Runnin' With the Pups!: Rim Rock Marathon

This past weekend my mom and I ran the Rim Rock marathon.

It was a gorgeous race. I would definitely do it again. The first 13.1 miles were gradually uphill for the most part and the last 13.1 were downhill. Before the marathon I thought; “half downhill! That’s going to be easy!” It wasn’t! What I failed to realize was that after going uphill 13.1, going downhill is the last thing that your legs want. It is painful!! But I survived and even got a PR! My final time was 4:32:11. I know that isn’t an amazing time but since it’s only my second marathon I’ll take it. Especially since my first marathon was around 4:49 so I’m happy with 4:32.

At mile 3 I felt really good. I was surprised I felt that good because we were going uphill. Around mile 6 I was getting a little tiered but I just kept telling myself that I was almost halfway done with the uphill part of the race. I didn’t eat anything until around mile 8, I wasn’t too tiered but I wanted to give myself some energy to push to the halfway point. At mile 13.1 I had mixed feelings. I was so happy to be done with the uphill portion but at the same time I just wanted to be done. The marathon also had a relay so the other half of the relay runners started at mile 13. Seeing the runners who had been waiting the whole time I’d been going uphill start out strong made me a little weak but it helped me push myself even more! Mile 17 was when I really started feeling it. I was thinking that there was no way I was going to make it another 9 miles, even if it was downhill. My legs were really hurting because of the constant downhill. I had to just focus on my music and stop thinking about the pain. My music stopped playing around mile 20 and I decided to keep it off. I wanted to see how far I could keep pushing myself without the music. It was at this point in the race that I had to yell at myself a couple times. I kept thinking, “I can’t do it.” “I’m too tiered.” I had to yell at myself; “I can do it, think positive, just keep running!” It made me really realize how important positive thinking is, not just in running, but in life. We can accomplish so much more than we think if we just think positively. Anyway, back to the race. At mile 24 there was a small uphill and after it I had to walk a little. I really wanted to finish strong so I let myself walk for a minute. Close to the finish was when I saw my dad waiting and cheering me on. That really helped and gave me to push to finish. At the end I was so happy to be done and be able to stop running.

My mom finished about two minutes after me. I’m so happy for her! It was her first marathon!

Anyway, so that was the race. As I said before, the views in this race were incredible!