bud. I didn't want to miss one cheer of encouragement from the spectators and I wanted fellow runners to still feel like they could talk to me if they wanted. I was having a good time talking to everyone. I talked to a guy with bare feet and found out he had done that before. I talked to several people who were also running their first marathon. One girl came up to me and told me that I looked really strong and that she had been watching me. I said, "Oh good. But how do my legs look?" We laughed and she told me she actually was thinking she wished she had my legs. I love her. Turns out using that sunless tanning lotion was a good thing. I actually looked down at my legs several time and loved that they looked tan- well, tan for me. I saw my friend Lisa at mile 10 and that was fun. She took a picture and I can't wait to see it. Thanks Lisa. I also gave A LOT of people high fives while telling them this was my first marathon, including several police officers and state patrol guys. I would always tell them thanks too. AND I never missed giving a child high five which you will see me do when I see my sister's in law just after mile 11.
Another mile 11 video.
As you can see I needed my hat because the sun was shining down on me more than I liked. I grabbed another gel pack because I had taken my second one at mile 11. And I took ibuprofen to take at the mile 14 aid station. Unfortunately I didn't reapply the Body Glide. I noticed about 1 block after I left the girls that I was chaffing under the bottom of the sports bra. I almost turned around and went back, but decided to just get it the next time I saw them. At the half way mark, I was at 2 hour 14 minutes. I felt like I got a second wind at mile 14. The wind was no longer in my face and I decided to pick up the pace just a touch. I was kind of hoping that if I did and I could keep it up, maybe I could still get a finishing time around 4 hours 20 minutes. I was feeling pretty good and was still talking to people. Things like, "we're going to make it!" and "we can do it" and one time there was a gust of wind that helped me up a hill and I said out loud to myself, "thank you wind!" A police officer thought that was pretty funny. I saw Kristi at mile 17 and asked her how far ahead of me Jen was, but she hadn't seen her. I was really hoping to see her, AnnieBananie, or Erin from Texas (girls from the blog that had similar time goals) so that maybe I could find someone to run with. I'm sad that I never did run into those girls. At mile 18 I took another gel pack and then I saw Nate's sisters. I got everything from them that I needed to finish the race because I knew I couldn't completely stop running again. My knees were tight and my hip was starting to bug me pretty good. But most importantly, I got to reapply my body glide. I knew the camera was recording, so I turned my back to it and lifted my shirt up to reapply and gave the spectators in front of me a show. Oops. Hopefully they're not scarred for life.
I left the girls knowing I would not see anyone again until the finish. I was tired but thought I was doing alright. My miles were just a little slower than I had planned. I ate a banana right after I left them and then it made me feel like I might throw up. Not a good idea, but I pushed through. The feeling didn't last too long. Then somewhere between mile 19 and 20 I really hit the wall and hard. I slowed down and was struggling to put one foot in front of the other and I knew I still had 6+ miles to go. Basically my right side was a mess. My hip was really hurting, my IT band at my knee, and my darn Achilles tendon. And my shoulders had been really tense for several miles. At mile 20 I met Inga. She came up next to me and started talking and I welcomed the company. She is a college student at BYU Idaho. She was helping me forget that I had a miserable side ache. We ran 11 min. 30 sec. miles together for two miles. We kept telling each other we would make it. It was nice to have someone to run with, but I needed to leave her behind after two miles. I felt bad, but I wanted to go a little faster than she was going. Shortly after I left her, I started to feel a little emotional for several reasons. Then I saw Kristi again. She started cheering for me really loud and I just started to cry. She came out and ran down the road with me for a few seconds and asked me if I was OK and what was wrong. I told her I was fine, but that it was just harder than I thought it would be and I hurt, and that I knew I was getting close and I was excited that I knew I would finish and was just all around emotional. She told me that I was indeed getting close and that I could do it. I love Kristi for caring about me in that moment of the marathon. Even though I barely know Kristi, I know she was genuinely worried about me. 500 East was a long, painful lonely road for me and she was like an angel. It gave me a boost that I needed to keep from walking. All along 500 East, people were cheering. I wasn't giving them high fives, but I did muster up my energy to give them all smiles. There was one guy who had a card table out with oranges, crackers, amongst other things, and drinks. I just knew I might really throw up if I ate any of it. I had no appetite. It wasn't very far after I saw Kristi that I got to turn off of 500 East and there was Liberty park. Yes, I only had a 5k left. At about this point I was having another emotional moment and then I saw the photographers. I put on the best act I could and waved and smiled. I think one of them saw me in my moment of fighting back tears before I saw him and put on the show because as I got to him, he yelled for me to "push through it." Bless his heart.
As I got into downtown Salt Lake I was really struggling not to walk and to keep going. I saw a girl throwing up on the side of the road. I was actually surprised how many people were walking. Police men were manning the intersections. I told one of the police officers I wanted to run across the street faster but I just couldn't. He assured me I was fine. Miles 24 and 25 were very slow and HARD. I was running about 12 minute miles at this point. I had dedicated every mile of the marathon to a person, or group of people. Mile 26 was for me. When I finally reached mile 26 I thought to myself, "This mile is for me, and I feakin want to walk!" And so I did. Only long enough to get in a few deep breaths and regain some composure. About 15 yards. Then I continued to run. With about 1/2 mile left I was running on below empty. I was so done. So I walked again. Just long enough to say a quick prayer to Heavenly Father asking for just a tiny bit more energy so I could make it to the finish line. I started running again and a nice man came along telling me I was almost there, just a couple of blocks and to keep going. Then I saw my brother Jeff with his kids Payton and Grace on the side of the road. I shouted out to him and we had a quick celebration right there on the side of the road. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see him in my life! He confirmed that I just needed to turn the corner and run two more blocks. I remember saying, "REALLY!" As I turned the corner, my celebration begun. I started saying to everyone on the left side of the road, "High fives, this is my first marathon!" And I continued down the road giving everyone a high five. I remember people smiling at me and telling me good job. Then I saw my sister Kimm and I screamed and gave her a big hug. For some reason my left calf turned into a huge cramp, but I didn't care, I knew I could handle it until I got to the finish line. Then it was my right calf. Two huge charlie horses, but it didn't matter. Then Jana came out and held my hand to run with me to the finish. I continued telling everyone to give me high fives and that it was my first marathon and holding Jana's hand. A finish just the way it should have been. After all, I started this journey with Jana and it was only appropriate to finish it with her.
I remember seeing Melissa from WRFDJ and Sarah from the marathon mommies. I also heard Nate's sisters calling my name from somewhere on the other side, but was having people yell my name on the side I was giving high fives to at the same time so I didn't see them. I do wish I would have looked over to see where they were. Just before I crossed the finish line they announced, "Angela Smith from Bellevue, Washington!" I had no idea they were going to say my name and I was so excited! I screamed and threw my arms in the air! I had done it! I had actually run a marathon.
My time was 4 hours 41 minutes and 28 seconds. I know you're wondering. :)
Post Race
After crossing the finish line I put my arms by my side and sort or bent over a little. A nice girl working there rushed to my side and put her arms around me to support me. She was asking if I needed her to hold me up. I kept telling her it was just my calves, they were all cramped up. Then she asked if I needed to sit and get ice. I told her no, they're just in knots. Then a girl handed me my medal and I put it around my neck. Yes. The girl holding onto me sat me down anyway to get ice and I was glad. That seat felt like a million bucks! I told they guy it was my calves and he went to work wrapping bags of ice around my calves with saran wrap. He did both legs. I rubbed him on the back and told him he was an angel! That ice felt so good and it made my cramps go away! Everyone that was there to see me rushed to where I was to hug me and cry with me. I remember Erin, Kylee, Jana of course, Kimm, My Mom, and Lindsay all crying. I got a picture with my three angel sisters in law that were all along the course giving me what I needed and getting video. Look at their AWESOME signs!!!! These girls were the hit of the marathon. They had a blowup couch, no joke, that they sat on while waiting for me to pass. Too funny.
One of Nate's sisters called Nate so I could have a quick celebratory moment with him.
This is one of my favorite post race videos that my sister Kylee took.
After we were done celebrating, we went back to the Marriott, checked out, and headed straight for Cafe Rio! So delicious! Then we said good bye to Jeff, Jana, and the kids and headed back to Kylee's apt.
We went directly into the hot tub when we got back to Kylee's apt. (Kylee, Me, Lindsay)
That night we had smoothies and watched the clean flick version of Little Miss Sunshine. Oh, and I read my book and iced while my mom and Kylee went grocery shopping. Notice I'm still wearing my medal! My sister and I wore them to Relief Society the next day. Ha.
While the marathon was way harder than I anticipated, I'm so glad I did it! It makes me feel like I can do anything. After all, I am a marathoner!!!
Random Thoughts
The nice thing about this course was all of the people that came out to cheer. The course itself was very residential. There were several people with water, there was a lady with a boom box blaring We Are The Champions, there was a sign I remember that said, "GO, put you name here, GO!", there was a huge sign over a garage that said, Spandex is Happiness. People were so nice shouting out to all of the runners and cheering me on. I loved it.
P.S. Kristi, whenever you run your first marathon, I am going to be such a huge cheerleader for you!!!!
I got home early this morning. Nate was so sweet and had a couple of surprises for me. Here was the first one. The kids were beside themselves with excitement although the video doesn't necessarily show that.
Here are some pictures.
Kyah's poster for me hanging on the door.
Gage's poster for me. It says "Yay for Momma!!! My running hero!! Love, Gage" Notice the drawing of the course and the shoe print. The exclamation marks crack me up too. Too cute. :)
Nate also had bought me a Shadow box to put my medal and bib number in. What a sweet, thoughtful husband I have.
Writing a marathon report is going to take me a long time and I'm so tired right now. But, I did finish, and I didn't get injured, and it was AWESOME! (Now that I'm finished with it.) :)
I'll get the detailed race report as soon as I can!
It's about 2 in the morning Wed. night and I'm just about to go to bed. My bags are mostly packed. I'm going to try to get some sleep and then get up in the morning and put the finishing touches on my packing and head to the airport. (And then probably have a breakdown inside the terminal after I say goodbye to my husband and kids.)
It is really surreal knowing that I'm leaving in the morning on a quest to mark one life goal off my list. It is also very nerve racking. I couldn't even eat hardly today- which does not happen to me!! :) The journey of the marathon is a very emotional one, more so than I ever imagined. The thoughts of what if something goes terribly wrong and I can't finish can be really overwhelming. I'm whole heartedly invested in this marathon. While I am over the top nervous, I'm at peace knowing that I did what I could do to train for this event. I'm more nervous about just getting there and having what I need and not really knowing how my body is going to react the last five miles. But, as I like to say, it is what it is at this point in time and I'm just going to go and give it my all and do my best to enjoy every step!!! I can't believe it's go time!!!!
I look forward to giving my race report come Monday!
I was pleasantly surprised that I hadn't had anymore marathon dreams since the last one, until last night. And It was a doozy! Basically I was still getting ready for the race, with a girl I've never met from another marathon training blog, when the starting gun went off. I realized that I didn't have my Garmin Forerunner watch on and that it was in a field in my backpack. I sprinted to the field to get it, hoping to make it back to the start in time to run- if you miss it you don't get to run, and when I got to my back pack it wasn't in there! Then I realized I still had my jeans on! AND in my dream I was really concerned that I hadn't written on my feet yet and so I thought maybe I might have time to take off my socks and shoes and write on my feet. Also, I hadn't given my camera to anybody to take pictures of me, so I was upset about that. Then I saw Lindsay, also in jeans, and told her that the race had started! She couldn't believe it either. So we took off sprinting pulling along a 6 year old Kylee- wierd, I know- trying to find my parents to take Kylee since we knew she wouldn't last the whole course. Then I woke up. Thankfully. I was totally stressed upon waking. It was one of those dreams you are sooooooooo glad is not real the second you come out of it.
It was a beautiful day for a parade today~! 79 degrees! Maybe not for poor Jordan who had to march in his marching band outfit that is oh so hot, as in temperature. We got to the parade early and enjoyed the nice weather. The kids were excited as I had told them all about how we could buy cotton candy and see uncle Jordy play his trumpet. The very first thing in the parade was a large group of motorcyclists. Well, they got one foot in front of Kyah and roared their engines really loud. Kyah absolutely freaked out screaming and clawing Nate and never really recovered! We spent a lot of time behind Bradley's truck that was parked behind us. The kids were very hot, but luckily I had packed sunscreen. And Brad gave up his hat for Kyah since her little cheeks were red she was so hot. I did finally make it back to my seat to get some video of Jordan as he went by. Overall we had a good time.
Watch this video! This first video is of when Jordy went right in front of us and Brad thought it necessary to show his love and support by slapping him on the bum. Unfortunately the band was just playing it's cadence. Jordan is the one with the black trumpet, but you'll figure that out when Brad slaps the old boo-tay.
So I sent TJ running down the road so we could get some footage of Jordan actually playing. Thanks T.
Here are my top twenty marathon running songs.....at the moment. The list is always changing. :)
1.Apologize by Timberland 2.Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis 3.Every time We Touch by CASCADA 4.Eye of the Tiger by Survivor 5.Fighter by Christina Aguilera 6.Friday I’m In Love by The Cure 7.I Drove All Night by Celine Dion 8.Irreplaceable by Beyonce 9.It’s Like That by Mariah Carey 10.Just Like a Pill by Pink 11.Misery Business by Paramore 12.No One by Alicia Keys 13.Say It Right by Nelly Furtado 14.Seven Days of Lonely by I Nine 15.Stronger by Britany Spears 16.Sunday Morning by No Doubt 17.Tattoo by Jordin Sparks 18.Wake Me Up Before You Go Go by Wham 19.Walking On Sunshine by Katrina & The Waves 20.We Are the Champions by Queen
Bummer, I just realized that I didn't put With You by Chris Brown on there. Well, that song makes 21. :)
Did any of you notice that the marathon count down is now in the single digits!!!! I'm hyperventilating. This is the real deal. It's always been so far away and kind of not really real. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out...........
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I was dying to read this book since it was one of the Oprah book club books and I thought the movie previews last year looked interesting. But for me this book was kind of a hard read. It was very "wordy" and at times I found myself thinking, "enough details, get on with it." This book actually took me a couple of months to read. 1. Because it was harder, and 2. I wasn't ever that excited about it. I have a hard time not finishing books once I start them. (It's a weird problem I have) so I did finish it, but didn't love it. I wouldn't even recommend it. I know lots of people love it, including Oprah, but I just didn't get it. The tag line for the movie was, "50 years and 600 women later, true love." I just didn't relate AT ALL with the characters and what they were doing. And the ending was dumb.
Walk Two Moons by Sharron Creech, Newbery Medal winner I really enjoyed this book, especially after the previous book. Obviously a very simple read since it was meant probably for middle schoolers. I thought it had good messages throughout the whole book and was very entertaining. It is about a girl who is going on a road trip with her grandparents to bring her mother back and while she is on this road trip, she is telling another story to her grandparents about a girl back home. It was a very good book.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
I really enjoyed this book. It was very entertaining with a special little twist at the end. I think you could call this book a historical fiction too. It takes place in the early 1900's and is about a traveling circus.
The problem with the book for me was that it was just a tad bit too rated R. It used some BAD swear words several times and there were a couple questionable scenes. I'll leave it at that. So you decide if you want to read it.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis, Newbery Honor book and Coretta Scott King Award. This book was OK. I liked it, but not loved it. It is about a black family that takes a road trip to Birmingham from Flint, Michigan to leave the oldest boy with the grandmother for the summer. (The oldest boy is a "delinquent.") It is written from the perspective of the 10 year old boy, the second oldest. It used some language I didn't like, but then again it takes place in 1963. (Kind of how I felt when I watched Hairspray the first time :> ) There is a tragedy that takes place at the end of the book that is based on a real event, probably what saved the book for me because it gave it some meaning and some real things to think about.
Last night I had my first marathon dream. I don't remember a whole lot about it. I just know that when I got to the race, for some reason the course was messed up and we had to run the marathon around a high school track!! Could you even imagine. I'm sure more marathon dreams await me!
Nate and I went to a murder mystery dinner hosted by our friends Jake and Cindy last friday. My character was a lady named Burnette DeBrah. She was a leader of the feminist movement and was about to become the first woman senator. The murder took place in 1969. Nate was a decorated air force guy. We had a really good time. Neither one of us was the murderer and neither of us guessed the right person. I over thought it too much. I thought it was too obvious to be who it was. Next time I'll get it right!! If there is a next time. Who's going to host the next party??? Maybe I will!
Here is me workin my costume! There is no picture of Nate because his costume was basically what he wears to church.
This is a video from the second Easter egg hunt my mom has done for us grown kids. The first time she did it, it was an all out war in our front yard with tackling, kicking, and stealing. Why? Because there is money in the eggs!
This year my Dad helped fill the eggs. After the hunt was over, he told Brad that there was still an egg outside that had a 20 dollar bill in it!! (The previous hunt only had one 5 dollar bill) The word spread quickly that there was still an egg with big money in it. I grabbed the camera and went outside. The video really doesn't do justice to how intense it was!
I've pretty much been sick this whole week. Yuck. But I figured I could get on here and at least post a picture or something.
Today is my brother Jeff's birthday. He is at Disneyland. I can't think of a better way to spend a birthday! I've had this post in my mind that I wanted to do for his birthday, but I don't have the energy right now. So I'll do it later. Happy Birthday Bro! You rock.
I've also wanted to do an Easter post. So here is a preview. This is actually about the only picture we have on Easter Sunday. I was the last one ready so I had told Nate to grab the camera and take a quick pic of the kids. Not one was very good. Gage was making horrible faces in them all except this one. I wish you could see how pretty Kyah's dress is.
A new purple iPod Shuffle. I'm so excited. He had gone to Best Buy to get a router for his new laptop and decided to bring home the shuffle. He gave it to Gage and Gage came over to me with a funny look and both hands behind his back. After choosing the correct hand he showed me my new toy/baby! I started screaming of course. I'm so excited I won't have to worry about chaffing my arm during the marathon now. Woooooooohooooooooooooooo! Thank you Nate!!
