Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Race Report: Earth Day 10K

What is up with the weather in Utah this year?  I've been training in 40º and then race day comes and it's a record high 87º!!! 

AND this race had the most bizarre start time of 11am - so it was HOT.

Let me just tell you, I SUCK in the heat.

My husband ran this race with me and kept pushing me even though I kept trying to stop and walk (and I did walk, through both water stations and up a disgusting hill at mile 5.25).  But he pushed me in and I have a new PR for the distance.
And I won my age group and have another medal hanging in my bedroom.

My parent's watched Katie for us as we ran.  We picked her up and headed to get some lunch on the way home.  But she was worn out from playing so hard with her Grandma and Grandpa.

She's wearing her beach hat, getting used to it before we head out.

This blog will probably be empty for the next 2 weeks or so (maybe more, maybe less) - we're headed to Hawaii.  Be jealous.

I'll tell you all about it (and the running that we did) after we get back.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Wednesday Thoughts

OK, so last week's "experience" wasn't as bad as I made it out to be.  I forget that readers can't gather my sarcasm/joking/dramatics just from my words.

Anyway, running has slowed WAY down since the half marathon.  I've still been getting out on Saturdays for long runs, but mid-week runs have all but disappeared.  I guess I've just needed a little break before I start back into another training plan.  My next half marathon is in July and the training officially starts when I'm on vacation in 2 weeks.  So I'll be taking my running shoes along with me and experiencing runs at sea level - I should be AWESOME!

This Saturday, my husband and I are running a 10K together.  But I won't have my personal photographer for this race, which is a bummer.  I'll just have to make due with pictures from my phone.

In other news, my baby is going to be 18 months old on Friday.  And I love her.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Traumatized

I haven't been able to make myself go running since Monday's experience.

... ... ... ... ...

I don't really want to talk about it.  But it involved needing to use the bathroom mid-run. 

And I may or may not have made it in time.

And I may or may not have thrown those shorts away.

And I may or may not have wanted to cry.

Please don't judge me.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Riverton Half Marathon {in pictures}

Mile 1.5

Mile 3.5-ish


Mile 4.5 - ish

Mile 8.5

Mile 13 (my husband took pictures)


Finish line
Trying not to fall over...


My running partner, who trained all winter with me and finished her SECOND half marathon with a 4 minute PR of 2:07!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Race Report: Riverton Half Marathon

Goal A, B, C or D?

Well, for the first 9 miles, I was doing amazing.  My average pace for the first 9 was an 8:50 minute mile, so I was on track to absolutely KILL that course.

Things don't always go as planned.  It was hot.  It was really windy.  The sun was sapping all of my energy and the last two miles were so much harder than I was prepared for.

But you can't train for heat like that in March in Utah!  And to make it even more frustrating, the next day, the weather was absolutely perfect conditions (for me) for running.

The thing that I am happy with is the fact that I left EVERYTHING that I had on the course.  Normally, at the end of the race I usually have enough juice to sprint in the last .5-.25 mile.  On Saturday it took until I was about 10 yards from the finish line before I could get my legs to respond.

Finish time: 2:01:41

SO CLOSE!

But I am very happy with a new PR.  Very.  It's just hard to not be disappointed because I was SO close, and I felt really good for the first 8-9 miles.

I have some freaking sweet pictures from the race (my dad is so awesome and went every few miles along the course to get pictures of me), unfortunately they are on another computer.  So I will be posting those later.  And I'm sure that I will have more to say about the race.  I'm trying hard to not be so bummed about missing a sub-2 finish - I really need to be proud of the fact that I took 2 minutes and 34 seconds off of my previous best time.

And I am.  Really.

Final stats:
2:01:41
9:17 min/mile
71st woman finisher overall
8th in 25-29