We did it!

(due to the nonstop rain, and the fact that I couldn't find Brandis at the finish with the 6500 other runners and their families, this is the only picture I got. But hopefully I'll be able to snag some online soon enough!)

I can't believe it's over, but I actually finished myfirst marathon and LIVED! It was quite an adventure. My time was FAR from great, but all things considered, I LOVED it!

The day started by Brandis and I walking to the bus stop at 3:45am (St. George time, which is actually 2:45 our time). We rode the bus up to the starting line where we got out of the bus and froze almost instantly. We found a good place to attempt to hide from the wind and about 20 minutes later it started pouring (well, it was a constant drizzle, then pouring, then drizzle). Luckily they were handing out black garbage bags, so we tried to warm ourselves up with those as best we could. We had a two and a half hour wait until the race started so we made some friends while we all sat and froze together.

When the race started, most everyone was still wearing their garbage bags, it was quite a sight to see, and not at all how I pictured the start of a big marathon. It was pitch black, super windy and there were 6,500 people all squished together wearing black trash bags.

So here's how it went:

mile 1- amazing! a mile has never gone by so fast
mile 2-wow...another mile...
mile 3- can't feel my face through the cold and the rain- body feels good
mile 4- drop my trash bag, the rain starts penetrating my pants and sweatshirt
mile 5- drop my sweatshirt- rain starts penetrating my long sleeve t-shirt. pants are so heavy from the rain that I can't get them to stay up.
mile 6- left earbud on my headphones stops working due to the downpour! my ipod keeps chiming as if in warning that it's going to die! please don't die!!!!!
mile 7- freaking out because I can't find Brandis in the crowd around me. I know the big hill is coming
mile 8- OH MY GOSH...I HAVE TO RUN UP THAT?!!?!?!?!?!? then... "I'm never running another marathon again." I probably could have WALKED faster than I was running up this hill!
mile 9- dropped long sleeve t-shirt and my darn pants that kept falling off
mile 10- FREEZING. should have kept my clothes on. Can't feel any part of my body!
mile 11- the end of the killer hill, life seems bliss at this point!
mile 12- did I mention i was COLD??????
mile 13- this is the halfway point, i felt great! I couldn't believe it! took my first 45 second walking break
mile 14- great! my legs are frozen numb, I decided to take advantage of it and run as hard as I could for a couple miles. why not...I couldn't feel a thing.
mile 15- started trying to figure out when the next marathon is that I could sign up for.
mile 16-17- OW!!!!!! the downhill actually hurts worse than the uphill!
mile 18- took my second 45 second walking break. ate a banana (i HATE bananas...but it has NEVER tasted so good!)
mile 19- left earbud comes back to life, yay! but it's still raining (yes...it rained for 24.5 out of 26.2 miles)
mile 20- 22- people started appearing on the sides of the roads to cheer. i'm easily overcome by emotions and this got me all choked up!
mile 23- took my third and final 45 second walking break. called my mom to tell her I'd be done in 30 mins or so. my phone died before we could talk. awesome! no idea how or where to find her at the end.
mile 24-25- more people, more emotions, can't believe I'm almost done and I'm still alive!
mile 26- the street is PACKED with people on both sides of the road. They are cheering, holding signs, playing music, screaming, clapping, kids giving high 5's the whole way down, people handing out washcloths to wipe your face. COOLEST FEELING EVER!
26.2 - complete overwhelming emotion as I crossed the finish line. This was the first time the tears actually made it out of my eyes (not from pain, believe it or not, but overwhelming accomplishment). Got my big ol' medal then ate a giant ice cream sandwich in the freezing cold. wearing nothing but soaking wet short spandex and a paper thin tank top. wow...did i mention cold? very cold!?!?

My time was 4:37:56 and 70% of everyone who ran finished ahead of me, but since it was my first one, I'm trying not to let that get to me. I'm just dang proud to have met my goal of finishing alive!

PS- I can't walk today :)

PF Changs Rock N Roll Marathon is January 18th, 2009...
anyone? anyone?!!?!?!?