A little bit of background.
This past Saturday I ran the long awaited Ogden Marathon. One of my goals is to qualify for the Boston Marathon and I've heard this is a good race to qualify in. The qualifying time for my age group is 3 hours and 40 minutes. A long shot, I know, but each time I've run a marathon (don't be fooled by that each time bit, I've only run 2 before this one) I've gotten faster so I figured, hey, why not eh? Go big or go home that's what I say.
And going big for me is qualifying for Boston.
My brother and sister-in-law were running the half so we all stayed together in a hotel room. Finn (the brother) set his alarm to go off at 4:00 am. We'd have plenty of time to prepare for the big race.
The rest of the day goes something like this:
4:50 am - I wake to Amber saying, "Oh...oh my gosh!"
Finn, clearly in a grog, "It's okay, we still have time."
Amber, "No we don't! Its 10 to 5:00! The alarm didn't go off!" (the buses leave at 5:00 am for the race start)
4:52- I jump out of bed a immediately start putting clothes on in the corner of the room so brother can't see me. Don't want to subject brother to that.
4:53-Frantically running about the room trying to gather my stuff. (I find that the when in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles scream and shout tactic works best for me)
4:57-JJ and I run outside the hotel doors to the bus pickup.
4:58-Kiss JJ goodbye. (on the chin, oops!) Try that kiss one more time. Old man yells, "Well that's not fair! He's leaving you to run that way all alone?"
4:59-Courtesy laugh to the elderly gentleman, continue running for the race pickup.
5:00-Phew! Made it to the bus pickup. Stand in a long line....Dang, I didn't go to the bathroom OR eat anything. Fueling and emptying my tank before a 26.2 mile run is probably a good idea.
5:01-Rummage through the race drop bag and find granola! Aha! Breakfast of champions.
5:02-Board bus for race start.
5:45-Arrive at race start and bee line it over to the porta potties. (Anyone who has run a race before understands the necessity to have "success" before beginning the 26.2 mile descent down a canyon.)
6:30-6:45-Finally able to have "success." People with microphones who just like to hear themselves talk are ordering runners around. We herd back and forth to the race start like a bunch of cattle, frantically ripping off the last remaining clothing.
7:00-The gun goes off. I continue to stand in place and watch peoples' heads in front of me start bobbing. Sooner or later I will begin to run.
7:06-Cross start line. It has begun. Slow and steady wins the race.
7:15-Mile one down. 25.2 to go.....Maybe I won't worry about qualifying for Boston. I'm just gonna take it easy. Yeah, that's it, I don't need to qualify. I just need to finish.
7:15-8:00 ish-Feelin good. This isn't so bad!
8:15- Hey, I think I can do this thing decently!
9:00- By George! I think I can qualify!
10:00- "Ain't nothin gonna breaka my stride, ain't nothin gonna slow me down! Oh no, I've got to keep on movin!" (that's a song) Feelin so good. Flyin down the canyon. I own this mountain.
10:11- What the? Who put rocks in my thighs? That stinkin hurts!
10:19- Okay, seriously, the rocks in the thighs thing won't go away and I really don't appreciate it. Its cramping my style. Not to mention my legs now weight 200 pounds.....each.
10:21- Is it over yet? Oh man....Just keep running, just keep running.
10:30- The husband shows up on his bike with a big ol grin on his face. I have no idea what he's saying to me because of the blessed iPod (seriously couldn't run without it) but I'm sure its words of encouragement. Bless his heart and his cute face.
10:33- I see the sisters on the side of the road. Cheering for me like I'm some kind of champion. They start running with me, clapping, yelling the whole way. Bless their hearts and their enthusiasm.
10:40- Pretty sure I mutter something like, "Where is the !@#$ finish line?" to the sisters.
10:49-Cross the Finish Line with my cheering squad surrounding me. I did it. Whew! I can breathe now!
10:50-Realize I was THREE minutes off from qualifying for stinkin Boston!
Ogden Marathon- 1
Natalie- A big fat, negative three! Dang it!
2:00 pm- Rigamortis has set in. And I've suddenly aged 50 years. ....I think I need some sort of assistive device, a walker, a wheelchair, a Jazzy electric chair, something.
2:01-Why do I pay to do this to myself again?
Grandparents Day
7 years ago
19 comments:
You will think I'm a nerd, but your post made me tear up. Duh! First because of how cute your hubby and sissy's are ... but second because of how close you were! STINK! Either way, you should be amazingly proud of doing these marathons. You're tough!
Ha ha! Oh man, you kill me! I laugh so hard at your posts and this one is fabulous! I've only accomplished 2 HALF marathons, but can understand all the scenarios and things going on in your brain with this situation. Especially having sucess on the toilet. AND, you are like amazing!!!! It takes me just a couple minutes under 3 hours to do 13 miles! Speaking of, Jess and I are going to the the Disneyland 1/2 over Labor Day weekend in September...you wanna come???????? (I MISS YOU TERRIBLY!)
Natalie, you're my hero. Way to go girl! Just don't refer back to my wimpy 5k race I blogged about. It's an embarrassment to your amazing race. Can we get together in June...well the end of June sometime?
OK, rock star. I can't believe you! That's so fast! I bet it was so hard to come so close to your goal and just miss it - but to the rest of us in the world who would think we were pretty awesome to run 3 miles at your pace - we think you deserve a major celebration. You inspire me. Maybe one day I'll have you train me for a marathon.
Congratulations and hope your legs are holding up ok today.
xo
Natalie, Natalie, you don't have to have success (bathroom-style) BEFORE the race! Just as long as you get it out before the finish line, you're good. At least that's what they told me . . .
I'm so proud of you! I know you're bummed about not meeting your goal, but your time was not too shabby! Hooray for you! I'm so glad you made it to the bus on time. Next time we are setting two alarms for important races :)
Did you mean for your font to get so small? I felt like I needed glasses to read it. Wait, maybe I am just getting old. Anyway- I think that is why we are all here... To help each other finish our race. I'm proud of you missy! Maybe your new missy name can be "Close, but not quite Missy"!:)
Oh and one more thing- next time you need Allison to be there so she can set two alarm clocks in case the first one doesn't go off. She may have something there with her "two rule."
OH MY GOSH!!! I can't believe it! Natalie! You are so fetchin' amazing. Congratulations on even doing another marathon. Remember how I ran with you for about 1 minute in the SLC marathon and totally got a side ache? Sheesh girl, you never cease to amaze me. I can't believe you were shy 3 flipping minutes. NARF! Tell you what, let's go on a cruise soon and drown your sorrows with all you can eat frozen yogurt. Sounds good to me! Love you lady.
Made me tear up too. But then I am the mother of this amazing woman!! I love you "boo-legs"
I'd love a Jazzy electric chair...those old folks on the commercials make them look like fun :) hahaha, just kidding...I can't believe you ran a marathon and that it was your 3rd! You are amazing!!!!
you are flippin amazing! I love how i actually documented the fact I ran a 5k...wow I"m lame..but you, YOU ARE SENSATIONAL!!!
Ah, Natto, you're living the LIFE of champions! I'm SO impressed with you!!
P.S. I know where we can find a great jazzy powerchair with your name on it...
I don't care that you didn't qualify for Boston - you are so completely amazing! You've ran multiple marathons, which is just insane. And you've done them at ridiculous paces! So amazing! I think Emily may be on to something. We should totally take a cruise and you can drown your sorrows while soaking up the sun. Good idea.
YOU GO GIRL!!!! You seriously need to drag my butt with you to one of these. Oh wait, I would only make you slower not faster. Sigh...I can live vicariously through you, right!?
one day you can say, "Hey, remember when you and Kari came to run me in on the Odgen marathon only to find out that you 2 couldn't keep up my pace- even though I had already run 22 miles? Yea that was great:)"
You are awesome, Natalie! Ilove reading your blog...You always crack me up! You got it all going on right now, you've got a stinkin' adorable hubby, a new cute house, and the fact that you run so much, must mean you have a rockin' bod! Next year you are going to kick trash and make it into the Boston Marathon!
You would be 3 minutes late! You are awesome for even running 3 marathons! You psycho! And J.J. What's with the republican biking shirt??? :)
Umm...I totally started tearing up when I saw your sisters running with you. You are simply the best, Natalie!
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