My foray into the world of hardcoreness

Well folks, I did it! I actually finished the half-marathon. And I ran the whole stinkin' thing, except for the few water stations they had which I let myself kind of hobble through. It seems like all of the cool running blogs give an official race re-cap, so I want to be cool like that and do one too (as if anyone cares and would seriously read this as a recommendation of the race).

Before I go any further, though, I want to thank by SWEETEST hubsie hubs (also my only hubsie hubs) in the whole world for being so supportive and positive while I was training for this race. He seriously would offer to massage my crippled calves and feet like every day and always told me that he was proud of me and that I was fast (even though I am the slowest runner ever). I love you!

Anyway, I was pretty nervous last night because I kind of had an upset stomach and I did NOT want anything to interfere with Saturday morning. I went and picked up my packet and shirt after work on Friday, and totally tried to scope out other people who didn't look very intense so I would feel less intimidated (you think I am joking). This race had a 5k and relay too, though, so it wasn't like elite runners or anything. Obviously, if they let me in. Duh.

Dave was super cute and like forced me to go to bed early (after we watched our stories. We HAVE to watch our fav Thursday shows on Fridays, it is what makes the weekend great. We also went on a Slurpee date to the 7 Eleven by our apartment and I think that we had both forgotten how wonderful Slurpees can be. We already have plotted what flavor combos we are getting next time). I hate going to bed while Dave is still doing homework because if it is ever reversed and I have to stay up late he always waits for me but I am a horribly selfish person, what can I say, and I have on several occasions deserted him to fend for himself. He had a Chem test today so he was up kind of late studying (he did really good on his test though! Shout out!) but he still got up at 7 to come with me to the start. I have to say, having a race start like 3 blocks from your house is kind of nice. The start was pretty small and low-key, and since I already had my number and stuff we just walked around downtown for a sec so that I could warm up a little. We saw a few people we knew and I got to feel cool when they were doing the shorter races and I was doing the half. Running...isn't it all about feeling snobby and superior? (actually, runners are usually super nice people in my experience).

It was finally time to line up, and Dave got this lovely pic of me:

 Yes, yes I know I look super tired and gross. And my number is off-center (when I was picking it up this random guy goes "whoa, you got lucky. They almost gave you 666!". Weird. Like I said, runners are friendly)

My strategy was this: start at the back. Don't push yourself too hard at the beginning and don't get overexcited and then poop out at mile three. I started back behind the 2:30 pacer, with all of the ladies wearing Girl's Camp '08 t-shirts, and I felt like I would fit in back there.

We got going, and I really had to try to hold myself back and try to not want to pass everyone for the thrill and then fall behind. It was fun to run down the middle of the street, and we got lucky with the BEST weather. It was sunny and warm and just heavenly out today.

Once I hit like mile three I was feeling really good and I wanted to go a little bit faster. I was keeping about a 10:00 pace which is super slow I know but I felt like if I could keep it there for at least the first half I would be in good shape. I started feeling really good about myself when I was passing old men in short-shorts and old race tanks. They looked legit and so I felt like I was in the big leagues.

I started to get a little tired at about mile seven, and that part was also a little hard because they stopped having mile markers and stuff. We also left the road and were on a trail, which was really pretty, but when you are more alone, it gets easier to slow down. I let myself slow down a little but I still didn't really feel like I needed to stop. It was also fun to see random parts of Provo that I have never seen, after living here for four years I thought I had seen it all, but it turns out that there is a lot that I had yet to discover.

The one complaint that I have about this race was that I felt like the race support was a little lacking. I am not an expert or anything, but the website said that there would be a lot of water and even like gels and stuff, but there were only a few stations and they weren't manned very much so they kind of got swarmed and you had to stop a few times (which was a welcome excuse for me...) and there were never any gels. I have run shorter races that had way more volunteers and water stations, but I understand that this is a smaller race. Just an observation and it didn't make a huge difference for me, since I was just doing this for fun.

Also, when the mile markers stopped random spectators started telling us how far we had run, and they were WRONG! That made me really angry when I thought I was at mile 10 and it turns out 10 minutes later I passed mile 10. It sounds dumb now, but at the time, when I was at death's doorstep, that extra mile seemed insurmountable.

Luckily, at about mile 9 sweetie pops started texting me and saying encouraging things so that boosted me a little. Shout out to Melissa (who did this race last year and totally gave me confidence) for texting me right as I started my last mile too.

Around mile 12 things started getting pretty ugly but I was on a main road and so my pride kept me going! There was one big hill at the very end but I was so close that I just powered up it and then I could see the finish line. Right as I was getting close, Dave texted me "I see you" so I started looking around for him and there, right by the finish, he was! It made me so excited and I wanted to see him so bad for some reason so I finished strong. As you can see below, the red dude who photo bombed me was not so happy that I stopped to take a picture while they were cutting off my time chip. This is him barking at me and shoving me up in line for not moving fast enough.

 Dave gave me a big hug even though I was sweaty nasty, and we got some free French toast and I stretched out a little in the grass. It felt so good to be done, and I felt like it was something I would definitely do again! I don't have my official time yet, but I think it was like 2:15. I just wanted to do it in under 2:30, so I was happy with it. I don't know how people can do a full marathon, though! I was so tired after 13 miles, I cannot imagine doing that over again! Maybe someday, though.

 

My favorite cheerleader ever

I have pretty much spent the rest of the day napping, reading, and grocery shopping. We also went to Cafe Rio and we demolished a whole salad and burrito between us. Good thing I ran a half marathon today.