I have been training for the Ogden Marathon for the past few months. I love to run and especially love running a marathon this time of year when the weather is getting so nice and the days keep getting longer and longer! It's my favorite time of the year! One of my favorite things I have used for training is my Apple Watch that Josh bought me a while ago. It has a running app that tracks all my runs and shows me my distance and my times. It has been awesome to train with! These are just a few of the runs I've been on while training. Josh has been super patient and helpful as I've taken so many of our Saturday's lately for my longer training runs. He is a super dad and has been really supportive! After lots of hours and miles on the road the day of the marathon finally arrived!
I went up Friday afternoon and checked in at the expo, got my bib number, dropped my water bottles along the trail and tried to get all prepped for the next morning. I was able to have a good dinner and get to bed early so that I could feel rested for the run. Josh stayed home with the kids and was going to meet me up at the finish line the next day.
My friends Shelly and Wan picked me up Saturday morning early and we headed up to the bus stop to load onto our bus! So early, but so awesome to see all the runners with high energy and ready to go!
Up at the starting line we had about an hour before the race started. There were fire pits all over with people gathering around trying to stay warm and get ready to run. It was really fun to sit and chat with people and know that everyone is about to embark on a 4 or more hour trek along with you!
Our friend Stephanie got hurt during training and wasn't able to run with us today, so Wan was running with her in mind!
The starting line with thousands of runners waiting. And then we were off!
A marathon is hard. I think about it every time I start to train and wonder if I'm going to be able to do it again. And it is hard every time. But I love it and I love that I can make my body do something hard.
By the time I am near the finish line, all I want to do is see my family and know that they are there cheering me on. By then it's the only thing that keeps me running. The last stretch toward the finish line seems like an eternity. But I finally saw my kiddos and Josh and these three jumped out and ran the last 100 yards with me. I couldn't keep the tears from running down my face. It mixed in with the sweat so you couldn't tell!
All I could think after I was done is "I made it!" And not just that but I made it under 4 hours which has been my goal all along. 3:56:07!
My kids made these awesome posters for me and cheered their little hearts out! Thanks to the whole family for sacrificing to let me do this!
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