October 6th I ran my first marathon. A little over a year ago I started running. In my ward there are a lot of runners that like to run races. After I had Jocelynn I signed myself up for the Sprint triathlon to get myself back in shape. I loved it! After having Carter I thought I'd do a half marathon so signed myself up for the half marathon in Santa Barbara. I never would have thought I'd do a marathon. The most I used to run was 3 miles. I've learned a lot of lessons through running. I think it has made me stronger mentally. I wasn't planning to do a marathon till after my third child but I decided now was a good time since I'm in shape. I ran 3 half marathons. Santa Barbara, Fontana and Hollywood. My friend told me that St George was a good first marathon. Everyone loves to run this one so it is lottery to get in. One night I talked with James about it and it's a big commitment to train. I thought maybe because of his work schedule he would say it wasn't a good time. He said go for it! That's all I needed. Weeks later I found out I got in! What had I done? Thankfully friends of mine were training for their first also that fell on the same weekend so we did this together. The training began. Thankfully I was off of school for the summer. I only ran 2-3 times at night during the week when James got home and Saturday mornings were our long runs. We would put out frozen waters the night before and map out a run. The last month before the race was very hard because I started school again.
James took Friday off and my friend Melinda was watching the kids for me. We drove up and I was so tired that day so was a little concerned. I slept the way up and we met some friends for dinner to load up on the carbs. I was staying at my friends that night and I haven't seen her in years. We picked up my bib and drove to where the drop off was. We got to my friend's house at 830pm and I was so tired. I didn't get in bed till 10pm and made the mistake of drinking a glass of water at 9pm so didn't fall asleep till 1130pm. My alarm clock went off at 330am and I left to catch the bus. I don't know why I left that early but I did. I didn't have to catch the last bus till 530am. I guess I was just anxious. The bus took us up the mountain and there was bonfires and music playing. I was ready and I was excited to do it!
The run was beautiful and perfect weather. Nice and cool. I stopped to go to the bathroom twice. I was keeping a good pace and started getting tired at 18. I started to walk through the water stops and then kept running. Throughout the course I was getting stomach cramps which was so frustrating and painful. At mile 23 I was crying. It hurt. Mentally I told myself to stop crying. I was almost there and I was going to finish.
These last pictures my friend got of me running in. After I crossed the finish line I lied down and couldn't get up. I came in at 4 hours and 17 minutes. It was an experience I will never forget. I hope to get faster and run more races. I'm grateful for James and supporting me in this. I've learned how strong we are. Mentally if we think positively we can achieve anything we want to in life. I know that for sure. 
This is my dear friend. She had a big impact on me when I was 18. She was my roommate in college for 6 months and taught me a lot. She is now a mother of 3 and such a great person.After the marathon I showered and we headed to Vegas. I slept in the car more and we got some food in Vegas and went back to the hotel and we were asleep by 8pm. That next morning we visited James cousins and their children and then headed home to see our kids.
My mom made this sign for me. My parents have always been great supporters in everything I do!
