Utah Valley Marathon Recap

The Saturday that we were in Utah I ran the Utah Valley Marathon. It was a beautiful race. It goes through the Provo Canyon, past Bridal Veil Falls (where I got engaged) and finishes in downtown Provo (where I went to school). It was so fun through a city that holds so many wonderful memories for me. 

On Friday I went to the race expo and picked up my packet and hung out with Jeana for awhile. Then we went and got dinner at Kneaders, yum, and I went home to try and get everything organized and get to bed early. I ate a snack at around 9 and then got everything organized for the morning and all the kids' stuff out. 

Saturday morning started very early, 3:30 AM. I got up and ate breakfast and got ready and Aaron took me to a bus in Midway which worked out perfect. Then I waited at the start line with Jeana until it was go time. 

The first 7 miles fly by and are through a small neighborhood, past horses and its the beginning so everyone still feels good. I tried to make myself run slow a I knew that this was an easy part of the course and I didn't want to run too fast. The hills hit you at mile 7 -9 and they hit hard. A lot of people started walking. I just tried to not look at my Garmin at all and know that I was moving really slowly but eventually I would go downhill again. The next 5 miles are just beautiful, they go by Deer Creek and the hills are more like rolling hills. I passed the half way mark at 1:45, exactly where I wanted to be. I knew I was going to see Aaron and the kids at mile 17 so I just tried to focus on getting to that point. At mile 14 the hills come back with a vengeance and this time the headwind came with it. Everyone was slowing way down again but I just tried to keep going and not pay attention to my pace. I knew that this was the hardest part of the race and at mile 17 I would be pretty much done with hills for the rest of the race. Finally it was time to see Aaron and the kids and my heart lept. I was so happy to see them and it gave me just the boost I needed. The headwind ended when we came out of the canyon and it is flat all the way to the finish. I kept trying to do the math in my head on where I would finish and I knew it was going to be close. ( I wanted to finish sub 3:35) I saw Aaron again at mile 21 and 24 and I told him at 24 that I didn't think I was going to make it. 

Then when I passed the 25 mile marker I did the math and I realized that I was going to make it as long as I didn't slow down. I was still feeling pretty good so I flew through the mile 25 aid station and pushed it to the end. The end of the race is big and people are cheering and I zoned in and sprinted to the finish. 

3:33:57

I was so, so happy! I found Jeana right away, she finished about 3 minutes ahead of me and rocked it. I started looking all over for Aaron and couldn't find him. We finally met up and when I told him my time he was so excited too. I felt really good post race and was lucky enough to have so much of Aaron' family there at the finish line. 

One of the first things I needed to do was feed my sweet baby. She is such a good baby. 

 

The race gives shirts to all the Boston Qualifiers. I love this shirt, it represents so much hard work. That last .5 mile I just kept repeating to myself, 4:30 AM wake ups, early bed times, turning down ice cream, lots of miles, blisters, lost toe nails - you can do this. 

It felt really good to have a strong race with a strong finish. Getting back into shape after a baby is not easy but running a marathon is easier than having a baby so it makes me tougher. :)

Then it was time for the kids' race. They were pretty tired after all of my activities but they still went out to run their 1K.  

This is about all Camilla ran, Aaron carried her the rest of the way. 

Carson ran as hard as he could. He loved it. 

They got medals and creamies, they were pretty happy. 

It was a beautiful day for running a marathon and I am so appreciative to Aaron for all the hard work her put in, not only on race day but all through training. He was so supportive of me and motivated me anytime I started to doubt myself during my training. Love him. I'm going to take him on a trip to Boston to say thanks. :)