Fulfilling Goals!!

As previously mentioned, I ran the Provo City half marathon on May 7 (Saturday) at 8am. IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Seriously, it was such a satisfying experience for me. There are a ton of reasons why, but I think it ultimately comes down to the fact that I set a goal and executed it as best as I legitimately could. I kept talking to my sisters and sisters-in-law about signing up for it (my sister-in-law, Wendy, signed up for the marathon and invited me to do the same, but the half marathon felt like a more realistic goal for me, so I opted for that instead), but I kept putting it off. I'd talk with Brian about it multiple times in a week and he just kept telling me to do it if I wanted to. So, one night, I just signed up for it. And suddenly I felt obligated to run, in a good I'm-going-to-be-held-accountable-for-running sort of way. I had kind of stopped running regularly before signing up. It was like an unconscious decision to not run while I didn't have to. I was running 3 or 4 miles 3 or 4 times a week before a brief hiatus, and then read up on a couple of training schedules and kinda created my own based on what was doable with my own schedule and needs.

Two weeks before the actual race I ran 14 miles, just to have in my head that I could do it. I was pretty sore after that run though, at least my knees were. Running on pavement takes a toll on the knees, but they get used to it with enough persistence.

So, Friday I flew into Salt Lake and my MTC comp came and got me. It was SOOO good to see her!! I hadn't seen her in a couple of years (which, thankfully, through the miracle of blogs and Facebook, did not seem like that long really) and I love that it's as though not a day has gone by. (It's true Jewkes, you are awesome ;) Anyway, I stayed the night at her house, stayed up WAY TOO LATE, yes, we talked, but I went to bed sometime around midnight, and my thoughts were just racing about the next day (no pun intended), so who knows when I actually fell asleep and for how long. I woke up around 6:15am, got ready, was super amped, we left around 6:45 (Jewkes lives in Lehi, about 20 minutes from Provo) had some pre-race nerves, but made myself eat a Cliff bar around 7:15 and we walked around the start/finish line of the half marathon. I was SO glad Jewkes was with me, I would have felt very alone, and it was good feeling the energy of everyone around us. We visited the porta potties (always a glamorous experience, I'm sure you can imagine) and the race began at 8am.

During my training, I had asked a ton of people that had experience with running longer races what they wished they had done differently, or what they wished they had known, and most everyone said don't run with everyone else in the beginning, find your own, true pace, otherwise you'll run too fast and fade at the end. I already knew that (or so I thought), but I was super glad I was thinking about that once we started, cuz the energy is so high and your adrenaline is so charged that it's hard to control and pace yourself well. So for the first couple of miles I ended up closing my eyes every couple of minutes for 20 seconds or so just to zone in to my body and keep my pace in check. It helped me a ton. I started off a little faster than I normally would, but I think it ended up being a good thing. On shorter runs (3 or 4 miles) I tend to run the first couple of miles slower and then speed up half way through. With longer runs it's harder for me to speed up to a different pace once I've set my body to a certain rhythm.

All the mile markers had different statements on them, like the 1 mile marker read, "1 mile down, just a walk in the park." Corney, I know, but something new to look at nonetheless. The 3 mile marker said, "If you were running a 5k you'd almost be done," I was thinking that that was a jerk think to say and suddenly heard some lady that I couldn't see say, "Wait a minute, is this not the 5k?" BUMMER!!! Apparently she had signed up for the 5k, which started at 8:05am, but was on a different course, and somehow got caught up with the half marathon...phew...no good. Solid entertainment folks!

Anyhow, mile 5 came and I was running next to one of the pacers, this chick holding up a sign that had the goal time of 2:30 on it and we chatted for awhile. I told her my goal was to finish before her, which was true, I wanted to be under 2:30, and she said, "I'm running a little faster than 2:30 right now, so if you keep up this pace, you'll do great!" Which made me nervous, I don't know why, maybe I didn't want to run out of gas at the end. I ended up running ahead of her and didn't see her the rest of the race. I spoke to so many random people, many of whom didn't hear or acknowledge me because they had headphones in, I did to, but a little variety is good. We ran to Utah lake and back. Ran around a nice little pond/creek area for a couple of miles, great scenery. I tried to take a sip of water at every aid station available, wanted to make sure I was well hydrated on that 75 degree day.

At this point in the race I was passing some people that were walking, people that had probably started too fast. I passed a couple of men that had GPS watches on and asked them how far we had gone. It seemed like a little while since we had seen the 6 mile marker. They said, 7.65 miles. More than half way, feeling good. This girl that I had been running behind almost the entire race stopped to walk sometime after that. She had been my own personal pacer. I had been trying to find one person that was at a good pace for me, just fast enough to keep me going at a good speed. When I caught up to her I said, "Sorry dude, you can't walk. You're my inspiration, and I can't have you walking on me" She just laughed and started jogging with me for a bit. We chatted about random whatnots and I told her she could go ahead of me, I just couldn't have her walking on me, so she went on ahead. As I passed people I'd ask if they'd seen the 8 mile marker, and no one had. I kept thinking I must have passed it, or it would be coming up any second. Finally I decided that they must have skipped it and the next mile marker would be the 9 mile marker. After a few minutes of having determined that I saw the 10 mile marker and the heavens opened and angels sang!!! ;) It was so good! It was like those 2 miles had just vanished and all I had were 3 left!! 3 miles? Easy Peasy!

I ran up to the marker pointing at it and screaming "DOUBLE DIGITS, YEAH!!!! 3 miles left, folks, 3 miles left, we OWN this!!!" People looked at me like I was crazy, but I love it when people cheer and get animated, and no one was, so I decided to be that person. I turned around thinking that very thought when I saw a white car coming up on the road with the horn honking and suddenly my brother Kendall had his arm and head out the window yelling, "LET'S GO KAYLEEN!!! YEAH!!! LET'S GO!!!!" I was ELATED!! I smiled so big and just said, "I LOVE YOU, KENDALL!!" I couldn't help but feel so good in that moment, it's the little things!! I looked at the runners around me and said, "Yeah, that's my brother, he's pretty awesome!" They all smiled at me, saying something about me being crazy for yelling at that point in the race, and how they could feel the love.

So mile 11 came up and that was when I was thinking that I wouldn't be heartbroken if the race ended at 11 miles instead of 13, and as though they could read my thoughts 3 girls that had been running at my pace, more or less, the whole time ended up walking. They weren't together, it was staggered, but I couldn't have that. So as I came up to them from behind I'd say something like, "less than 2 miles, you can rest at the end, keep going" and they all ended up running again. Sometimes you just need someone to remind you that the end is near. Little did they know that I was doing that more for me than for them, but who cares, it got them running ;)!

Mile 12 came, I wished it was 13, it was hot, but not unbearable. I was taking stock of my body and overall felt good, but fatigued. The last half mile had a hill that I definitely didn't appreciate, but was totally conquerable. I ran the whole thing. On the other side of the hill I had hoped that the finish line would be closer, only because I had envisioned it that way, it was the same way we had started the race, but there was still a solid 700 meters or so. I just kept looking for the time tracker. As soon as it was in sight I mustered all I had and sprinted as hard as I could. It was AWESOME!!! The crowd was relatively quiet before I started sprinting, but as soon as I started some guy saw me and yelled, "YEAH!! FINISH HARD!!" and suddenly a ton of people started cheering! LOVE it! I passed a girl right before the end. It was great. My official time was 2:21. I was so happy that the whole experience was good. I had 3 goals when I started. 1) Run the whole time, no walking. 2) Don't get injured. 3) Finish under 2 hours and 30 minutes. I completed all of the goals and it was RAD!

Jewkes was there at the end, with her adorable munchkins and we walked around the finishing area to check stuff out. I sat and stretched, it was SO nice to bend my knees completely as I sat and stretched. Water was AWESOME, walking was AWESOME, the whole atmosphere was great. We took another trip to the porta potties (wish I could say that that was awesome, but....) and I decided that I needed another water bottle so we went to the finish line again so I could get one. After we went off to the side and I stretched some more, and Smith (Jewkes's 3 year old cutie) stretched with me, it was much needed for both of us, and there was this lady that had run the half marathon walking around in 5 finger shoes. She walked passed us and I asked her how it was running in those. She said she loved it, but that she had to build up to running in them for longer periods. I asked how it was running the half in them. She said, "Well, I signed up for the 5k and then found out I was on the half marathon route. I had already started so I decided that I should just finish it." WHAT!?! She was totally the girl that I heard at the 3 mile marker say, "Wait, is this not the 5k?" Hahaha, how's that for closure to that story? She said that the most she had ever run before that was 4 miles, if I remember correctly. Inspiring. Totally mental. If you think you can, you can...

I ended up calling my brother, Kendall, so we could meet up with him and cheer on Wendy as she finished up her marathon. We met him right before that awful hill at the last half mile of the race. We cheered on a ton of people, most of whom smiled and laughed, or at least acknowledged Kendall (it was the end of a marathon, come on folks, that's the true definition of fatigue) and it was super cool to help encourage them. Kendall had been driving every couple of miles to meet up with Wendy and cheer her on the whole race, and, of course, the other people running around her. A bunch of people commented on how awesome Kendall was to cheer them on and how they were so grateful for that encouragement. LOVE that guy! I LOVED it. So many people working together for a positive, common goal. There was definitely some good mojo going on. We saw Wendy, yelled, screamed, cheered, honked the horn. LOVED the excitement.

Went back home to Jewkes's house the scenic way (she really just wanted to see the course I had run, she knew where we were the WHOLE time... ;) had the greatest shower of my life, next to showering after giving birth, of course, and hung out until she took me back to the airport later that afternoon.

Overall a GREAT experience!! I think everyone needs to have an experience like that sometime in their life. The whole plane ride home I couldn't help but think about Heavenly Father rejoicing in every worthy victory we have in life, big or small. Especially those in which we influence others for the good. There were 2 little girls that gave me high fives somewhere between mile 6 and 10 when I didn't know how far I had gone, and I just thought of my little guy calling me earlier in the day to wish me luck saying, "Don't give up Mommy! You own this!!" :)! With prompts from Brian I'm sure, but I loved hearing it just the same.

As I'm typing I'm realizing that I didn't take one picture with Jewkes!!! How lame is that? She did take a couple of shots of me at the race though. I'll post those once they're loaded.

Moral of the story: Set a realistic, but challenging goal, then invite your friends to encourage you and help you achieve it.

There's no greater feeling!!

I can do HARD things!!! And so can YOU!!! :)