The road to my first 1/2 marathon

It all began here:

Our little town of Ferron holds their annual Peach Days celebration in September and in 2007 when my sisters and I were attending we all decided that the following year we would run the 5K that takes you right past my parent's home. It would give us a year to get in shape. Fast forward a year and here we are before the start of the race.

Since then it's become a tradition and a sort of impromptu family reunion to all meet up at Peach Days to run the fun run which is either the 5K or 10K.

I've never been a runner, never really had the desire to run. Growing up my sport was basketball which entailed a lot of running anyway and I didn't feel the need to add to it. Then I turned 30 and entered Kiersten and Erik in a couple of 1Ks. I should have known Erik would have some potential when the neighborhood moms started calling him "road runner" because he was always running to school. But I was happy to cheer them on. Peach Days came in 2007 and I had a goal and began running . . . at night because I didn't want anyone to see me. Wow, at the beginning there I couldn't even make it a quarter of a mile without feeling like I was out of breath. Gradually my distances increased and I ran my first 5K at the 2008 Grantsville 4th of July celebration.

Our Peach Days race came next and my mom took this picture as I was coming up the hill by her house.

I ran another 5K the following summer and was ready for a challenge. We happened to be at East Canyon camping the same weekend a 10K was being held. The starting line was literally a 100 yards from my tent door and I couldn't resist. It was a hard 10K that took me onto a dirt road and up and down hills, but what a feeling that I had accomplished something a little harder.
I ran the 10K at Peach Days instead of my usual 5K and got to run with an old friend I had grown up with.
2010 was the year of baby and house. I was happy to get one race under my belt and got to cheer for my sister Katie as she completed a half marathon and then a full, but with several 10Ks and lots of 5Ks I was ready for a challenge again. So last March I solicited my favorite running crew, my sisters, to see if they wanted to run the Top of Utah Half Marathon in August. It would give me just under 6 months to train. Plenty of time . . . or so I thought. Five kids which includes a baby makes it kind of tricky to find that time.

I now call myself a runner. I still don't especially like getting up to go, but once I do and I come home I'm so glad I did.

A few things I learned along my 13 miles.

• This race was one of the hardest things I've done in my life. Even some of the births of my kids weren't this hard.
• I couldn't have done it without training first.
• Don't start out too fast. I don't feel like I did this and honestly it's kind of hard when you're packed in like sardines at the start to go real fast at all.
• I love running races with my family and hope we keep this little hobby of ours going for awhile.
• I like being at the start of the race and feeling all the energy bouncing off the people around me.
• Walk through the drink stations or you'll get water/Gatorade all down the front of you.
• The oranges tasted like candy.
• I loved the breeze coming down the canyon that kind of pushed me along. I didn't so much like all the humidity from running along side the river. I was sweatin' before I reached mile 2.
• I should have used ointment in spots to prevent chaffing. I had never experienced it before but I did in my last mile and it was uncomfortable.
• It's okay to walk if you need a little break (although this is a goal for the next -- to run it completely). Nobody at the finish line cared whether I slowed a little and walked as I replenished my reserves. They were just happy I made it. I hit mile 10 and this is where it started to slowly climb and I hit my wall. I was so grateful for the cute kids who had their hose out to drench us about mile 11. It felt wonderful.
• Drink, drink, drink. I thought I had drunk enough along the route, but my body told me otherwise. About 40 minutes after finishing, I started to feel nauseous and had a headache. I now know I was dehydrated. The humidity in the canyon and no shade the last 3 miles were not good for my body.
• During the last mile I kept scanning the sidelines for my kids because I knew they would push me on to finish. What a feeling it is to have someone cheering you on and most of the time it's complete strangers.
• As I crossed the finish line the first thought I had is "I will never do a marathon." I honestly don't know how they do it. That's a lot of wear and tear on the body.
• The first half felt like a breeze compared to the last half.
• Stretch, stretch, stretch, and stretch some more. I should have done more stretching afterwards. My legs hate me today and I felt like an old lady at church, hobbling down the hall. Stairs are a killer.

Running 13 miles is not an easy thing to accomplish. My goal was to finish in under 2 1/2 hours which I beat by 4 minutes. I was actually a little surprised when I saw the time at the finish line because I had walked a lot the last three miles. Oh, I'm so happy to cross this off my list, grateful for the challenge it gave me, excited to try another one . . . next year. What do you say, my favorite running buddies?