I think the title to this post is what T was saying to herself when she was at mile 16 in her recent endeavor. T ran the Teton Dam Marathon this last Saturday and it was an accomplishment to say the least. I asked her if she wanted to report on her experience but she would rather have me write in her behalf. So it is from my perspective that I write about T's marathon.
I dropped T and her friend off at the dam at 5:15 am for the 5:30 start. After the race started, I drove home and watched Sports.center for four hours. Than I drove to the finish line and picked T up. That was my view of the race.
I dropped T and her friend off at the dam at 5:15 am for the 5:30 start. After the race started, I drove home and watched Sports.center for four hours. Than I drove to the finish line and picked T up. That was my view of the race.
OK, now for T's. She had a few goals before the race started. The first was to finish in under 4 hours and 30 minutes. The second was to not walk the entire 26.3 miles. She was able to accomplish one of the two. At about mile 16 or so T started to feel sick to her stomach. We are still not sure what brought it on but nonetheless it slowed her down a bit. She thought it was the energy goo they were giving out so she stopped eating and drinking anything but water for the rest of the race. I feel that may have added to her problem. After a mile or so she started to feel better and was able to finish the race in 4 hours and 20 minutes. She did have to walk a little when she felt sick but she was able to persevere and still finish in under four-thirty.
After finishing and after she caught her breath she told me that at one point while she was running she saw a cliff out away from the road and tempted to jump off. She said, "I saw the cliff and thought to myself I can jump off that cliff and end this misery now." She also explained to me moments after the race that she was an idiot to have ever wanted to run a marathon.
Now we are a few day since the marathon and T has finally got over an extreme case of leg and body soreness. She has taken her daily workouts lightly (though I wish she would take the whole week off entirely, but it's T I'm talking about). She now feels running another marathon is definitely something to do again in the future but right now she wants to possibly participate in a triathlon.
Since I got to write this post I also want to take a moment to tell T that I am very very impressed and proud of her for her accomplishment. She truly is amazing and inspiring and I hope she knows how much I love her. Shoot, all I did for those four hours is watch Sports.center, not very impressive.
Here are a few pictures for you all to enjoy.
T getting ready for the start
T running the last stretch before the finish line
Finishing her first ever marathon...way to go!
