TWENTY SIX point TWO

The Marathon

(belated post, but still cool)

I can't quite yet grasp that I ran an actual marathon.  

I understand I ran that far, but the fact I am now apart of the .5% of Americans is pretty unbelievable.

Yes, that's right, only about .5% of the US population has run a marathon before. Boom! 

That's pretty freaking cool. 

So there we were, Tim, Annie and I at the top of the Pine Valley mountains (I think), freezing our Nike's off!!   Holy crap, I wasn't prepared for that at all.  Thousands of runners huddled around multiple campfires wearing shorts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, and.....garbage bags? 

Yes, garbage bags.  I assume it blocks the wind. Regardless, it reminds me 

of Silver Linings Playbook. 

At first, it was amazing to be around the fire and get a whiff of hot air.  Slowly but surely we began to get closer to the fire, which meant we went from ice cold to our legs burning off on multiple occasions.   Unfortunately Annie waited in a life-long line for the restrooms the whole time Tim and I were around the fire, trading positions whenever our shoes' rubber was about to melt off.

Compared to the cold, it hurt so good!

Annie (left) and me waiting for the race to start!

Clearly we are toasty warm.

We were probably in the first 1/3 or so of the racers and then we heard cheering and then people began moving.  Holy crap, it's started!

It was so strange.  The time was going by so quickly and I just knew I had only ran like four miles.  I was feeling really good, my music was good, and I was ready to go!  Come to find out, I was approaching an Aid Station and I just realized they had the mile number on them.  

I was at mile 11! 

Ps.: For those of you who don't know, 11 is my lucky number.  I shows up more times in my life than I can recall.  So I was stoked about that. It made me feel really good about the rest of the race. 

For awhile, I was running with the 4 hour pace group and was feeling good.  

Then what pumped me up later on was looking over on the side of the road and seeing my family!

Dad, Grandma P, Grandpa P, Aunt Jennifer, Dan and Haley!

Just in time too because the Veyo hill was just ahead, and it was kind of a beast. 

Good thing the Breaking Benjamin "Blow Me Away" came on as I was approaching that thing.  

(Look up that song.  The beginning is pretty humorous if you apply it to looking at an intimidating beast of a hill ready to take on that challenge)

After that hill, I started to feel really tight in my thighs. It was so annoying and they felt like they needed to be stretched.  So for the rest of the race I had to stop and stretch them quite a few times.  

It was so frustrating watching people pass me as I sat on the ground trying to get rid of the discomfort.


As miles went by I began to wonder, When am I going to see Mark and the Millers??
I conquered the Veyo hill and went a few miles past it, when I look over and see my family again!  I was so pumped every time I passed them.  Then, about 10 seconds later, I saw my husband and his awesome family.

Seeing Mark smile at me as I ran past, with the look of "I'm so proud of you" in his eyes was fantastic.

Clearly, I was doing great at this point!

I got to mile 20, and that is when things began to get tough.
My legs were still tight and un-stretchable, and that was the thing that held me back the most.
Not my endurance, but my freaking legs. Ugh.

My lungs kept telling me I could go for days.
My legs begged me to stop.
I was conflicted.

I trudged on! Grabbing a cup of water and an orange slice (or Gatorade 'Gu' crap) every four miles or so helped me a bit.
Side story: I accidentally grabbed a Mocha flavored 'Gu', and I absolutely hate the taste of anything coffee related.  I forced it down with everything I had, but it was disgusting.  
Lesson learned: stop running long enough to make sure to NOT grab Mocha.


Miles 23—26.2 were, shall we say...
HELL. 

My lack of true, dedicated training started to show.
Every mile felt like an eternity.
When I saw the sign "Mile 24" I almost cried.
There is NO way there is another 2.2 miles left. Lies!
It was tough.
No really.
Guys....I'm serious.

I had to stop and walk a few times those last few miles.
Strangers were cheering all of us runners on, (in the area I did terribly, and they all totally missed the first 20 miles when I dominated!  Typical...)


I finally see the FINISH LINE!

Holy crap.
Should I sprint?
No, it's too far to sprint. 
Okay I'll wait until I'm closer...
I think I'll sprint now!
So... change of plans. My legs won't move any faster. 
Guess I'm going to jog past the finish line. 
Yep, that seems alright to me!


I heard the announced say my name!
Though he did say "Here comes Shauna Bass!"
 (dude... it's Shaaannnaaahhh.  I'm too exhausted to care.)

I ran past the finish line, through the mister (which was heaven might I add), and met up with my family and chatted and took a few photos.
Tim and Annie finished awhile before me, so I decided to go find Mark and those two.

First Rule of Marathon Finishing: Do not stop moving. Walk around for awhile. Keep your legs going.

Guys... I stopped.
And let me tell you, my legs have never been so sore or near immovable in my entire life.

Oh well!
I found Mark, Tim and Annie
( AFTER I got a free rocket popsicle)  Freaking life saver that thing was.

WE DID IT!

Congratulatory husband hug

My legs were sore for days. 

It took a lot of effort to stand up, sit down, and walk down stairs. Not gonna lie, I needed assistance from time to time.
I ran it in 4:42:24 ;  not too shabby for my first.

But it was awesome and I am thinking about doing another one:]