No Pain, No Gain

I did it! It was hell, but I finished a half marathon! I ran the Halloween Half down in Provo, which meant I got to run in a costume. Since I'm such a slow runner, I decided to be ironic and run as The Flash. Bright and early Bob drove us down to the University Mall in Orem so I could meet the buses. Then he went to waste time before heading to the finish line to meet me. I was bussed up to Deer Creek Reservoir where I was to begin the run at 7 AM. Soon we were on our way. I honestly didn't train at all after my 10K in June so I thought I would die at 3 miles but I was actually in a zone. I slowed to a walk a couple times but couldn't maintain that pace because I was sweating and that mixed with the cool canyon air and the shade would have me freezing in no time so I went back to jogging to stay warm. I was able to keep that up for the first 7 miles and I was ahead of the 2 hour pacer. Unfortunately after mile 7 my bum knee started to act up. I tried to keep pushing but by mile 10, both knees were shooting pain through my legs, my hip flexors were giving out, my feet were numb and my butt was so sore from running up and down the hills that I thought some one was holding me over a fire pit! It hurt. I knew I couldn't go 10 miles just to give up so I alternated walking and jogging trying to tell myself to just put one foot in front of the other and I was one step closer to the finish line. If I stopped chanting that to myself, I would have started crying. Finally I left the canyon, entered Provo, and rounded the corner to the park where the finish line was. Bob got a couple pictures of me before I crossed the finish at 2 hours 55 minutes. I tried to walk to him, but my legs were gone. 13.1 miles was farther than they had ever gone before, so Bob had to come to me. He helped me limp to the shade of a tree. There he gave me water and fruit while trying to stretch me out a little. I was in so much pain, and I was so happy to be done and not have to run any further that I just sobbed while trying to hide my pain from kids walking by. After stretching, Bob helped me limp over to some massage tables where massage therapists were giving free leg and back rubs. That helped a lot! After collecting my things, we went to the car and I slathered my legs in deep rub. That was the relief I needed!


Official photo by Zazoosh

Waiting for the run to start as we
watched the sun rise







It was cold

Full costume before I started

Coming in to the finish line

Best view I had all day!

I couldn't wait to get to the end

My medal for finishing

Posing with the Halloween Half Hurst

Proof I finished, and got a time of 2:55

After showering, and some more deep blue rub, Bob took me to get a steak dinner at Long Horn Steakhouse. It was worth the running, it was delicious! Finally we were off to our first doTERRA class. Only my sister-in-law Dani, niece Mimi, and work friend Antonio were able to come but it was still a good class. Dani signed up that night, and Antonio seemed really excited and wanted to know more. I'm hoping this is a sign for things to come with doTERRA.