After an awesome anniversary day on Saturday (our 6th), Brent and I headed back to the hotel early to get some shut eye. I iced my heel again to try and get it to feel a bit better, I set out my racing gear and we made our final plans for the morning. With an early 6 a.m. start, I set two alarms. The first alarm was set for 3 a.m. for breakfast. I need 3-4 hours for my stomach to settle after eating a decent sized breakfast. The second alarm was set for 4:30 a.m. This alarm would allow me to go back to bed for a little while longer while my stomach settled. I was suppose to be dropped off at the race by 5:00-5:15 a.m. The alarms both went off! I am always nervous that they will not for some reason. Brent set a backup alarm just in case. I got ready as quickly as I could. I put on the moleskin to cover my heel and put my shoe on. I was so relieved because my shoe did not feel as tight as it had on Friday morning.
We were out of the hotel room by 4:50 a.m. which was almost perfect timing to make it by the suggested time. Brent dropped me off and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the day and to find himself some coffee while he waited. I found a booth with some free coffee and indulged in a little. This is something I have done before training runs a few times but never before a race. I usually forgo coffee before runs in general, but I have tried it a few times lately. I have not noticed much of a difference. I then proceeded to find my corral and hung out there for the remaining time.
The race finally got underway. I was still unsure of how my heel was going to feel, so I was pretty nervous. I didn’t know if I would be in pain towards the end or if I would feel great. To my surprise, I was feeling great! I was sticking close to the 4 hour pacer as we headed through the park and down the road. I actually started talking with a lady named Jennifer. I usual keep to myself during a race and only say a few lines to some people. Jennifer and I talked for the first several miles. I then scooted off a little ahead to go find a restroom. That coffee was finally catching up to my bladder. I came out of the port-a-potty at the same time the 4 hour pacer was pacing by me. It was perfect! Then I all of a sudden heard someone above me calling my name! There was Brent on the bridge above! I was so excited to see him. I was also excited for him to see how well my foot was doing.
I started chatting with Jennifer again for another couple of miles. We ran through the Mile High stadium down on the ground level. It was pretty neat, but since I am not really into football or the Broncos I was more excited to take a picture and show my sister who is a fan. Jennifer and I said goodbye to each other as she made her way to the restroom. She didn’t think she would catch back up. I wonder what would have happened if she would have been able to stay with us.
I kept close to the 4 hour pacer for the next few miles. Then around mile 10, my ankle started to hurt. It wasn’t my heel, but I think that I was compensating even though I thought I was running pretty normal. I slowly watched the 4 hour pacer grow farther and farther away. I knew this could happen, but I was getting disappointed because of how great I was feeling in the beginning. This was the same story for the next 16 miles. I didn’t know if I would be able to make it or if the discomfort would turn into pain. Would I actually stop? Would I keep going? These were the questions I was asking myself. 
I kept giving myself little goals and I kept thinking of all the time I had put into training for this race. I had trained a little harder for this than Nashville, so I was disappointing myself as I was running. I tried taking my mind off of it and just kept pushing. I watched my pace go from a 9:10 ish to a 10:15 ish to an 11:15 ish and it kept on getting worse. I think by the time I crossed the line I was close to a 13 minute mile. I saw Brent again around mile 23 where he waited for a while because he based the time for when I’d get there around the original pace I was running. He waited a while for me. I was so happy to see him, but I honestly somewhat contemplated stopping. I didn’t knowing I was just over 3 miles from finishing. I was really sore but kept convincing myself to go. I took a little longer walking through the water stations than normal which was good and bad. I was so sore that it was hard to start running again, but I didn’t want to take forever to get to the finish when it was so close. This is how I convinced myself to keep going. Even if I was running slow, it would get me to the finish line sooner.
I made it to the finish line and I was so excited to be done! I was only disappointed because of how hard I trained, my lungs felt great and I was hydrated and fueled even though it was hot. It was about 55 degrees when I started and then somewhere in the upper 70’s when I finished. By the time we left Denver, it was 85 degrees. Brent was unfortunately stuck back in traffic, so I found my way to a parking lot where he could find me. I finally decided to sit down and then he showed up. I had to stand up and it hurt. I am usually not this sore right after but considering everything, I was just glad I wasn’t in pain. I am finished with my 4th marathon! Not all of my races can go the way I planned.