Saint George half marathon

When my friend Kristie invited me to do a run with her last May I jumped at  the chance. At the time I was having a hard time getting myself up and running after being completely idle for about 6 months.  I had severe anemia. My levels were dangerously low.  I got some help and got my levels all back up to normal but I couldn't quite get going again.  I needed some motivation that came from someone else.  So after signing up for two other races and then having life get in the way, I was finally ready to run the Saint George half marathon.  The family came along to cheer me on which I was grateful for and I will talk about that more later.  I found a hotel room with an indoor/outdoor pool.  The kids were really excited to be able to swim.  We swam the night we got there and they swam while they waited for me to run the marathon.

 Cameron had fun just swimming from inside to outside.  I remember staying at a pool like this when I was a kid.  I thought it was the most amazing thing ever.  Cameron seemed to feel the same.

On the morning of the race it was rainy and freezing (40 degrees is freezing to this Vegas girl).  I bundled up and the family came to see me off.  The pictures of the start didn't turn out so great. I started off good.  By about mile 4 I was feeling warm so I took off my sweatshirt.  I was cruising along just fine.  I must say that the first 7-8 miles were uphill.  We would go up two our three hills and then straight down and then up two or three hills and then straight down.  I got a little burst of energy from about mile 6 - 10.  I felt great.  I was taking a minute walk break at every mile starting at mile 6 and that really helped me.  The farthest I had ever gone was about 9.5.  I wasn't sure how my body would hold up.  At mile 10 it started raining hard and I was freezing.  My muscles started to tighten up and it was a little bit miserable.  I am not great at running in cold weather.  I started to wear out.  I slowed way down. But...I kept on going and I finished.  I ran slower than I had hoped but my goal was to finish.  When I came around the last corner I could hear people cheering like crazy.  I got a little emotional.  This was my first race I had ever entered.  It was a huge accomplishment for me.  This may seem strange but as I searched that crowd for my biggest cheerleaders, my husband and my kids my thoughts turned to what it will be like when we die.  It will be like finishing the hardest race we have ever run.  There will be crowds of people there cheering for us but the only thing that will matter is  finding our family.  When I saw my cute little family huddling under umbrellas and Cameron was cheering and had this HUGE smile on his face, I dropped a few tears I'm not gonna lie.  It was great.  I have talked to Cameron a lot lately about setting goals and trying hard to do things that aren't easy for us.  I have used my running this half marathon as an example to show him that sometimes we have to do things that challenge us.  I was glad I finished.

 Running this half marathon for me was like having a baby.  The whole time I kept thinking why in the world did I commit to this?  I swore I would never do it again.  As soon as I was finished even though my feet were throbbing and my body was worn out I started thinking about which race I want to do next.  I know I will never do anything longer than this.  It just isn't that much fun but I would run another half marathon...

As soon as my toenails heal...and in case you are wondering, it was dark when I polished them.  I should have taken a picture before I polished.  Then you could see all the purple.