4 am- wake up. Did not sleep AT ALL!
5 am- leave my house. It's raining a bit.
5:40- arrive at Gateway and park. It's still raining lightly. Traffic is fairly light and I park easily and make my way to the Trax station. I'm supposed to meet my friends for the 6 am train but I'm so nervous I just take the first one that pulls up. Good thing, too because it was packed to the brim!! This was my very first time on Trax (I know, lame, but I love my car). The train was so full the doors wouldn't close and I had to stand the whole way. Not a good way to start a race!
6:15- arrive at Legacy Bridge, the starting point. The rain has stopped but the roads are wet and slick! Use the port-o-potty, also another first (and last!) This seems to be some sort of runners "thing", as there were about 2,000 people in line for the potty. Nervous tummy's galore!!
7 am- START!! Woot woot! I can't believe I'm running a half marathon! My goal was to bust out 6 miles before taking a break, but I'm not sure if that will happen. I start pacing two lovely ladies in front of me, but they stop at the first aid station. Grrrr! It seems we've only been running a few minutes and they already have an aid station. Hmmmm.
7:30- my ladies catch up! We are all running strong now. Batman passes me. A guy in skin tight silver pants and no shirt passes me. Okay, this is getting weird.
Mile 3- my ladies stop AGAIN! Okay,they suck and I pass them for good. I start pacing behind this blond runner. Her posture was so GOOD! You could have balanced a level on her shoulders and she was practically gliding on the road. And her legs. Her legs! Her calves were perfectly sculpted and the color of caramel. She even had a"13" drawn on one of them, with an Angel Moroni. Lol Utahns! She was running a bit slow though....
Mile 5- Uh, what?! Mile 5 already?! I feel like I just started!! Running outside is SO much easier than the treadmill! I feel like I can actually finish this thing with a decent time. Blondie is running to slow so I bid her farewell and pass her.
Mile 7- I finally walk a bit and drink my water, only to discover I left the lid open and almost all of it has sloshed out all over my fanny pack (yes, I run with a pack, get over it). I only have 3 sips in there so I start running to get to the next aid station. I'm loving all the people that all the people that are outside of their houses cheering us on! Most are still in their pj's, some are even eating their cereal, but they are cheering nonetheless! A few have confused looks like, "what would posses someone to do this?!" The signs are hilarious. My favorite is "Run Forrest Run!" I saw these people no less than 3 times throughout the course. And big thanks to the pregnant lady who high fived me. You're awesome.
Mile 8- I see a lady running opposite of everyone, and she looks very upset. She has a green bib on meaning she is doing the full marathon. I figure she just hates running, but only later that night do I realize that she probably missed the full marathon turn off and was back tracking! Oh the horror!!
Mile 9- We are at Liberty Park now, and I'm in shock that it's mile 9 already. My legs still feel strong, and walking is hurting more than running. I drink water and gag down a carb gel. And then there's blondie! She passes me still gliding that perfect glide. You go girl!
Mile 11?- It's starting to blur now, and the lack of mile markers is pissing me off. I've only seen markers at 5, 8 (?), and 9. We're on State Street now and have the entire Northbound lane for running. Traffic is moving steadily on Southbound, which adds yucky car exhaust to breath in. And then my Dad is there!! He doesn't see me so I wave and yell. He crosses traffic and walks with me a bit. He takes my picture and I tell him to hurry to the finish line 'cause I'm pretty sure I'm gonna beat him there! Freaking love my Dad :)
Mile ??? - We're on South Temple now. The energy in the air is amazing and I can't believe I'm almost done. There is a bride and groom waiting to cross the street at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and they look pissed. At this point in the race there are still hundreds in the road and crossing the street will be almost impossible. I tell her "Congrats"! and she gives me the biggest stinkeye. Ha ha. Luv ya girl. We wind our way to 4th west and then 1st south.
FINISH LINE!!- Lol, of course they put it half way down the Gateway. I finish with a time of 2:33:52. I can't believe how good it went! I didn't think I would make it past mile 7 during training but it went so much better than I thought! I definitely want to do this again! Of course Maria and my Dad are nowhere to be found, they make it there about 15 minutes after I finish. Gotta love them!
Me and my Dad
Finish line!
My friends that talked me into this! You guys are awesome! (And so is Chelsea, not pictured, you are the best! Thanks for all the motivation!)
