{ogden marathon lowdown}

#7-This past saturday was the ogden marathon. Have been training really hard this past winter and was so excited to get to it all ready..... The past few weeks i ran into a little injury and was trying to be careful--getting it worked out and massaged- and was feeling better the week of the race. The night before we had a big pasta dinner with all of the running group and headed up to a pal's cabin that was just right by the starting line of the marathon. We ate snacks and stayed up to late chatting--So fun having a group of friends to train and share these fun experiences with. We all got up at the crack-and did all our crazy pre-race rituals, and sauntered to the starting line where the music was blaring and people were going potty on the side of the road....mostly dudes---erg...lovely. Couldn't have asked for better weather- was so gorgeous up at the starting line with the sun coming up. The race began and we were off! I had a game plan in mind and was feeling good--started into a 7:15 pace and just settled into the groove of the music and scenery. Life was going good until i hit about mile 9.....my feet started to go numb, and my arches started throbbing. Then all of the sudden my calves started cramping--just seizing up on me! what in the world?? never have i had that happen. At about mile 14 there is a big hill in this race--so i slowed my pace and tried to get my legs and feet feeling better. No such luck. To add insult to injury, my stomach was getting a little upset and i had to hit the potty--another first for race day---doozy! By this point i am at about mile 16 and i am slowing down. . I was just pushing through--trying to keep a decent pace and having the cramps stop me. I had to hit the bathroom again at about mile 20--and by that time it was really getting my mental game off....i knew i was not going to beat my previous PR--which is what i had trained for. I just cranked up my music and waited to see my dad at mile 23. There he was and i got a little teary eyed--seeing him gave me a boost. I told him about the crap luck {literally} i was having and we just pushed through those last miles. I never went slower than about an 8 minute pace even with all the shenanigans going on ended up being able to finish with a 3:31--and in the top top 100 women out of 1200-which i was so grateful for. it is so funny how running can be---it all depends on the day... When you have a crappy race day, it sure reminds you how hard marathons are--and makes you feel so grateful for those amazing race days--when everything goes as you had planned. there is always another race--and boy did we have fun training this winter! I am looking forward to some fun shenanigans- and for Huntsville Marathon in Sept. ***hubs was out of town and no camera at finish--so most picts from zazoosh.com--