16 mile Marathon

Oh man. Where to start?

My knee had been progressing all week. I had almost no pain, and only had to stop and walk 2 times every 3 miles.  I felt like I could probably run/walk the whole marathon.

Then, we walked around City Creek while we were picking up my race packet in SLC.  Three or four times during that little walk I took a step and had a sharp shooting pain in my knee.  It made me nervous and worried that I wasn't going to be able to run after all.

I ran.  I did the first 13.1 miles in 1:59 running/walking the whole time, and then at exactly that point (13.1) I had to start walking because the pain was so bad. I had to keep walking, and walking, and walking until finally mile 16 my dear Watson was there to cheer me on.  Basically, it took me 2 hours to run 13 miles, and 1 hour to walk 3.  I was in a lot of pain. My whole body was aching; I felt sick to my stomach and even after walking 3 miles I still couldn't run on it.

I couldn't imagine walking in this kind of pain for 10 more miles.  After a lot of tears and some stretching/massaging I decided I need to just bow out.

I'm glad I at least tried, and tried my best. I could have decided not to run altogether, but I'm glad I didn't do that even though it was painful.

I realized I have no idea what the protocol is if you have to quit a race before you finish.  So, we just left.

I memorized all 13 articles of faith and Hebrews 12:1.  I thought maybe memorizing scriptures would help keep my mind off my leg. It totally worked for the first 13.1 miles.

It's not the end of the world, even though it kind of felt like it for a minute.  My body is screaming at me to take a break from running to allow it time to heal in many ways. I got a migraine last week while running....that's never happened. I got diarrhea during a run last week...that's never happened (don't worry, I made it to a bathroom just in time). Take a break girl. That's what my body is saying.

Thanks to my sister Hannah and her family for letting us stay at their house. We had a really fun time with them!

City Creek!

I don't know what kind of face he's making here.  

Tiffinay & Co!!! If you look close in that blue thing you can see a giant solitaire diamond ring.

My dear Watson was totally there for me. He was with me at the start and several times along the way. I love him so much. He deserves a medal.  

I took TRAX to the starting line. I'm there in the grey sweater, walking to the start. 

I work bright pink and blue so you could find me easily. 

There I am again. 

This was the last picture my dear Watson took before he realized I was dying of pain. If you could see me up close it wouldn't be pretty.