Salt Lake City Half Marathon 2013

I DID IT!!!  Cross it off the Bucket List!  I ran the whole thing!!  I am on Cloud 9 right now.  I honestly expected to have to walk atleast some of it.  But I just took it slow and trudged along to the end.  Staci was with me, and we crossed the finish line together.

Official Time:  2:50:18

First here are some overall thoughts/observations that I had:

1. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the volunteers and spectators cheering along the entire course.  They SAVED me.    The high fives and posters and cheers were SO encouraging.  Some of the posters said stuff like, "Even though you're a stranger, you're my hero."  People had cowbells and triangles and would cheer to ALL of us.  Tons of residents stood in their yards as we ran by.  Tons of kids held signs.  Sweet little troopers!  It was freezing!!  A few times, we saw some old ladies in bathrobes just sitting in their living rooms waving.  So cute.  There were countless police officers at intersections and volunteers at water stations.  I cannot thank them enough!  I tried to wave and yell thanks to as many of them as I could, but I wish there was more I could do to show them my appreciation.  PLEASE, if you ever have an event near your home, go out and cheer the runners on!  They need it!!!

2. I was impressed with security and how smoothly it all went.  There was almost always a helicopter overhead, bomb squads were at the start and finish, and there were police officers everywhere.  I'm grateful for them.

3. The adrenaline and feeling as you run down that final chute to the finish line is amazing.  I had to hold back tears.

4. It rained the ENTIRE time.  Sometimes it was a light sprinkle and other times it really rained.  It actually wasn't too bad to run in...except for when you'd accidently land in a huge puddle!  I was glad I had chosen to wear a hat, so my face and hair stayed pretty dry.  Water dripped off the end of my hat, and my clothes and feet were soaked.  Some people ran with garbage sacks over them!  I felt bad for all of the runners who had water just pouring down their faces!  And don't even get me started again on the spectators and volunteers.  They stood there for hours in the rain.  I want to kiss them all.

5. I ate some energy chews every 2-3 miles.  They had water and gatorade every two miles, but I didn't drink too much because I didn't want to have to stop and pee.  :)  I already probably lost several minutes of time just pausing to drink.  And hug Nate and the kids.  They owe me a good 20 seconds off my time!  ;)

6. NO foot pain the entire race.  Plenty of other aches and pains, but none in my foot.  I'm sure it'll be hurting tomorrow, but I don't care.

7. The girl who won the half ran it in 1:19:25 and the guy ran it in 1:07:13.  Holy smokes.  ONE freaking hour.  People are amazing.

Okay so here is the re-cap.

I woke up at 4:45 and ate half a bagel and a banana.  Then I checked the weather report (rain...) and went back to bed for about 30 minutes.  Then I got up and got ready.  I was all set to go...and I realized I didn't have my shoes on!  Haha, oops!

Staci and I walked up to campus to the starting line.  We used the porta-potties (sorry, not glamorous, but definitely a vital part of being a runner!).  Then we all just huddled together under a huge tent to stay warm and dry.

Before I knew it, it was time to head up to the starting line.  They played "Sweet Caroline" to honor Boston, and then we were OFF!  I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be.  Once I started running, it just felt like I was running!  ;)

Before we even went a mile, we ran right past my complex.  Nate and the kids were standing out on the sidewalk.  So I jumped off the road and kissed them all.  I kind of wish I could have seen them further into the run when I needed a boost, but it was still GREAT to see them all!!

It took a few miles to "thin the herd".  Lots of dodging around walkers and having faster runners dart around me.  Once everyone settled into their pace, then you could kind of get a feel of who would be running around you.  A lot of people would run and then walk and then run, so there was a lot of passing back and forth.  I was pretty determined to RUN the whole thing, even if I was barely shuffling along!  I know my time would have been faster if I had walked a little bit and rested, but for some reason, I was dead set on running this thing!

I felt really good for the first several miles.  I was running comfortably around 11:30 min/miles, which is still slow, but not as slow as I thought I'd do.  Staci and I chatted with each other and some of the runners around us.  At about mile 3, I called Nate.  Apparently they had camera crews along the course because he told me he had just seen me run by on TV   Haha.  I'm famous.  ;)  Staci had to stop and pee early on, so I went ahead, knowing she could catch up easily.  As much as I LOVED running with her, it was nice to have a few minutes of alone time too.

Sugarhouse Park is hilly, but I just took the uphill stretches slow.  I was still feeling good at this point.

Running...running...still running.

I started to lose a little steam and momentum around Mile 7, which I expected.  I slowed down a tad, but I was okay with that.  Right around then, a glorious ANGEL of a volunteer had set up a table with sliced apples.  Even though I had been eating energy chews and drinking water, that apple boosted me up SO much.  I took it with me for about 2 miles and just nibbled on it.  It distracted me and was just what I needed.

Staci's brother lives along the course, so he took some pictures of us.  Staci is waving to her sister-in-law, and I'm trying to look like I'm enjoying myself!  ;)

I think about Mile 8 is when we said goodbye to the marathoners.  The halfers went right, and the marathoners went straight.  Dang, I cannot imagine only being 1/3 done at that point.  Not even that!  It blows my mind.  Marathoners are in a whole other ballgame than half-marathoners, atleast to me!!

Running....running....still running.

When I hit Mile 10, I knew I was going to run the whole thing.  I knew that no matter what, I could get through 3 more miles.  This boosted my spirits too.  Staci was a huge help.  I know I was slowing her down, but she stuck with me.  She encouraged me a ton.  She is capable of running much faster, so I was grateful that she "sacrificed" this race to run with me.  She'll get her PR on her next one...c'mon 1:59:59!!  I'll be happy if I ever get under 2:30:00 someday!

Well, even though Mile 10 was good for my mental state....I started to break down, physically.  I've never run more than 10 miles, and that was well over a month ago.  So I knew the last 3 miles would be rough, I was planning on suffering through them.  And SUFFER I DID!!!  Miles 11 and 12 were AWFUL.  I hurt so bad, I could barely run.  They DRAGGED by...I think I was running like 13:40's or so.  Everytime I glanced at my watch, I had only gone like .2 further.  So I covered my watch with my sleeve and ignored it for the rest of the race!  I tried to pick up my pace for my very last mile, but I just had nothing left.  So I just focused on the fact that I was almost done!!  The spectators started to get really excited.  They yelled things like, "1/2 mile left!  You're almost there!".  They blasted music too.  That helped a lot.  One lady was handing out gummy bears, which were also heaven-sent!  I chewed on them to distract me for a few minutes.  I wanted to run faster, but my hips would NOT let my legs move any faster.  This picture was taken right during this stretch.  Blah...just finish, just finish!!

One cool aspect of being literally HALF as fast as the marathoners is that right as we were in the last 2 miles, the winner of the marathon passed us.  A police officer on a motorcycle was leading him, and man, he was HAULING it.  He flew by us.  We cheered him on.  Like I said....whole other ballgame going on with those marathoners!  I cannot imagine running that far.  (By the way, looks like he finished in 2:30:00.  He ran a full marathon 20 minutes faster than I ran a half.  So awesome!)

When we finally reached Liberty Park, I knew Nate would be waiting for me.  I couldn't really focus on all the people to look for him, so I just tried to put on a non-dying face as I ran down the final stretch.  When the Finish Line banner came into view, my eyes flooded with tears.  Even though I could barely run through the pain, I was ecstatic.  I had DONE IT!!  The feelings I had are hard to explain.  Staci and I sprinted the last little bit down the chute (probably a bad idea, my hips were screaming at me!).  We gave each other a big hug at the end.

A lady handed me my medal, and that right there made it ALL worth it.  Such a great feeling.  Nate found me right away and said he had seen me finish.  I was so glad he was there.

The moment I stopped running, the REAL pain hit.  I could NOT walk.  I literally limped over to the food.  My hands were so cold that I could barely grip anything!  I ate a banana and some heavenly Famous Amos cookies.  There was a big expo going on at Liberty Park, but I was too cold and sore to care, so we came home.  I could not wait to get into a HOT shower!

Overall, it was a great experience.  I think it's safe to say that while I won't do many, I'll probably do another half.  I'd like to run one when I feel more prepared, physically.  Today I didn't care at all what my time was, so even being under 3 hours felt great.  I'm sort of glad that I did it so slow, so now I can only improve.

Here are a few pics from KSL:

I love running!! The words of a witty volunteer:  "Great job runners, it was a pleasure taking a shower with you all this morning!"  I love the running community.  I love how you can meet someone at an event and automatically be friends.  I loved becoming "buddies" with the runners around me, especially towards the end when we were all dragging.  We kept each other going.

Another quick thanks to all of my friends and family who have supported me.  Especially Nate!  Love you!

My medal!  I love it so much.  I kind of want to wear it all weekend long...

I wore my 13.1 bracelet, and they handed out Boston bracelets at the starting line.

My watch was always a tad ahead of the race mile markers, so I'm not sure if I ran 13.25 or 13.1.  Oh well. (haha apparently if I hold still, I can still go a mile in 40:44).