Slacker...

I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to write my debrief. Liesel, you are awesome for running the marathon AND having a good attitude about it. I always ask my kids when they are grumpy, "Where is your good attitude?" Well, I couldn't find mine throughout the entire race. Here is my not-so-Pollyanna recap of the run:

Summary: wind, rain, cold. It was the worst race I have ever run. Before the race, all of the runners are shuttled up to the top of a mountain to the starting line. I ran this race 2 years ago and so it was a little bit familiar. We got off of the bus and huddled around one of the many fire pits they had available to keep warm. Then the rain came. Then the wind. We grabbed garbage sacks and made holes for our head and arms so that we could try to stay dry until the rain stopped. The rain did not stop. In fact, as the race went on, it got worse. Anyone who knows me, knows that I get cold very easily. That being said, even with running 26.2 miles (we can't forget the .2!) I could not get warm. The long-sleeve hoodie I was wearing was soon soaking wet and so I took it off to wrap around my waist. I'm sure the Snow Canyon Mountains on any other day are beautiful to look at and would make for a pleasant run. However, on this particular day, all I saw was the wet pavement. I looked down to keep the rain out of my eyes as well as to prevent my clumsy self from slipping. I learned something on this run: my running shoes are not waterproof...go figure. My socks were saturated by mile 10 and I could hear the slushing in between songs on my ipod. I had to go to the bathroom so many times and actually considered just peeing while I ran. It was raining...would anyone notice? Something else was running in the race...my nose. I tried to sniff everything up, but after an hour or so of that, I just let it run. (I hope the photographers that were along the run got a closeup!). It was not my finest hour. I considered flagging down a shuttle or ambulance because I was so miserable. Point of the story, I finished. Through all of the crummy circumstances, I finished. By the end, my lips were blue and my fingers were so cold that I couldn't peel a banana. It was hard and I finished. So, maybe it was my finest hour.

That's it. I don't know why, but I want to do it again. It's like childbirth I think. For some reason, through all of the pain, there is something great about it and you want to do it again. I am glad that it is a year away...