St. George Marathon 2013 - PART 1 (Couple days before the race & packet pick-up)

I am posting from the events of the marathon, beginning when my parents came into town. This will be a long journal entry of the marathon experience.  So, I'm going to break it up into parts.

 On Thursday morning, I got a knock at my door.  I opened the door to find Shirley LeBaron, Kris Lambson's Mom.  She said she had a delivery for me, from Kris.  Kris has been a dear, dear friend of mine for a little over a year now.  She was the Relief Society President in our ward and really made an impact on me!  She's really been there for me!  We became friends and really, she's the one of the couple people that helped ignite this marathon/running fire in me.  Last year, for the 2012 St. George Marathon, she was asking for volunteers to help with the first-aid station right before Mile Marker 25.  I thought it would be fun so, I signed up!  Little did I know how much that experience would change my life!  Being part of that and experiencing such a thrilling event really sparked something for me!  I saw runners of ALL shapes, sizes, ages, and walks of life doing the marathon.  I knew that I had NO EXCUSES and I could do a marathon!  That's what started it all for me.  So, I opened up the envelope that Shirley gave me.  Inside I found the necklace, pictured below! I cried and was shaking all over because I was so excited! This necklace means THE WORLD to me!!!!  I wear it with pride because I earned it!  It also means the world to me because it came from Kris!  It was such a thoughtful, kind, generous, and loving thing to do!

 I received another fun surprise that night, right before my parents arrive.  I was sitting on my couch, anxiously waiting for my parents to come when, I heard a knock at my door.  I opened the door and didn't see anyone there.  What I did see was a big bottle of my favorite flavor of gatorade.  It had the cutest ribbon and tie on it!!!!  So, I shut the door and was feeling good inside, that someone would think of me!  Then, another knock at the door came.  I opened the door and again, no one there.  I looked down and nothing was at the door step.  Then, I glanced at the door right before I shut it and noticed I was heart attacked and shoe attacked on my door!  It was SO CUTE and SO FUN!!!

 I teared up because it meant so much that some secret someone(s) were thinking of me like that and did such a fun thing for me!  Seriously, I have the best support group EVER, whether it's through fun acts like this, through phone calls, messages, emails, or whatever.  I AM SO BLESSED!!!!!!

My parents were arriving the night Thursday, October 3rd.  It was so fun for my parents to get here.  We had been looking forward to them coming all year long and the kids were so excited to have them come, as was I!  

The next morning (Friday, October 4th), I headed over to Amber Sheffield's to have her tape up my left knee.  My knee has been weak and painful, the last few long runs I've been on.  She also taped up the arch of my right foot.  A few weeks ago, I made the mistake of not tightening up my right shoe on a long run.  It ended up straining the arch of my foot.  After finishing that up, I headed back to my house, to pick up my parents and Corie.  I wanted to take them on a drive to see the route of the marathon.  We drove up the marathon route.  I only made it a little past 1/2 way and turned around because it was making me anxious.  So, then I drove them to the finish line.  As we got closer, the road was closed off, and we could see the finish line being set up!  I got SO EXCITED inside!!!!  I pictured myself running down that street and crossing the finish line!  I was also feeling quite nervous.  We then headed down to the outlet mall strip.  My Mom had told me that once I lost 60 lbs., she would buy me an outfit.  It turned out that with my brother, Matt, is getting married, and I needed a new outfit for his wedding.  My brother's colors are silver and eggplant purple.  So, we went into Dressbarn to get our outfits.  I tried on a very cute, classy black pencil skirt as well as a short button-sleeve cowlneck sweater in purple.  Then, I got a really pretty silver necklace to wear with it.  The exciting thing is I fit into a size 16 in the bottom and a 14 in the top.  That's SO AWESOME for me!!!!  When I started out I was a 22 top and 24 bottom.  I felt great and really pretty and beautiful!

Following the shopping trip, we stopped and grabbed pizza for lunch.  We got home right before Connor and Rylie got home from school.  Then I changed and headed off to go to the St. George Marathon Expo, to pick up my packet and also go to a clinic.  Arriving at the expo was so fun and I felt giddy, like it was Christmas Eve!  My first stop, going inside, was to go to the First Timer's Clinic.  It was specifically for those who were either doing their first marathon or running the course for the first time.  The room was pretty full.  They talked about the course, gave some interesting facts, and answered questions.  Jocelyn met up with me there.  After that, we headed into to pick up our packets and look at booths.  This is when it really started to feel real to me!  It was exciting to walk into the expo and see so many people, all there for the same reason!  I felt like I had a deer-in-the-headlights-look on my face!  I was in awe!!!!  So, first we went over to get our packets with our bib#'s, etc.  My bib# was 8508.  After that we went and checked out all the booths.  I picked up a really cool St. George Marathon t-shirt and a headband to wear on the day of the marathon.  I also purchased a 26.2 decal to put on my car!  Once we were done, we (Jocelyn, myself, and Amber) went out into the hall way to wait for Brian and the Sheffield's.  We wanted to get a picture with all of us in it.  It was fun to run into some people out there, that I didn't expect to see.  Once all of us were together, we headed outside and got a picture with all of us.

From there I headed back home.  It was around 3:30 when I left.  I got home and confirmed plans with my parents and Mike's parents.  We made plans to meet at The Pasta Factory at 5pm so that I could carb load and eat dinner early enough, so that I could get to bed on time.  I had some time before we left for dinner so, I took advantage of the time and got my clothing retrieval bag filled up with stuff I needed to take the next morning for the marathon.  I also typed up a check-off list so I would make sure I didn't forget anything.  I started to feel a little nervous, anxious, and scared at this point.  The day was going by WAY TOO FAST for me!  Soon, we left for dinner.  Mike was meeting us over there, because he had to be at work until the last minute.  He beat us over there and said it was swamped, which it was.  However, somehow my Father-in-Law wormed his way up to the hostess desk and got our name on the top of the list!  He's THE MAN!  Ha ha!  So, we ate our dinner, blah, blah, blah.  Nothing exciting!  We then headed home and I could really feel that the time was getting a lot closer.  I felt myself get a lot more serious and nervous and anxious.  7:00pm came fast,which was the time I set for myself to go to bed.  It ended up being closer to 8pm.  I had a few more things I needed to prepare, before I went to bed.  I also needed to make sure that I got a blessing from Mike and my Dad.  That was the most important thing.  So, I got in my pajamas, had everything laid out, had 5 alarms set so I would make sure to wake up.  I was ready so, it was time for my blessing.  The blessing was beautiful!  It was very comforting and I knew that my Heavenly Father was very much aware of my thoughts, feelings, and aware of how important this event was to me.  Following the blessing, I said goodnight to everyone one by one.  At this point, I was shaking more than normal, my stomach was in butterflies, and I was teary-eyed.  I felt much like I did, the night before I'm about to have a c-section.  I knew what was coming, it was just the unknown of how it was actually going to go down.  Before I hopped into bed, I said one more prayer for just myself.  I prayed for everything and anything I could think of.  Surprisingly enough, it didn't take much for me to fall asleep.  I was so grateful for that because, I was so concerned I wouldn't be able to sleep and then I'd be exhausted!