St. George Marathon

Diary of An Everyday Housewife
Sunday, October 5, 2008

Hi, Everybody! I didn’t write all week because I spent most of my days and nights in the bathroom with an upset stomach. No, I did not eat bad chicken. No, I didn’t catch the flu bug. I was actually just SUPER nervous about running in the St. George Marathon. An old friend of mine from Taft, California, was running it as well and said he’d run with me to help me pace myself and hopefully qualify for the Boston Marathon. Talk about pressure!
Just to give you a little background, when I’m training, I usually run 10 minute miles while listening to books on my IPOD. It’s nice and relaxing. No pressure. Well, in order for me to qualify for Boston, I had to run 8:20 miles. I didn’t think it would be possible . . . thus the upset stomach.
We had the kids skip school on Friday, and Aaron took off work to head down to St. George. They were all so excited about their weekend of rest and relaxation. I was just a teensy bit annoyed that everyone else could be so relaxed. Aaron’s parents drove out from California and my dad also headed down to see me at the finish line. More pressure!!
We ate at the Olive Garden the night before so I could get plenty of carbs. Carson broke a wine glass as soon as we were seated and then spilled a full glass of Sprite all over the floor during the meal. Very stress free!!
I went to bed at 8:15 and dreamt about waking up late and missing the marathon. I think I also caught the Restless Legs Syndrome during the night. I kept shuffling around and felt like there were bugs and spiders in the bed! I woke up for the last time at 3:45 a.m., got my layers of clothes on, took some Tylenol, ate a bagel and banana, tried to go to the restroom (of course it was the first time all week I couldn’t go!), and headed down to the hotel lobby. My amazing Dad was waiting for me, at 4:30 a.m. to take me to meet the buses! Thanks, Dad!
The buses drove us up to the starting line. I think it was a 45 minute drive up the canyon. I noticed during the drive that it was raining! It doesn’t usually rain in St. George! My lucky day! I waited in line at the porta-potties for another 45 minutes. I think people were spending a lot of time in there to stay out of the rain. When it was finally my turn to use the bathroom, I only had about 4 minutes before the gun would go off. People in line to use the bathroom behind me were chanting, “Dump it Quick!” How gross is that?! Needless to say, with all that pressure, I couldn’t go!
The gun went off, and that is the last thing I remember! Ha! Ha! It was pitch black when we started. I think I ran into a few people. It was cold. It was wet. It was wet. Oh, did I already say that?! Some people ran the whole marathon in a garbage bag. I’ll remember that trick next time. Lots of people took potty breaks beside the side of the road. I don’t think I’ll try that trick!!
By mile #23 my legs felt like bricks. I kept going, but didn’t want to. I just kept thinking about Aaron standing at the finish line looking at his watch and clucking his tongue. Ha! Ha!
When I crossed the finish line, I had tears in my eyes (it might’ve just been raindrops!) and I was soaking wet. I was also unable to walk. My toes were a mess. My feet had been sitting in wet socks for more than 4 hours. Needless to say, I won’t be getting a pedicure anytime soon. No one would be able to stand the sight of these puppies.
The sad part about the marathon is that I spent another couple hours in the bathroom after I finished– sick to my stomach again! The happy part is – I qualified for Boston!