I ran this race three weeks ago, and realized that I still hadn’t posted about it on my blog for my own records (my online scrapbook!). I use Oh Life! to record my everyday events, so I had already written about this day. I’m just cutting and pasting! Please forgive the lack of organization here. Brains don’t function very well when you’re physically exhausted! Thanks for humoring me! AND, sorry about the poop references, but runners will understand the seriousness of the situation. HA!!

The Oregon Marathon and Half

I got up at 3:30 and put all of my gear on. I made coffee, a breakfast sandwich, etc. So excited!! Julie and Jerry came to pick me up at around 4:05, and Tonya was in the car with them. We went into Rickreall and picked up Tonya’s mom and brother. A full van!

It was RAINING a ton!! Yesterday, I ran to Goodwill to pick up some throw away sweats, so I was wearing those, my black and purple Athleta shorts, and my new short sleeved blue shirt with my black zip jacket. I was so nervous about what I was wearing!! Would I be too cold? Would I chafe? HA!

We arrived in Banks and parked right near the finish line, which was SOOO convenient. We went to the porta potties (although I STILL couldn’t poop!), and then got on the bus. The RAIN! Oh, my word, it was crazy!! At the starting line, we got in line for the porta potties again (still nothing), and then sat on the busses trying to keep warm and dry. Tonya gave me a black trash bag, so I put a hole in the top and was wearing that all morning. In fact, I ended up wearing it for the first 4 miles. It was’t so bad!

We got started in waves, and I was somewhere in the middle. First a short uphill, then a whole lot of downhills! I ran FAST! I didn’t mean to, but I just couldn’t stop myself. I felt great! The course flattened out and we ran over bridges and under gorgeous trees. The rain was crazy!! Well, the wind was pretty crazy, too. I felt so wonderful, though.

So, why did I come in at 2:16:37? I just got lazy, I think. I saw people walking and figured I would walk, too. It was weird and weak of me, and something that I will definitely change for next time.

Toward the end (around mile 10), I saw a couple of gals walking in front of me, so I caught up with them. I urged the first one along and said, “Come on, let’s run!” She started running with me. Then, we caught up with the next one and urged her to run with us. It was fun! The first gal stayed with me, and we even picked up the pace a lot in the last mile. I really needed that!! Needed the motivation to keep going!

So, I came in slower than I expected, however I’m not disappointed in my time. I feel pretty good about my accomplishment. I just really want to do better next time!! I WILL be more mentally tough!

After the race, I was freezing! I finally went back to the van and changed out of my wet clothes, which made a HUGE difference. I got out of the van and waited for Julie to come in. It was fun watching all of the marathoners and half marathoners running in. I saw my friend Lauree from college, and then Julie finally came in. It was so exciting to watch her run in!! She didn’t meet her goal, but she did awesome!

We finally got going, and it was a fun drive back to Dallas. When I got home, I took a warm shower and got all dressed, then went out to the living room to fold clothes and watch TV. Mitch and the boys were at Grant’s soccer game, so it was just me in a nice, warm house.

Mitch brought home pizza and wine, which was so wonderful. The boys were very proud of me and loved my huge medal! It was an awesome day!!

After thoughts: Apparently we ran in a Typhoon!! That’s hard core!

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