The Godfreys: I'm a Marathoner!

I'm a marathoner! One of my friends told me that I am now certifiably batshit crazy, and I totally agree. I remember waking up at 3 a.m. that morning getting ready and thinking to myself what have I gotten myself into. Who does this? I was soo nervous that morning and the butterflies where fluttering around my stomach like crazy. My friend picked me up sometime after 4 a.m. and we were headed to Logan to Merlin Park, where the race ended and where we had to get the bus to take us to the starting line. It was really cold there and I knew that it was going to be a little bit colder up in the canyon. We loaded the bus and the bus driver was really funny. He said "Ok who wants to go to Ihop instead." and everyone just laughed. We got off the bus and it is really dark and the stars are just twinkling away. I was happy to know that they had a tent setup that was heated and it felt sooo good. Joanna and I just chatted away trying to get the time to pass. When we lined up I was amazed at how many people where there. The gun went off and we were off. It was soo crowded and people were trying to get through you and I was just hoping that I wouldn't trip and fall. We finally were able to get to a point where it wasn't that crowded. We were doing awesome except for I had to pee early on. Stinking nerves! I told Joanna that I would just go in the bushes cause I didn't want to wait for an open port o potty so we just kept going. We finally were able to find a campsite that had a port o potty so we went there instead. My friend went first and I couldn't wait any longer so I just went in the bushes. I'm glad I did cause she said it was nasty. Another reason why I don't like to go to the bathroom during a race, yuck! We are going and between mile 11 and 12 I start to hurt. I told Joanna that my hips where starting to hurt but I just push through the pain. I always take an ibuprofen before a long run and I totally forgot to that morning and I sooo regret not taking one. I was able to run all 13.5 miles I think and I was in a lot of pain. I was thinking to myself how am I going to finish this race with all this pain. I push through it again. It did help to get to mile 14 because that's when we were able to see spectators. It's soo nice to be able to hear people cheer you on, even though they aren't there for you it's good to pretend they are. I was happy that my sister in law Heather was there at mile 14 because I was able to chuck my gloves at her so that made it nice to be able to not have to lose my gloves. I was able to get some ibuprofen from a medic at mile 15 and refuel with water, gatorade and some oranges. I'm refueled so I should be good, right, wrong. I had a hard time. I had to keep walking for short periods of time, which I was anticipating but man Joanna was doing awesome! She didn't seem like she was tired or in pain like I was. I remember hitting mile 20 and she was telling me ok it's now a 10K from here on out we can do this. I've been running more than 6 miles the last couple of weeks and have been fine but this 10K was awful! The pain my body was going through and how I kept thinking to myself this sucks I can't finish this, what am I thinking kept going over and over over in my head. We hit mile 25 and I told Joanna that I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. I had a hard time breathing and I kept holding my chest something didn't feel right. I told her I freaking need a medic this sucks. She was like no Maritza you are doing awesome we can do this besides I am not doing CPR on you. 1.2 miles took forever to get to. I was starting to get mad because I wanted the race to be over with and I cannot see the finish line. I kept hearing people say you are almost there you are almost there just around the corner. It was tough. We finally rounded the corner and there was the finish line. There was what I was looking forward too. I have been running for more than 3 hours and it is all over soon, but I didn't have enough kick to finish hard. I tried to run as fast as I could. I saw Brandon and the girls and I didn't even smile I wanted to finish strong and be done. I heard my name and I was finally done. I stopped my watch and my time was 4hrs24mins. I achieved my goal of finishing the race within the 6 hour time period but I also finished it within the time that we were hoping to finish. After I finished I was so serious about seeing a medic because I didn't feel right. The guy at the end could tell I wasn't feeling to good cause he asked if I was going to be sick. I just went on by and took my picture with my medal. Brandon wasn't able to take pictures of me because the camera locked up but Joanna's husband Brett took pictures and the face says it all. I can't wait to see the picture that they took when I crossed the line because I know it shows pain.

I am glad that I did this but I am not sure if I will ever do another marathon ever again. Who in the heck runs for 4hrs and the pain afterwards and the sores that I got not sure. It was good because I pushed my body for something that was extremely hard and it cooperated, somewhat. I am glad that I ran this race with my friend Joanna because she was awesome trying to motivate me. I loved what she told me while we were running towards the end "The sooner we finish this the sooner we can sit our asses down". So true so true. I also loved how we wore green because it made us stick out. We had people saying "Go green girls", "Go green", "I love green" so that was awesome too. I loved how my family came out to support me. I had my sister in laws Heather and RaChelle and my mom dad and brother. I was really shocked that my parents where there. I guess they got there just in time to see me run through the finish line and RaChelle and Brandon tried so hard to find me on the streets but missed me. I guess me and Joanna where faster than they thought. I am glad I am done with training but now I just want to not be sore.