One less item on my bucket list: St. George Marathon

              A day that I shall remember forever..running the St. George Marathon

It was 12 years ago, October 22,2000 I was laying in a hospital bed fighting for my life.  I was undergoing a bone marrow transplant, for a rare blood disease, I had been diagnosed with. A-plastic Anemia is a condition where bone marrow does not produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells. I would be getting a new bone marrow that would be donated by sister, Brooke, who is 18 months older. She was a 100% match and I would qualify for a successful transplant.

At this time in my life, being in the hospital for 2 months, undergoing chemotherapy, losing all my hair, being home bound for 6 months, I never imagined running a full marathon in my life. I was fighting to stay alive, It took me a good year to work on getting back my strength, to grow my hair back, and 2 years to lose the weight I had gained through it all.  Never, did I ever think..that 12 years later I would run my first marathon?!  It's hard to believe what I have conquered and endured to be able to complete a 26.2 mile race.

My Sister Brooke and I

October 6,2012 was a day that I have been anticipating for! I had ran 4 half marathons,two 5k's, one 10k and completed a Olympic Triathlon the past 18 months for this moment!

However,the past 3 months have been extremely tough.  I wasn't sure if I was even going to be able to run the marathon. I contracted Crypto and was extremely sick at the end of August, which delayed my training schedule. At that same time, Tim ended up in the hospital dealing with an infection in his leg, then I started getting a numbness in my right foot. I ended up seeing a doctor in September. He advised me that I had nerve damage, caused by all the miles I had been running the past 18 months!  At that point, I still wanted to run the marathon, but wasn't sure I would be doing my body any favor by putting my body through a full marathon.   But, if you know me....I won't quit!  That isn't in my blood.  I would do whatever I needed to be able to get through it.  A part of me was scared to run it because of the missed training miles and the nerve damage that I had in my feet.  I was concerned that I would not get the completed time I wanted ( 4:15 or less) however; I had to keep telling myself that I needed to focus on just finishing my first marathon and not focus so much on the time it going to take! 

 So, with that said...Tim,the Kids and I drove down to St.George for the marathon. Tim's parents came down with us to watch and cheer me on. We stopped in Beaver at Diary Queen for a chocolate dipped ice cream cone and to let the kids play.

 We arrived in St. George and checked into our hotel at the Comfort Inn Convention Center around 4:00PM. We had bought tickets to see "Aladdin" at the Tuacahn amphitheater. The show provides a show care  ( child care) for kids under 2.  We checked Mason in at the show care and I was nervous to see how he would react to us leaving him, but he did not seem to mind one ounce. He ran right to the toys and never looked back.  We took Allie and headed inside the amphitheater to see "Aladdin." Allie was gleaming! She was so excited. We passed the gift shop on our way in, and she saw a Jasmine doll. She picked it up and asked if she could have it. I figured it would be extremely pricey. I said, " Well, we will have to check with Daddy."  I walked over to see the price and to my surprise, it was $9.99! How could I pass up a deal like that. Dolls like this, at any store would be over $25.00.  Well, at that moment, Tim's parents gave Allie $10.00 and told her she could buy it.  That moment was priceless. She was so excited to buy Jasmine and she held her the entire performance!  The show was amazing! They did an excellent job! We all enjoyed it.  After the show we went and purchased the "Aladdin" doll for Mason.When we went to pick Mason up from the show care. He was still awake at 10:45 PM and came running over to us. He was so happy to see us, and Allie handed him his Aladdin doll, he was screaming with joy.  It was so fun to watch!  We then headed back to the hotel for the night.

A Girls Picture at "Aladdin"

Allie wearing her 3D glasses and holding her Jasmine Doll at Tuacahn

Allie in front of the Tuacahn Theater

Allie loved the turtle she found in front of the gift shop

Me and the kids in front of the Aladdin sign

  The next morning, we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel. Afterwards, we went to the Dixie Conference center to pick up my Marathon packet.

Me in front of the Dixie Center after I picked up my Bib # 8176

At the expo they gave away a poster for the families of the runners to decorate and to write on. My mother in law, the kids and Tim designed a poster to hold up during my race!  It was so fun to watch the kids enjoy coloring a picture for me!

On Friday afternoon, we went and drove the entire 26.2 mile course!  That is something I always enjoying doing the day before my races.  It is always nice to see what the course is like.  It always seems longer than what it is. But, wow!  It is hard to take in at that moment and to think..I'm going to be running this entire thing tomorrow morning! 
We then went back to the hotel and took the kids swimming, and that night we went out for a nice Carb/Protein dinner!  We went to Texas Roadhouse!  I indulged in a 6 oz steak, sweet potato, side salad with Ranch and even ate 3 of the dinner rolls ( I know, that is a crazy amount of calories!) I knew that my body needed those extra calories to keep me going for 26.2 miles! I ended up burning the entire meal off, I figured I had burned 3100 calories during my run!
We then took the kids to the St. George Temple to walk around the visitor center and temple grounds. The kids loved every moment of that!

St. George Temple

Tim and Mason in front of the Temple

Tim and I in front of the temple grounds

Mason and Allie on the stairs of the St. George Temple

Mason holding grandma's purse. ( Tim was not a fan of the picture).  It sure made me laugh!

The St. George Temple at Dusk

I didn't get much sleep, which is usually the norm for most runners the night before a big race.  I kept waking up looking at the clock. I was scared of sleeping past my alarm.  I finally got up at 4:15 am, went into the bathroom, got dressed, ate a banana.  I woke Tim up at 5:00 and off we went! I had Tim stop off at Mcdonalds to buy some oatmeal. Tim dropped me off in front of the bus loading area.  I took one last bite of my oatmeal, kissed Tim, and told him I loved him.  He looked right at me and said, "You got this."  "I know you can do this." " I'll see you soon. Love ya!"
I got out of the car and walked to the bus to get on.  There were so many buses! I had never in my life seen such a site!  There had got to be over 100 buses...I got on and we drove off.  The ride up to the start line took forever!  It was 5:45 am and dark, cold and to top it off I really needed to go to the bathroom!

We finally arrived at 6:13 am to the start line. It is so hard to put into words, the atmosphere of the starting line! The music is loud, there were fire pits that went on for about a 1/4 mile with restrooms that stretched that far was well.  There were at least 100 outhouses and they all had at least 30-50 people in line for each bathroom! I thought to myself, I am not going to make it...the race was going to start before I even had a chance to go.  I walked about 1/2 mile down and found a outhouse that only had 15 people in line. I got in that line...and before I knew it...it was 7 minutes till the race and I had finished going to the bathroom. I followed the crowd of people, and suddenly everyone was running....at this point it was still so dark. I couldn't even see the people in front of me!  I remember thinking, "This is too cool."  I was soaking up every moment, it was so amazing to look around and see in front and behind me, about 7,400 runners!  Beyond words!! I hit mile 7 and I was tracking at a pace to finish at 3:45. I thought, I have this...until I hit mile 11 and I had to stop and go to the bathroom! I had no other choice, I was having pain and cramps in my stomach and needed to stop..so I did. Thank goodness, there were outhouses at every mile!  But, as I looked around people were just going in the bushes..boys and girls! I had never seen something like that before. It was funny! As I got out of the bathroom..I had a sense of energy..and off I went!  I hit the half way point at 2:08.  I thought, wow!! I can do this in 4:15, even with nerve damage, stopping at the bathroom 3 times..I got this!  I finally hit mile 21 and as I descended down the long curvy hill, I felt a rush of adrenaline!  I became emotional as I looked around and saw what I had accomplished!! I looked beyond the horizon with the red rock in my view, and right before the hill ended there spectators cheering us on! That was a fantastic moment!  I was taking it all in, and it felt so good. By the time I hit mile 22, there were many people clapping and screaming!  But, at that moment I had heard my knee pop!  I thought, I need to get stretched out at the next mile marker. I got to mile 23 to have my knee looked out at the aid station. This put me behind by 25 minutes. I got frustrated at that point, and just wanted to keep pushing myself. I did for the next 1/2 mile. I knew...I needed to just make it another 1/2 mile and I would see Tim, Tim's parents and my kids..That was all I could think about to help keep me pushing...As I came around the bend, I see my family..and I had tears in my eyes..as Tim's cute mom handed me a chocolate pudding! I run right up to Tim and tell him my knee is giving out on me. He said, "Do you want to stop?" I said, "No, way!" I'm finishing this..I have only 2 miles left...I will finish this!

Eating pudding at mile 24.2

 I admit, I had never been in that much pain..I was hobbling along for most of last 2 miles, but I enjoyed every moment. The crowd was handing out popsicles and wet wash cloths.  As I came along the mile marker I saw I only had .2 left. I gave it all I had. I ran as fast as I could right into the finish line!  What a unbelievable experience! I had finished just after 4.5 hours even with a knee injury!  I was so proud...I was greeted by my 2 aunts ( Shauna and Sharon) and 3 cousins Lexi,Justine and Star.  My aunt,Sharon, had completed in the St.George marathon in the wheelchair division and to this day still holds the record for the fastest time! She was there cheering me on! I was ecstatic to see the love and support of my family!  It was a great moment!  I will never forget the feeling that I had the moment I finished the marathon! What a great memory this will be in my life!  I am so grateful to my husband and kids, who have been by my side each at every finish line I have crossed! My loving husband who has always believed in me! (Tim had the words "I believe in you!" Love you! Tim engraved on my iPod.) I am grateful to have such awesome Parents in-laws that drove us down, and spent the entire weekend with us! I am one lucky girl to have the great support of those around me! I say to anyone that ever has wanted to achieve a very challenging goal...Believe that you can..and YOU WILL! I did...and I don't regret any of it! I overcame the odds...and I accomplished it. This is one big GOAL that I cross off my bucket list!

The kids and I at the finish line

I did it!