June 1st, 2008 is officially gone down in the books as the worst day of mine and Damon's lives. I have never done anything has hard as running a marathon. All I can say is WE FINISHED!
We'll start from the beginning. Damon, Debby, and I began running at 6:55 am... Everything was going great. My knee wasn't hurting and all of us felt great. It was so CROWDED so it slowed our pace a little, but we kept going. Mile 8 hits and my knee starts acting up so I decide to stop and walk not knowing if I can go on. I tell Damon and Debby to go on (To save themselves!:)) So now I am all alone in this marathon world. I walked for about a mile, stretched my IT band, and decided to try again. I ran to mile 13, and as I was approaching the half marathon mark, I wondered if I should just do the half or continue on. I was in so much pain already...but I decided to continue. I didn't want to be the only one who didn't do the whole thing, and I didn't know how to get back to Damon and Debby. So I decided to walk another mile and then I would run 4 more. Well...that didn't happen. I would speed walk and then run as much as I could...speed walk, then run as much as I could. I pretty much ran half of each mile and walked the other half. I made myself stick with people the entire way so that I didn't get too far behind.
The whole way there were bands playing, cheerleaders from colleges and highschools, water, accelerade, and even at times oranges. Good thing, or I would have died.
So now I'm on mile 20. My legs were in pure agony. I would stop about every 3-5 miles to stretch and that would help a little. My knee was burning...but it hadn't snapped. I stopped once to get a rock out of my shoe realizing it was not a rock, but a blister. I found myself getting very emotional and becoming mentally weak. I missed Damon and I would see couples running together with the guy helping the girl along, and all I could picture was Damon hugging me. Mile 22, I had tears streaming down my face involuntarily. I was in so much pain, and I felt so defeated. I thought that Damon and Debby were probably finished and would have to wait an hour for me to finish...but I just kept going. I wanted to be done so badly! I never thought 4 miles could be SO LONG! I continued my game plan...speed walk and then run.
Its mile 24 now, and as I am running I couldn't believe who I saw in front of me...Damon and Debby were there walking. I touched them on their shoulders and as they turned around, I just lost it. I just started crying. Damon starts crying, Debby starts crying. I have never been so happy to see someone. They couldn't believe it was me. Damon had been so worried. We were all in so much pain. Damon and Debby ran to mile 19 (which is SO AWESOME), but then could go no further. They also started doing the walk and run method, and did a bathroom break. Thank heavens because it allowed me to catch up. I was so happy. So we all walked mile 24 and then when we got to mile 25 we ran...it was the hardest mile in my life. Lets talk about mental toughness. Damon wouldn't let us stop. We just kept running together and we crossed the finish line together. It was one of the best accomplishments ever. I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN! ...but so glad I did it once.
21 comments:
karrie!!! wow. i am so impressed. come mile 13 i would have considered the half a hefty accomplishment. thats why i look up to you, your so mentally tough!!!!
i once ran 19 miles with my friend who was running the full. i met up with her at mile 7 and ran the rest of the way. i thought i would only go 3 miles with her but i couldn't bear to leave the poor girl. it was the most painful thing. walking was more painful than jogging because my feet hurt so bad. it was miserable. i can't believe you did the whole thing!!! lets do a half someday. they are so fun!
good job damon!!! this story was pretty dang cute.
That is funny! but not really. As I was reading that it brought back memories of the ogden marathon that i ran the only difference i had to stop and go poop every mile or so. I also said that will be my first and last marathon everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Its good to hear from you, you look good and very happy. maybe we can keep in touch from this little blogging thing.
I got teary reading that, knowing how you felt. There are so many emotions you feel when you run a marathon and especially when you cross the finish line. It's so awesome you caught up to your group. Congrats! I'm so happy you got there. The only other thing you can compare a marathon to is giving birth. It's that kind of mental strength.
I also said I would never run again, but you get the bug. You'll probably run another one. It's like kids, once you forget the horror of the 9 months and the birth, you start to entertain the idea again. Same thing with a marathon.
Thanks McCall. Now I'll never have kids.
Oh I got teary eyes for sure. I'm so proud of you! I've heard that marathons are like 90% mental. How impressive that you stuck it out.
On a more funny note: I can totally see you bawling like a baby all by yourself on the trail. You're a crier anyway. And when you saw your hubby...emotional meltdown. I totally know you all too well. SO funny.
But, I'm COMPLETELY impressed with you. Especially with all of that pain.
And you HAVE to do it again because you have to do it with me. =)
I'll do it again if you give me a year to train...no more 2 months crap,
You guys are awesome. Just to finish and even start is so great. I dread a marathon, I can't even think about it. We are doing a half in July hopefully it goes well. I am so glad you guys were together. YOu are tough! Love ya
Karrie, will you email me at mccalljudd@gmail.com. I don't have your email to send you an invite to my blog because we went private.
Karrie, I am more afraid of marathons than giving birth especially with the beauty of epidurals...but nine months of fatness sucks and you walk away with a feeling of accomplishment and kids stay forever you have to worry about them constantlyh! Anyway seriously I just read your post to chad. We are both inspired..ok so I am, chad says your crazy but congratulates you. Seriously you guys are awesome. I agree with Kaesy I was thinking I could totally see you crying as you run..but for good reason. love ya and congrats!
Karrie...you masochistic crazy person. Don't do that to yourself. As badly as I feel obligated to congratulate you, all I can say is "do not do that to your beautiful knees ever again! Ever, OK!"
I have a feeling someone wasn't paying attention in that decision making process.
I thought we were on the same page with the whole marathon thing? What happened?
Hey Karrie, I stalked you through LynDee. I am totally impressed with the whole marathon thing. I don't like running, and the mental part I am terrible at. I would have totally stopped and gave up. Krista said that you had gotten married, congrats come visit my blog anytime.
Morgan
you never cease to amaze me! i love the story. i was visualizing your run. i even cried for you. my friend wants me to run one with her in october, but now i am second guessing my agreement!
oh and guess what.... i am coming out to L.A. next week !!!! i hope you are there, i wanna play!
Karrie, I have tagged you TWICE NOW. Get to it girl!!!
Oh my! That sounds rough! I'm sorry you had to go through that. I hear half marathons are so much better than the full thing. I think that's what I'll stick to. Love ya! I haven't talked to you in forever. I'm glad blogging and facebook let up keep up. :)
Hey girl, this is Charlene Stewart Barber from Dixie, member me? Hope ya don't mind but I found your blog through McCall's and you congrats on finishing the marathon! We have a blog too but it's private so if you send me your email address to charlenebarber@gmail.com I'll send ya the username and password. Talk to ya soon hopefully!
Hey Karrie... totally stalked you through Melina & Kaesy's blogs. I'm glad you're doing good, you look super happy! Jess told me you got married, congrats!
Keep in touch! Ü
~Katie (Bockas) Smith
You guys are a stinkin' cute couple! I'm glad you made it through this experience alive.
Did you make it home finally? It was fun chatting with you guys at the airport.
Um new post already biotch. Thanks.
Hi Sweetie, time for an update!!
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