Dennis's Amusements: St George Marathon 2018

Last weekend I ran the St George marathon. It was an emotional day for me with what has been going on the last few weeks. Back on August 20th, 2 days before Jake's birthday on the first day of school, I had a knee injury at work. This injury caused me to have to withdraw from the Big Cottonwood marathon and my 1 full Ironman, The Goliath. I was devastated...to say the least. I was so sad knowing I would be unable to participate for something I had been training so hard and long for. Before the injury, I had made it a goal to finally qualify for Boston. I made it a focus to concentrate and reach a worthy goal and one that I knew I could accomplish and achieve.
To date, I had participated in 38 events, with only 3 of those being a marathon. The previous events had been triathlons and different running events. A couple years ago I thought to myself, "with all the training I do, wouldn't it be sweet to qualify for Boston and to also come across a finish line at an Ironman event with the announcer yelling my name saying, Dennis, you are an Ironman". I have that dream of one day participating in a full Ironman brand event. But, for now, the marathon was within reach. I signed up for the Big Cottonwood marathon just 1 week before my injury and only 2 weeks before the Big Cottonwood. I was so heartbroken! I could not believe I injured myself!!! When Ethan came to my rescue, I told him sadly, "I guess I won't be doing my marathon".
I actually emailed all 3 races asking for a reimbursement or deferral to next year's events. The Big Cottonwood date to defer had passed, so I was out that money. The Goliath Triathlon deferred me to next year, for which I was grateful. But, the St George marathon would not defer or reimburse. So, sadly I cancelled my race entry thinking I would not be able to participate.
However, with just 4 weeks before the marathon, out of despair and discouragement, I decided that I need to try. I could not give up on my dream or my goal. The goal was within sight and just waiting for me to reach for it. I was down, but was I going to remain down? Failure is just a springboard to future success. Was I really going to let an injury keep me from reaching my goal? I knew deep down that I could still do it with help from above. Leading up to the marathon, I tried to train with very little hope to compete or even be able to finish the event. I recall the first time trying to run after the injury, I went to the Legacy center to run the track. I didn't know how long I could go for and I wanted a controlled environment to try my initial run. After hobbling for only 2 laps around the track, I was in tears from pain and probably more from discouragement. Knowing what I was running before the injury and to now see where I physically was at was just devastating. That night, I ended up just trying to at least walk around the track. My heart was completely sunk after walking a 5K that took me almost an hour. I tried wrapping, icing the leg and resting the leg to see if it would improve. Just 2 weeks before the marathon, it seemed like I was finally starting to feel little more "normal". So, I tried to do a long run again at the Legacy Center on the track. I was hoping to at least get 14-15 miles. At mile 7, my knee and extensor digitorum longus tendon, the tendon that connects the foot to the knee for movement up and down, gave out on me. It felt like it tore. It was on fire. I was in so much pain! In fact, I couldn't even walk. A couple people actually came up to me and asked if I was alright. I was in tears again because of so much pain. 1 person brought me some ice. I actually had run to the gym from the house, so I asked a guy from the gym, Ernie, to give me a ride home who so graciously agreed. I had to be driven home.
I rested my leg all next week thinking I would try again a run the next Saturday. So, I woke up at my usual 4:00 time the Saturday before St George and went for a run. I knew I could not push myself super hard, but I wanted to at least see if I could do a marathon. I went out with the intent to run 26 miles but to do it at a very slow 9-minute pace. The goal was not pace, but rather to see if I could do it. I unfortunately was only able to make it 17 miles before needing to rest. At mile 17, I made it to the Legacy Center. I did 4 more miles there between weights. After resting, I ran another 2 miles home for a total of 23. This 23 miles however, took me almost 4.5 hours. But, I knew I was almost there and being able to at least struggle through it. The whole week leading up to St George, I just rested and iced. I also went to the doctor for some anti-inflammatory medicine. But, most importantly, I said a lot of prayers.
The day of the marathon was fast approaching. My tendon was still in pain. But, I knew I could do the marathon. I just knew it! I made my game plan of shooting for a 3:15 goal which would easily qualify me for Boston. I carb-loaded the whole week of and early afternoon Friday instead of at night with a small breakfast the day of. I only had a couple yogurts and a bagel with gatorade and water. I would go for the goal, or die trying. I didn't want this race to just turn into anothet training session. I was so hopeful this would be the day that my goal would be reached.
I ran the first 5K of the marathon with the pace group. But, then I knew I could go faster. I met up with a guy from Dallas and another from St George who were running together. They had their pace watch on and was running a 6:52 pace. So, I ran with them for the next 17-18 miles. With each passing mile, I would say a thankful prayer in my heart and look up in the rainy sky and clouds and thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to try for my dream and goal. I was feeling good, so I kept running
At mile 20, I knew I could reach my goal. I was so happy. But, I just knew I had to keep going hard and be thankful as I was doing it. At this point of the race, it was only a question of time. What was my final time going to be? And, I knew Boston was within reach. What a relief!