Work will win when wishy washy wishing won't

Four mile test run this morning.  Tom and I were going to get up and go before he had to go into work, but when the alarm went off we decided another hour of sleep would do us good today.  So I went out after Tom went to work and the kids were off to school. 

I was a bit nervous with this first test.  I felt something...still trying to figure out what it is I felt.  Maybe stiffness from not running for a week?  Maybe stiffness from the injection?  Maybe phantom feelings?  Warning signals?  I don't know....but I do know it WASN'T pain!  I never felt pain!  There was no pain!  Pain was not there!  Ziltcho on the pain factor!  Granted...it was only 4 miles and my average pace was 9:17 but I felt NO PAIN!  I do understand that on Saturday it will be much longer than 4 miles and I'm hoping I'll have a faster average than 9:17, but as of right now I am slightly encouraged!  

I think I will bike tomorrow and run on Wednesday and we'll take it from there.  (Did I mention there was NO PAIN this morning?!)  

I decided to run in the sun today.  I might as well face it, I'm going to be in some heat come Saturday.  I did a 1 1/2 mile warm up and then wanted to see if I could remember how to run a mile around 8 minute pace.  I'm not sure if I was suppose to do that or not, but I want to be prepared and see what my knee can handle.  I didn't look at the  Garmin until the end.  I just wanted to run and see what happened.  I was hoping it would be close to the 8 mm.  When I got done I looked and I had ran the mile in 7:31, (I even had a road kill, which is probably why I ran faster than I had planned.  I was pracitcing taking people down.  Little did that really nice lady know she had a target on her back.  :o))  I was definitely breathing hard, but my legs felt great!  I wore the band around the top of my knee to see how that felt.   I think I will wrap it on Saturday too.  If I decide I don't like it I can always take it off.

Isn't it funny how dedicating something to someone works?  I've been talking to people that I am dedicating a mile to and it is interesting to see their response.  I feel honored to have them to dedicate it to and they, in return, feel honored to have the dedication in their behalf.  It is a simple thing for me to do and yet it means so much to me and to them.  Simple things....they are so important.  We all need to do more simple things for each other!  Here's to simple things!  :o)  (o:

A nice 3 miler with the hubby this morning.  Much warmer than it should be for Oct. 1.  I'm a little nervous about the heat on Saturday.  Actually, it's not really the heat, it's the sun I'm afraid of.  I don't mind running in 68-70 degrees if the sun isn't shining directly on me.  But whatever the weather, I am looking forward to getting on with the race!  Enough thinking about it already!  

Sister in law, Susan, is still in the hospital.  It's now been a week.  We are hoping she will be released tomorrow and be able to travel back to Califonia on Friday in order to be able to celebrate her daughter's open house there.  

Great letter from the missionary!  He is happy to be staying in his same area this transfer and thrilled to have a Japanese companion!  He said he wants to learn all kinds of Japanese cooking from this guy and come home and make us some really fun things......scary!

Happy Birthday Tia!

Yes, that is three kids of ours with birthdays within the last 2 weeks!  Tia is our sweet little caboose!  She is 8 years old today!  We had a "Monster Mash Birthday Bash" with 12 of her best little monster friends!  I am so glad that hour and a half is over!  But we had a really fun time! 

And now, total concentration on 26.2 miles! 

Final preps then off to George!  Ready or not, it's time to RUMMMMMBBBLLLLLE!

One thing I know for sure!  As soon as I cross that finish line I WILL have a marathon PR!  That's one of the benefits of doing your very first marathon!  

Good luck tomorrow!  Thanks for all the support and encouragement!  Race reports should be plentiful and exciting tomorrow!

Well, I never again can say, "I have never ran a marathon!"  Because, I have now ran a marathon!  Quite a journey, quite a day!  A marathon is not a 26.2 adventure, it started several months ago.  I was hoping that all would be perfect for my first marathon, but that was not to be.  However, I feel so good about getting over that finish line that perfect doesn't seem to matter anymore! 

We've been hearing that there would be rain and wind but everyone says, "Don't worry, they always predict rain for St. George, but it never actually comes."  Well, everyone down in St. George must have been praying and paying their tithing and they were blessed with lots of rain today!  How grateful they all must be! 

It was fun to meet up with the bloggers last night.  I was happy to meet Razmataz, Cheryl, Peggy, and Shimelle.  I heard Tarzan had been there but I didn't get to say hi there.  

I had a fairly decent sleep and woke up feeling good.  Tom, Terry, and I headed to the park at 4:45. As we walked to the buses we almost felt a little foolish to have long pants, jackets and blankets with us.  It felt almost too hot at that moment.  However, the rain and wind came along to welcome us to the starting line.  We were then glad to have the extra gear.

We had about an hour before the start.  Met up with a few other people.  I was glad that Christina and Tracy1 recognized me and said hi!

I started out on my own and really wanted to stick to my plan so I didn't burn out at the end.  I felt great .....until about mile 5.  Ouch...that's a long way from 26.2!  Luckily the pain I was feeling in my knee at that time was only warning signals. 

I actually really liked miles 8-13!  The up hill felt much better on my knee.  I never felt out of breath.  And other than my bad knee, the rest of my body was feeling really good. 

I was able to push through without killing myself until about mile 17.  It was there that the warning signal was now a lot more than a warning!  I really wondered at that moment if I would be able to hobble to the finish line or not.  I had to stretch, hobble, stretch, hobble for a while.  It was then that I was sent a little angel by the name of Christie!   She saw me and told me to join her.  She even walked with me for a bit.  She was doing some hurting of her own.  I was able to get a hobble/jog going there with her for a bit and was able to continue without walking.  Her and I traded leads back and forth, but I think she ended up coming in a few minutes before me.  Thank you so much Christie!  I may have still been out there at this moment if it weren't for you!  :o)  

I think my favorite part of my whole marathon experience was seeing Tom waiting for me at the finish line!  A big hug and a warm blanket and a few tears...very nice moment!  

Tomorrow I may add my splits and some more info.  But for now I am home with my kids and my bed and I think I want to be with all of them.  I kind of messed up my garmin a few times so I need to try to figure things out. 

Some info for my records:  (me/all)  2351/5030 finishers, 790/2180 female finishers, 115/279 age group finishers.

2850 male finishers.