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Kristen Sorensen
Austin Motorola Marathon February 17, 2002 | |
Dear Friends and Family,
It was a beautiful day with perfect weather. My roommate Emmy and I got to the race at 5:45 am and tried to stay warm before the start. I started out at about 8 min. mile pace which would have put me at 3 hrs. and 30 min. if I stayed at that pace. With each mile I seemed to find more and more energy ... and excitement. I tried to reserve some energy because I knew that if I started out too fast the last 13 miles would be no fun. But to my amazement my energy grew and grew. One guy said that I was "way to happy" =) It was just so fun to see friends that I have been training with the past 5 months and to meet people during the race!
Throughout the whole race I just kept praying for strength and to try to forget about the pain I was having in my left knee. I just wanted to enjoy and remember every moment and I did!! I had sooo much fun which is a strange thing to say when you are talking about a marathon. I had an amazing support group....friends and especially my awesome family! (Not too mention all the people the cheered for me because I had my name written on my shirt =) By mile 20 you forget that you have your name on your shirt and you think that you are just very popular.) I was talking to people and encouraging others as they also encouraged me.
I got water and Gatorade at every mile and had 5 packets of Gu which really helped (Gu is basically instant energy in the form of ...well ...gu..toothpaste consistency. . . disgusting unless running a marathon). At the 1/2 way point I saw my sister and Mom at the Capital and so that motivated me to go even faster! I knew I would see my whole family at mile 19 so I wanted to get there as soon as possible so I put on another surge. I was so excited as I saw them from a far I started to get tears of joy in my eyes....but quickly realized that I needed those tears for the next 7 miles. My awesome Dad had to sprint after me to give me some more Gu!
The last 4 miles were the hardest ... there aren't many people there cheering and there are 2 or 3 good up hills. I saw 2 of the people I trained with that are way faster than me have to slow down and even stop. I encouraged them as I kept on running and tried to focus on the fact that I only had 4 more miles to go. My quads were on fire, but I just continued to turn to God for encouragement and strength. After the last uphill and with 2 miles to go I knew it was downhill from there so I just had to focus on the end and not on the pain. I tried to pick people to pass along the way to motivate myself.
As I came down the finish stretch I was pumped beyond words and I just sprinted
(to me it was sprinting) hands held high into the finish! I was filled with an
indescribable feeling of excitement, joy, and gratefulness. I could not have
asked for a more positive and rewarding experience. I have always loved to run,
but during this marathon everything came together... I could feel God's help and
love which made my love to run increase exponentially. Thank you all again from
the bottom of my heart for all your encouragement and friendship. I hope you
have a wonderful week. Keep smiling.
Kristen Sorensen
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2002 UT Marathon Team | |