Each Day Is a Gift

UVM: blessings and a blast!!!!

Short version: [the long version is for my journal and posterity ;)]

WHAT A BLAST!!!:

FANTASTIC pre-race and post-race lunches with WONDERFUL friends! :) :) :)
SUPER FUN hanging out with RAD, Teena, JohnV, MattL, Luz & Cath before the race!!! :) :) :)
Had a BLAST running with AWESOME friends: RAD (3 mi) Lowell (15 mi) Cath (~ 4 mi) Suzette (20.5 mi) and Fonz (1 mi)!!! :) :) :)

THE BLESSINGS!!! So grateful that I:

Got a BQ (1st half in 2:04:23, 2nd half in 2:04:40, YAHOO for even splits!) with a bum knee and tired legs to boot!!! :)
Had no cramps nor collapsed at the finish. :) :)
Was loved and taken care of by awesome friends, especially RAD! :) :) :)
Had a cloud covering the last 10 miles. :)
Have a sweet hubby who faithfully comes and waits for me every marathon even on a busy busy day. ♥ :) :) :)

Long version: [you can stop reading now :)]

Pre-race:

Had a wonderful Fri. luncheon visiting with many friends and families. THANKS Paul for organizing it!!! :) At the Expo met the two Kenyans and Mark Marrott (handcycle division winner). Kinda neat to talk to the champs at eye-level! :) Went to the store for some banana and sunscreen before heading over to the Stake Youth Conference doing the Amazing Race. Had a great dinner and fireside with the energetic youth. Well past 9 by the time we got home...SO tired!!! Got my running gear ready and took 1/2 AdvilPM at 11 in hopes of getting some sleep, no such luck! :(

Was wide awake entire time wondering how I was to run this thing in the morning w/ tired sore legs?!! Finally got out of bed at 2:30am tired and groggy! KT taped the right knee (it came off when I removed my warm-up pants before the start, o well). Put on compression sleeves. Met RAD at 3:15am. So grateful she drove me to the bus loading where we unexpectedly met up with Teena, JohnV and MattL. Waved to Slick and Kodi as their bus pulled away.

So lethargic on the bus ride that I would've fallen asleep if not for the *entertainment* by a *certain royalty* and a very funny RAD. Has it only been 3 weeks since our silly ride up Ogden Canyon? Yup, still feeling the aches and pains of that marathon...what was I thinking?!!! Forced down a banana, yogurt and gatorade.

The Start:

Did the pop wait where we saw JulieC, Walter, Carina, Flatlander, Sasha and bunch of others. Found Luz and Cath after walking past gazillion stinky smokey fire-pits. The smoke seriously made me want to puke. We lined up for the pop a 2nd time (to be expected when one gets up so early! It isn't even Boston, geez louise!) Was fun making new friends at the pop line though! The race started on time at 6am while RAD's time was *ten to*... yep, we were still ten-ding-to-business! hehehe!!! :)

RAD and I were heading to bag-drop-off when Lowell finally showed up hurrying to the pop. He wanted us to wait for him. But we were freezing and it was already 5 min. after gun time. He and Suzette finally caught up to us at mile 1. He told us that he and Jason had to rescue the wheelchair athlete who has fallen into the river just before the start, goodness!

First half:

My! That first mile was a huffer...not too concerned as I knew it was uphill. RAD pulled away at the mile 3 aid station. I have got to learn not to linger at aid stations. Ran with Suzette and Lowell, what a hoot! :) It was like Poky all over again, singing, laughing, telling jokes and completely lost all my dignity with Lowell's incessant teasing and harassing. Good thing I love him so much or I would've ditched him and his ole-fartin' at the mile 8, 9 & 12 hills. Instead we (Suzette and I, the sassy women according to him) stayed with him passing runners making lots of friends who were either amused or annoyed by his: "What's your name? We're wondering why you don't have any friends? Can we walk the hill with you?" "Good morning, Pain! Tell us your story!" "Smooth and Suzette are two sassy women! They lied. They are evil women!" I was only guilty on one count when I told Miles from Calif. (think that's his real name since I told him my name was Smooth) that once we got over that snow-peaked mountain, it would be *smooth miles* to the finish! :) I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful green mountains & rolling hills of the canyon while ignoring the traffic noise on the concrete hwy! :)

Second half:

I never looked at my watch until at the Half, 2:04:xx. I was happily surprised when I saw hubby on the north bound lane shoulder cheering! ♥ Was fun to see AlisaB and wish she would latch on to our group. We also caught up to Cath and she got to listen to Lowell's story of his early law days. Don't know when we lost Cath and Luz; but we stopped to take pictures for two girls who wanted the water-fall scenery as backdrop. The fun part of running at the back and middle of the pack is that you get to pass/meet all these people who run as friends, father-sons-daughters together. You get to hear inspiring stories. You get to cheer and encourage first-timers, people running for a cause, etc. :) :) :)

While I enjoyed the comradarie, I tried to listen to my body's signals, pay attention to my form, remember to drink and gu. UVM did a great job putting the aid stations close to the odd number miles and positioning the gu, powerade and water just right. That made it easy for me to gu at the stations where they handed out gu and took orange slices where there wasn't any gu. Thanked the volunteers profusely. :) A cyclist almost clipped me as I ran too close to the orange cones doing the tangent! That was scary! :/

We lost Lowell after mile 15. I think he stayed with Sarah, a first time marathoner. Suzette and I ran together till the mouth of the canyon where I told her that the race really begins and urged her to go for it. Now running with my own thoughts on University Ave. fearing charlie horse would hit any minute. My thoughts immediately turned to my missionary son, Steven, who's been in the Provo MTC for exactly a month. The first sign of cramps showed up at the top of my hamstrings where I've never experienced before; usually it's in my calves, shins or toes. The hymn, Called to Serve, immediately popped into my head. I sang that in my mind over and over, lengthened the back-swing-strides, far and wide His love proclaim...ONWARD...pressing onward...until the cramps subsided. I concentrated on good posture that Eric taught me, side-fived the children, thanked every officer at each traffic light!

The finish:

Just before mile 25, I saw a smiling Fonz jumped onto the course to run with me! :) :) :) He said: "I don't have a watch and don't know your goal but I'll stay with ya! What time do you have?" That's the first time I looked at my watch since the half. It read 3:59:xx. With that I told him: "Well, it looks like I'm not gonna make sub-4. But unless something disastrous happens, I should have a BQ in the bag!" I asked him how Teena and his other friend did. It was wonderful to run with him side by side. I just latched onto his energy and smooth strides. He grabbed two cups of water and dumped them on me while I took a last drink of powerade...felt soooo good! :) He pointed the blue thing - the finish line...but we still have NINE blocks to go...dang those street signs and traffic lights...and I couldn't even see the blue thing!!! I just fixated my eyes on the Wells Fargo building. Fonz peeled off at the last traffic light with a, "It's all yours! Enjoy the crowds cheering!" I saw Canyon (MarcieN), my hubby and Doone and I think I heard Kathie, Kimmy and friends cheering wildly! Finished at last where RAD was so kind to walk in circles with me and help me recover and find my hubby! Marathon #27 in the book! It was a successful training run! :)

Post-race:

Had a hunch that I placed top 5 (I passed two of my competitors) but didn't stay for the award. We had a great lunch/birthday celebration organized by Doone for Rhett. It was the best to top off the UVM weekend! I am so grateful for such great and wonderful friends! I am so thankful for the ability to run!

Each Day Is a Gift

Utah Valley Marathon