Cedar City Half Marathon!

That's what I said...the Cedar City Half Marathon!!  I did it!  I ran 13.1 miles!  I still can't believe it when I think about it!

I decided to start running because I wanted to do something extra to get rid of some extra...ahem.  Then a friend talked me into running this half marathon because she said it was mostly all downhill, so I thought, "hey, if it's downhill, why not?"  So the training began!  I would run in the mornings on the treadmill for 30 minutes or so.  Some nights I'd run with some ladies for maybe 2-3 miles.  I thought I was going to die!  It was so hard!  I'd run for maybe 2 minutes and have to stop because I couldn't catch my breath!  I felt awful because I knew I was holding the others up.  But I kept at it.  To be completely honest, it wasn't my main focus.  I was still mostly focusing on my Zumba 3 nights a week and running came second.  So if I had time for it, I'd run.

Well 3 months later...the race was here!  And for the 2 weeks before the race, I didn't run at all!  I know, I know, what was I thinking?!  The bottom line was that I just didn't feel like it.

The morning of the race was here and I got up at 4 am.  My ride picked me up at 4:45 and we headed to Cedar City.  Riding in the car in the dark all I could think was, "what am I getting myself into?"  We got there, picked up our bags, popped the pain killers, ate some Marathon bars and drank some Gatorade.  Everything was a blur.  We hopped on the bus and started up the canyon.  It was still dark.  People were laughing and talking, and I just sat there listening.  I sputtered out a few nervous comments to my friend trying to calm my own nerves.  We finally got to the starting line.  It was freezing!  There were people dancing to the music that was playing in the background, some huddled around a big fire, but most were lining up at the bathrooms.  I was there too.  I put on my jacket and gloves and tossed them into the truck that took them back to the finish line.  Then I noticed people heading to the starting line and I knew that this was it.

There was no big signal to start the race, people just started running.  I was in the middle of madness!  I quickly moved to the side so that they could pass me.  I turned my music up loud enough to drown out their footsteps.  And I kept running.  As I passed mile 2 I thought,"That's it?!"  But I kept running.  I looked up and was the amazing canyon walls around me and how beautiful they were.  There was a cool breeze that seemed to be pushing me onward down the hill.  I kept running.  The next thing I know I'm passing mile 7!  I looked at my clock and an hour had passed.  1 HOUR!  I had run 7 miles in 1 HOUR?!  That was new for me!  So I kept running!

Mile 10 was when it got really hard.  They had us detour off the road and onto a trail that ran along the river and took us into town.  It was a constant up and down.  My legs were screaming for me to stop!  I listened and began walking fast.  By the time I got into town there were only 2 miles left!  Those were the longest 2 miles of my life!  I could see the finish line but they kept weaving us through the streets.  It was so hard!!  I kept looking behind me to see if there were still people so that I wasn't last.  If anything, I did NOT want to be last.

I turned the last corner and saw the end!  I walked a bit further and began running again.  Then I saw Steve and Teigan and Sawyer cheering me on and waving!  I was so happy!  As I crossed the finish line there were people there giving me my medal and congratulating me and all I could think was, "It's OVER!!"

I spent the next two days not being able to walk.  My legs hurt SO bad!  But I did something I never thought possible...I ran 13.1 miles!  (Plus I did it in less time than I thought!  I thought I ran it in 2 hours 33 minutes, but if you look in the picture, it was 2 hours 18 minutes!!)