Ogden Marathon (Running for Grandpa Andrus)

There are a few things that led me to sign up for this marathon yesterday. My pregnancy with Mia (including labor and delivery) played a roll. So did watching Lizzie and Abby cross the finish line in Azusa, CA last November. I was so emotional! Like ugly, ugly cry face for hours that day. And simply the fact that I have always wanted to run one was another reason. Thanks to Dad I decided now was the time. He encouraged me not to wait until retirement to run one if I could do it now. So, in December last year I talked to Jon about it and signed up for the Ogden Marathon. Lizzie had challenged us sisters to "streak" with her in December, meaning we exercised for 15 minutes each day for the entire month. So fun to check in and report back to each other! And the perfect way to start my training. And then when Grandpa passed away in January I suddenly had this incredible motivation to train hard. I wanted to run it for him. Grandpa, who walked three miles every day for as long as I can remember. Grandpa, who valued fitness so much that he was doing 35 push ups until his last day on earth. Grandpa, who was out walking his evening mile when he was hit by a car and taken back to heaven. Grandpa, who was so generous with his money to all of his descendants. Grandpa, what an incredible man. I miss him so much! So I decided to use some of the Christmas money he gave me and bought myself a new pair of running shoes. I really loved the idea that they were from him. He bought them for me. In the beginning on my runs I'd run and talk to him and sometimes double over sobbing because he left such an impact on my life. Knowing that I can't stop by and see him when we're in Spanish Fork makes my heart ache so much! But the fact that the race was on May 20th (two days after he would have turned 96) added to the sweetness of this tribute to him.

Training wasn't easy. When Lydia was in school it was easier during the week because I could push Sophie and Mia in the double BOB, but when she was off track it became more challenging. My friend and neighbor (Amy Green) offered to watch the girls so I could do longer week day runs. It was such a blessing to drop them off and know that they were in good hands while I ran as fast as I could. Not wanting to put her out too much and needing to carry on with our days (we typically did this on Wednesdays and would rush Lyds to ballet as soon as I was done) we tried to get it done early on. I had another neighbor, Heidi Smith, send her daughter over a few times when she was off track so that I could run while she watched our girls. We have the best neighbors!

 Jon made weekend runs possible. He'd either run errands, or plan something fun to pass the time. Errands included trips to Home Depot, grocery shopping, or J and J with the girls. For fun they went hiking to Ensign Peak one Saturday, and got to go to a Book Event at a Dealership another Saturday. Face painting made that one super memorable. Both Lydia and Sophie were invited to birthday parties on different Saturdays. Jon drove me to Main Street and Mountain Road in Kaysville (after dropping the girls off to their party) as suggested by Brian (Jon's boss) so that I could get as much downhill running in as possible before the race. Once I was at the top I'd run down from across Highway 89 along 200 North. This was in the hopes that my recovery wouldn't be so painful once I'd run my race. Brian has run something like 13 marathons and had some really good advice to pass along. Jon also got me this bath bomb and massage bar for my birthday to be saved for after my run. I've been smelling this incredible citrus scent and looking forward to using it for weeks. Especially after my 20 mile run when my knee started hurting horribly at mile 15 for the first time in years. I'd injured it before, but it hadn't bothered me in ages, and this was three weeks before go time. I tried to not worry about it too much, but each Saturday run I was reminded of the pain about 5 miles in and wondered how on earth I'd be able to do an additional 21.2 miles on a sore knee if this was what to expect. Ahhh!!!!! Such a mental thing! I didn't want to feed the pain, and make it worse than it actually was, but I couldn't pretend that it wasn't real because I knew that it was. Anyway, Jon has suffered from knee pain for years and advised me to take some ibuprofen a couple hours before the race, wear my knee brace and not let it get to me. So that was my plan.

The sisters were so awesome to ask me how training was going, how I was doing mentally and to encourage me when I was scared out of my mind right before the race. Sarah did a sugar fast with me the week leading up to it. She'd check in with me and we'd text about our experiences. Kids tempting us mostly. ;) ;) Jess and I talked weekly about my running and her pregnancy. She was always so optimistic about how I was going to do. When I was called to Primary she told me that extra blessings would be coming as I served and trained and ran. Lizzie texted a week before the race and the night before asking me how I was and telling me how excited she was for me. And Abby. Oh Abby! She and I talk often, but on Friday night she texted me asking when I planned to go to bed and what time I was going to wake up the next morning. She let me know that she was going to send an email and that I couldn't open it until right before I was leaving. I'm so glad she didn't give me a heads up any sooner than that! I was about to have an emotional breakdown and so to cope I was doing anything I could to distract myself from what was coming. Why should this run be any different than all my other long ones?? But it was and it had me in a panic.

Fortunately, the kindness of family continued and Amber came and picked up our girls for a sleep over at their house after her shift at the temple. The girls were so excited to spend the night with Isaac and Amber! They packed up Thursday and have talked nonstop about all the fun they had. The picnic dinner, seeing the Tabernacle, the Hunt they all went on (to find the bathroom, the laundry room, where they were sleeping, etc and who found all of these things), the chalk drawings and the yummy breakfast the girls had that the girls wanted me to recreate this morning. Such a fun time! And while they were enjoying themselves in Farmington, Jon and I went to Chili's for dinner (to carb load). Pasta. Chicken. Bread. When we got home I packed up and then we watched part of Pirates of the Caribbean and tried to sleep. Fat chance! Actually I think I slept better than Jon did (poor guy!), but when my alarm went off at 3:40 there wasn't any hope of getting a few more minutes sleep.  And that is when I got to read Abby's email:

Hey lady! It's your first marathon! It's finally here! And it will finally end! The long runs can stop and you can have your Saturday's back! Seriously the best part of a marathon is not having to train for a marathon.

I'm really sorry so many of us can't be there with you. Your first marathon is obviously a big deal, and I wish we could be there to cheer you on at different points of the race.

But just because we can't be there in person doesn't mean we can't support you on your run.

As you know Lizzie and Micah are each running a half tomorrow, so think of it as having one of them, a professional, with you through the whole race.  

The less professional among us will also be running tomorrow with you...

Will will be there for you for 3 miles

Summer will be there for you for 3 miles

Brother Jon will walk with you for 10 miles

I'll be there for you for 4 miles

Chris will be there for 6 miles

Sarah will be there for you for 3 miles

Jess will be there for you for 3.1 miles

Derek will be there for you for 3.1 miles

Nate will be there for you for 4.1 miles

All in all we will run two and a half marathons with you. Know that you are never alone, you will have a professional and one or two of your amateur siblings running alongside you. ;)

Love you! Here for you! You're going to kill it!

Also, have fun and make good choices! 

luv,

abs

PS The siblings/family not listed here probably don't even know I put this together. They're either going to be there for you at the end, or have their own (or your) family to take care of, so I didn't want to add more to their plates, but I'm sure had they known they would have jumped on it as well. 

And as soon as I finished reading it, !!

It was perfect! I felt so much love!! Running for Grandpa in addition to running with my whole family was so empowering! And with that thought, Jon and I hopped in the car and drove to Ogden where I caught my bus and anticipated what was coming. Everyone was so nice. Though the bus ride to the top felt like forever, I got to pass the time with a nice woman who was running the Ogden marathon again after the downpour she'd been caught in the previous year. I found a place to sit on the dirt after we unloaded the buses and this kind elderly man pulled a tarp out of his truck so that I could sit on that instead of the cold ground. I stood in porta potty lines three times hoping that I could clean myself out before starting. I'd eaten at 4:00 so I could take my medicine at 6:30 or so and was surprised that my body wasn't responding like I wanted it to, but one minute before the race I did what I came for and got in line to start running just in time. And we were off! There were so many of us crowded together at first and I felt kind of bad squeezing between people to pass them, but I wanted to run well and as fast as I could. I wasn't paying attention to how far I'd gotten until my watch beeped and surprised me with another mile done. It was awesome! I was handed a mocha goo at about mile 4 and gagged it down, hoping for another option further on. Around mile 9 Jon surprised me and cheered me on. It was so good to see him! I blew him a kiss and pushed a little harder. At the halfway point there was music and tons of people and I couldn't stop smiling! The lady on the megaphone took note and told me how cute I was. Not true! I was a sweat mess, but it was so nice of her! I gobbled down a banana (I'd passed on the good a few miles back when I should have taken one) and couldn't believe I was halfway done. All along the way I'd imagine my siblings walking or running with me, talking to them and to Grandpa. And then mile 14 hit and I was running up hill and smiling a little less. But I didn't stop running. That was one of my goals. Take a sip of water as often as possible, and run. At mile 16 I was handed a raspberry goo. More than made up for the mocha one! Around mile 17 Jon appeared again. This time with the camera. He and the group he was with were shouting and cheering and it was just what I needed to push myself a little harder down the canyon.

I could feel some serious discomfort on my left pinky toe, but knew there was nothing I could do about it. I'd already lost two toenails on my left foot and was pretty sure I was going to lose another on my right, but my knee was hanging in there! It hurt, but wasn't unbearable. Such a blessing! And then around mile 20 I needed a porta potty and I needed it stat. I stopped. Put my hands on my knees and wondered what on earth I was going to do. What if I didn't make it? Fortunately another runner pointed me up ahead and I found what I needed. I'm pretty sure the whole ordeal only set me back about 2 minutes, and I was on my way again feeling fantastic. Around mile 23 I exited the canyon and ran through the city. Mile 24 last forever, but I had less than a 5K and a 5K was nothing! I tried not to think about how long I'd been running. When I got onto Grant in Ogden I was only a few blocks from the finish line, but there wasn't much left in the tank. And then there was Jarom. Jarom running alongside me, wearing Miriam and cheering me on! Again, . He told me that everyone was on the right side up ahead. I was handed an American flag and ran with it a little farther when I saw Mom and Dad, Jarom, Brittany, Leila, Darius and Miriam, Isaac and Amber, Tophe and Jon and the girls. And I just ran and cried! I saw the time blinking. It wasn't quite 3:40, the cut off to qualify for Boston (if I was remembering right) and I pushed myself across the finish line. And then I walked over to family and basically collapsed. Abby called right then and we talked for a minute. Congratulation texts came in from Mom Frazier, Stacey, Summer, Lizzie, Sarah and Jess. I couldn't believe everyone was there!! Jarom and Britt drove all the way from Provo with their fam just to see my at the finish line. So far! And it meant so much to me!! Everyone took part in my day and I cannot even begin to express how grateful I am for my family! They are everything to me. Brittany made these awesome posters with Grandpa Andrus quotes, making me laugh and cry at the same time. We talked for awhile and took some pictures.

Tophe came with us to The Habit. We'd been wanting to try it and I was really in the mood for some sweet potato fries until I got there. And then I wasn't sure I could eat anything! But the company was awesome and achieving the goal to run a marathon was fantastic! My stats came in shortly after that, Division Place:13,
Overal Place:181
Net Time:3:37:33
Pace:8:18
Division Total:109
Gender Place:43
Gender Total:464
Overall Total:1069
So it looks like I qualify for Boston! I wanted to run it under four hours and couldn't be happier!

Jon was talking to the girls, telling them what an accomplishment running this marathon was for me and how well he thought I'd done. First off, I'd finished it. Secondly, I did it in less than 4 hours. He told them he hoped that maybe they'd run with us in the future. Sophie said she liked watching me run and Lydia mentioned my race in her prayer at dinner. She also wanted to know if I won. Haha!

Today I've been hobbling everywhere. I taught Sharing Time for the first time and was grateful that I was able to get up and down out of my chair as well as I did. My pinky toe does indeed have a blister on it. A huge blood blister, in fact. But thanks to Paul and Sarah I'm going to leave it be and see what happens. Awesome battle wounds! I'm definitely not done running, but I'm excited to take it easy for a bit. What an incredible experience!!