MARATHON SISTERS!

YES! MY DREAM CAME TRUE...I had the AWESOME PRIVILEGE to run my TENTH marathon with one of my sisters! I sent an email out to each of my brother and sisters about 7 months ago and asked if any of them felt 'crazy' enough to run the St. George Marathon...and to my surprise my younger sister, Laney, said YES! So we began the process to see if we could get drawn to run...this marathon only allows 7200 runners...and low and behold, we were drawn! I was actually a little disappointed the day we found out we were in...but after the training starting to evolve, I became very excited to do this with Laney!
And as we decided to run with matching outfits that had our mother's picture on it and words that said, MOM'S RUNNERS...SHE BEAT CANCER...WE CAN BEAT 26.2...this gave us extra motivation to endure to the end and accomplish this task.

And as I had my dear friend and sister at my side on the bus ride up to the start...(we shared my earplugs to my MP3 player on the ride up with Rocky Soundtrack playing!) I realized what a great marathon this was going to be! Just like the old days, when I had my big sister and friend, Misty, at my side! It felt so nice and so comforting!
The first 13 miles were spent right at each others side...but my knee and Achilles Heel starting giving me some problems, so I needed to slow down my pace in order to get to the finish...so I gave Laney 'fists' and told her to go get that 4 hour marathon...and that I loved her...and off she went! And as the race progressed, those aches felt better, especially as a few of my children and my brother text my cell phone...yes, I had it with me! This helped me not only mentally, to know they were praying for me and cheering me on, but it also helped me SLOW DOWN so the pains subsided slightly. I even got to talk to Annie at the 25th mile...this was fun for both of us!
By the time the 23rd mile came I felt like I could pick it up...so I decided to try to pass 20 runners by the time I reached the finish line! Well, when I came across the finish line, I had passed 200 runners! This not only helped me finish strong, but I was able to keep my mind off the aching body and concentrate and focus on something positive and became a game! :) See how the Lord answers prayers? I felt so thankful!
So thank you to my dear sister, Laney, my dear mother, my father who instilled the 'love of running' early in my youth, my brother and his sweet wife and family making such a sacrifice driving 4 hrs. + to be there that morning, to my dear husband for his support, his priesthood blessing and to my dear children and their families for all their prayers and love and support too! And several sweet friends were also texting me before the race and thinking of me. A BIG THANK YOU TO YOU ALL!!
I don't know if I'll do another marathon for a long time...I'm tempted to say Number 10 is a good even number to throw in the towel on marathons....but something inside me tells me I won't be able to resist trying a few more...maybe with my daughter, Annie, someday! :)