I think I am nuts and I have Proof

I began thinking this at 5:10am this morning, when Jill came in my room and gently rocked me and said "Hil, you gotta go now."

What did I forget? I was BOUND to forget something. It was finally race day, a day I have been planning for since December. Bib? Check. Shoes? CHECK. Ipod uploaded with the sick awesome playlist Marlee made me? Check. Gu's? Check. GPS watch? CRAP! I forgot my watch. Gosh darn, least it wasn't my shoes though.

She dropped me off and I boarded the Trax station along with a plethora of other runners. "These people are nuts." That was the first time I thought that. I squished on and became very close instant friends with a tiny girl running her first half marathon, the dean at University of Utah running finally upgrading to a half after being an avid 10k runner, and a funny man who teaches Math at University of Utah and is a marathon junkie. We joked, laughed, and parted to stretch and pep-ourselves for the race.

Adrianne saved my life. She called right before the race and let me borrow her GPS watch because her friend was using one already. Ah, I seriously would have died without it. Lined up. Ready. Set. Mozy. If anyone has been in a race with thousands of people jammed in it, they know that the start is usually very slow. If anything, even walking till you cross the timing pad.

Mile One--I decided to turn my iPod on and have it pump me up from the start. Mr. Brightside-The Killers. YES! Great song to begin with. I was just using this time to look around at the crowd around me. Wow, too many men wearing spandex, and too many women in just sports bras. Not many of with the bodies to show it off in too. One woman has her childrens faces on her shoes, a man in was in tie-dye shorts, a group of ladies wore a shirt that said "What would I be without my friends? Probably normal." I laughed, and once again thought "These people are truly nuts."

Mile Three--The Flight of the Conchords theme song just finished and I was just thinking how downhill this race was! The marathon and half took a split as we circled around a beautiful pond by a building. I think God made the mountians especially gorgeous today, because I could not stop staring at them. Plus it was PERFECT shorts and t-shirt weather from the get-go.

Mile Five--I was confused, because after the split, there were not as many people around. All the sudden, there were tons. I spotted Adrianne and her friend running, so I went up to say hi. She said "Hilary, the marathoners split from us! You went the wrong way!" WHAT!? I turned around and ran backwards for a bit frantically looking for a Blue marathon bib in the midst of all the Reds. I spotted a few men, who assured me I was going to the right way. I turned around promptly and pressed forward. Oops!

Mile Eight--There she was, a woman who looked pro. Lean, cut muscles, sunglasses, visor, black shorts and dry-fit shirt, gear galore. I followed her, and followed, and finally, I knew I was faster. I pressed the pace and pushed on away from her. Yea, you may look more legit, but I have the competitiveness of a middle-aged man during Church-ball when it comes to running. Yes, I did in fact count how many total people passed me (4...)

Mile Ten--MY FAN CLUB!!! Shlee and Mar and Jill where all there cheering for me and ran along side me. They are the best for coming. As I would run and see people holding up signs that said "You go Mary!" or "Keep it up Amber!" I'd just pretend they were really there for me cheering me on. But I had fans. I was so lucky. Happy. Excited. My pace picked up, I slurped a GU, and thought "They had to get up on a Saturday to come to race, that's nuts."

Mile Eleven--People. Brittany Spears has a purpose. She may be a typical pop-star diva with a crazy life, but she is needed. Every time they turn the lights down, I just wanna go that extra mile for you. Yes B. You understand me. And your beats are made for speed.

Mile Thirteen--Half-way! Feelin great! My time was good, I was still jammin, and still cruzin past people. Nothin' hurts yet. Course, my old man warned me before that the race doesn't start till mile 20. Well, I'm not pushin too hard now, and I feel good.

Mile Sixteen--A sweet old man passes me "Hey attaway! You are lookin strong! Keep it up!" Why are runners so nice? I was doing allright, keepin at the 8:06 pace (not including stops, which slowed me down) but I definitely wasn't feeling strong. I still had 10 more miles! I love nice happy people. "This man is happy as can be and running a marathon, he HAS to be nuts."

Mile Nineteen--I used the bathroom for the second time. Quite the record for me to use it such few times! I'm usually stopping at least 3 times at that point, it was a wise choice not to have breakfast before and stick with the tigers milk. I stopped to stretch after, and turned to one of the volunteers at the aid station and said "Dang, 26 miles is a LONG ways!" They laughed pretty hard.

Mile Twenty--Ah here it is! According to Jim, this is where the race begins! I go to take my final GU, SHOOT! It wasn't there! Must have fallen out while I was running. Oh well, I survived 6 miles without GU before, I just hope I don't die. Thank you Kayne for keepin my head up, your words make me harder, better, faster, and stronger.

Mile Twenty-Two--I finished talking to this awesome chick. She was so cool. But now my feet were on fire. I was tired. Still at the same pace, feeling ookk, but I couldn't WAIT to be done.

Mile Twenty-Four--My father was wrong; the race for me really started at mile 24. If you have been in the beautiful city of Salt Lake, then you will cringe when I tell you that starting at mile 24 was the base of State street UP to the capital. To have a race with virtually hardly any hills, and THEN to throw in a massive hill was killer! I hurt so much. I couldn't think of a time I had been in so much pain, everywhere. My feet were on coals, my muscles were twisted in crazy directions, sweat embedded in my eyes, I felt like bricks were on my chest, I was treading through jello, and it seemed to never end. The song It Hurts by Angels and Airwaves came on, and I turned it to the next song quickly. It just applied too much.

Mile Twenty-Five--I was purely surviving at this point. I was so tired, broken, sore, and wanted to be done. I didn't care what was on the iPod, I didn't care who ran by, I didn't care what my time was or what place I got, I didn't care about anything other than getting one foot in front of the other and finishing.

Mile Twenty-Six Point Two--I turned into Gateway and saw hundreds of people cheering. I heard my name! Oh I love my fan squad so much. I couldn't sprint, I used all energy of mine on the state hill. I just pushed. The line was so close, I was going to do it. I pushed and finished, looking at the time of 3:43. Not my final time though! I still had to account for the chip time, which I would find out later in the afternoon.

[insert Chariots of Fire song please]This would have never been possible without these ladies. Seriously.
And this woman right here :-)

So with...
17 weeks
650 miles
2 pairs of shoes
2 watches
+10 running buddies
6 hours of songs
and countless supportive friends
is how I made these 26.2 miles possible.
In 3:41:18
[ONLY 19 SECONDS FROM BOSTON QUALIFYING!!!]

I'm stoked. I am now pronouncing myself a marathoner, and I will see you in 2011 Boston. Just like this:
My conclusion after this: Turns out I'M the one who is nuts.