Yeah. Long drive.
I won't count that as our first day because driving for that long just plain sucks. However, we did learn that Sophie gets carsick. Ew.
Really, ew.
The day ended nicely though. We went out to dinner with Kelly and Mike, leaving the littles at home with older cousins. We also watched the movie, "Forever Strong". Really good movie.
I liked it a lot.
Moving onward to our OFFICIAL Day One- Saturday the 13th.
Let me start off this day with saying that my brother Todd is amazing. I admire him in so many ways. He's always been a great big brother to me- he has always been a sort of protector for me (Literally, on a few occasions). Anyway, on the 13th, he ran in the Utah Valley Marathon.
Yes, I said- MARATHON!I love to run. I don't know that I've got it in me to do a marathon. He has now completed 2 marathons. This boggles my mind, and inspires me at the same time. I was so excited to be there to cheer him on!
We actually weren't supposed to come into town until Sunday, but when I heard he was running on Saturday, we switched a few things around and were able to leave earlier. I called his wife and got the marathon details. I wanted to surprise him.
So, I woke up early on Saturday morning and headed out to Provo to meet up with Darcy and 4 of their 6 kids.
We were waiting just past the half way point- about 14 miles into the race.
(NOTE: this is already at the point in the race that is FARTHER than I've EVER ran.)
I'm already in awe of these people. I feel like dieing after 13.1 miles. THIS was really amazing to me.
We got to our destination early enough so that we wouldn't have missed him. Sure enough, after waiting about 20 minutes, he came around the corner.
Being the big baby that I am, I immediately begin to cry. All I can do is wave at him (Darcy told me later that she'd been crying all day- anxious about him running, so I wasn't the only one!).
It was funny though, I don't think he noticed me at first. He was in a zone. He ran past and kind of waved. So, I ran up to him and we ran and talked for about 1/4 mile. He was doing really good. He said he was tired, but he wasn't showing it to me!
We left him there and drove out to the 21 mile mark, thinking he might need a bit more cheering on at that point in the race (I know I would!). Really interesting though, there was a lady who came out of the race (before we left the first spot) and asked if we could give her and her friend a ride to their other friend, who was meeting them at mile 21. One of the ladies had been passing out, and couldn't finish the race. It was really sad. She was totally crying. I was really sad for her (no I didn't cry! I know you were wondering...)
I found out she was trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon and she had just ran the Ogden Marathon 2 weeks earlier!
Yeah.
You wanna know what I was thinking? CRAZY LADY! No, actually I was thinking, WOW! (Okay, maybe a little of the crazy lady, but mostly just WOW!).
She was calmed down a lot by the time we got to her car. It really stinks, but sometimes your body just decides its not going to run today, and there's really nothing you can do but listen.
Or pass out.
Yeah, back to Todd.(This is a lot of info, but I really enjoyed the morning!!). We caught up with him about mile 21.
He was SEVERELY dehydrated, I found out after going with him for about a mile. Even though there were aid stations every 2 miles, he did not have enough liquid in him. So, I called up Darcy, and she brought us some water bottles. He was much better after he got some fluids in him!
(Here we are walking for just a bit to re-hydrate. His twin girls were walking with us.) Did I mention he has 6 kids? His girls were asking him what was harder- having a baby or running a marathon. Hmm. Darcy just had their youngest- little Josh Bob, in March. (No, his name isn't really Josh-Bob, that is just his nickname, given by his 3 year old big brother) He knew the RIGHT answer.
Here he is, racing towards the finish line. Well, I was happy. I got to run with him for a few miles towards the end of the race. I hope I was more of a help than a hindrance. I just really enjoyed being there. Anyone who can run 26.2 miles, is my hero. Especially if this someone is a person I already love and admire!
(Todd, Me, his wife Darcy, and two of his daughters)You did an amazing job, Todd! You inspire me. That takes A LOT of gusto to do what you did- a lot of mind over matter stuff. Amazing amounts of endurance- REALLY tough.
And I just soaked up every minute of it. I'm going to say it here-out loud (sort of) for everyone to read-
Someday, I will run a marathon. I was inspired. There, now its out there.
**(Not a marathon in Utah though! Too high in altitude. I'll take my sea level, or almost sea level runs, thank you very much!)
There was a quote on his shirt that said "26.2 miles of the pain you enjoy".
I think that says it all.
Will you bring me water ? Help cheer me on, when I want to stop? :) I will probably need you to do more than that. Maybe a 10 mile piggy back ride or something!
It was a great day. A great way to start off our vacation. But it wasn't even noon yet! I still have to blog about the rest of the day....LATER!
It was a great day. A great way to start off our vacation. But it wasn't even noon yet! I still have to blog about the rest of the day....LATER!
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