Bring the Pain!!!

Photos courtesy of John Garrett

by Anthony Garrett (not Megan, sorry y'all)

Referencing pain in this post title, all who are reading this now understand that we completed the Salt Lake City 1/2 marathon yesterday. Or am I referencing the pain of finding people to take care of Hadley and Lainey yesterday (thanks again Erin and Mom)? Or am I referencing why Meg is not writing this (I think even her fingers are sore)? You choose. Any way you view it, pain is our theme for this post. Enjoy.
Meg and I asked ourselves a few times before and during the run yesterday, "Why do we continue to do this"? Year after year we psyche up for this, make it out in our minds to be this exciting, euphoria-producing event, and year after year, the end result is the same... we hurt. So why do we do it? Is it because we don't want to admit that we no longer can? That we're too old? Out of shape? Is it because we don't want to let down Angie, who makes her pilgrimage from TX almost every year to do the same? Lots of questions, I know. But the simple answer is: somewhere inside us (don't know where yet) we enjoy running.
One of the common grounds that Meg and I found that we shared early on is running. Running was one of the first activities we enjoyed doing together, and one of those things that we continue to do to this day (though rarely together - due to the aforementioned rugrats). It keeps us healthy, happy, slim... uh slimmer, and it keeps us sane. I enjoy running because it's something I can do so long as I have shoes, and a bit of time. My Dad and Grandpa were marathoners, and so when my Dad introduced me to running, I figured, "Genetically, I should be able to do this". I was never the fastest distance runner, even when I was young, but I've found that even though I'm aging, I can build on and continue to improve on what I've done in the past. Megan has different reasons, I'm sure (read Meg's "Ode to Running"). But since I'm speaking on her behalf, I'll say she does it because she was born to. She's a natural. Why else would she sprint all the way home from school as a kid (with no one chasing her)? Why else would she run with me across the golf course in Logan at midnight in sub-zero temperatures despite actual icecicles forming on our eyebrows? How else can you describe how she kept up with me THROUGH THE WHOLE RACE yesterday, and even pushed me on at certain parts, in spite of the fact that I had logged MANY more miles of training than her for this one? I can't explain, so I'll call her a natural. A prodigy. Lucky...
Well, we're glad it's over. Done. I have a hundred stories I could tell about the race yesterday, and millions of others about running in general, but hey, this ain't my blog, is it? I'll finish by saying that we crossed the finish line yesterday holding hands (cheesy, I know), and almost immediately headed back into real life. Away from training schedules, courses and competition. Time to recover from sore muscles, chaffed skin, blisters and whatnot. Running is hard. Running is pain. Running can kill you. So would we do it all over again you ask? Oh yeah. In a heartbeat.