I SURVIVED

but only barely.

Seriously, that marathon was pretty awful. I’m about 83% sure that St. George is where hell is (although that 17% part of me loves the red rock).

Austin finished in about 3 hours 50 minutes while I crawled to the finish line in 5 hours and 40 minutes. Brrruuuuuutal.

The most I had run before that marathon was about 10 miles…and that had been a few weeks before. I mean, I DID try to run regularly – but it was rarely more than 7 miles.

I ran with my sister – it was her first ever marathon. We were in the bowels of misery together, walking through the parade of sorrows. While the weather wasn’t hot, I managed to get burned on my chest, shoulders, and whatever parts of my face that weren’t covered by a headband or sunglasses.

I’ve only done two marathons, so I can’t speak for every marathon, but both marathons I’ve been to have had awesome aid stations. The St. George marathon had an aid station every mile I swear. It said “every two miles” on the site but I think it was every mile. That helped me keep going until the end.

The worst part of the marathon was Veyo hill – even though I do pretty decently at hills, this one was just, well, LONG. I told my sister that we couldn’t stop to walk until we hit the mile marker and unfortunately I think that exhausted us too much.

I’m glad I finished, but I can’t help the itchy feeling that I can do better. I think I’ll do the Ogden again next May – but this time, I’ll train more and aim for a new personal record.

THIS IS WHY YOU TRAIN. DON’T BE DUMB LIKE ME.