Yesterday I ran Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. I, Becca, the NON-runner, the girl who thought she could never run 10 miles, let alone 26.2! I DID IT! I finished it! It was one of the hardest most challenging things I have ever done in my life. The race was long, grueling and painfully difficult, but if you asked me if I'd do it again, the answer would definitely be YES!!! And I know you're probably thinking, "oh poor Becca, she lost her noodle out there on the race course." But I promise, I'm not insane. I'm empowered. The marathon made me work for something, made me face my insecurities and doubts and in the end, I found out I could beat them. When I had to dig deep and find the mental strength to finish, I learned that I was stronger than I thought. That I CAN do hard things, and that I am a finisher! Here are some details from this empowering marathon experience.
On Friday we left our kids with friends and drove up to Duluth. The packet pick up was at a big convention center where they had a fitness expo going on and a huge spaghetti dinner for all the runners. We sat at a table with 4 other people, 3 of whom were repeat Grandma's marathoners. It was great listening to all their war stories and getting some helpful tips
We booked a hotel right in front of mile 24, two miles away from the finish line. It would be a great place for Taber and my sister Naomi (whose husband was running too) to watch the race from and cheer us on. Once we got to our hotel I got everything set out for the morning. I tried on all my gear, pinned on my number, and listened to some of my power songs to pump me up. Kevin and Naomi joined us a little after midnight. We settled in for about 4 hours of sleep but I was so excited and nervous that I probably only got two. At 5 am Kevin and I got our gear on and headed to the shuttle buses to take us to the starting line.
The bus ride was LONG. the further we got away from our hotel the more nervous I started to feel. Finally we got to the starting line and excitement overcame nervousness. We had just enough time to hit the bathroom and do a few stretches before we had to line up in the chute. To kick things off they sang the national anthem and jets flew over the sky. They were blasting songs like Eye of the Tiger and Chariots of Fire to set the mood. I can't tell you how cool it felt to be there with all 6000 plus other people who were about to put their bodies and their will power to the ultimate test.
The gun went off and like a wave of molten lava the river of runners flowed toward the starting line. It took us 4 minutes to cross it.
When we got to mile marker 1 the first thing I noticed were the black flags waving. That was the weather sign for extremely high risk heat conditions. They wanted us to slow down and drink up. I knew it was hot before I saw the flags but that just confirmed that this was going to be a tough race for me. I've never trained in the heat since so I was definitely nervous!
For the first 3 miles I was sweating like a pig. But then I stopped sweating and that really worried me. I knew I needed to stay hydrated and cool so when I hit the water station at mile 5 I grabbed cup after cup from every volunteer down the line and poured it down my face, on my head, down my back and in my mouth. It was very refreshing! I did it again at mile 7 and Kevin thought it was so funny he took this little video. (Note: Kevin is hardcore runner who is training for the Chicago Marathon in Oct. He was using Grandma's as a fun run in his training. He ran it at a MUCH slower pace than his usual pace so he could run with me, which is why he has SO much energy in all of his videos!)
After mile 7 I was feeling hydrated and good. My best miles were probably 8-13. We were keeping a solid 9:30 pace, I had fuel in my tank, my legs felt good, and the scenery was gorgeous! We had amazing views of Lake Superior (which looked more like ocean superior it was so big!) And people on the course were still happy and chatty.
We got to mile 13 and the half marathon point in 2 hours 9 minutes. I stopped to walk through the water station and stretch out a little. My legs were starting to get tight and the heat was getting to me.
By mile 15 I had to stop and walk through the water station again. I stretched again and then we headed out.
At that point I was getting tired and started seeing lots of people walking or just dropping out of the race. I vowed I wouldn't walk unless we were at a water station, so I mentally focused on getting to the next one (mile 17) and pushed on. As we were trucking up a hill I heard a pace group leader telling his group to visualize the reason they were running and to focus on that as they climbed the hill. The first thing that popped into my head was Brinley's sweet little face. That got me up the hill and to the next water station. Between 17 and 19 I struggled, but once we got to 19 we entered the city and people were there to cheer us on. That helped more than I realized it would.
At mile 20 they started having water stations every mile, but I told Kevin that if we stopped I probably would'nt be able to start back up again. He agreed that we should push through so we did. By mile 21 my legs felt like lead, my feet were throbbing and my back was starting to ache. I stopped to walk and was glad I had sunglasses on so nobody would see me crying. Kevin said that this is where our will power had to kick in to get us through. He told me we didn't have to run, just shuffle. So I picked up my feet and started shuffling.
Mile 22 was the infamous lemon drop hill. Kevin told me not to stop, we're shuffling up that hill! So we shuffled and shuffled and got to the top and let out a huge yell! (which probably scared the other delirious runners around us.) Picture below is me going up the hill.
At mile 23 I could see our hotel in the distance. I thought back on that long bus ride earlier in the morning and was amazed at how far we had come. I knew Taber would be near the hotel and I held on to that knowledge to pull me forward. I saw him probably half a mile away. Tears filled my eyes and I knew I was going to do this. My rock, my strength, my greatest support in this journey was holding up a sign and cheering me on. Seeing him gave me the boost I needed to keep going. (Here's a short video Taber took as we passed him. You can see me hunched over in my shuffling position. That hunch is the reason my back is KILLING me today! You'll also notice the insane amount of energy Kevin has at mile 24, I swear he has superhuman running abilities)
Mile 25 and another hill, this one going down. Ouch ouch ouch!! My quads felt like someone took a meat pulverizer to them. We were so close to the finish but that last 1.2 miles felt like FOREVER! At one point I thought we were near the finish and I started to run faster, only to find that we still had 1/4 mile to go.
Finally we turned a corner and saw the finish line. Like a horse coming home to the barn I picked up the pace and actually sprinted in. I passed like 5 people, I don't know where the energy came from, I just knew I was DONE!! I Finished a marathon! I couldn't hold in the tears as they handed me my medal and a flower and congratulated me on finishing the race.
All in all around 6700 runners started the race and 5600 finished it. I was a finisher!! The hot weather caused a lot of people to drop out,(93 degrees was the blacktop temperature) but I think that slowing it down in the second half and having Kevin there to push me along really helped me get through. My finish time was 4:37:54. I was pretty happy about that!
When the race was over we met up with Naomi and Taber and took a dip in Lake Superior to give our legs a little "ice bath."
Taber also brought a cooler full of ice and saran wrapped my knees and lower back which were killing me. They had a tent full of professional massage therapist giving free massages to the runners. I totally took advantage of that too.
When we got home I took a real ice bath and tried to stretch out a little but despite all of that I still woke up this morning in so much pain I could barely walk. I'm still smiling though. Pain is temporary, knowing I did what I once thought impossible is something I will hold onto forever!
Special Bonus Features: Here are two clips of me finishing the race. The first was taken by Kevin, who was running behind me so the clip is pretty shaky. The second was taken by Taber who was watching at the finish line. You can see me pick up the pace and pass people as I "sprint" into the finish.
Also special thanks to Kevin Hanks, my brother in law for being my personal photographer (and motivational coach) on the run. Not only did he find the time to take many great shots for me during the race, but I also found these little gems he took while running too. : ) Thanks Kev!
While I was in Utah last week I indulged in a little New Moon brain candy with my mom, two of my sisters and our friend Kristen. We all wore Wolf Girl shirts, even my mom because she's awesome like that.
Somehow my Dad ended up joining our girls night out. He made some excuse about how he never sees Mom and something about date nights and blah blah blah... We all know he's big time team Jacob. Just own it Dad. Own it.
We got to the theater an hour early so we could have the perfect seats. It was actually great that Dad was there because then he could take pictures for us. And since I am me, I made him take a lot of pictures. I guess everyone was making weirdo faces in the other ones though so here's one with everyone normal (except for me, but I was pretty excited that night I guess this one works.)
This time they brought over a puzzle that she could work on while her hairdresser snipped away.
They even had tv's at each hair cutting station that helped keep her distracted
Nov 2001, engaged and counting down the days to be Mrs. Rigg 
April 2003: Graduation at BYU
Nov 2005: Thanksgiving in Colorado (Pregnant with Teya)
