Mesa Falls Marathon

For Mikes birthday, I decided to register him for the Mesa Falls Marathon in Ashton, ID. Mesa Falls in a gorgeous area and I knew it would be a really pretty race. Plus this takes care of Idaho on his goal to run a marathon in every state. Little did I know at the time I was registering him for it, that I would end up running the Half Marathon.

We headed to Ashton Thursday night and lounged around Friday. This morning (Saturday) Mike headed off to the buses a couple hours before I needed to head out. They started the full Marathon 2 hours before the Half. I was really nervous and had not done very many long runs prior to this, and had not been running as much due to health problems. I decided at the last minute, that I really did want to do this. I knew I would kick myself if I didn't. I figured I would end up coming in last, but decided I would go for it. What better place to do your first Half Marathon, than a gorgeous area like Mesa Falls... that I have loved since the first time I took the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway. Plus this race did not have a time cut off. They would keep the finish line open until every person came across. So I wouldn't have to stress about not making it on time.

So I am up at the start of the Half Marathon with all the other 280 runners waiting for our race to start. We were all cheering on the full marathoners as they went past. i figured Mike had already past before I even got up to the start line so I didn't think I would see him. Suddenly he comes running past scanning the crowd. He looked at me, told the guy he was running and chatting with that he would be back, ran over to me and gave me a huge hug and kiss before continuing on his way. The crowd LOVED it! A big cheer went up. Plus I had tons of people comment how cute it was and how amazed they were he still had that much energy half way thru a marathon. It was cute and it made me feel loved that he would stop running in the middle of a race just to give me a hug and kiss.

So finally the Half Marathon started. It veered off onto a trail for the first couple miles. Apparently, I am not a good trail runner because I tripped on a rock and scraped up my leg pretty good. See picture below...

It hurt pretty bad. I got up, took stock and decided I could still run. I was determined that I would not get a DNF (Did not finish) on my first Half Marathon. So I ran it all. It was hard... and very painful. The salt from my sweat hurt every time it would drip down my sore leg. Plus every time my foot pounded down, it sent jolts of pain up my leg. Suddenly, my goal of not coming in last changed to a goal of just finishing the race.

Mike meanwhile, did really well which surprised us both since he had just run Park City Marathon last week. two marathons a week apart is crazy! He managed to come across at 3:13 and was 5th overall... 2nd in his age group. He had a really good race. I am soo incredibly proud of him.

He finished, went back to our little cabin we stayed in and packed up and checked out (since check out was prior to when I was going to finish). He then headed back to meet up with me. He met up with me around 3 miles from the finish line. He could not have come at a better time. I was dead! There had been a horrible hill thatilled me. So I was down to walking. Part of that was because how painful my leg was. So he walked (with little spurts of running) to the finish line with me. It was so great having him there for support! That meant he did a total of 32 miles today. I was very happy to see him and he was very supportive and understanding when I was having problems running.

The finish line was finally crossed, and then I got some wipes and wiped down my leg. It hurt like heck when Mike started scrubbing the dirt out of it, but I survived. We then went and got our free Huckleberry Milk Shake and headed to West Yellowstone to finish out our vacation.

It was a hard race, and it sucked scraping my leg like I did, but I am glad that I did it. I am glad I can say I have run a Half Marathon, even with a bloody leg. I am glad its over though. I managed to do it in 3:48:18 which is a much better time than I expected. Especially since I did a lot of walking this race. That makes me feel much better about cutting my time down to 3:30 by the Half Marathon in Moab in October. I honestly think I can do it!

I don't know why I do it...

I am going thru infertility stuff again. It sucks, and its hard. I basically was having health problems like I was having last year when I got really anemic and sick. I didn't want to be like that again, but I knew I was headed that direction. So I went to the Dr to see how to fix it and I had two options.... either birth control (which is obviously not something I would even consider at this point), or to do progesterone and clomid to regulate things.. So I am back on Clomid. I told myself I would never do Clomid again after the last time. It was horrible. They had me on way too high of a dosage. Plus it is very hard to handle Clomid without my mom to vent to. I feel like when I am on Clomid, is when I need her the most. It was hard to decide to try it again, but this time the Dr is pretty well letting me take control since I figured out my body works different than most, and therefore they were testing things on the wrong days. So we will see how it goes.

So I had a couple major breakdowns. I am sure there are still more to come. Clomid honestly makes me so crazy its not even funny. I really just pity Mike since he has to put up with me. He seems to handle me pretty well though. Anyways.... its hard. I was trying not to let myself get baby hungry, but I failed. I even went so far as to watch a film on Midwifery today which essentially made me super baby hungry. So yeah.... I don't know why I watch shows like that when I know its just going to make me cry.

On a better note... Mike ran the Park City marathon on Saturday. He ran it in 3:21 something. He got a PR for that course. Its always exciting to see him come across the finish line. I am so proud of him for all his accomplishments in running.

He is running Marathon number 30 this coming Saturday. Its the Mesa Falls Marathon in Ashton, ID. It is such a gorgeous area, that it will be a neat marathon for him to run. I am seriously considering doing the half marathon. I am not as trained up as I once was (due to health problems), but I think I can do it. I will for sure be the last half marathoner to finish, so that's going to be hard to swallow, but I feel like I will be kicking myself if I miss it. I would love for that race to be my first half marathon. It is small, beautiful scenery, and best of all... they don't close the course until every runner has come across. So yeah.... I will probably do it.... and I am - quite frankly - scared to death. I guess it will be an adventure.

Amazing how one minute can change your life...

So this weekend was a really stressful, and hard weekend. It all actually started on Thursday night around Midnight. Mike got a call from his sister who was frantic. She said the hospital called and said her husband was in a bad accident and she needed to get to the hospital asap. So We rushed to her house, Mike drove her to the hospital and I stayed with her kids. Luckily he did not have life threatening injuries, although he was pretty beat up. It was still scary.

She got the call I am scared to death to get. The call from a hospital worker who will not give you any information over the phone on the condition of your loved one, only to get there ASAP. I felt so bad for her. she thought the worst. Who wouldn't? I never want to get that call about Mike. Getting the call that my mom was gone, was bad enough.

So we ended up taking their kids and their dog. We stayed with the kids a couple nights. It was stressful, but I was happy to help. I feel like I still owe them so much for being so supportive when my mom Died. Holly told us she would take care of our pets, and not to worry, just to go. I wanted her to know that her kids were taken care of, so she could go be with her husband at the hospital.

It makes me think how one minute can change your whole perspective. Getting that call makes you reevaluate your priorities. All the petty things suddenly don't mean anything anymore. I can say that one good thing about losing my mom, is it has made me realize what is important in life. It keeps things in perspective for me. I really appreciate all I have. I appreciate my family, and I appreciate that I have such an incredible husband. One who will drive me to the cemetery and hold me while I cry at my moms grave. I cant even begin to explain how incredibly helpful and loving he has been thru everything.

So the moral of the story, is cherish what you have. You have no idea how long you have with someone. They could be gone in a blink of an eye. Luckily Holly didn't lose her husband, and the kids didn't lose their father. They came really close though. They all caught a glimpse of what could have been. Its a scary thing.

P.S.... I am on Clomid again. Today has been a very emotional day. I think a big part of it was being so brave this entire weekend with the kids, that I never had the chance to cry about the whole scary night we had on Thursday. Also it reminded me of getting the call that my mom was gone. Then add to that the Clomid, and it makes for a very emotional Melissa.

P.S.S......I pretty well fell off the face of the earth on blogging anyways. I just got tired of the computer and keeping updated. I even backed off Facebook a bit. I just haven't felt like writing or keeping things up to date. I am not sure if I will do much blogging for the time being. I just need a break from it all, but I am sure someday I will be back full force!