13.1 Miles of LOVE

This is a big deal.

Scott and I ran the American Fork Half Marathon this last Saturday.

This is a big deal because:

• I reached a goal I set for 2017--to run a Half Marathon before Annie's first birthday. Goal Achieved!

• Though I've been a long-distant runner in the past, this is the furthest I've run since....my 24th birthday. And it was hard.

• This is the longest Scott has run in his life. Way to go Scott!

• The training was sparse and ridiculous because we're still figuring out how to exercise with a baby. (Rookie parents) Side note: wanna good workout? Run with a child in a jogging stroller. For a long time. Up hills. It's hard.

• Scott and I hardly ever run with each other. Like ever. This was nothing short of a miracle!

• It was hard, but we did it. We CAN do hard things.

Did I mention this was hard for us? Because it was. We struggled to find time to train with long work hours and a baby who wakes up at 5:00 AM. Thank goodness for in-laws and other baby sitters who made the long training runs possible. We also struggled with some pulled muscles, sore muscles, and really out of shape muscles (aka the lack thereof). Then there was the mental game: Can we do this? ...or...Do we want to do this?!!? Yet somehow out of sheer stubbornness...nah, really just because we'd already paid an arm an a leg for it...we pushed through and got ourselves ready.

The morning of the race we left the house around 4:00AM or so to get down to Art Dye Park in AF. When we got to the general area, the parking situation was ridiculous and we couldn't find a parking spot for a while. Meanwhile the clock is ticking and we are worried that we won't reach the busses before the last shuttle takes off at 4:45. We ended up parking in a neighborhood 4 miles away and had to run all the way to the busses to get there on time. Ok maybe it wasn't 4 miles away, but it felt far. Not what you want to do when you're about to run a big race.

We weren't the only ones in that boat--half of the runners seemed to be making their way to the busses, jogging and speed walking along side us. We were lucky enough to get on a snazzy Greyhound for the ride up the canyon. We ride in style. We were both too wired, and nervous, to try to get any rest on the way up American Fork Canyon, and I'm glad we didn't doze because of the sight that met our eyes as we came around the bend to Tibble Fork Resevoir....

Space Camp.

There were thousands of people wrapped in metallic space blankets under the bright flood lights at the starting line. It was cold up the canyon so the race organizers provided these emergency Mylar blankets for everyone. Thoughtful. And flashy. I was just waiting for them to blast "Zoom zoom zoom, make my heart go boom boom..." from "Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century". It was pretty fantastic.

As we waited for the start, the light slowly crept up over the mountains and lit up the beauty of the mountains around us. Truly as spectacular way to start a race, or just start your morning. Those of you who have participated in races before can understand the electric energy and adrenaline that runs through you as you await that gunshot. We were gearing up as they started counting down to the gun shot and Scott turns to me and says: "You know I'm doing this because I love you, right?" He does not believe himself to be a runner, and was being completely honest. He's too good to me!

The gunshot sounded and we took off with the first wave of runners--the "Fast" group. Ha. Because we are so fast. We actually didn't do too bad! And I 100% give credit to the course. Running downhill for the first 7 miles did not disappoint. We were lengthening our stride, passing other runners, and not even feeling it (mostly). Scott even turned to me around mile 6 and said--"Hey this is great!" Can we all appreciate how HUGE it was that the "non-runner" said that after running for 6 miles. Huge. The downhill, the gorgeous views, the perfect weather, the thrill of the race--it was all absolutely perfect.

Then we left the canyon and things got a little more difficult. Scott had injured his calf muscle the week before and it finally started hurting him enough that he had to pull back a bit and we ended up getting separated. Then the sun came over the mountains and it got hot. Then my right knee started hurting with every stride. Then we passed the 9 mile marker--which is the longest training run we'd done so mentally I was in a tough place. That's when prayer, a purpose, and music came to the rescue.

The purpose we chose to run for was for a friend who would have been the one running the pants off of us if things were different. Sharon Jackson is a woman who has been a friend to my family and to Scott for many years. She's always been a great example of excellent health and she loved to run. Even when her knees made it so she couldn't run any more, she would always get out and walk, be active, eat healthily, and live a full life. Such a wonderful woman with one fantastic family. Only several weeks ago Sharon was diagnosed with a fast-acting brain cancer that seemed to come out of nowhere. It's all been so sudden and shocking, especially to her family. There are still a lot of unknowns as to what her treatment and future look like, and like anyone who has loved ones who go through something so tragic and life-chaning as this, there are many people who just want to know how to help. While there's little we can do personally to help her physical condition, this race was a chance to help cancer patients in general. The AF Half Marathon donates all of its funds to cancer research, and Sharon's cancer is one of those that needs more research and to find a cure. So in the little we could do help, we ran to support Sharon--doing what she would be doing if she could.

"JACKSONIZE" [verb] - to take life by the horns and make things

happen! Living life to the fullest! Inspired by the Jackson Family.

Though it felt like the end would never come, it finally did! The last couple hundred yards of the course took us down a beautiful scenic pathway into Art Dye Park where there was music playing, cowbells ringing, people cheering, and somewhere in the crowd my sister and my little baby waiting for me to arrive. (which for some reason brought tears to my eyes...there's something about long races that make me emotional). Crossing the finish line I felt strong and happy and RELIEVED to be done. I found Annie and Jess--worried that Annie had given Jess a hard time that morning and would be beside herself because she wasn't with mama. Well, she didn't even want me!! She clung to jess and wouldn't let me hold her! Guess I didn't need to worry about that. A couple of minutes after I crossed the finish line, Scott came through. He'd run the ENTIRE WAY without stopping. Despite his injury and the pain in his leg. What. A. Stud.

Annie trying to escape from me

All in all, it was totally worth it. The training, the pain, the cost, the pain, the early mornings, the time, the PAIN...all of it. We did something that was hard for us. We worked for it. We succeeded. We achieved our goal. The free massage and Kneader's french toast at the end didn't hurt either. Great race with my greatest adventure buddy! WE DID IT!

#AmericanForkHalfMarathon #RunforSharon #Goals #Marriage #Running