Today was the Ogden 1/2 Marathon. Last night I drove down with friends, we went to pick up our race stuff and then headed to dinner at this local Italian place (apparently they have a 85% approval rate, but I would give them those numbers in reverse). It was still fun to visit, and make it part of the experience. No staying up late for us. For some crazy reason they have you get on the bus at 4:30am to head up the canyon for a race that doesn't start until 7am.
We got up there and it was FREEZING! We stood around these small fire pits, squishing for a spot with heat. By the time the race was starting, it was getting very exciting. There were so many people. We started off, and I was really looking forward to getting in the groove. The groove was not there for me. It was a really hard run, mentally. I kept thinking, "if I just get past mile 3, then I'll be fine". We kept passing all these people and that really should have excited me more, but I just wasn't there. Shauna was so patient with me.
Our goal was to do the race in under 2 hours. I kept making her stop and walk, not because I was fatigued, but I just couldn't get my mind to work with my body. She was amazing, she was so great at motivating me and helping me to keep going. I finally told her to go ahead at mile 9, so she could make her goal. As I watched her go I kept thinking I was such a nerd to not get it together. It was my goal too and I was watching it pass me by. I think that's what kept me going after that.
It was so emotional to get to 3 miles left and see all the families there to cheer people on. My MP3 player started playing a Dave Matthews song, "I did it". I wanted to bawl. I was doing it.
Then 2 more miles left and a song by Brian Adams came on, "There Will Never Be Another Tonight". That song is first special because it's on a hockey movie Tyler has watched since he was one, so it made me feel really close to my family. Second, because I realized that this was my first 1/2 marathon, and there will never be another 1st like this. I kept hitting rewind and listened to it for the whole mile. I FINALLY hit the start of the 13th mile and I just wanted to be done. It was awesome. It was all I could do to hold back the tears as people cheered for the runners, and I realized I DID IT! Did I mention it was awesome?! Shauna was right there at the end, cheering for me. She made her goal. She did it in 2:00:30. I am so proud of her. I finished in 2:07:40, and I am so proud of me too!