Phoenix Marathon { #4 }

I've waited a couple weeks.  Trying to digest my marathon performance.  But I don't really feel like I've digested anything so I guess I had better get a recap up before I don't do one at all (i.e. OGDEN MARATHON #3).

We stopped for brunch (really it was just lunch, but I hadn't had breakfast so I called it brunch) at Pizzeria Limone.  Gosh I LOVE that place.

I was very stressed about the size of our carry on bags.  We were flying Frontier Airlines and they charge for a carry on bag, but allow you a personal item.  And when they charge it's $35!!  PER BAG.  I couldn't check a bag because what if they lost it.  I have never packed so light in my entire life!  Alas, we made in on the plane with no extra fee's.  Once we shuttled over to pick up the rental car and made a mad dash straight to packet pick up.  My other biggest fear had been that our flight would be delayed and we'd miss packet pick up.  The "expo" was outside and incredibly small.  We were in and out very quickly.  Inside the bag I got a GREAT looking Albion Fit running tank.  One of the very few race shirts I will likely wear!  I also got some Albion arm warmers although I have to say I am very disappointed that mine (as opposed to my husbands and others I saw) didn't have the Phoenix Marathon printed on them.

But while the expo was small it was easy access in and out and we were on our way to find out hotel very quickly.  We got lucky to stay at the Hilton there.  My dad hooked us up with a free room using his points.  It was REALLY nice.  We're used to just staying at the cheapest motel we can find.

          I'm always in awe of the beautiful desert sunsets.

After checking in to our hotel we headed out to find a Panda Express.  I know it doesn't sound like the greatest but it's what has worked well for us during training.  No tummy issues, and good amount of energy.  We drove around a LOT and were quite hungry at this point.  The first location the GPS sent us to, apparently wasn't a good location anymore.

          I felt like this was an appropriate fortune.

After eating we laid out our gear and headed to bed.

4:45am came pretty early.  We found somewhere to park pretty quickly and headed towards the buses.  We got on right away and were on our way.  I think this is the WARMEST I've ever been pre-race!  Once we were dropped off we headed straight for the bathroom lines.  I felt like it was a very festive starting line.  They had announcers the whole time talking which made the wait go by quickly.

Before we knew it they were asking runners to go line up.  Right before the gun went off there were fireworks.  That was kind of fun.  I've never experienced fireworks before.

                                         We snapped a quick picture and then we were off.
       
The Race

I am always amazed at how the elevation map can be misleading.  Considering how steep the downhill looked early on, I kept waiting for the downhill.  There were very few sections that seemed downhill.  However, the uphill sections definitely felt uphill.  Early in the race it was really quite pretty, lots of cactus and huge homes. My goal pace was 9:55-9:58.

Miles 1-4  Went by quickly.  Caught up in the excitement.  I fought very hard to not run TOO fast on the "downhill" section.  In hindsight I wish I'd took advantage of the downhill a little  more.

Mile 1:  9:13
Mile 2:  9:19
Mile 3:  9:40
Mile 4:  9:34

Miles 5-6  The first and what I thought was supposed to be the ONLY big hill.  It felt REALLY big and also like it went on forever.  I was digging deep to not fall off pace too much.  I just kept telling myself that this was the only really awful hill and I just had to make it to the top of this ONE.  I knew I'd banked a little time on the first 4 miles so I was hopeful this would flatten out my overall time.

Mile 5:  9:58
Mile 6:  10:23

Mile 7-12  Nothing much going on here.  I was just focused on settling in to my goal pace at this point.  After the uphill there there was some downhill that followed.  It always feels weird to have that shift in muscle work.  Takes a minute for you to settle back in again.

Mile 7:  9:31
Mile 8:  9:45
Mile 9:  9:44
Mile 10:  9:51
Mile 11:  10:00
Mile 12:  10:00

Mile 13-20  I hadn't taken a walk break yet and I was feeling good about that.  Mile 12 was where I lost Jeramie.  He slowed to a walk and waved me on.  At this point I was still feeling like I had a good chance with my goals.  I hit the halfway mark and I was only a couple minutes off of where I wanted to be according to the clock itself.  So I knew I was close.  Looking at my stats after the race I was ON POINT at the halfway point, exactly where I needed to be for my goals.  But hitting that halfway mark was also hard.  It was a reminder that I was ONLY half way and I had to do that all again.  Plus this was wear it flattened out.  I could feel my right hip getting tight and I stopped at Mile 16 to take some ibuprofen.

Half Way:  2:08:51  (pace: 9:51, rank 1359)

Mile 13:  10:28
Mile 14:  10:05
Mile 15:  10:00
Mile 16:  11:03
Mile 17:  10:33
Mile 18:  11:12
Mile 19:  10:31
Mile 20:  10:51

Miles 21-26.2  This is where I fell apart a little.  Specifically my right hip wasn't having it.  I could go about a mile and I needed to stop and stretch the hip.  Stretching helped a ton.  I could then run another mile relatively pain free.  But that stop to stretch followed by a minute of walking is what killed my race.  STUPID STUPID HIP.  I had no hip issues during training.

And here's the key.  When I was running I was still running VERY strong.  I could hold the 9:58 pace without a problem.  The problem was that I had to stop to stretch and walk for a minute to get rid of the hip pain.  So with that being said I knew that yet again I was stronger than I'd been at any marathon. Maybe it's the downhill that agitates the hip?  I'm not sure.  What I do know is that I continued to pass a LOT Of people the last half.  Lots of people whom I remembered passing me early on.  So I knew I was doing something right.

Mile 21:  12:22
Mile 22:  11:02
Mile 23:  10:36
Mile 24:  11:50
Mile 25:  11:25
Mile 26:  10:30
Mile .2:  9:52

Last Half Stats:  2:23:39  (pace 10:58, rank 1145)
**  I told you I passed a lot of people!

It felt wonderful to cross that finish line!

And then I waited for awhile for Jeramie to finish.  And cried.

Finishing a marathon is emotional.  Lots of people cry.  I cried because I was SHOCKED that my time was worse than Ogden.  And I walked a LOT at Ogden, I was dealing with IT band issues there.

Final Results:

4:32:30

Pace:  10:25

Overall Place:  1228

Division Place:  95 out of 149

Gender Place:  518 out of 848

I'm proud of myself that I didn't give up.  I knew I had missed all my goals.  At Ogden I walked during the last mile because I was SO SO angry.  I didn't go to that place in Phoenix.  I committed to just giving it my all until the end regardless of time.  I was just so sad.  I felt like I trained for a much better race.  I didn't feel like the lower elevation helped.  My HR was through the roof the entire time.  I was working hard for sure.

My husband came in with a solid PR:  4:53:40.

After the race we walked a really long way back to find our car and headed back to our hotel.  Crawled into bed and Jeramie napped while I watched some TV.  For the rest of the weekend we ate and drank. Then it was time to go home.

                                          Finish line picture.  Didn't look like I was hating life.

This post has been weeks in the making.  I guess the short story is that I'm beyond disappointed with my performance.  I was capable of better.  I will run another full marathon. There is no question.  We're already talking about running St. George later this year.

What it leaves me wondering is what am I doing wrong?  Why am I not getting faster??  Is it just age?  It could be.

New age group debut.

Thanksgiving happened to be my 40th birthday this year.  I had no problem when I turned 30.  But 40 was a bit more intimidating.  I can't even pinpoint why, but it was.  I wasn't looking forward to it.  I guess the good news is that the first thing out of peoples mouth is surprise.  I struggle with comparing myself to some of my favorite bloggers .. which is really silly because I'm a good 10+ years OLDER than pretty much all of them.

It's become a bit of a tradition to participate in the Thankful 13 event here in Utah.  It's one of the few events that run this late in the year and the only half marathon distance that falls into the Turkey Trot category.  Plus there are no buses involved which means no super early wake up call.  The night before arrived and I regretfully set my alarm for what I thought was the latest possible time but still enough to arrive with time to spare.  Alas, I forgot how LONG my husband takes in the mornings.  Unlike me he doesn't get all his gear together the night before.  So while he's pooping and yelling at everyone because he can't find his stuff (not at the same time), I'm getting quickly irritated because he's going to make us late.  We needed to drop the kids at my parents still and I was STRESSED!

     Sunrise over the Wasatch Mountains.

 We were blessed with a beautiful sunrise as we drove up to my parents.  Quickly dumped the kids and were back in the car racing down to Thanksgiving Point.  To be honest I've had issues every year with this race series.  Historically they run out of medals as well as the correct size shirt that you ordered with your registration.  This year however this wasn't a problem.  We literally arrived with five minutes to spare.  Threw our gear on and walked down to the starting line.  I don't think there were as many people as last year.  Within minutes we were off.  This was to be a training run for us.  I wanted to have a pace right around 10:30.  My husband likes to go out fast and it was cold so I was anxious to warm up.

It wasn't long before I heard what sounded like a stampede of horses coming up behind me.  As I turned my head I saw that it was actually a group from a National Guard running in their combat boots, carting along flags with them.

So. Cool.

My husband can be pretty funny sometimes.  At one point we were approaching a team of military folks.  My husband goes on to thank them for their service and pass comment on my lack of American citizenship. I reminded him that although I'm not an American I am British and by definition one of America's closest allies.

     Another look at those Wasatch Mountains. 

We were not spoiled for views along the course.  The course itself was about the same as last year.  As we passed through the 5 mile mark we picked up a couple GU's.  I always bring my own, just because I'm used to races running out.  I think I'll always be finishing in the back half of the pack and that always means provisions can be questionable.  But when they're available I pick up a couple since that's what I feel like I pay for as part of my registration.  When we came back through the same aid station on the return trip they were out. So I was glad we got some when we could because we would have been hurting on that back half otherwise.  I felt strong until the last mile.  It's solid uphill and a killer.  At that point I was tired and Jeramie was starting to race ahead a bit.  I just didn't have the gas in me to race uphill at the end.

We finished with a solid time however.

Finish Time:  2:16:56

Age Group:  34/70

Average Pace:  10:29 (SPOT ON)

As we approached the finishers chute we saw our oldest son with my Dad and he jumped in and ran the rest of the way with me.  

My outfit was pretty perfect for the weather conditions.  It was in the 40's. My legs had been a little chilly early on but I was comfortable most of the time.

                                      #fortyisfabulous 

Jackson came down with my Dad and they ran/walked the 5k.  Jackson surprised my dad by running a good 2/3 of the course.  So I'm excited to sign up for another and RUN the whole thing together.  I totally think he could do it!  Maybe even pick up an age group medal!  Sailor (my mum's dog) raced with them as well.  So proud of this guy!  He's already excited to do it again.

     Love this family of mine.

We went on to spend the day with my family.  Stuff our faces full of turkey and then Mum and I hit up Target and Walmart for a little pre-Black Friday shopping.

I absolutely LOVE getting up and knocking out some decent mileage before the Thanksgiving Day activities begin.  Overall I would totally recommend this race to any locals.  It's not a "big" race with "big race" frills.  I think the post race goodies are lacking.  However, I also think Pumpkin Pie is disgusting and therefore do not see that as a fun post race treat.  My husband would tell you otherwise!

**********

Would you race on Thanksgiving morning?

Do you like Pumpkin Pie?

Do you pick up "your share" of race fuel?

Salt Lake Half Marathon, Recap.

I debate about whether just to shut this silly little blog down but I just can't bring myself to do it.  I like having my race recaps and training to look back on.  I have run the Salt Lake Half Marathon every year since I started running 3+ years ago.  I like that it's a course through my home town.  This race in particular starts at my Alma Mater which always feels kind of cool.  Since we were in the middle of marathon training we had a 20 miler on tap for the day.  It was really attractive to just run the extra 7 after we finished the race but we did that once last year and it kind of sucked.  The cool thing about this race is that there is no busing.  You can take TRAX to the start from multiple locations for free.  So we decided to park at the finish and then run our way UP to the start line. Once we got to the start the plan was to run out and back for another 4 miles. Then run the race.

That was the plan ...

Well we got there in plenty of time.  We parked right next to the start line for free!  Which isn't always possible in down town Salt Lake.  But the run to the starting line was seriously straight up hill the whole way.  That probably wasn't the best idea right before a half marathon.  It was kind of fun though because they also have a bike tour and so we saw tons of cyclists heading to their starting line to start before the runners.  Once we got up there it was obvious that the out and back for four miles wasn't going to work.  There were no sidewalks up there.  There was however a totally empty beautiful track!!!  So that's what we did.  Ended up needing another 4.5 miles before the race to get us to 20.  We were the only ones on there for quite some time.  It was so relaxing not having to worry about rushing to get ready for the race.  We had plenty of time.  After a while there were a lot of people that joined us on the track .. we kind of felt like little trend setters out there.

We watched the sun rise over the mountains beside us.

My selfie.  I just thought this was cool.

We finished our first 7 feeling good.

Ready to run another 13.1

The course was different than last year.  Pretty much every year I've run this (3 in a row now) they've changed the course a LOT.  This year there was quite a bit of uphill sections. But since we weren't running it for time it really wasn't a big deal.  I liked that they tried to take us on a bit of a tour of Salt Lake.  That made it fun.  We ran with Jeramie's friend, it was his first half in quite awhile.  With about 4 miles left, which is when things get hard for me is when I split off from the boys and forged ahead some on my own.  I was feeling really good!  Which surprised me.  It was starting to get warm at this point. When I had about 2 miles left my IT band started to hurt quite a bit.  I had started running in some Altra's and around the same time started to have some IT band issues that I haven't had since I started running three years ago.  I'm super bummed about that and also SUPER worried about how this will play out at my marathon in a month.

2:18:01

I walked a bit during those last 2 miles and tried to suck it up some.  It was a bit of a fight but I finished feeling good about my time and really proud that I pulled through on a total of 20.

Salt Lake Half is the ONLY one in Utah I believe to have finish line beer.

I'm not a big Miller Lite fan .. but that beer tasted wonderful.

Love running races with the hubs.

My only dislike of this race is that the t-shirts are some of the lamest.

**********

Do you like running hometown races?

Do you indulge in the finish line beers?  If not, do you at least give your beer ticket to someone else?

Has it really been almost an entire year?

Well .. here I sit.  I can't believe my last blog post was almost a year ago.  I love love love reading other bloggers and yet when it comes to my own, I think who wants to know what I'm thinking?

Alas, here I am again.  Hopefully this isn't the last you'll hear from me for awhile.  My goal, at least once per week.  I can do this.

Looking back at 2013.  It was a big year for me. 

I ran my first marathon!!!  

My thoughts:  It was hard.

Then I accidentally ran my second marathon!!!

My thoughts:  I thought it would feel easier.  It didn't.  It was still REALLY hard.

So I guess that means marathons are HARD and not for sissies.

This was me about 9 miles in, hitting the downhill part of the course.

Feeling GOOD!

And then I hit the 20's and shit got HARD.

I am SOOO grateful for my husband who jumped in with me around mile 19.

 My moment.

I became a marathoner.

That was Utah Valley Marathon.  I think it's probably the best shape I've ever been in in my entire life.  I was down to my lowest weight of my adult life, without really feeling hugely deprived. I was just committed to the healthy lifestyle.  Then I went on a week long trip to Mexico (WITHOUT kids) and then we spent a week in California with the kids and things just kind of fell apart after that.

I digress .. so when I say I accidentally ran a second marathon, let me explain.  St. George Marathon is kind of known as the coveted marathon in the state of Utah.  You have to get in via lottery however.  After two tries you're guaranteed entry on your third try.  Well I entered my husband and myself just to get one of our "tries" out of the way. And wouldn't you know we got in.  I can honestly say I was disappointed.  Training for a marathon during the really hot months of Utah was not on my list of things to do.

As you can see.  This one didn't feel any easier.

And I ran it slower.  Thinking that that might make me feel a little better towards the end.  Yeah, I was wrong.

I really should have done true race recaps on them both.  However, I'm starting fresh with the blog and that's what you're getting for now.  So 4:21 is the time to beat in 2014.  We (Jerm and I) entered another lottery for the Ogden Marathon .. and got in!  But I actually kind of did want to get into this one.  My goal, is to come in under 4:15.  Running my marathons in 2013 my goal was simply to finish them.  This time around I'll be adding speed work to the training.  So we're running for a time goal.

I just sat down and wrote my January training into my Erin Condren Life Planner.  And I'll be honest, I kind of want to cry a little.  I know it's going to be hard work this time.  I'm going to push myself harder than I have in quite awhile.  Push my work/home/run balance more than I have since this time last year.  But I thrive with goals.  I know this.  I'm hungry for this goal. 

I guess among other things I should really think through some tangible 2014 goals.  I don't love the term "resolution".  I like goals!

What about you.....

Have you run a full marathon?  More than one?  Does it get easier?  (please tell me it does)

Do you like resolutions or goals?  Do you have any for 2014 yet? 

Big Cottonwood Canyon Half - Race Recap

A couple months ago my brother convinced me to sign us up for the Big Cottonwood Half Marathon. This was the first year they were doing this race. I was a little skeptical because usually inaugural races can be pretty unorganized since they're new. This was my sister in law, Rachel's come back race too. Coming back off of her broken foot from Ragnar. I'm so glad she decided to do another race this year. Especially since she swore up and down to me as I continued to beg her to sign up for other races that she hates racing and that's why she only does it once a year.

Ha! I will make a racer out of her .. she just may not know it yet.

So up we were at 4:30am on yet another Saturday morning. That's by far the worst part about running races. The early start times. When we arrived there was this huge line of cars waiting to get in and park so we headed across the street to park in a different lot. We barely met up with Evan and Rachel at the top before they started with the 5 minute warning for the start. We literally had time to drop our warm clothes at the bag drop and then we were waiting on Jeramie to pin his number and get his gear all situated. In the end I think we actually started the race about 3 minutes after the gun went off. Not something we really worry about because it's chip timed so we don't officially start until we cross the starting line. Or so I thought anyway.

As we headed out we ran the first couple miles together. The first one being quite quick. I was feeling really good. We ran on the other side of the road for quite awhile because we were just passing runners non stop. After a couple miles though Evan, Rachel and Jeramie started to slow down. I didn't realize this until they were quite a ways behind me. I really hadn't gone up there planning to run really hard at all. Just go with the flow and enjoy it. But I guess I just can't help myself. I am so competitive with myself. And truly it's just myself and my desire to beat my own times. Well and let's be honest starting at the back of the pack and picking off other runners the entire race is kind of a confidence booster. Since I was feeling good I just went with it. I figured I would give it everything and when I ran out of gas I would plant my butt on the side of the road and just wait for the rest of the group.

This right here is one of my favorite race pictures of all time.

See how both my feet are off the ground? That means no dimpling on my legs.

I really debated about what to wear to this race but I'm happy with what I chose.

I was worried the long sleeves would be too hot, but it worked out fine.

The outfit:

Top:  Lulu Run Swiftly Tech Long Sleeve

Shorts:  Lulu Run Bright at Night Short

Socks:  Saucony Compression Socks (I've had these forever, can't find a link)

Shoes:  Brooks Ravenna 2's (link to the 3's)

Hat:  Brooks Printed Mesh Cap  (this hat is my all time favorite!)

So as I continued on down the mountain one by one I passed the 2:30 pacer, then the 2:15 pacer. I kept thinking, okay the 2:00 pacer will be next. I just have to pass this pacer and stay ahead, then knowing I started a few minutes after the official start meant that I would actually pull out a sub 2 hour half marathon.  In my head the first goal of a new runner is to complete your first half marathon with no walking this is usually the next big goal. Next, to finish in under 2 hours. I'm still a very new runner. I ran my first half marathon less than a year ago. Which even to me sounds very strange considering how many I've run since then. I finished Timpanogos (which was my "A" race this year) in 2:01! I was so close. As I got closer and closer to the finish line I kept telling myself I'm actually going to do it!! There are absolutely no words to describe this feeling.

This is a seriously downhill course.  And that can be a good thing and that can be a bad thing.  By about 6 miles my quads were screaming.  But my heart rate was nice and low so I just kept going at that same pace. It's like a drug really.  Looking down and seeing myself running so fast (speed clearly being a relative thing), I just couldn't help myself.  I felt like I was flying.

 I love that my husband does this with me.

I think if he'd stuck with me in the beginning he'd have finished with me.

He however stuck with my brother and sister in law for awhile.  I'll be honest, I'm bummed I missed out on this adorable picture.  These three are so fun to run with!

And really there aren't words to describe this sport / hobby. I wish that I could. We tell my other brother Mike all the time that he needs to start running, he still maintains it will never happen. And frankly he's stubborn and so I really believe that it will never happen. But boy you guys are missing out. The sense of accomplishment. Running is such a prime example of you get out of it what you put into it. If you work your ass off then you WILL be successful. It's really just that easy. But if you don't put the work in then I feel like you will set yourself up for failure. And that's where I think it becomes harder to stay motivated and stick with it. There are plenty of lunch times at work when I think to myself I really would rather not go run. I don't want to change out of my work clothes and then ruin my hair for the rest of the day. And then I just tell myself to stop thinking like that and get to it. And I swear there are LOTS of Sunday mornings where I would rather sleep in than go for a run. But it's true what they say, you will never ever ever regret a run. You just won't. Even when it was a miserable run (and there are plenty of those) you still don't think to yourself, well I wish I hadn't gone out and done that. Another thing about runners, they are the most enthusiastic to get new runners added to the group. BEST. THING. EVER.

Big Cottonwood Half Marathon

The Stats:

Official Finish Time: 1:52:25

Overall Rank: 242/646

Overall Gender Rank: 139/448

Age Group Rank: 29/86

Splits:

Mile 1: 8:37

Mile 2: 9:16

Mile 3: 8:58

Mile 4: 8:43

Mile 5: 8:46

Mile 6: 8:31

Mile 7: 8:13

Mile 8: 8:13

Mile 9: 8:22

Mile 10: 8:16

Mile 11: 8:13

Mile 12: 8:19

Mile 13: 8:43

Mile 13.1: 8:58

I could not have been happier about my performance. I didn't go out there with these expectations and I feel so lucky that I was able to accomplish what I did.

 

This is truly what mile 13 of a PR race looks like.

 

Now let's talk about the race itself.  This was an supremely organized race!  Like I mentioned, this was the inaugural race.  And from beginning to end it was organized so well.  Just to name a few reasons why I would recommend this race to anyone:

• Their Facebook presence with updates and the such was awesome. 
• The medal was one of the best ones I've gotten. 
• The course support was fantastic.  Water at all stations.
• The tech shirt is great .. I've worn it for many training runs since then.
• Timing chips attached to the bib.
• Bag pick up the night before was super fast and easy.
• Gorgeous views down one of the main canyons of the Wasatch Mountains.
• All of the food and stuff after the race was really awesome too.

 

The hubs and me.

 

The whole family.

 



If you want an awesome race to travel to Salt Lake City for this is the one.  I can't wait to run this again next year and attempt to beat my PR. 


Have you run a specific race where you just loved it from beginning to end?

Hobble Creek Half - Race Recap

A couple weekends ago my husband and I ran the Hobble Creek Half Marathon.  It's famed to be one of the prettiest races in Utah.  The kind of race that sells out within hours of opening registration.  I'm not actually sure how quickly it sold out this year.  I was online and registering the morning it opened.  This was my brothers first half marathon last year, and one of the few races I've gone to the finish line to cheer on.  Since then it seems like I've just been running them all.  But watching them finish this race last year is what motivated me to step up my training and run my first half marathon.  They were such an inspiration.  Plus this would be the first race I would actually run the whole thing with my husband.  I was excited for that too.

So as it turned out we were camping this weekend up at Jordanelle Reservoir.  This meant that we would have a little bit of a longer drive in the morning.  The alarm went off bright and early at 4am and we very very carefully tried to get ready in our trailer without waking any of the kids up.  Turned out we did a pretty good job of that, my dad didn't even hear us leave.  I had mapquested directions to the starting line and it estimated a 1 hour drive time.  As we raced down Provo Canyon we were behind another car that had a Ragnar sticker on the back window.  Based on their speed I said to Jeramie, I bet they're going to the same place.  But as we got to the bottom of the canyon and headed further south they kept going so I guessed I was wrong.  Until we then made a wrong turn and saw them pass us again.  I just thought it was funny to pick out another set of runners based on running stickers on their car.

We ended up making it to the finish line with just the right amount of time.  We geared up and walked over to packet pick up to get our bibs.  Once we had them pinned on and our timing chips attached to our shoes we walked over to the buses and literally just climbed on the bus.  We sat in the very first seat and spent the ride up the canyon listening to all the nervous runners.  I always find the bus talk amusing.  I was happy that the ride up the canyon didn't make me sick like the bus ride up for Timpanogos.  Once the bus dropped you off at the top you had to walk like another half mile up the canyon.  We laughed at all the people who were in such a rush to get up there.  We took it nice and leisurely walk, fast enough to keep us warm but certainly slow enough that we weren't using any race energy.  Once we got to the top we hopped in line for the Honey Buckets.  They were some of the longest lines I've ever had to stand in.  But by the time we finished we literally walked to drop my drop bag and then made our way to the slower pace signs.  We kept walking and walking, once we got to basically the complete back of the pack we were still at the 9:30 pace (faster than we planned) but we were at the back.  This really truly is one of my biggest pet peeves.  People who stand in the much faster corals than they clearly plan to run only to slow people down behind them who were respectful enough to stand in the correct coral.  It punishes those of us that are in the right place by forcing us to spend the first couple of miles trying to navigate around people running much slower.

Here we were at the starting line.  As you can see there's nobody hardly around us.

The nice thing about starting at the back

and running a conservative pace is there was little crowd to deal with.

This is pretty much what the first 8 miles looked like.

Slight down hill along a two lane unmarked road.

Very pretty.

Since we had only run Timpanogos Half a few weeks ago and it was my "A" race this year I had no intention of racing this one too.   Our goal was to go out at between a 10:30 and 11:00 min pace.

Mile 1:  10:37
Mile 2:  10:37

At this point we picked up an older gentleman.  He said to me that I should have been a pacer because I was running 10:30 on the nose.  I was a little bit flattered.  I'm pretty sure it was a compliment.  We chatted a little bit about what other races he had run and what he had coming up.  He mentioned going out too fast at Timpanogos and gassing out.  He was happy to pace with us for a while in order to avoid having the same thing happen.  It was kind of funny for me really.  I ran between the older gentleman wearing his BYU cap and my husband wearing his "Will Run For Beer" bondi band .. haha.  Opposite ends of the spectrum I tell you. He stuck with us until around mile 7, however didn't talk much after that.

Mile 3:  10:22
Mile 4:  10:29
Mile 5:  10:22
Mile 6:  10:01
Mile 7:  10:19
Mile 8:  10:19

At this point I have to mention that I am apparently very natural at maintaining a pace.  I don't spend a ton of time watching my Garmin.  I just pretty much run by feel.  I think it was around mile 8 that we started to hit the bottom of the canyon where it diverted us off of the road and onto a paved trail similar to the trail that I run the majority of my training runs on.  There were some rolling hills in there and a lot of flat.  This course is much more flat than Timpanogos was.  Jerm and I were still running together.  Not talking too much, he was feeling pretty good and I was happy for that.  I was feeling pretty great.  Not too tired. My heart rate was in a great place.  Just felt like a speedier training run to me.

Mile 9:  10:26
Mile 10:  10:22
Mile 11:  10:07

This is where it got interesting.  I was just chugging along.  At this point we had dropped out into some neighborhoods.  I was just running along when all of a sudden I noticed that Jerm had pulled ahead some.  I didn't think too much about it. He does that occasionally when he gets impatient with another runner.  He'll leapfrog over them and then we catch back up together.  But this time he just kept going.  So I picked up the pace a little thinking, well okay we wants to go a bit faster as we come into the last couple of miles.  As I sped up he did some more.  At which point I let him go.  I was a little bugged that he didn't say hey, do you want to pick it up and finish strong?  He just took off without a word.  So I continued to chug along at a slightly quicker pace at this point.  I really didn't have a whole lot more to give without really pushing it.  This whole time I could see Jerm in front of me and I noticed that the gap between us was closing.  We were heading into mile 12 at this point and so I picked up the pace some more with the intention of finishing strong.  I caught up to him and basically said, "WTF was that??"  He looked tired.  Apparently when he hit Mile 11 his MotoActive told him he was heading into lap 12.  He thought it meant he had hit 12 miles and he was pushing to finish strong.  Only to find out that he had only finished mile 11 and rather than 1 more to go he really had 2 more.  I laughed.  Hard.

Mile 12:  9:13
Mile 13.1:  9:14

I still felt great at this point.  My legs were a bit tired but I had some gas to finish strong and so I pushed him to keep going.  He was a bit miserable at this point.  But finish strong is exactly what we did.  I enjoyed running with Jerm for the majority of the race. Once we finished we walked through and picked up our t-shirts (this race hands them out at the very end to finishers). Picked up our medals.  Grabbed some fruit and chocolate milk and went and sat to catch our breath.  I wanted to check and see what our official time was and this took FOREVER.  I guess they were too interested in posting times for us slower runners.

I got a truck load of compliments on my outfit.

Love running races with this big guy.

Official Results:

My time:  2:12:10

Average Pace:  10:05/mile

Overall Place:  732/972

Age Group Place:  116/147

Jerm's time:  2:12:10

Average Pace:  10:05/mile

Overall Place:  733/972

Age Group Place:  50/61

387 Male finishers

585 Female finishers

Jeramie missed a PR by 4 freaking seconds!  If I had known we were gonna be that close I would have pushed harder sooner.  But the good news is that we both felt great and enjoyed running the race together.  Overall the race itself was pretty good.  Although they did run out of the energy gels before we got there, that was a drag. I almost wish that they would put them in your swag bags before the race so that everyone would get one, rather than letting people who pass through first grab a fist full leaving slower runners with nothing.  I did enjoy being one of the runners that spend the whole race passing people rather than the runner that is passed.  Ragnar I got passed a lot.  I like that you have to earn your t-shirt (even if I didn't love this years design as much as last years).  I thought it was cool that they decided to hand out medals to all finishers as well.  Although the medal itself was a little plain.  Better than nothing though.  I could see doing this one again.

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What are your thoughts on the free race energy gels/chews? Have they run out at your race before?