St. George Marathon

Well. We ran this little race.  Again.  This makes the 10th marathon for each of us.  The same number of years we've been married (for each of us).   Which seems poetic.  And also presents a math problem:  

500 to 800 miles per training schedule x 20 = plenty of pavement pounded.

We stayed with the MacDonald's; mom and dad also came down.  Good company.  Jeannie showed me what is now my most favorite breakfast: homemade granola with a Chobani plain yogurt/ unsweetened Silk soy mixture (sidenote:  she was also at GK's funeral last week and was all, like, "Psst.  Add pea-protein to the mix.  It'll knock your socks off.").

There is something sadistic about running.  St. George, that is.  The uphill destroys your (my) pace, the downhill kills your (our) quads, and the distance messes with your (my) mind.  On the Monday after the race, we spent the day in Zion National Park, with knees buckling at the slightest decline.  We used those handrails, I can tell you what.

Briton's knees are taped with this magic stuff that kept his knees pain-free.  Usually he uses a handkerchief ... or duct-tape if it's available.  But he got this tape from the expo and it not only saved him on those down-hills, it also aided and abetted a little "slot" canyoning, as you can see.

Can you believe this place?!?!?!?

Entrance to the narrows.

Despite the flash flood warnings, there we were.  But also, there were people walking clear up the river.  When we got back to the parking lot, the Park had placed a "Flash Flood Imminent" sign (as opposed to "Flash Flood Warning")  at the trail head.  So I hope those people didn't die.  For reals.

Because it started pouring.  Waterfalls appeared out of nowhere, plummeting off of the cliff faces.   It was beautiful.

We just couldn't get enough...

Anyway,  it was a great and an awful marathon, depending on who you talk to and at what point in time.  It's true what they say:  "The pain is temporary, but the satisfaction endures."  Briton BQ'd and I set another PR -- under 4 hours.  By seconds.  But what precious seconds they are.

We're home and running regular distances now.  Sometimes I even run without my Garmin.  Sometimes.  And there's all this extra time on Saturdays that we haven't had for most of the year.  Lesson learned: moderation!  (except as applied to ice cream).