Darrick's Race!

Well I finished my first marathon! Yeah I said first! I think I will do another one.....it just might be a while. I feel like I have accomplished a few physically challenging events in my life. This one definitely ranks towards the top. It was satisfying to find the time to train, & overcome injuries that I have never had to deal with before. And then accomplish the goal of the race. I never doubted that I could finish, it was just how I wanted to do it. I am pretty happy with my results. I was shooting for 3 hours and 45 min, and I got it done in 3:13:58. Course I had my usual pit stop at mile 9. The canyon was beautiful and I found myself looking at the hills for deer and elk & studying the river that ran along the side of the road for good fishing holes. One of the challenges is to not take off to quickly at the beginning. The excitement of it all and the anticipation of just getting the whole darn thing over with pushes you to take off hard. The first 14 miles were a pretty good downhill and I felt great. I averaged about a 7:00 min. mile and at times I was at a 6:00 min. mile pace. I would look down at my garmin and talk myself into slowing down. My calves were starting to tighten at about mile 3 so I knew I had to be careful. I have to thank Katie Calvin for her advice and help with my injuries. Changing out my shoes about 3 weeks before the race, running in the grass, & sprinting up steep hills really made a difference in my shin & arch injuries. I felt strong through 18/ 19 miles when I think that the length of the race and the fast start started taking their toll. I wouldn't say I ever hit a wall, maybe a few speed bumps, where my body started screaming at me. Course that's just when you turn up the ipod and pick up the pace. I thought the race was well done. Tons of volunteers. I even had a kid chase me down from behind to hand me a banana that I couldn't quite grab as I was running thru an aid station. That banana really hit the spot & I got quite the sugar buzz off of it. It meant a lot to me to have my brother and his family there. They were a great support watching the kids, taping the race, taking pics, being a cheer squad, and heaping praises on us afterwards. It was great. I will have to say as I came out of the canyon I was looking hard for my kids and yet people started blurring together. Trying to run and look around was difficult. But it was a huge boost to see my kids at that mile marker and then more than anything.....there at the finish. Naomi is getting so big and took the job of video taping. She did great. Hope you don't get too dizzy watching our videos. She's still learning but tries so hard and loves her Mom and Dad. When you run 26.2 miles you have a lot of time to think. It was a great time of reflection as well as recommitting myself to other things I'd like to accomplish. As I trained and throughout the race my thoughts always went back to my older brother. Again, I want to say it was a great experience and I'm extremly grateful to my wife who has supported me and pushed me to do this. She's a great inspiration for getting up early and getting the training done. I missed a lot of training....where she didn't miss any. I still beat her! (She's typing this and added that on her own) If you have ever thought about doing one go to a marathon and just watch the people cross the finish line. The pain is well worth it!