Closer to God

I am still recovering from my marathon.  I have felt pretty crummy ALL week.  I've had a really mild fever, a lovely rash all over my abdomen, NO appetite and have been completely exhausted (NOT prego, by the way).  I really think I have some sort of virus, and I REALLY think I had it when I ran the marathon.  It would explain everything!  Like why my body could NOT run, the entire time!

So that's the physical aspect.  Hoping to kick this bug SOON!

Mentally and emotionally, I'm doing MUCH better.  I struggled for a couple of days.  EVERYTHING made me cry (promise I'm not pregnant!  Apparently post-marathon-ness is like the first trimester!).  I kept beating myself up over and over about how that marathon went.  But I'm feeling better now.  I'm out of that hazy feeling, and almost feel like I've been lifted above it.  Let me explain.

My friend, Mike Talbot, told me after the marathon, "You are not the same Becca who toed that starting line."

I can't get that thought out of my mind.  It's SO true.  The feelings and experiences I had in those grueling 6 hours were so humbling.  I have felt a quiet closeness to God this week.  I can't get enough of the scriptures.  I feel closer to Nate.  I feel like I have more faith than ever before.  There were moments during my marathon where everything went away.  Time, material things, people, what I thought to be reality....it just vanished, and I was just briefly lifted to a higher plane, above all that.  Sure, maybe I was just delirious from the heat, but I'm going to go ahead and pretend that I wasn't.  John Groberg wrote about his experience in Tonga when the island he was on had been hit by a bad hurricane, and they waited weeks and weeks for a boat to come with food.  He explains how he begins to grow closer to God as his physical state diminishes.

"We continued to waste away physically but grow in the more important spiritual sense.  I dozed a lot and at times wasn't entirely sure where I was.  I became convinced that just as we must break the bands of the gravitational pull of this earth in order to explore the farther universe, so we must break the bands of the gravitational pull of the cares of the world before we can begin to see the realities of some of these external relationships. I learned much about who God is, what the plan of salvation is, who the Savior is, and what His part in that great plan is.  I learned something about why and how the world was created, a little about the love our Father in Heaven and Jesus have for us, and why God allows supposedly evil things to happen.  When you feel God's love and have the confidence and assurance that He is there, then other things aren't important."  -John H. Groberg, The Other Side of Heaven pg 116-117.

Such an amazing book.  Read it!

I will forever be grateful for my marathon experience.  The impression to run it and embark on that journey was real.  It was from God.  He needed me to be in that situation so He could put people in my life who I need, and most of all, so He could teach me things I wouldn't have learned any other way.  I'm so grateful for the gift of running.  My running is more than a hobby for me.  It has been an invaluable tool that God has used to teach and refine me.

My Marathon

26.2 miles.  I did it!  It was one of the most difficult, yet rewarding experiences of my life.

It didn't go as planned.  Running-wise it went horribly, which made no sense.  I had put in the training miles and time.  The numbers added up.  I had studied my paces on my long runs and come up with a VERY doable time frame.  But compared to most runners, I did a horrible job.  I think everyone else met their goals, and their marathon paralleled their training.  Not me.  I don't feel like I fit in with them right now.  I trained and trained, but with how it went, I may have well have not run a single mile in the last 6 months.  It's been really hard to process how this run went, emotionally.  I've been crying, a lot. I'm so emotional.  So torn between being so disappointed, but yet realizing that while running a solid race and reaching my goals would have been amazing, I would have missed out on some experiences that were SO amazing in other ways.

Here was the plan:  Train hard, run it with confidence, finish between 4:50 and 5:20.  Boom.  Ogden Marathon done.

NOT what happened.  Here's what did happen.  And why, at the end of the day, it was an experience that I will forever be grateful for.  A gift.  I wasn't meant to run strong and get the time I wanted today.  I was meant to struggle and fight and learn what I learned.  

This is my marathon.

***

On Friday afternoon, Hilary picked me up and we headed up to Ogden.  We went to the expo and picked up our race packets.  The race shirts are really cute!  I have not had good luck with race shirts, but these ones rock.  We didn't stick around for too long, because we had a big group reservation for dinner at Rooster's.  I think there were about 30 people at the dinner!  It was so fun to see everyone.  Even though Joshua wasn't running Ogden, he came up to the dinner with Christy to hang out.  I got to meet Brook and Carl and a few other people in the group I hadn't met yet.

I sat with Christy, Robert Merriman, Joshua, Hilary and Carl.  We laughed nonstop.

First time marathon ladies:  Brook, Hilary, Christy, me

Afterwards, I drove with Christy and Joshua back to the expo to get Christy's race packet.  I was still furious at Joshua for not running this race with me.  I was staying with Sonja, so when they dropped me off, Joshua gave me a big hug.  I had to hold back the tears.  He has literally been with me every step of this journey, and I was beyond upset that he wasn't going to finish it with me.

Hilary and Kasie also stayed with Sonja.  We had a great time visiting and laughing SO hard.  Kasie and I had planned to shoot for a 4:50 finish time, with a nice buffer, so really our goal was about 5:20.  She had printed up a pace band to wear, and we were excited to run together.  We were all smart and went to bed early.  I didn't sleep very well, but I hadn't really expected to!  When I went up to my room, Sonja had put a card and an adorable Ogden Marathon necklace charm on my pillow!  So sweet!

My alarm went off at 3:55.  Blah.  I had been debating back and forth about what to wear.  I had been doing most of my training runs in pants and capri's, but the weather was supposed to be hot.  I had some new running shorts, but it's one of the cardinal rules of running, NEVER wear something new on race day.  Especially your first marathon!  So before I went to bed, I prayed!  I know the Lord cares about the details of our life.  When I woke up, I felt clearly that I should wear shorts.  So I did.  (And for the record, I had NO chafing issues the entire run.....except for under my arms, but I knew that would happen!).  So we got dressed, ate a little breakfast and headed over to the bus pick-up.

Riding the buses to the start line was daunting.  We just kept driving and driving....and we knew the only way to get back to our cars was on our own two feet!  Kind of crazy!  The start line was freezing.  We met up with a bunch of RA peeps there.  Vince and Katheryn had an extra space blanket they let Kasie and I share, and that was awesome.  Helped a ton!  We had to sit and wait for an hour.  Ugh!

Monte is a complete stud and had typed up quotes from famous runners and from members of our group and put them into a baggie for us first-timers to read along the way.  SO SWEET!!!!  They really helped.  They were a perfect mix of inspirational and hilarious!

Porta potties "as far as the eye could see", according to Robert Merriman!

We were sitting there chatting, trying to stay warm and calm, and suddenly the announcer guy said, "Will Becky Wood please come to the announcer's booth."  What?  Why?  I was nervous that something had happened to my family or something!  (I'm a bit of a pessimist, apparently!)

And, well, this is what happened.  I was SO excited!  Best surprise ever!

Post by Joshua Snow Hansén.

Apparently EVERYBODY knew, but me.  He had Monte pick up race packet, and he had really stayed up in the condo with everyone.  Sneaky Joshua!  This meant the world to me.  This was his note for Monte and London to pick up his packet.  Hilarious.  It really bothered me the past 4 months that he would go through ALL of that training with me and not be at the race.  But he WAS!!

Joshua and Ty on race morning.  I love my crazy little brothers!

Big sister Christy was a big help to Joshua during his little scheme.

Ready to RUN!!!

Finally it was time to start.  I was a lot less nervous than I thought I would be.  The starting gun went off, and we shuffled towards the start line.  It took about 3 minutes for us to finally reach it.  Then we were off!

My stomach didn't feel well for the first 3 miles.  Not good.  I never have stomach issues when I run!  EVER!  I took a Gu at Mile 3 and immediately felt better.  Kasie and Brook had taken off already.  I think I ran the first 1/4 mile with them is all.  And that's okay.  They ended up running their own marathon, and Kathryn and I ran ours.  We ran with Joshua and Tim Gill (who was carrying a Huntsman Cancer flag and wearing a kilt!) for a few miles, but ended up going ahead of them after a few miles.

So then it was me and Katheryn.  We tried to keep our pace around 11:00-ish, which we did a great job of for the first 7 miles.  But around Mile 8, my feet started to ache, and I had to pee, and I just started not feeling great.  NOT a good sign when you have 18 miles left!  Katheryn and I started to fight to keep our pace up, but after awhile, we agreed that we needed to mentally let our goals go and just move forward and finish this marathon.  All runners know, some days are good and some days are bad.  It just happens.  I knew pretty quickly that today was just not going to be a good running day.  And there's not a whole lot you can do about it.  I was drinking TONS and fueling plenty.  Some days the stars align and you run SO much better than you ever thought you could (like at Nebo and Riverton), and some days nothing seems to go right.  Unfortunately, the Ogden Marathon was one of those off days for me.

At first, I got really discouraged.  I prayed and texted Nate and asked him to pray for me.  He was texting me every mile or so asking how it was going and sending me so much encouragement!  I couldn't figure out why God would invite me to take this journey, and then not help me fly to the finish line.  But as I sit here now, processing how the 2nd half of the race went, I realize that His hand was right with me all along.  He sent several angels to help me finish this race.  He let me struggle and overcome because sometimes that's how He teaches us the most important lessons and can in turn shower us with amazing blessings.  Once I reached Mile 13, the struggles got worse, but the blessings started showing up.

When we got to Mile 14, we had to climb the only real hill of the course.  Right at the bottom of it, Tim Gill caught up to us.  Joshua wasn't with him, and neither Katheryn nor I knew him hardly at all, but he ended up running the next several miles with us.  I don't think that was a coincidence.  He was hilarious, and heaven knows I needed a few laughs right then, but most of all, he had a calming demeanor.  He kept saying to us over and over things like, "This is your first marathon.  Just enjoy it.  Walk when you need to.  You'll get there."  He really helped us let go of some of our stress and just move forward.  He also gave me some fruit bars and an electrolyte tablet.  That was kind of funny.  He hands me this white pill.  I tell him, "My life is in your hands." and I take it.  Turns out he didn't drug me.  ;)  It helped a lot, and I'm grateful for Tim and the role he played in helping me through those middle miles of my marathon.  Here is Tim.

Funny signs along the way always made me smile!

I never EVER run with music.  Not sure why, I just don't.  But I had brought Nate's shuffle, which he had loaded up with all of my favorites, so I started that up at Mile 16.  By Mile 19, I put it back away because I was starting to get a headache (which I realize now was likely the start of the heat exhaustion that would overtake me soon).  But for a few miles, Jared Leto joined me on my marathon and the music was a GREAT boost.

At Mile 17, Katheryn started having some severe knee pain.  She had spent most of the marathon running on the shoulder of the road to give her knee a break, but it was really bothering her.  She got a little emotional.  I put my arm around her and told her I wasn't leaving her.  I had no idea our roles would be reversed in just a few miles.

Also at Mile 17, this overly-hyper volunteer at the aid station came bounding over to me and patted my stomach and said, "Aww, you've got a little guy in there!"  I was NOT in a good mood at this point, so I just glared at her (through my glasses, so she didn't see) and pulled up my tank to show her my amphipod belt that was stuffed with Gu and my phone.  "Oh....sorry!"  I probably would have laughed and joked with her if it had been Mile 3, but I just wasn't in the mood, so I just gave her a little smile and kept going.

At Mile 18, we crossed the dam and headed down Ogden Canyon.  FINALLY some downhill.  But we were SO dead that we could barely shuffle, even downhill.  Tim left us around Mile 20, and we kept moving forward as best as we could.  The heat was intense.  And then things got REALLY bad.

Haha, Katheryn was like, Just kill us now!

Around Mile 21.5 or so, we were taking a walking break, and my mind and body started to feel really weird.  Really OFF.  I couldn't focus.  Nate called me to ask how things were going, and I had a hard time forming sentences.  I knew something was wrong with me.  Suddenly I got really light headed and nauseated.  Katheryn put my arm around her shoulder and literally held me up and said, "No matter what, we are finishing this".  I still tear up when I think about that.  She had to be exhausted, but she was strong for me.  It got worse.  I physically COULD NOT walk.  So I sat down on the side of the road.  She gave me a gel to take.  The medic van and a police officer on a motorcycle pulled up and gave me ice cold water.  The police officer said he wanted to pull me off the course.  I started bawling.

It was hands down one of the worst moments of my life.  If they would have put me in a van, left Kathryn there and driven me to the finish, I think that would have destroyed me.  Maybe that sounds overly dramatic, but with everything I have put into this marathon, the thought of not crossing that finish line was just horrible.  Sure, I could train for and attempt another marathon later on, but I really think something like this would have been a really big blow to my confidence.  It already was!

Katheryn stepped in between me and the officer and went into Mama Bear mode.  "No. You are not taking her.  Give her TWO minutes!"  I think she might have even wagged her finger at them and raised her voice.  Once again, my guardian angel for the day!

So the police officer and medics said they were going to go, but that if I got to the mouth of the canyon (about half a mile down) and wasn't any better, they weren't giving me a choice.  I waited a few more minutes and stood up.  We walked for a minute or two, and I immediately felt horrible again.

I kept getting the impression to "lie in the shade with your feet up".  So I pointed to a small shady patch on the other side of the road and told Katheryn I needed to lie there.  She held my feet in the air.  She kept telling me that I was going to make it.  I'm not sure how long I laid down for.  A few minutes, I think.  A few runners passed by and stopped to make sure I was okay (runners are so kind!), and Katheryn waved them ahead.  She is a mom of four (including twins!), and she is so nurturing and strong.  I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank her enough for taking care of me out there the way she did.  The Lord did NOT abandon me out there.  His hand was right over me, in the form of my dear friend, Katheryn.

So like I said, I'm not sure how long I laid down for.  Two minutes?  Five?  Ten?  Time was SO trivial to us at that point.  Plus, after being threatened to be pulled off the course, my hunger for that finish line and my medal was stronger than EVER.  I honestly did not care if I had to crawl across that finish line 10 hours later.  I was getting there.  So I got up and started walking.  I felt a little better.  Ten steps later, I felt a little more better.  "Okay, I think if nothing else, I can walk!" I told Katheryn.  This was good!  Twenty steps later, I not only started to feel better, I started to feel good!  We started running.

Then yet another tender mercy from the Lord occurred.  Katheryn looked behind us, and lo and behold, there was Joshua!  I started crying again.  I stopped and waited for him to reach us, and I just kept thinking, "He's here with me!  We're going to finish this marathon together!"  He actually thought I was already done and had come back up to find him.  Um, no.  I told him about what had happened and how awful I had felt during the WHOLE run.  He immediately boosted me up with his hilarity and just his presence.  I was so happy.  I'm not entirely sure, but maybe everything needed to happen how it did so that Joshua and I really would finish this journey together.

So we ran.  We turned this corner and saw two cute girls jumping up and down and screaming at us.  It was Meridith and Sonja!  More angels to boost me up!  I was SO happy to see them!  Meridith hugged me SO tight, and I just started crying again.  She wouldn't let go, and she wouldn't stop saying, "You've got this.  You can do this." over and over.  She is training for her first marathon in September, so I said, "Don't do it, Meridith!  It's HORRIBLE!!!"  I was kidding overall, but NOT at that moment!  I cannot believe how tough those last 8 miles were.

While with them, we pulled out another Monte quote from the baggie, and it said:  "WWRMD?"  Not funny to anyone who doesn't know Robert Merriman, but it made me laugh so hard!  Classic!

As we left, Sonja said, "There's Otis Spunkmeyer cookies at the next aid station.  RUN TO THE COOKIES!!!"  HA!  She's so awesome.  So we ran to the cookies.  And they were SO good!

So as I said, I had started to feel good.  When we left Sonja and Meridith, I started to feel GREAT.  As in BETTER than I had felt from Miles 1-22.  I felt NO pain in my feet or legs.  I felt light on my feet.  It was a complete miracle and really amazing.

So for the last 3 miles, Joshua, Katheryn and I talked about running.  We talked about what we have learned and how there are so many parallels to the Gospel, especially with the marathon.  I could feel the Spirit so strong.  Katheryn teared up a little, and she shared some scriptures.  It was incredible.  Those miles made all of the misery that was behind us just fade away.  My Patriarchal Blessing I received as a teenager says that angels will always be waiting to assist me when needed.  So many angels today, some seen and undoubtedly many unseen.

So after Nate and I had hung up the phone right before my little heat exhaustion episode, or whatever that was, my phone froze up.  It was so full of sweat and salt, and it wouldn't work!  I felt horrible because I think the last thing I had said to Nate was "I can't do this!" or something, and then I never wrote or called again (because I couldn't!).  So the poor guy had no idea how I was doing!

When the three of us turned down Grant street where the finish line was, Nate had walked down and was standing in the road.  I started crying AGAIN when I saw him and ran into his arms.  Nothing had ever felt more comforting and homey than being right there.  I didn't want to let him go!!  But we could SEE the finish line, so off we went.  Nate was bummed that he wasn't down at the finish line, but I loved seeing him when we did.  He told me later how strong he thought I looked and how it surprised him.  I'm telling you, it was a miracle and a blessing those last few miles!

Katheryn was starting to struggle at that point with some chest pains, so we shuffled along.  As we neared the finish line, Joshua let us go ahead while he filmed us.  Crossing that finish line with Katheryn was amazing.  I will never forget it.

Today wasn't my day to run a 4:50 or whatever I might have run.  But today was my day to grow closer to Nate and to my friends and most importantly, to my loving Heavenly Father.  To build my faith in Him.  To find joy in the journey.  So much joy!

I am a marathoner.

One final piece of hilarity:  At the finish line, I asked Joshua for my card he had written, which he had put in his backpack.  This is what it looked like though!  HA!  Sad.  But funny!

Post by Joshua Snow Hansén.

3 Days To Go!

The BIG DAY is approaching quickly!  My confidence and excitement is being somewhat replaced with sheer panic, but I know that is completely normal.  It has really helped me to have my running fam constantly filling me up with encouraging words.  I want to put them here so I can remember them.

From Katheryn:  If I weren't so slammed with appointments today, I would've loved to come run with you today. I'm bummed. I started this whole thing with you, so it would be great to finish training with you.

From Terri:  Hi Becca, I just wanted you to know that you totally inspire me! You have trained smart and with diligence! You will be amazing in Ogden, It is a beautiful course and you will be surrounded by people who really care and 'knew you when.' I wish I could be there too. Have a wonderful run!

And then Joshua wrote this amazing blog post about the past 18 weeks. It really summed up this journey.

One final 3-mile run tonight, then I rest up for Saturday.  Nate is going to give me a blessing, so hopefully I can get some good sleep and be ready.  It's going to be an amazing day.  That finish line has been a long time coming, and I can't wait to run across it!

Reality Check

I'm about to run a marathon.  In 11 days!  I know this.  Obviously.

BUT, for some reason, receiving this email gave my heart a little jolt as I read the words "full marathon".  It's been so far away for so long.  I don't think I REALLY let myself realize what I was going to be doing.

Reality Check!  I'm running a marathon.  No "half" in there anywhere!

Ogden 26.2: Week SIXTEEN (Provo Half Marathon)

Thirteen days until OGDEN!

This week was fun.  I was a little sluggish during the week because last week's 30K completely wiped me out.  On Wednesday, I ran Bonneville.  It was a gorgeous morning, and I'm trying to run up on the trails once a week, at least.

On Friday, I picked Christy up, and we drove to Provo.  We met up with Elvia and Meridith at the Days Inn.  We had split the cost of a room to be right be the race in the morning.  We didn't have too much time to hang out before going to bed, but it was still fun to be with some of my favorite ladies!  As we dragged ourselves out of bed at 4:30 the next morning (some of us more chipper than others.....), we joked about how we are not only doing this by choice, but how we PAY to do this!  But we LOVE IT!

We drove over to Center St and University Ave.  There was a big line of buses to pick us up.  We met up with the rest of the Run Away peeps and loaded the bus.  Other than the fact that our bus driver kept swerving and scaring the crap outta me, I always think that bus rides are one of the most fun part of races.  The energy is so great.

The weather was really nice in Provo, but it was FREEZING up the canyon where the start was.  We huddled together and waited in line for the Honey Buckets.  When I was finished, I saw Monte and Robert Merriman and the Massa's waving to me from across the road, so I ran over.  I LOVE these people!  After hanging out for awhile, it was finally time to start.

I was really hoping for a PR today.  I needed to beat my time at Nebo last Fall, which was 2:09:20.  I was pretty optimistic with this being a relatively downhill course.  As always, I decided to just do my best, which is all I could do, right?  Awesome Monnica was pacing the 2:10 group.  Here is a small handful of us waiting for the start.

So about a minute after this photo was taken, the MC did the countdown, and we took off.  The first two miles were the only REAL downhill miles of this course, so I think everyone was trying to bank some time!  I ran them both in 9:00, which I was thrilled about.  But starting at Mile 3, the downhill wasn't nearly as steep.  Right around then, Mark (the guy in the red shirt) and I fell into step together.  He was also going for a PR, which was a 2:08, so essentially, we were shooting for the same thing.  Perfect!  We ran together for several miles.  We didn't chit chat too much because keeping a pace under a 10:00 mile requires all of my energy (sadly).  But our steps were in sync, and it was easy to just stay right by him and forget about the effort.  If that makes sense.  He REALLY helped me!

There were a few slight rolling hills as we ran down the trail towards Provo.  It was a gorgeous run.  Mark and I got separated for a miles in the middle, but that was fine.  I pushed my hardest and tried to just run my best instead of stressing over a PR.  Some miles felt easier than others.  I always start to struggle around Mile 9, but luckily Mark and I ended up running together again from Miles 10-12.  When we got out of the canyon, we ran along University Ave. alllll the way down to Center Street.  We could see the Finish Line banner for like 3 miles.  It was tough!  I told Mark to take off and do his best.  I ran the last mile as fast as I could, and I finished in 2:07:51!!  That's a PR, baby!  I was really happy!  I'm getting closer and closer to a sub-2:00 half marathon.

Pushing hard to the finish.  I look gross, but I LOVE how high my feet are off the ground!! 

Afterwards we hung out for awhile.  I FINALLY got to hang out with Ty Hansen, in person!  We've had a joke now for awhile that he, Joshua and I are triplets because we're all born in 1981.  I LOVE my little brothers!  Ty is also crazy fast.  His PR is 1:20 for a half.  Stud.  Joshua also had an awesome race.  His goal was 2:20, and he came in at 2:19:59!!  And he brought us all lemon sugar cookie rice krispie treats.  Seriously yum.

SO many of us got PR's today.  It was a great morning.  Monte KILLED it with a 1:28.  Meridith got her first sub-2, and Christy also got a PR.  We went out for breakfast at Guru's afterwards.  One of my favorite places to eat!  If you're ever in Provo, be sure to go!

Three of my favorite people in the world.  Right here:  (Joshua, Robert Merriman, Mont-Lightning)

Some of the group....with a few people missing, and a few add-ins who I have no idea who they are.... :)

I'm kind of sad.  Next Saturday I just do a little 8-miler on my own, and then the next weekend it's Ogden.  I can't believe my training is over!  It has been an AMAZING four months, and I don't want it to end.  I'm not signed up for any races after Ogden since we don't know when/where we're moving.

Great....now I'm crying.  I love everyone in our group, but there are a handful of people who have come to mean SO SO much to me.  I love them dearly.  The thought of not getting to see them every few weekends makes me feel so sad.

****

Joshua.  Where do I begin with you?  You have been with me every step of this journey.  Almost literally!  We have laughed and cried and laughed some more.  We have single-handedly kept the Sears taco stand in business.  I have coached you through first dates.  You have drawn me hilarious pictures.  I took you to get measured for your first bra.  You make me RKs.  (This sounds like you're my 13 yr old daughter.....)  I love you so much.  Even though thanks to you, there are more pictures of me on the internet than I would ever approve of.  And you call me Becky.  But I can't even begin to thank you for your friendship.  My friend without benefits.  I have a zillion more things I could say to you, but we have ESPN, so you already know everything I'm thinking anyway.  So I'll stop there before this gets too long.  TWSS.

Christy.  We clicked so easily, and I absolutely adore every moment with you.  I hate saying goodbye to you after a run!  I haven't lived in the same state as my big sisters in 10 years!  You have filled that void for me.  I love that we can talk about anything.  You are so funny, too.  But for whatever reason, I feel like you completely have my back.  No matter what.  I appreciate you opening up to me about your own life.  It's all about "substance", right?  Even though we don't share the same taste in running fuel, I think we are stuck being bonded for life.  Love you!

Robert Merriman.  Oh, my dear Robert Merriman.  You are my favorite person in the whole wide world.  You make me laugh, and you put up with my dorkiness so well.  You are so kind and helpful, and I've told you this before, but when you're around, I feel like everything is going be alright.  I am so SO happy that you are in my life.  Thank you for everything.  For pulling me up the hills at Riverton.  For the sticker.  For the mountains of advice.  For putting up with me always wanting to stand next to you.  I love you to pieces.  And when in doubt, I will ALWAYS ask myself:  WWRMD?  The answer will come.  And if it doesn't, I'll look at that one photo of you for more inspiration.  Chandler face!  Keep practicing!

Janet.  My Mama J.  One of the cutest, funniest ladies ever.  MY Janet!  You make me feel so good about myself.  I love how we both light up when we see each other.  It always makes my day.  I will never forget your hilarious potty mouth and sarcasm.  I LOVE it!  Especially your description of the Run Revolution medal.  You helped me through the New Year's Half, and I appreciate that so much.  Thank you for always being there for me.  I love your sweet posts on my wall to motivate me for Ogden.

Meridith.  Where have you been all my life?  I have considered these past few weeks a complete TREAT getting to know you.  I'm so glad we discovered that we have the same brain!  :)  You are so beautiful and fun.  Thank you for being such a great example to me.  Another big sister for me!  I love you!!

Monte.  The absolute STUD!  I have really enjoyed your friendship, humor and amazing advice.  You are so genuine and sweet.  Hard to find real men these days, and I know I'm not the only one who thinks you are just that.  A quality guy.  Thank you for being awesome!  1:19.  SO happening.

Kasie.  I love running side by side with any and all of you, but YOU, Kasie, are my perfect running buddy match!  If eHarmony made running matches, you and I would have been placed together!  Perfect pace, perfect knowledge of when to chat and when to just run, you keep me going when I'm dying, and apparently I do the same for you.  I admire your positive attitude, and I CANNOT WAIT FOR OGDEN!!!  Love you!

Katheryn & Vince.  Awesome couple!  Katheryn, you have been such a huge rock for me while training for Ogden.  Knowing that we're in this together.  AND, if you remember, you are my original MF.  HA!  And Vince, you crack me up every single day, without fail.  I love your sense of humor so so much!  Your John Mayer/Apolo Ohno driving off a cliff joke was the funniest thing I think I've ever heard.

Ty.  Your nonstop support and cheering for my Ogden journey has been amazing.  Especially since we've really spent no real time together.  YOU are the perfect example of how runners can bond over nothing but how awesome running is.  Thank you so so much.  BEST little brother I could ever ask for.

Jarom.  My speedwork inspiration!  I shall be channeling my inner-Jarom much more often once Ogden is over.  Thank you for your constant support as well.  And for joining me on my last few birthday loops at Liberty Park.  I needed it!

Monnica.  Not only do you make the best "crack" ever, you have the best smile, and are so positive.  I'll NEVER forget you cheering me on at Mile 4 of the SL Half.  I truly feel like people are missing out in life if they don't get the chance to meet you.  Thank you for everything, love ya girl!!!

Elvia & Quesnel.  I feel like Riverton is when we cemented our friendship.  That was such a fantastic day!  Elvia, your testimony makes my day every time you share it.  I SO appreciate your words to me yesterday about how the Lord already knows where Nate and I will end up.  You are right.  He has a plan for us, and it's faithful people like you who help me remember that.  Q, you are hilarious.  You feel like family to me, and I'm always happy when I get to see you.  Heal up quickly!

Sonja.  I LOVE you so much!  I am so glad I have gotten to know you, even if we are super bummed that we didn't meet forever ago.  And I promise I really do love you more than I love your house!  Thank you so much for being so wonderful during the 30K.  I honestly don't think I'll ever be able to eat restaurant pizza again!  Please keep me posted on Emma's "situation", and call me when you're ready to go puppy shopping!  Or running clothes shopping.

Cindy HILLS.  I'll never run hills the same, thanks to you.  And that video that Joshua made.  I will also never forget our time together on the Little Cottonwood run.  Perfect conversation as we charged the hills.  I love you, and I really look up to you and your husband.  Great examples to me!

Cory.  Jumping Cory!  I know we haven't really run together much, but I feel like we are great pals.  You are so supportive of me, and your reports on which JM songs came on at which miles of your 100-milers make me smile every time!  Thanks for being awesome.  I really appreciate and look up to you, especially when you jump oh so high.

Mike Talbot, London, Shelley, Jonathan, Mark, Jill, Hilary, Terri, Susette, Shaylee, Brook, Camille, Marsha, Marisa.....I know I'm missing people!  I love you all so much.  I really, really do.  I could write pages and pages about everyone.  Thank you all for turning my first marathon from being one of the scariest things of my life to by far, one of the funnest things in my life.

Ogden 26.2: Week FIFTEEN (Strider's Ogden 30K)

On Monday, the Salt Lake Running Company held a free Boston Memorial 5K.  I wanted to get some extra mileage in, so Joshua and I decided to run TO the race from my complex.  We're hardcore.  Joshua was wearing an awesome shirt he made last year with a quote by sweet 8 yr old Martin, who was killed at the Boston bombing.  "No more hurting people.  Peace."  The names of the other 3 victims killed were on the back.  The Boston bombing was such a horrible act.  I just read Jeff Bauman's memoir, one of the men who lost both of his legs.  It has been amazing to watch the running community and Boston come together and refuse to be weakened.  Boston STRONG!

It was a nice, easy downhill run.  We made it to the starting line with about 2 minutes to spare, though!  Close!  We met up with a nice-sized group of RA peeps.  I barely had time to choke down a Gu before I had to start running again!  I ran most of the 5K with Meridith.  It was just a straight out and back course, nothing too exciting, but we had good conversation, so that was fun.  Since we are a family, we all rallied together and cheered everyone is as they came across.  No RunAway left behind!!

On Wednesday, I did intervals at the Church parking lot.  Those are never fun, but the benefits are so worth it.  My friend, Jarom, and I joke that pushing yourself to the speed where you feel like you're going to puke is the key to getting faster.

So yesterday was the Strider's 30K in Ogden.  30K is 18.6 miles.  I had a 20-miler on the schedule for this day, so it worked out.  My sweet friend, Sonja, has an injured ankle and was unable to run it, so she kindly gave me her spot.  AND she offered to let me stay with her the night before, since she lives in Ogden.  The race was kind of a crazy experience, but first of all, I need to go off for a moment about how much I LOVED her house!  Cutest, coziest bungalow ever.  I know we shouldn't covet, but....I am a little bit obsessed.

Anyway, Sonja made the most AMAZING homemade pizza for us for dinner.  We chatted nonstop for a few hours, and then hit the sack.

We woke up at 6 the next morning (MUCH better than how early I would have had to wake up if I'd been at home!).  We drove up Ogden canyon to the start.  It was drizzling rain, and showed NO sign of letting up.  Joshua was running it with me, and we had decided to get some garbage bags to wear.  Sounds and looks super ghetto, BUT it really helps keep your core much warmer.  Our clothing still got wet, but we didn't lose our body heat nearly as much as we would have.  We pinned our numbers on, visited the Honey Buckets, and then put our bags on.  Josh emerging from his bag was pretty hilarious!

Little funny story:  So Joshua and I first met and became friends last October when Nate ran the Haunted Half.  So we joke that April 26 is our 6-month "Runniversary".  I was signing the waiver when I picked up my bib and chip, and when I dated it 4/26, I showed Joshua, and he goes, "Oh, that's right, it's our 6-month anniversary!"  The girl at the table immediately looked over and said, "Congratulations!!"  We laughed and corrected her, but it was really funny.  I love friendiversaries.  Ermie and I celebrate ours each year....coming up on 15 years!!  I love my friends!!

We look so happy and innocent here....we had NO idea what we were in for.  Well, I mean, we knew we were in for 18.6 miles of rain, but I dunno.  This run just ended up being SO DIFFICULT.

We were one of the last few people to start.  We trudged along the first few miles.  We met a few other runners, took some pictures, visited.  It was slow going, though.  The course was pretty flat, with just some very gradual hills that you don't really notice until you realize you've slowed down.  I actually think those types of hills are worse than the obvious hills that you can see and tackle.  Our miles were pretty slow.  I'm not quite sure why, but they just dragged on and on.  We tried to stay positive and visit, but for whatever reason, we just both were starting to deteriorate pretty early on.  Like by Mile 6, I just wanted to sit down and never run again.  NOT a good sign when you're only 1/3 through a run!

Sonja was working at the Mile 9 Aid Station.  It really helped seeing her at the halfway point.  She loaded us up with chocolate Gu and offered to take Joshua's backpack from him.  We all thought it would be a good thing for him to be carrying less, but it turned out to be a mistake because later on, he was REALLY needing calories, and he didn't have anything with him!  More on that in a sec.

After we left Sonja (which was SO tough to do....her nice, warm car was parked right there!), we sludged along.  We kept having to walk and were honestly just miserable.  We tried so hard to not get discouraged, but we just did NOT want to run.

About a mile later, I think my chocolate Gu kicked in, and I felt okay for a little bit.  I told Joshua I was going to keep running.  I thought I'd run a little ahead, but I surprised myself by not needing to walk for a little bit, so I just sort of zoned out and kept going.  I TOTALLY ditched him!  I felt bad, but when I got to the Mile 12 Aid Station, I looked back and couldn't even see him, so I decided to just keep going.  I'm a horrible friend!!

So I ran the next 5 miles alone.  I passed several people, which made me feel hardcore, but overall, I was just miserable.  I texted Nate at Mile 13 and told him I hate this run!  I ate a Cliff Bar, and that helped.  I prayed and asked God to strengthen me and get me through this.  Sonja drove past me at about Mile 15 and gave me some encouragement.  That helped a ton!  Sonja was such a saint for this run!

Finally at Mile 17, I caught up with a girl name Chris, who we had met back in the early miles.  We ran the last mile together, and that was really nice.  She is running the Ogden marathon, too.  I love meeting new running friends.  I love how easily we click with each other because we are all accomplishing and working towards the same goals.  It's amazing.

I finally crossed the finish line with Chris.  I was supposed to go tack on an extra 1.5 miles to get to 20, but it just wasn't happening.  I don't think the extra mile would have benefited me at that point anyway.  I had been running for almost 4 hours!

Sonja and I sat in her car, I changed my shirt, warmed up, and we waited for Joshua.  We waited...and waited....we decided to drive down the course and check on him.  He was in last place, so we were worried.  We found him about half a mile away, hunched over.  He said he'd just thrown up and was about to pass out.  We got him into Sonja's car to warm up.  He was shaking.  I felt SOOOO bad for him.  After a few minutes, he got out and tried to walk the rest of the course, but just couldn't.  We drove him to the finish line, and he walked across the finish line and got his medal.  He earned that medal.  I was so proud of my dear friend!

Sonja bought us some hot chocolate (which I accidentally left on her counter, grrrrr) and we went back to her place to change.  Then we stopped by the running store to snag our free water bottle (Camelback!  Score) and then had lunch at Kneaders.  Sonja is such a blast to hang out with.  She was our big sister for the day, and I think this day would have been even worse without her!

I still feel guilty about leaving Joshua behind.  He keeps telling me not to worry about it, but I feel like the worst friend ever.  I need to bake a triple batch of pretzel bites to make it up to him.

TOUGH course.  This profile makes it look obviously hilly, but all of these climbs were gradual, so they just wore on us mile after mile.  I'm so glad that's over!  Although, I guess if I look on the bright side, I set a 30K PR!  It was nice to see/drive some of the marathon course.  Plus, as Sonja pointed out, this was an "honest" training run.  No advantages.  Sheer hard work.  I feel very ready to tackle my marathon in 3 weeks!!

Last night, I drove out to West Jordan and had a girlie movie night with a bunch of my running girls.  There was so much yummy food, hilarious conversation and the movie, Austenland, was SO funny and cute.  I think most of us are running the Provo Half next weekend.  Finally some DOWNHILL!  Can't wait!

Top:  Sonja, Camille, me.
Bottom:  Jerri, Elvia, Meridith, Terri