St. George Half Marathon: the race against myself (and my stinky attitude)!

I love to run. I am not the worlds fastest runner, but I love to run. I've done three half marathons, a marathon, and a bunch of smaller races in between. My first half I finished in 2:05.48. Lamon ran with me during that race, and in the last two miles when he tried to strike up a conversation with me I got mad at him and called him a loser. I didn't feel like talking! It was hard and Lamon had to suffer my verbal abuse. Afterwards he asked me, "Do you want to go run it again?" Because that is what a full marathon would be. I remember thinking . . . "Heck no! There is no way on Earth I would do that!" But of course running is addicting and it also causes brain lapses. By the end of the day I was saying, "That was fun! I totally want to do a marathon some day." . . . Lamon just smiled. 

So yes, next I did a marathon when Ada  was a year and a half years old. Lamon was there for me during that race as well. He even at my bidding ran the last 8 miles in his street clothes. I can't remember if I yelled at him or called him names during those last 8 miles. . . but I wouldn't put it passed me . . . 

And my last hoorah before I got pregnant with Tilson was a half marathon where I ran my fastest half to date solely because there were no porta potties on the course! If there had been porta potties . . . who knows. But as a result I finished it in 1:56 averaging under 9 minute miles. Not bad! 

And then came Tilson. I was going to get a head start on my post pregnancy running by running all the way through my pregnancy. And  I did. The night before I gave birth to Tilson I ran 2 miles averaging a 10:30 minute pace. Unfortunately . . . for almost an entire year after Tilson was born I have been running that same speed! I have been in a rut. I have taken the opportunity to explain to anyone who has known that I have been training for a half marathon that, "Ya . . .man it's been hard after Tilson . . . I'm out of shape . . . four kids has been a doozy . . ." etc. etc. Tilson has been my excuse for going slow. Because man, four kids . . . how do you come back from that?!

And so that was my attitude going into this race. I didn't really want people to know I was running . . . because then they would want to know how I did, and I would have to tell them . . . and then I'd have to tell them about the woes and hardships of running after having 4 kids . . . and it would really be extremely tedious. So a week before the race Lamon told me that his co-worker (who had recently bested my fastest half marathon time by a couple minutes) was going to come down and run it with me. Great! That's just great! He thinks I'm fast and he is going to beat me by a long shot! So my negative attitude just got more negative.

The whole week leading up to the race I just wanted it to be over already. I had already convinced myself it would be terrible. They had released the new course map and I found out that the first 7 miles were uphill. Of course I was totally stoked about that because I love uphill so much!! Ya right!  I consider running up the street heading north a hill . . . so obviously I was totally stoked about the new course. Then to make matters worse, the day before we left for St. George my sciatic pain abruptly started up and my hips were hurting.Of course that would happen! Luckily we sort of have a witch doctor in the family. Lamon's brother Spencer is an athletic trainer and a miracle worker. He can pop my hips back into place in seconds and the pain is gone. So I texted him . . . and what do you know . . . he was on a bus to Idaho!! . . . Oh I was loving this race already!  Oh well . . .  off to St. George we went.

So we arrived in St. George and I am totally not kidding . . . boys you might want to close your ears . . . I started my cycle. Yep, as if my attitude wasn't stinky already . . . now there was an added PMS factor. All I knew was that for Lamon's own safety he had better not run this race with me!  Things up to this point didn't seem to be going for me, and my attitude kind of stunk. I hadn't run my race yet, but I was already having running metaphors in my head, only I was comparing my race and situation to Job.

Well Friday night, I got my stuff ready and went to sleep. When I woke up in the morning I discovered that it was pouring rain outside. Usually I love to run in the rain, but for some reason . . . it didn't seem too exciting at that moment. Especially when Lamon told me that there was no way he was letting me run in the rain with his Ipod. Word of the Wise . . . never tell your wife with PMS that she cannot run her half marathon in the rain with your IPOD.  Don't worry though, after a little pouting and intentional non responsiveness (which I promise is not a regular occurrence) . . . I changed his mind. 

So off we went to the race. I knew I wasn't going to be running with our friend Ed. He was going to smoke me, so I just made it to the back of the pack behind the 2:00 pacer. I decided that I would see how long I could stay with the pacer. What have I got to lose? I told almost everyone who knew about the race that I was planning on averaging a 10:30 mile . . . so expectations were low.  I decided I'd just go for it. I stayed with the pacer for the first few miles . . . uphill. Did I mention it was uphill? Anyway . . . I fell behind, but I was feeling pretty good. I decided I wasn't going to worry about anyone but myself. Yes, I've had four kids . . . it's been hard . . . it seemed like stinky things had been happening, but I was going to run my best race. And I did . . . uphill. Did I mention it was uphill? At around mile 6 or so . . . on my way UPHILL, suddenly I ran into Ed. What? I caught up with Ed? What are the chances?! I ran beside him for a minute and then I thought to myself, "Oh my cow! I'm almost half way done and I caught up with Ed!" I also suddenly realized that although early on I had fallen behind the 2:00 pacer . . . I had never been passed up by the 2:10 pacer. I also knew from my obsession and familiarity with the UPHILL course map that after mile 7 the rest of the course was mostly downhill and flat. So, I left Ed and kept running my race. It was my race! I felt so good. My right leg was stiff for the last 6 miles like it's been on all of my long runs, but somehow I barely noticed. I felt so good, and so confident. I was tempted once to go to the bathroom at around mile 8, but what do you know . . . the 8 mile aid station was the only aid station without a porta potty . . . so I had to keep going. At mile 11 it was the first time I ran into Lamon. Only unlike previous races where I either called him a loser or pleaded for him to run with me to the end, I just smiled and let him know I was ahead of Ed and kept running my race giving little kids five as I went. When I reached the finish line I looked up at the clock and it said 2:05 and when I crossed the line it was 2:06. Who knows what my chip time was because they lost it (no bitterness there or anything) it could have been anywhere from 2:04 to 2:06 . . . but it doesn't really matter. It wasn't my fastest half marathon ever . . . but it was by far the best race I've ever run. The course was hard . . . the conditions were terrible . . . but I rose to the occasion and tried my best to run a great race. It was a race against myself, and I won!

So after my race I did think about Job. How could I ever think to compare my race to Job? For one . . . Job was a little better at having faith than I was before my race. I thought about a passage in Doctine and Covenants 121: 7-10 when Joseph was in Liberty Jail . . . 

 7 My son, ^apeace be unto thy soul; thine ^badversity and thine afflictions shall be but a ^csmall moment;

 8 And then, if thou ^aendure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy ^bfoes.

 9 Thy ^afriends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

 10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy ^afriends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job.

Of course a race isn't nearly as hard as life, but races always provide great ways to draw parallels to life.  I was faced with adversity in that race for certain! It was an uphill climb with cold air and rain in my face for seven miles . . . but somewhere in that race I realized that the race would only last a couple hours . . . and I wanted to do my best. I endured the uphill climb in the rain and I cruised (well cruised in Mary's running world) to the finish. I triumphed over my foes. I was able to cross that finish line knowing that I did the very best that I could. It was a wonderful feeling. And although the words were meant for Joseph . . . I too could never compare myself to Job . . . I  had friends who stood by me and cheered me on. I don't know of anyone on this planet who is as good as Lamon at support! If you know him I am sure you would agree with me on this. I'm so glad I am married to him! I mean withstanding abusive words like "loser" while running with me? Running 8 miles of a marathon in street clothes? I love that man! Thanks Lamon for always being there.

Another scripture that came to mind was in Doctrine and Covenants 122: 7 


7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the ^apit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the ^bdeep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to ^chedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of ^dhell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee^eexperience, and shall be for thy good.

This scripture has always meant a lot to me in my life. Sometimes its hard to understand the purpose of opposition in our lives. I had some hard things thrown at me before and during the race that seemed awful, but in hindsight they were actually blessings. If Ed hadn't have come who knows if I would have had the motivation to want to beat him when I caught him at mile 6. If I hadn't have started my period I wouldn't have been PMS-ing and just might not have pouted well enough to make Lamon let me take his Ipod (which I assure you would have been disastrous). Even the rain was a blessing. Somehow when it's raining or the weather is crazy it totally takes my mind off of my running. And how about the missing porta potty at mile 8? That is just a miracle outright! How else could it be explained? :) I feel like Heavenly Father really did help me have a great race. I hope that in the future I CAN be more like Job. I hope that I will be better at facing adversity with FAITH. And perhaps the memory of this race will help me do that!  :)