5.29 Hours In My Head......

First Where in the world did I get 5.29 Hours??

Glad you asked,

that is my official 

2014 Park City Marathon Time.

BooYah!

I was really planning to beat 5 hours.....

buuuuutttttt,

turns out

I am THRILLED

coming in under 5.30.

Beat my 1st marathon by 9 minutes.

(official numbers below)

.......................................

Let me start by saying,

I never planned to run a 2nd marathon.

Truthfully I never planned to run the first.

Turns out I will run 26.2 miles for only a few,

very limited reasons: 

An EXTREMELY good cause - My Dear Friend surviving 

Thyroid Cancer, and her requesting we do it. 

Here is the Disney Marathon in 2012 if you missed it....

if you didn't, you might still want to take another gander,

totally worth it!

And the second reason.....and this one was a bit of a long shot,

my sister Amy wanted to run Park City together......

"Aim, no.  Really, there is just no way.  I  can't.  I won't."

"Well, how about I get you a Buddy Pass so you can come out 

here to Utah for FREE."

DUH OK.

Basically that was it.

Let the torture begin.

Torture.

Torture.

Torture.

Pressuretorunatalltimesandinallplaces.

Everywherealwaysthinkingaboutrunning.

Nevergettingenoughrunninginever.

Alwaysbeingbehindintraining.

I ran into some major Low Ferritin issues while training in Florida.

This is a real long story in itself.....

I won't bore you,

I will just say that once I got checked and hooked up with the right

supplement,

I began to get some energy back and could muster a bit more running.

Truth be told again,

I am startled and embarrassed to say I only made it to mile

SIXTEEN = 16 prior to my marathon.

I can promise that is quite terrifying.

Anyway,

that was really the least of my worries.

A few days before my departure date Kev gets called on an emergency

trip to Honduras.

I have plenty to say on that,

none of it helpful.

He feels bad.

I feel bad. 

hmmmm.

Yes, 

kids are old enough to watch themselves for a few days.

But still....

Thanks to all our friends who stepped up with play dates,

rides to registration,

meals!!

You are so wonderful.

Our kids were surrounded by loving support on all sides.

Thank you.

..................................

Flying stand by scared the dickens out of me.....

but I made it without much drama at all.

Arrived at my parents to my dads Cheeze Its sign.

(How do you like Kevin's hair? Crazy huh??)

I brought a suit case of clothes for the cousins....

they gave a HECK of a fashion/dance show!

I enjoyed all the usual antics with my family.

 Amy and I ran our short 3 miler to keep lubed up 

a few days before our race.

She is always complaining about our action shots....

So here is one that you look good and I am blurry.

Feel better?

I LOVE the flowers, and everything green and growing here....

but mostly I LOVE the air.

A.I.R.  yum. it is so crispy, and invigorating in the mornings.

Plus, my hair is like fine silk in Utah.

Good hair every day!!

We totally live in the wrong state.....dang it.

 We did hair, feet, Canasta playing.....THANK YOU FAMILY.

 We ate amazing fresh produce from my parents garden.

but mostly, and especially PEACHES!! 

Tons of them every day, 

who knows why there is no picture of the 

best part of my trip.....when speaking of the food part.

I was able to catch up with a few favorite girl friends for lunch.

Vanessa, Christi (visiting), Emily (just moved there),

and Shelly not pictured : (

FUN!!

AND......you know it!

I went on a motorcycle ride with my brother, dad, and young 

nephew Archer.

Heck YEAH I think I'm cool.

Totally.

We went up Easy Canyon......it was Beautiful.

Thanks Jas.

 Time to get serious.
......................

The evening before the race we stayed at my sister and 

brother in law's home in Park City.

They fed us a deluxe meal, and we got off to bed at a decent hour.

That does not necessarily mean we slept.

no duh....right?

The next morning HB got up at 5:00am with us and 

drove Amy and I to the starting line.

Compared to Disney, 

the place was deserted.

A total ghost town.

Luckily, by about 6:15, people began to trickle in.

Race began at 6:30.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

First 3 or so miles were super chilly.

The first half was not too shabby.

Seriously.

Park City is out of this world Gorgeous Scenery.

Lots to look at.

LOTS of rolling hills.

Hot air balloons, Shoe trees, a few people dressed up for the race,

 - Gumby and Wonder Woman.

Amy ran into one of her Cross Fit Idols......Chris Something,

it was fun getting her a picture with him.

There was one lady with her name on her shirt......Deb.

We had some good conversation.....she and her hubby are 

trying to run a marathon in every state, they are on their 

28th I think she said.

Go Deb!

                           

You can't really tell in the photo, but there were some 

steep climbs my friends.

I was an air sucking dizzy girl.

We did a lot of walking on the hills, 

and then sometimes on 

the dirt paths, well, and eventually every so often on the flat gravel,

and, oh yeah, downhill sometimes to,

....that was the option

available to us.

Whatever our body would allow, that's what we would do.

"You get what you get and you don't have a fit." 

The best part of the marathon.....

as well as in life,

was our personal support crew.

Our very own Cheer leaders.

The people that love us, and want us to finish our race.

The face below is the face of truth.

You are so happy to see your people.

Your team feeds you much needed high fives,

words of encouragement,

needed advice,

they get you tums for cramping,

they will do whatever you need.

They are THERE for you, and you know this.

You know this, and gosh dang,

they say you can do it,

and you believe them.

Every so often your crew may tell you

little half truths......things like; 

"You are almost there."

"You just have this one last hill and then you've made it."

"Ok, just one more tiny blip and you are home free."

"You're looking strong."

When you see your team in the distance

you get really pumped.

You get a second, third, or forth wind.....

sometimes you fake it for them.

But that is called being a team....give and take,

all working for the cause of finishing a hard thing.

I sure like these photos.

Thank you HB, dad, Trav.

The very best and most wonderful team members

will want to capture your run for you.

They have been there before.....or somewhere like it, 

and will know it will be meaningful to you once you are no longer sore,

and your medal is put away.

Races are always way better when you look

BACK on them.

They just don't seem so bad......like child birth I guess.

Oh.... hey, look....I did it.

It's done.
It already sounds so easy.

 Look at this crew!

Love you guys!

I liked the other pictures.....but I LOVE these the best.

Happy, Happy, Happy!

 Gimping and limping, some light, to severe cramping of muscles, 

Big deal right?
Besides the loss of a few toenails, 

all will be back to normal in less than three days time.

Is it worth it?

Once again, I wouldn't trade it......

 but you could not pay me less than $500 to do it again.

I'm serious.....

that plus plane tickets,

got it?

Don't even try.

The money would need to be paid in cash upon crossing the finish line.

The minute I cross.

I would never do it again for a dime less.

Park City Marathon - Race Results

Park City Marathon - Results Park City, UT USA August 16, 2014 Finishers: 243, Males - 149 , Females - 94 Male Winner: 2:42:39 | Female Winner: 3:12:22 Average Finish Time: 4:33:38

Amy DRAKE (F)

5:39:30

223

85 / 11

F35-39

CENTERVILLE, UT, USA

Melissa CHRISTENSEN (F)

5:29:46

215

83 / 18

F40-44

SATELLITE BEACH, FL, USA