So this had been a really weird year for me. It started out with me doing P90X over the winter and then I started running pretty hard in the spring and I injured me knee just after running Boston with Kellie. I got a cortisone shot 2 days before Ogden Half and ran with Kellie again with no knee pain. I thought that I was out of the woods until I ran a 20 miler on the 2th of July and at mile 12 the knee pain was back. I tried running for a couple of weeks and the pain would not go away. I decided to go to a physical therapist and let him diagnose the problem. I did get another cortisone shot around the end of July and that didn't help at all. My IT band was the problem and I was told no running only biking and swimming. Thanks to a really good friend he gave me his old road bike. I quickly turned into a biker. Riding 80+ miles a week and trying to stay fit somehow. My PT told me that I needed to run at least a 12 miler pain free before I could run the marathon with Kellie. So last week I went out and ran 13.5 with no pain!!! I was so excited but very nervous that my knee would hold out for 26.2 miles???? The morning of the race I just had to go to the elite area and wish all of my friends luck and take advantage of the short bathroom lines. I then went and found Kellie and Heidi and then hurried and got in line for the race to start. It was really weird to be back that far and see so many people! I loved how everyone was so talkative and upbeat compared to the front of the race! Everyone is so serious at the front!!! I do like the back for that reason but I don't like dodging people after you cross the start line. I stayed with Kellie for the entire race. I did have several thoughts of taking off but I didn't want to leave my PREGO wife alone and I really had nothing to prove. I couldn't PR and I really want my knee to get better so I decided to obey the Dr's orders. Kellie and Hedi ran great through 7 and then at Veyo Hedi pulled away from us but was not to far ahead of us. I know that Kellie hates uphill so I knew that she would make some time back up on the downhill, but I really didn't push her at all because she is PREGO and I wanted her to feel good. We hit the half point and I was so excited that my knee was holding together. Kellie was doing great and was on target for a sub 3:40 which is great for being 15 weeks prego. She ran great through 18 and then had a little emotional breakdown but after we hit the misters she was fine again. I was making sure that she drank alot of water and that she was taking her gu's. She again was surprising me how well she was running. We were passing people like crazy, I knew for sure that we would break 3:40! When we hit 24 she took a really long water break and then quickly came to me and said that she was going to pass out!!!! She fell against me and I caught her and walked her over to the sidewalk. She laid right down and really didn't move! After about 2 minutes I told her that she was DONE!!! She said NO! Just then a nice girl came over and brought us a cold coke. Kellie drank it and then stood right up and wanted to run again. SO mile 25 was a 13:40 and then at mile 25 we had some good walk breaks. She was not going to quit! I kept asking her if her stomach hurt or any other parts of her body besides her legs and she assured me NO! We hit the last turn to the finish where our boys were standing waiting for us. Kellie and I ran to them and gave then hugs and kisses and again Kellie had a little breakdown!!! We told then by and finished the race! We saw....well I should say I saw a lot of people cheering for us the last .2 miles. I was so glad that me knee didn't hurt, and that my wife and unborn child had finished the race...I got Kellie to the grass and sat her down and then proceeded to get her whatever she wanted to eat. She had a few more breakdowns and then quickly pulled it together and chatted her way back to reality!!! I have really enjoyed this year of running with Kellie. I ran Boston, Ogden Half, Ragnar and St George with her. I ran the Salem Days 5k with her and my son and then ran the Payson 5k and a scout fundraiser with my son. He has turned into quite the little runner! I only ran one race this year for time and it was in January and it was only a 5k! I learned a lot about what running really is and how it is different for everybody! I hope to be able to PR again someday in a marathon but I really look forward to watching my boys grow up and hopefully run a marathon again with my wife someday! I look forward to biking in some road races and training smarter so that I can run for a long time. I had a blast this weekend, it was so nice not worrying about a certain "time" for the marathon. Friday night before the race we had so much fun with Scott and Kelli and Brandon. I have not laughed that hard in a long time. Congratulations to everyone for finishing "THE HOTTEST MARATHON". I look forward to seeing all of you at some races this year.
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