Well, I am home and alive! Sat. I did my first official 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) and yes, it is a good distance compared to the marathon (26.2 miles)! Jared and I drove to St. George (no kids!) with our friends, Angela and Mark Vosti.
Angela has an injured IT band, but decided to still race and did a great job for her first time ever running (she started in the summer) this far. The first time she had Ever run 3 miles w/out stopping was in October,
and what a great accomplishment to come so far in such a short period of time. I am so happy for her.
It was a little chilly in the morning, but all in all a great temp. to run in. We didn't start until 9am so that was a nice change. I think it was about 30F, about 0C. I wore my long running tights, a long sleeve shirt and my running gloves. The gloves came off a few miles into it, but my stomach stayed cold for quite awhile and I remember thinking that my nose was starting to feel warm at mile 6! I can't believe I forgot to take Kleenex! I ran between a 9:20-9:45 min./mile. I haven't really trained at that speed, but felt like I would be able to handle it.
The race started at the convention center and took us through some nice neighborhoods and then led us to a trail along the Virgin River, back behind some more nice houses! It is a very pretty run, not that you can really enjoy it, although, I do remember trying too! There were 5 or 6 hills to tackle, some steeper and some longer then others, but it was a nice change and I was surprised that I was able to keep my pace going up them. Coming down I used them to my advantage and probably ran about 8 min. miles or faster, but just until the straight away and then I resumed my slower speed. Mile 7 I realize I have been running by myself for quite awhile and not in a group, I could see people in front and behind, but not with me. I was thinking, I wonder if I am dead set in the middle...wouldn't that be funny...? Well, about mile 8 I wondered if maybe I was being a little to advantages to take on this speed at the beginning of the race as my legs were starting to hurt (lactic acid) and I knew I still had five more miles to tackle.
I was contemplating whether or not I should slow down when out of the blue this man came up from behind me and started a conversation with me. We just chatted a little about what else, running and a little bit of our running history. I could tell after about 5 minutes he was ready to move on so I thanked him for helping me keep my pace and off he went. All of a sudden I had a second wind, and while I still hurt I was able to maintain my pace, so thank you stranger man, you made all the difference in my run. Clipping along, I again find myself hurting and getting tired as I approach mile 11 and I again wonder, should I slow down? There are two other girls now that are with me, but we all stay a few steps away from each other, but you know we are all wondering, "who will come in first?!" (I' ll give you a hint now, it was neither of them!)The one girl keeps walking every now and then and I wonder if she is following the Jeff Galloway method. I start thinking, "she is going to win as she walks and then gets ahead of me and looks like she is going strong,I knew I should have done a 1 minute walk/mile, why didn't I do it, I thought about it..." There is a lot to think about on a run with just you and your MP Player or ipod, whatever you use and your own thoughts! Then, I realize this is what you train for, the last 2 miles of a run, when it hurts, and you still run up the steep church hill so your legs know the pain of finishing a race. This is what I tell the girls I run with, we do the hills at the end when we just want to be done, because it teaches your legs to keep going when they are tired and then your heart and will power take over. Well all of a sudden, with no control my will power kicked in and as much as I tried to keep a slower pace I couldn't slow down. My heart and mind took over my legs and I could feel myself speed up and as much as I thought I shouldn't I couldn't do anything about it! It was quite a weird experience. I passed the two girls and a few on top of that and crossed the finish line at 2:02:20!
While that my be slow for many, I was quite pleased with my time. At the finish line line up the tall stranger man was only a few peole in front of me so I was able to thank him again for his help.
Here are my results that are kind of fun to know: I came in 55 out of 109 in my age group (30-34) that is why I put my mile 7 thoughts in up above because that is dead in the middle of my place being 50%! lol. So, if we cont on with the result of my placement I came in 229 out of 498 total women in the run, which is 45%, but wait it gets even better then that,
out of everyone that ran, both male and female, I came in 335 out of 944 which is top 35%, and last but not least, my average pace was 9:20 Min/Mi, so I would say, for me, that is not too bad!
Sunday, I could barely walk, but after having Jared (the wonderful husband he is) massage the lactic acid down to the joints to drain I am doing much better. I still hurt, but nothing like yesterday! There is my Long story for today, if you made it to the end then you are a true friend!!!
A special thanks to Jared our run photographer-love you, thanks for all your support.
