Salt Lake Half Marathon '11

{ The group from my ward that ran the race}

A couple of weeks ago I ran in the Salt Lake Half Marathon. I wasn't planning on running any half marathons this year, but two weeks before the race I decided to sign up. My two friends that I run with during the week had been planning on running the race for months. I decided even though I wasn't planning on it, I would continue to run the miles they were running. When we started hitting 10-11 miles on our longer runs, I decided what the heck! I might as well run it too. Signing up two weeks before race day was the perfect way to go! No stress or nervousness during any of my training runs, and by the time I signed up it was already time to start tapering. It was fabulous!

{Jessica, Me, and Cozette at the starting line}

I was all nerves once race day came! I was having knee and ankle pain earlier in the week and it totally freaked me out! So, I said a lot of prayers and hoped for the best! I normally don't set too many goals for races, but this time was a little different. I knew that I had increased in speed over the year, so I was really hoping to beat my best time of 2:21:54. Deep down I was really hoping to finish in under 2:10. I didn't really think that I could finish that quickly but decided it was worth a shot! When the gun went off at the starting line, the adrenaline was insane! There were so many people and it was difficult to find our normal pace. We were weaving in and out of people for the first few miles, but finally found a comfortable stride around mile 5. I decided to look at where we were pace wise and just before mile 5 our average was 8:45. I couldn't believe it! We had never ran that fast before. We decided to slow it down a little bit. I continued to feel good up until mile 8. That's when I started feeing sluggish, so around mile 8 1/2 we took a break and had our energy gu's. Shortly after starting back up again, I stepped in a crack and rolled my ankle. Luckily, I've had this happen MANY times and was able to keep going.

We hit Liberty Park and I was really starting to doubt myself. I always hit a wall between miles 10 and 11 and was nervous it was going to happen again. Luckily, they had cameras taking pictures as you were leaving the park, so naturally you try to look all gung ho and happy. Right after that happened, my energy gu kicked in and I felt a little bit of energy come back. I was mentally trying to prepare for the State Street stretch. Everyone had warned me that it was miserable! There is a short hill at the end that isn't fun to run after you've already ran 12 miles. Once we turned on State, all I could think about was the hill. We stopped at a water station {around mile 11.5} for a quick drink. I really felt that I needed to slow down if I was going to make it up the hill. I told Jessica and Cozette to continue on if they felt they could go faster than me. I fell behind a little bit and was a little disappointed in myself, but knew I could finish strong. I ran up that hill like I owned it! Once I turned on South Temple, I could see the Gateway where the race ended. I finished the last of my water and took off! It was so fun to see the crowds of people get thicker as you got closer to the finish line. As I rounded the corner into the Gateway, I began seeing friends there cheering me on. Shortly after was Rob and the boys, then my sisters and their families. I always get so emotional at the end and they gave me the boost I needed to finish strong! I have the best family and friends in the world!

{Waving to Rob and the boys in passing}

I crossed the finish line and hit stop on my timer. It read 2:03:03! {My actual time ended up being 2:02:34} I couldn't believe it! That is the fastest pace I have ever maintained for that many miles. My body and my training didn't let me down. I had such a runner's high!

{Our little family}

{My whole cheering squad}

{My first {and favorite} running partner Jess. Who is amazing and ran the race with only 2 weeks of training!}

I am so glad I decided to run the half. It was a great experience and one I hope to have again in the future. A special thanks to Rob! He is so supportive of my running. Always willing to help with the boys while I go out on my long runs. Not to mention, he puts up with my ornery self when I am beat and tired from running so many miles. I love you babe! You are my rock!

Later that afternoon we met up with my siblings and their families to celebrate the April birthdays. What a way to celebrate! We chowed down on some delicious grub at Cafe Rio! I was starving to say the least :)

Canyonlands Half Marathon 2010

This past weekend, we headed down to Moab with our good friends, so Jess and I could run the Canyonlands Half Marathon. We left all of our boys at home and made a couples weekend out of it. It was one of the funnest weekends I've had in a LONG time! We got into town Friday night, picked up our packets, and headed to Pasta Jay's to load up on some carbs! I ordered the most delicious thing on the menu, Chicken Pesto Tortellini! It was so delicious I scraped my plate clean! To top it off we ordered pesto cheese bread that was just as yummy! After we were all put into carb induced comas, we headed back to our hotel for a good nights rest. I was a little nervous of how the night would go, mainly because I got zero sleep the night before my first race. Luckily, I didn't have any issues this time and woke up Saturday morning feeling well rested!

Jess and I before the race

Rob and Jonny had to find something to entertain themselves during the race. They went golfing for free at the golf course, off-roading, and even had some moob male bonding time! Here are a couple of pictures from their adventures.

Saturday morning was freezing! Race workers were saying that it was one of the coldest race mornings ever! We got bused up the canyon to the starting line, but had to stand in the freezing cold for another hour and a half! We thought we were going to die from hypothermia! By the time the race started, I couldn't feel my fingers or toes! It was a weird sensation to run on feet that you didn't have any feeling in. Jess and I had made a goal to try and finish the race in 2:25-2:30. We knew we had to run around an eleven minute mile to finish in that time frame. We were very optimistic that we could do. Once we crossed the starting line we took off! We finished our first mile in 9:40! After that we slowed down just a little bit, but averaged about a ten minute mile up until mile 8. Jess and I had completely different races. Jess was struggling with a painful knee from mile 3 -8, while I was feeling good up until mile 10. When Jess got into her groove right after we hit 8, I was starting to go downhill. At mile 9 there was a horrible hill. I thought it was going to be the end of me, but luckily we made it to the top and it was downhill from there to the end of the canyon.

Once we came out of the canyon we only had about 2.5 miles to go. This is where I lost it! I had a major physical and emotional break down. My legs were so tired and wanted to give up completely! The sun was beating down on us and I thought I was going to puke. I had to stop and walk for a few seconds to regain my energy. Luckily, Jess was there to encourage me to keep going and finish. I honestly don't know what I would have done without her! Even though I got a little testy with her a couple of times towards the end, she stuck with me and continued to push me. We stopped at the last water station at mile 12 to re-hydrate. We looked at the time and knew that if we kept pushing forward we would beat our goal. Slowly but surely we crept towards the finish line. With less than a half mile left to go, the finish line was in view! Jess offered me her hand and we bolted to the finish line! Our husbands were there to cheer us on and I couldn't have been happier! We finished in 2:21:55! A whole 33 minutes faster than our previous race!

Approaching the finish line

Rob and I

Jess and I - SO happy to be done!

Finishing that race in the time we did really proved to me that I can do anything I set my mind to! Jess and I had some really rough training runs. 3 out of our 4 longest runs took place in blizzards. Our training times were so slow because the snow kept slowing us down. We had no idea if we were going to make our goal time because we never had any good training runs. We were so happy with the out come of the race. Special thanks to Jess for sticking with me and pushing me to the finish line! I owe you big time! Up next on our race list...hopefully the Salt Lake Half in less than 4 weeks! I'm not sure if I am crazy enough to run two races so close together. The torturous memories will be so fresh, I don't know if I could handle it :)

The rest of the weekend was so relaxing! We just hung out, ate food, and laughed! Mainly at our dorky husbands! They had some hilarious stories to tell of their crazy adventures. Sunday morning we all slept in and then headed into Moab one last time to grab a bite to eat and hit up Arches National Park. This was my first time to Arches and I've lived in Utah all my life. It was absolutely beautiful! We decided to hike up to Delicate Arch before hitting the road. I don't know if that was the smartest thing to do since Jess and I were sore from the race, but I think it was worth the pain!

Balancing Rock

Delicate Arch

The husband and I

Jonny and Jess

Petroglyphs

It was a great way to end the weekend! Thanks again to Jess and Jonny for making the trip so memorable! Rob and I had a blast!

Bear Lake Half Marathon 2009

WARNING!!! SUPER LONG POST AHEAD!!!

I can't believe this past weekend is finally over! I'm am so excited, but also a little sad all at the same time. We had such a great weekend, it was sad to see it come to an end. Let me start at the beginning...I will get to the race at the end. Our weekend actually started on Thursday, which was our 5 year anniversary. Thursday afternoon I drove the boys to my parents, loaded them in my parents car, gave them lots of kisses, and they were on their way up to Bear Lake. Thanks Mom and Dad for watching the boys! Rob and I really appreciated it! I was so crazy busy Wednesday and Thursday that I didn't really have time to think about the race or get nervous. Except for one thing...my right foot was really starting to bother me. Earlier on in the week it would ache here and there. By Thursday it was really starting to get me nervous. The pain was coming more frequently and stayed longer. I tried to not think about it, but those of you who know me, know that I stress easily.

After dropping the boys off, I headed to mall to relax and shop a bit. It was so fun to be by myself and shop for some jeans. After shopping, I met Rob at the Olive Garden for dinner. I stocked up on some much needed carbs and their delicious salad. Then Rob and I picked up a movie and headed downtown to the Anniversary Inn. We stayed in the Swiss Family Robinson room. It was a lot fun! I had never slept in a tree before, and I was really excited to get some much needed rest. Rob and I couldn't wait to sleep in...but unfortunately we were both wide awake at 7am! Go figure! But we did get to relax and be lazy without getting any juice or breakfast for our boys, or change any diapers. It was really nice. We finally got out of bed and got ready, and headed to the Salt Lake Temple. It was so fun to be there on a busy June morning. There were so many weddings going on, it brought back some fun memories of our wedding day.

After a great morning in the Temple, we headed to my parents to load up the car and hit the road! We had such a great trip up to the lake. It had been years since Rob and I had driven to the lake with just the two of us. We only had one pit stop and made great time. By this time, I was starting to get more and more nervous as the day went on. I woke up on Friday with my foot killing me! I decided to pack both of my pairs of shoes. I had a feeling that it was my new pair of shoes that were causing my foot the problems. I guess that's what I get for waiting until two weeks before the race to try and break in a new pair of shoes.

Later that night, Jess, Jonny, and I went to the park and picked up our packets for the race. Seeing all of the other runners really started getting me excited and more nervous. I couldn't believe that I was going to be running 13.1 miles with 400 other runners. It was crazy to me! I tried to get to bed early that night, but that didn't happen. After wrestling with Wesley for awhile, we finally got into bed around 11pm. I don't think I fell asleep until after midnight, and I woke up every half hour or so. It was a rough night!

I finally rolled out of bed at 5:40 and started getting ready. The nerves were really starting to kick in. My foot was still throbbing, but I tried not to think about it. I got dressed, ate breakfast, and put on my old shoes. Luckily, my foot was feeling better once my shoes were on. A few minutes later, Jonny and Jess picked me up and we were on our way to the starting line. I mentioned in an earlier post that I was nervous about the weather. Well, it started raining on our drive over, but luckily it stopped shortly after getting there. We met up with Lincoln (my cousin's husband) at the start and stood around for a half hour or so waiting for things to start. Since it was most likely going to rain on us, a lot of people had on plastic ponchos and some had even put trash bags over their heads. We thought it was quite humorous!

Shortly after 7:30 the race began! It was crazy. It was quite easy for me and Jess to set our pace. By the first mile we were at our normal pace and were feeling good. I was worried about how the elevation would effect me, and by the third mile I was really feeling the difference. My lungs were burning and I could tell they were working a lot harder. It started raining on us around 2 miles and by mile 3 it was starting to pour a little bit. We were feeling good though. When we were coming up on mile 5, up in the distance I saw my family and port-a-potty. I was so excited! My family was stocked with magic water and shot blocks. It was great timing. I was started to lag a little bit. After a bathroom break and some refueling, we were off. This part of the race was a little rough. It was a winding road and slightly uphill. Every bend we came around, we thought we were a lot closer than we really were. It also started raining on us again which was a bummer because we gave our jackets to my family. But we kept pushing forward. There was the coolest guy (he was probably in his 50's), who was running with us. He would high five anyone who was standing on the side of the road. He was also very encouraging and kept telling us we were doing a great job.

Here we are coming up on on mile 5.

Chowing down on some shot blocks!

When we hit the water station at mile 7, they were out of water, and only had gaterade. I decided to pass and luckily at mile 8 there was our cheering squad again! They saved the day with more magic water and shot blocks! We were still feeling pretty good, except my lungs were really starting to burn.
Lincoln (in front) rockin it! Jonny with his cool yellow trail shoes Jenny and Wesley waiting for my slow butt
Here we are coming up on mile 8. I posted this picture because the awesome high fiving guy is in this (in the front).


Jess and I had decided at the beginning of the race that we wouldn't let each other break down and give up. But after we hit mile 10, that's exactly what I started doing. I was starting to lose it. I was so tired, my knees were killing, and I was having a hard time breathing. Thank goodness for Jess! She kept me going and motivated. She would have rocked the race if I wasn't there holding her back. My family was there again at mile 10.5 cheering us on. We knew we were so close and that we just had to keep going.
Mile 10.5!!!
We hit mile 11 and then mile 12. I almost started crying I was so happy. We were almost to the finish line when we saw Jonny with Carter and Max. It gave us the push that we needed and we were off. Once we entered the park and I saw my family, I sprinted. I couldn't get to that finish line fast enough! When we crossed that line, a wave of emotion hit me! I couldn't believe that I had just ran 13.1 miles! My sister gave me a hug and I almost lost it. And then I realized I couldn't breathe! The last sprint to the finish line nearly emptied my lungs. I didn't care though, I was just so relieved to be done! I wasn't really worried about what time I would finish the race, but I did set somewhat of a goal of when I wanted to finish in, and Jess and I came in 5 minutes under that. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't finish faster, but my main goal was to finish and that's what we did.
Here we are sprinting to the finish line. If you look to the right of me, you can see Wesley running with us. Crossing the finish line!!!

This was a huge accomplishment for me. I have never set a goal like this for me before and it felt so great to accomplish it! Running this race was one of the hardest things I've ever done! I wanted to give up so many times, but I didn't. I had so many people supporting me and pushing me on that the only thing to do was keep going. I am so grateful for my family. They were great cheerleaders and kept us going! I am so grateful for their love and support! I am also grateful for Jess. I don't think I would have finished without her. I am so grateful for her friendship! Thanks for not giving up on me. You really motiviated me to the very end! I don't quite know what to do with myself now. It felt weird not to get up this morning run. I'm hoping to tomorrow. I'm a little surprised at how well my body has held up after the race. I thought I would be in agony, but my legs have just been a little sore. Especially my hamstrings. I feel good and I'm happy I accomplished what I set out to do.
Me and my cheering squad Me and Jess - So happy to be done!!!