Dear Marathon, I DID IT, Love Abby

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Dear Marathon, I DID IT, Love Abby

I couldn’t sleep the night before. I woke up almost every hour from 2:00 AM on. Finally it was 4:45 AM and time to get ready. I slept in my running clothes and set out everything I would need before I went to sleep. Betsy (who also didn’t sleep, just for me) and Hannah drove me to the park where I caught the bus. I drove what must have been 30 minutes or so and chatted with the nice woman next to me. This was her third marathon. I was trying to take my mind off how long we were driving, because I knew I would be running the entire way back.

The bus stopped and I ran to the longest row of port-a-potties ever. Even though there were around 40 or 50, the line for each one was about 15 people long. I waited and tried to warm my freezing limbs. I was trying not to think about how gross it was not only that I was going to pee in a port-a-potty but that I could see how many people had gone in before me to use the same pot. As I was trying to take my mind off my upcoming run, I began humming “tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag” from Mary Poppins. Talk about motivating. Then, inspired by a story Hannah told me on the way to the bus, I started saying in my mind: I’m a runner, a MARATHON runner, my legs are strong, my feet are mobile. Cheesy or weird as that may sound, this little sentence proved to be a strong motivator.

The race started and I practically flew down the canyon. I started out way too fast because my legs already hurt by mile 10. I finished 13 miles in 2 hours 3 minutes. My family was waiting for me at mile 17 where they took pictures and wrote my name in chalk on the sidewalk. When I hit mile 18 I started to struggle. I whipped out my ipod and sang at the top of my lungs. Also weird, but who cares, I was running 26.2 miles. I continued to repeat my motivator: I’m a RUNNER….my legs are STRONG. After barely surviving until mile 23, I finally started to feel the finish. I sped up and continued telling my self: MY LEGS ARE STRONG!

Mile 25 I went even faster and kept saying: I’M A MARATHON RUNNER..MY LEGS ARE STRONG, STRONG, STRONG. Only now I was almost screaming it. I turned the corner and raced to the finish line where my family was stationed once again. Thanks family, I love you guys. Stevie was there too! It was 3 years ago that I watched her cross the finish line of her first marathon…only she was much faster! Total time: 4 hours 12 minutes but you can bet I NEVER STOPPED. I loved it. My legs hurt like crazy but I’ll definitely run more marathons. I couldn’t wait to start running again and today my legs felt strong enough to go for a small run. YAY.

A First

In exactly 24 hours from now, I will be 9.5 hours from embarking on what may be the hardest physical event I've ever participated in. Many have done it before, many will do it with me for the first time, and many will do it many more times to come. I am going to attempt to run 26.2 miles in under 4 hours without stopping. Under 4 hours isn't a fast pace by any means--my main goal is to finish without stopping. This being my first marathon I'm not really concerned about how fast I go. By 'not really concerned' I mean I'm trying REALLY HARD not to care. I don't like to get passed by other runners, so I'm working on some major brain tricks to control my ego to allow some people to pass me. Some people come out of a marathon swearing to never run again (like my dad for example). Dad says that after every marathon but he has run 7 or 8 in his life time. When I ran 20 miles I was loving it afterwards. I wonder if the extra 6.2 miles will make me swear to never run again.

For those of you who won't be there in person cheering me on, at around 11:00 am just let out a little cheer wherever you are....I'll hear it. If you really feel bad about not being there in person, you could let out a big cheer instead of a little one. That would suffice.

To be continued....

Livin' It Up

Me and JR partying at the Gallery Stroll

This is Thomas my cousin: he is leaving on a mission in less than a week!

I saw my favorite employee at the running store today. We laughed about how I have a picture of my family on my debit card and how he'd like one too--not a picture of my family, but of his. I told him I'd stop coming to the running store after my race this Saturday and he said "don't say that!" Okay, I thought, I'll come back. Everyday. How will I be able to come up with excuses to go into the running store if I am no longer training for a race? As I left the store he wished me luck...twice.

I drove home, raced to put my running clothes on and started my run. I hoped it would start raining on me, and it did. I lengthened my run about 10 minutes just so I could stay in the rain a little longer. I passed a boy on a scooter and he laughed at me and made some comment about being soaked.

I finished my run, stretched, talked to Jenny on the phone and then helped myself to a d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s piece of bread covered with peanut butter and honey. Is there anything better? MMMMmmmm.

At the end of the night I went to Sonic to get a lemon berry real fruit slush. Do you know how many of those I've had in my life? Probably a million or more. I never get sick of them. Or maybe I just never get sick of driving to Sonic and being served by people on roller blades. The last 2 boys I dated made the comment that they had been to Sonic more times with me than they had been in their whole lives. I also made an appearance at my favorite grocery store, Macey's. I didn't buy anything I just walked around. I LOVE MACEY's (Kendall, that was for you).

Now I sit on the floor in my bedroom, listening to my newly chosen blog playlist and writing about my day. I'm also thinking about all the little good things in my life. I don't love my job, but that's only part of who I am. There are a million or more wonderful things about everyday living and I'm so grateful for that!

Oh darn, I can't find my running socks...I guess I'll have to go buy more.

The Door Bell Ringers

The other day my doorbell rang 2times in a row. With each new ring came a very interesting surprise.

Ring #1: I open the door and this boy holding a 1/2 full bottle of LA Looks gel pushes his way into the house. "I'm in dyer need" he says. He had just put 1/2 a bottle of gel in his hair and needed to borrow a blow dryer to make it stay slicked back. He was wearing pants that came up past his belly button and his shirt was tucked in. Apparently he was trying out for the ballroom team and needed to get his hair to stay slicked back. I grabbed my blow dryer and he used the living room mirror to get his hair in order.

Ring #2: This time I opened the door to a girl. She said "i just noticed that you were growing things" as she pointed to our garden in the front yard. Lauren and Suzanne worked hard to plant our little garden and we harvest zucchini and tomatoes like crazy. I nodded my head and then the girl said, "i was just wondering if you're going to pick those things." Um, duh. I very happily said "Yes!" and she looked a little disappointed. She was scheming to get our vegetables. So I went into the kitchen and gave her a zucchini we picked like 2 weeks ago and sent her on her way. It made me wonder how many people are so kind as to pick our vegetables for us, without us ever knowing.

Last night I walked the Gallery Stroll, sampled Latino food and did a little Latino dancing at the Latino Americano festival, did some more dancing at the Penny Royal cafe, and then went to sleep. I woke up at 5:10 AM to head up Diamond Fork Canyon for a 10-12 mile trail run. My favorite part of the run was dodging the mine field of cow pies, and then dodging the mine field of cows. Here are some pictures of Fiji.

This is Fiji. That water is warm all day long.

These are the frogs they raced at our resort in Fiji.

This is the sun set view from our resort.