Recovered!!!

Wooohooo, I am finally recovered. I officially stopped finally sore yesterday and I was pumped. It really wasn't fun having sore legs, stairs, and a little boy that would constantly want a drink so I would have to go down the stairs and then up. It was horrible. I am just glad that I can finally walk and not look like a dork. My feet still hurt just a little and my toes are looking so gross. I think I need to get a pedicure and get some glitter toes because my toes need to get pampered a bit, right. I know that it's starting to get a little cold now and flip flop season is almost over but that's ok right.  I still have a little but that's starting to heal also.

So now I must admit something and I still can't believe that I talked to Brandon about this but I want to run another marathon.I know I'm nuts huh! I keep wondering if I would have taken ibuprofen before my run it makes me wonder if I wouldn't have been in a lot of pain early on. I told my friend that we should do the St. George Marathon next year and she's all in. She loved doing the marathon and I hated every bit of it because I was hurting soooo bad. She also took a loratab so she wasn't feeling any pain what so ever. The lottery for the St. George Marathon is in April so we will put in and cross fingers that we get picked. Then I can say that I've done Top of Utah and St. George and then I will be done and call it good for marathons. We will see though because it's a lot of time and training during the summer time. I know I'm going to have a friend that will read this and she's going to call me up and told me she knew I would run another marathon but I just want to see if I could have done better with some ibuprofen, plus it's my competitiveness that comes out. I want to be able to be as fast as my friend. Not sure if that will ever happen but I am going to start speed training next week and start running again but small runs.

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. 

This is Mariah's sign she made me. I saw it when I was getting ready in the morning. She is so cute and I loved how she drew me running on the road.

Almost there..

Me and my good friend Joanna. The best running buddy I could ask for.

Nervous

Oh my goodness I have been so calm this whole week and now the butterflies are kicking in majorly. I went to this ladies house this morning to pick up a headband and she gave me some little tips for tomorrow's big day. She's ran this marathon twice so she told me what to look for and some running tips. I am soooo nervous and I know that I probably won't be getting that much sleep tonight, which I need to because I have to get up at 3:30 a.m.! I know super early huh. I told the girls that I will help them make posters today at grandma's house so they can hold them up for me as I run by. I get so excited to see my little family at my races it's so cute. I need to get my mind off this race now so I am going to finish cleaning my house and packing to head up to my parent's house. I will post about the race and let you all know.

Helping Out

I've signed up to help out in Mariah's class on Wednesday mornings and I must say it's pretty fun getting to work with the 1st graders for an hour. The kids always want me to help out in their class and I wasn't able to do it last year because I had to take Brock with me because Brandon had work. Now that the girls are in A track, meaning they go to school at 8 instead of 9:20 a.m., I can help out in their classrooms because Brandon hasn't left for work yet. I go in at 8 and help Mariah's teacher with doing little assessments with the kids and it's been fun so far. As I was going to help out this morning I saw the principal trying to console a little girl that was having a hard time wanting to go to class. As I went in the office to sign in the mom of this little girl called the school and the secretary told the mom that the principal was trying to calm her daughter down. I was thinking in my head, my goodness I feel bad for the prinicpal because she had this girl screaming and being irrational. I start to head down to Mariah's classroom and it this girl is in Mariah's class and the principal is holding the little girl and Mariah's teacher is talking to her calmly telling her what they are going to do. The girl wasn't having it so the principal sat with this little girl outside of the classroom (where I sit with the kids doing their assessments. I noticed that the principal leaves with the girl and so I go out and sit outside the classroom. I would say like 20 mins later the principal comes back to the classroom with this little girl all calm as can be. Later I call the girl out to do her assessments and she is soo sweet and so smart and don't know why she would act like that. Anyways I was thinking what an awesome principal my kids have. I can tell she really enjoys kids and her job. She is always outside in the morning with the kids before they go to class and after school when parents pick up the kids. She just came to our school in the middle of the school year last year and replaced their old principal, whom I've heard really was never at school. I was just amazed how sweet she was to this little girl and how she calmed her down. I'm glad that my kid's school is in good hands with a good principal.

Anyways I really enjoy helping out in Mariah's class and I hope that I am able to do it for the whole school year. I also signed up to help out in Jazmin's class but haven't heard from her teacher when she wants me to start so we will see. I think helping out in their class helps them do go in school and it also puts a smile on their face knowing that mommy cares about what I'm doing in school. I am so proud of how well the girls are doing so far. Good job girls.

The End is Near!

That's right my friends, 18 weeks of grueling marathon training comes to an end this Saturday! I will be finally running my first full marathon on Saturday. I am so excited and also nervous because I don't know how I will do and most important how sore I will be after I have finished running 26.2 miles. I think I am most excited to see my family cheering me. I love when I run by and my kiddos are standing by their dad jumping up and down cheering me on. It's the best feeling in the world. I have to be very thankful for my husband who has been so supportive of me during this whole training program. I know that it's probably gotten in the way and been kind of annoying to have to go up North every weekend so that I can run my long runs with my friend. I don't think Brandon really realized how far I was running until we clocked a run and it was me running from his parents house in Tremonton to his grandma's house in Fielding. I think that is when he realized oh my gosh my wife is nuts for doing this and I have to admit that I was starting to think that, and I still think that I am nuts for running this far and long. I mean come one who runs 3 hours, crazy people like me and all of the other runners in the world. I am sure that I will probably get no sleep whatsoever the night before and my stomach will have a million butterflies fluttering around but all I am asking is that my legs, I would say little legs but they are not little whatsoever, can carry me across that finish line. I ask that they don't give out on me and that the runner trots stay away from me. I will DEFINITELY  blog about how I did and what it was like. Wish me luck everyone.

Working Progress

I usually change my background on my blog every now and then, and I love to always pick a templates that go with the season or whatever template I think is cute. So when I wanted to make the changes I noticed that blogger is set up a little different now. I have spent the last hour or so trying to get the background that I want and it's not letting me. It goes all funky on me soo you are going to have to bare with the plain old background for the time being until I figure out how to use this new blogger template they've got going on. That's it for now I will be back to post some more. Right now I've spent way too much time figuring out this layout that my kids now have to get going on homework.

Ouch

I ran 20 miles! 20 freaking miles and I am feeling the pain. I seriously feel sooo beat up and I am sooo scared to see how I will feel after running 26.2 miles. After yesterday I am now thinking I am absolutely nuts for doing this. I mean who in the right mind wants to run 26.2 miles?
We decided to run the marathon route yesterday, because we didn't know where to run 20 miles, and the 1/2 marathon was going on so we figured we would get some cheering from people watching the 1/2 marathon. We took advantage of the aid stations along the route, like the fruit and Gatorade, and it helped us get some energy and get us through the run. Once we got passed mile 18 we were hurting. We had to stop and stretch because our legs were starting to cramp. I seriously thought I wouldn't be able to run anymore but we did. We finished our 20 miles and enjoyed ourselves to free fruit, bread, Gatorade and mini fat boys at the finishing point of the 1/2 marathon. No one even noticed we didn't have a number on and no one said a thing to us. We just blended in with all the other runners.
 I am actually pretty proud of myself for wanting to achieve this goal of mine and I'm impressed of how I am pushing my body to it's limits. This is the first time I am feeling soo sore after a long run and not sure if it's a good thing or bad but I know for sure that I'm getting a little nervous for this race but I'm glad that I'm running with my good friend, Joanna. If it weren't for Joanna I would probably have never ever signed up for this marathon or even thought about running a marathon so soon. 3 more weeks and the big day comes. The long grueling, mind playing, training will all be over and done with. Lets just hope that this soreness will go away tomorrow.
Oh and I have to go and say that I appreciate my husband for supporting me with this. He has been soo good by going up north every week for the past 15 weeks so that I can do my long runs. He is the best and I am lucky to have him. Thanks Brandon love you and thanks for all that you do.