Nate, Missy, Ashley, Hilary, Ryan, Joshua and I ran the Thankful 13 Half Marathon. We all signed up for it back in September. Susette Fisher, Monte Riding and Robert Merriman also ran. Always fun to see them!
This was Josh's 50th half marathon! Holy smokes! Unfortunately, MY bib was #50, and his was #52. We really wanted to trade! I was excited to run a race with him. He has quickly become one of my very best friends.
So we all met up, used the Honey Buckets as needed, and stuffed ourselves into our van to keep warm. It was kind of hilarious seeing Ashley and Robert try to sit in the girls' carseats. Sorry, guys! We pinned our bibs on, chatted/laughed for a few (Josh! Are you looking at me?! and Oh my gosh, we MATCH!!), and then after my van gave birth to Josh, we headed over to the starting line.
Ashley and I had matching headbands on purpose. We had an extra special reason on the side to be running this race. Love you, Ashley and Robert!
Josh and I went to the back of the pack. I knew this would be a slow run for me. The hip is doing better, but not 100% yet. I have also had a cough for the past few days, and I haven't run in 3 weeks. Not the best way to head into a half marathon! But what could I do? Luckily awesome Susette was pacing the 2:40 group, so that was going to just be fun.
The race started, and right when we got to the starting mats (not sure what they're called?), Josh realized he hadn't started his watch, so we left him there. I felt bad, but I knew he could catch up. He said he was pretty panicked while waiting for the satellite. Luckily it wasn't a big deal. Nate had our Garmin, so I hadn't even thought about it.
Susette, Josh and I stayed together for the first 4 miles or so. We chatted about Biggest Loser and running and how Susette thinks Nate looks like John Mayer (huh...yeah I can kind of see it!!). The course weaved along Jordan parkway and some farmland. We passed a few white donkeys, and Josh yelled "asses!!" really loud. I'm pretty sure I lost more calories laughing than I did running. Along the course, there were signs of different things runners were grateful for that they had submitted. Joshua's made the cut, bad grammar and all!
Somewhere around Mile 4, I ended up going ahead of Susette and Josh, just a little. I don't know why I did that. So I was alone for the next 7-8 miles. Kind of lame. Oh well. Around Mile 8, I started to lose steam. My biggest regret of this run was that Nate had taken our amphipod belt for his stuff, so I didn't have any chews or gels with me. BAD idea. I drank some Powerade at the aid stations and tried to choke down a NASTY orange-flavored Gu from an aid station, but I just needed my usual chews.
My hip was holding out okay, but I was just exhausted and slow. I was hungry and had no energy. I started taking short walking breaks around Mile 9. BLAH. It was not fun. Right around Mile 11 (I think....it was a blur by then), I heard Josh start yelling in a distressed voice, "Becky! Becky!" He knows I hate being called that name! It was hilarious! He and Susette caught up to me, which was awesome AND lame. I was SO glad to see them....but that also meant I had slowed WAY down and was threatening to finish in the 2:40's....NO!!!
I tried SO hard to start running with them, but I could barely move forward. Then, angel Susette gave me an extra chocolate-flavored Gu she had. It was JUST what I needed! And it tasted like heaven. Josh and Susette ended up being a little ahead of me the rest of the way. I tried so hard to catch up, but there were some nasty hills that did me in.
Finally that blessed 12-mile Marker appeared, and I knew I had ONE mile left. I upped my pace a tad and tried to run my best for the last mile. Nate and Missy were cheering for me at the finish line. I saw Josh finish, and I caught up with Susette JUST in time and finished with in 2:39:23. NOT great. BUT...given the circumstances, I was also happy to atleast finish and do better than I had at the Salt Lake Half back in April. I know that every race can't be my best time, but I truly gave my best effort. I need to heal and then work on getting stronger.
Josh finished a little ahead of me, got his medal and turned around and started yelling "BECKY!!" again. Grrrr. JUST for this, I have started calling him my Bestie....which he IS, but he hates that word. So there.
I found Nate and headed directly for the PIE. I was STARVING. They had pie and rolls and BUNDT cake (NOT butt cake...the announcer kept talking about butt cake, which was hilarious!). We sat down on the grass and ate and ATE. I could NOT stop eating. Josh went and got hot chocolate, and I don't even know why, but he came back to the group and said, "I suck at life." Cracked us all up. Ahhh, I love the post-race food and visiting. It makes all of the pain and misery worth it! When can I do it AGAIN???
So Nate rocked it with a 2:13, and Missy rocked her first half with a 2:30. Hilary and Ryan are awesome and both ran it under 2:00. I think Ashley did, too (I didn't see her after). Sigh...someday I'll be fast-er-ish.
We also got to visit with Robert Merriman for a few. He is one of the most genuine, kind people I've ever met. Josh and I are in awe of him a little bit.
We finally decided it was time to go, so we headed back to the parking lot. If you've read previous blog posts, you know that Josh owed me some rice krispy treats. Well, he definitely delivered! They turned out to be the absolute most amazing things in the world. This is the description of them in his own words:
It's double-layered. The bottom has pretzels and Reese's pb and then a layer of salted caramel. And then the top layer is the Rice Krispies with Snickers. There's also a little caramel and cake batter in the marshmallow mixture of the RK.
I mean, COME ON. I had actually been thinking about them for the entire race (torture), and I knew they'd be good, but holy Hannah Montana, they were AMAZING. I don't even know what words to use to describe them. The salty pretzel and the caramel and chocolate, it was just perfection. I stuffed my face with them all the way back to Nate's parents house.
Credit goes to Joshua for the artsy Instagram photo.
We drove back to West Jordan. Robyn had taken our kids to a Mile Fun Run. Cute! We had an absolutely perfect Thanksgiving feast. Robyn is amazing. The yams. The stuffing. It was all perfect. Going for a long run is the perfect way to build up a good appetite! New tradition for SURE! We spent the rest of the day just relaxing. Visiting. Dozing off. Letting Claire climb all over me. The kids had fun with their cousins, as always.
I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! We all have SO MUCH to be grateful for. It's easy to forget how blessed we are when things aren't going perfectly or when we look at how our world seems to be crumbling around us. My absolute FAVORITE quote from President Thomas S. Monson is from this past Relief Society meeting.
Your Heavenly Father loves you—each of you. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. It is not changed by your talents and abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.
2 comments:
HEY! They were asses! Just standing out there in their field mocking us. You couldn't see that?
love that quote! glad you did a run on thanksgiving. how fun!
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