Summer Races

Jason's backpacking trip was planned over the 24th of July holiday this year.  I wanted to run the Deseret News 10K that morning in Salt Lake so my mother-in-law was nice enough to come up to my house and watch the kids.  This race has always been one of my favorites.  It's a super fast downhill course and you get to run on the parade route for the last couple miles.  It is also the most prestigious road race in Utah, always attracting some of the fastest runners in the state.  A lot of years I don't even place in my age division because the competition is so tough.  The combination of the competition and the course always leads to a fast time.  To avoid the heat in the middle of July the race starts at 6 am.  This made for a really early morning for me to drive to Salt Lake and make it to the race in time.  Due to some closed roads at the parade route I ended up getting to the start later than I wanted to and didn't have time to warm up.  I found one of my friends, Anna, at the start and we decided to pace each other at least at the beginning.  We started out the first mile and it felt really fast.  I figured it probably felt faster than it was because I hadn't warmed up. Then I looked down at my watch and saw that we ran it in 5:28!  It didn't just feel fast, it was fast (even if it was downhill!)  I felt terrible but decided to try to stick with the group I was with.  By the second mile marker I was finally warmed up and actually feeling pretty good.  We ran the second mile just slightly slower at 5:37.  The course levels out at this point and even heads up a little hill and everyone started to slow down.  That's when I started passing people.  The 4th mile is another downhill mile and I was feeling great and passing more runners.  I wasn't sure what place I was in but a spectator told me I was in the top ten!  I had never been able to run in the top ten in this race before!  The last two miles we turned onto the parade route.  I was still running under 6 minute miles but that last mile was hard!  It seemed like it was never going to end, especially that last half mile uphill to Liberty Park.  I finished in 7th place in 35:52, two minutes faster than my best on that course!

After a couple more hard weeks of training Jason and I were both signed up to run the Hobble Creek Half Marathon last weekend.  I had never run that race before but had been told it was beautiful and fast.  I was excited to give it a try and was expecting a PR after so many great races this year.  The week of the race I came down with a bad head cold.  I was hoping it would be better by the weekend but as the week went on it just got worse.  Then Kaitlyn and Skyler both got ear infections, only it took me a couple days to figure out why they weren't sleeping.  By Friday I felt terrible and exhausted.  I really wasn't sure what to expect for the race.  We drove to my mother-in-law's house the night before.  The kids finally slept with some antibiotics and Tylenol in them but I tossed and turned on the air mattress all night.  The alarm clock went off at 4 am and I just wanted to go back to sleep.  We picked up our packets at the finish line and boarded the bus to the start.  I was almost asleep when the bus pulled up to the start area.  The cool air in the canyon woke me up quickly and felt refreshing in the middle of August.  With a breeze blowing down the canyon it looked like a perfect morning for running fast!  I started to get nervous while we were doing our warm up and kept running into some really fast runners.  I was hoping to finish in the top three but I started to doubt if I could really do it.  I had to remind myself that I was running fast and could run with those girls (and try to forget that I was dead tired.)  I was actually feeling pretty good now that I was awake and excited to race.  I had decided to wear these cute new green shorts that I bought.  Jason thought it wasn't such a good idea because it's always easier to work on passing people that are easy to see in bright colors.  I told him it wasn't a problem as long as I kept running hard and didn't let anyone catch up to me!

The starting line was a mess with lots of people crowding at the start.  The gun went off and I lost several seconds trying to get around the slower runners that started at the front.  I settled into a pace that felt fairly easy down the canyon.  My goal was to run around 1:22, maybe 1:20 if everything went well.  I needed to average just under 6:15 miles.  My first mile was 5:50.  It was a little too fast but it was pretty steep downhill and I knew the course would level out at the end.  I slowed down a bit though not wanting to die later in the race.  My next mile was a 6:15.  I thought it was a little too slow since I was still in the steep downhill part and wanted to be a little ahead later in the race when we left the canyon.  I decided to go with a girl who had just passed me.  She stayed with me for about a mile and then dropped back.  I settled into a pace around 6:00 to 6:05 miles.  I could see at least one woman ahead of me and could hear a group that wasn't far behind me in the canyon.  I just concentrated on keeping a steady pace.  I was running fast and was a little worried I might be going out too fast but I felt like I had been too conservative the first half and had too much left at the end.  I wanted to really give it everything this time.  The first half of the course was gorgeous in a narrow canyon with lots of trees and shade and a steady downhill.  By halfway I realized I was running a pace that would put me around 1:20.  In the second half the canyon opened up and we were in the sun more. The trail we were running on had some hills and I felt like I was starting to work harder but still kept my pace steady.  Some of the runners were starting to fade and I was catching some of the men, although the first place girl, Kassie Harmon, was still out of my sight and I figured would probably stay that way.  I was more worried about the group of women behind me.  I knew if I slowed down they would probably catch me.  The last three miles we came out of the canyon.  The course flattened out and the runners were getting farther apart.  I ended up on my own the last mile and a half.  When I glanced at my watch with a mile to go I realized I could break 1:20 if I could run it in 6:30.  It was hot, and it looked like I was never going to get to the finish.  I couldn't help glancing behind to see if that group of girls was catching me.  I had a decent lead over them still but I tried to focus on my time.  I crossed the finish line at 1:19:22 in 2nd place.  My average mile pace was 6:03.  Third place was 20 seconds behind me so I was glad I hadn't given up or it might have come down to the sprint.  Jason finished two minutes ahead of me in 1:17:15 with a new PR.  I won $150, a bouquet of flowers, and a plaque.  It was a fantastic race and makes me excited for St. George Marathon in October.  I never thought I would be able to run a half marathon under 1:20.  Just earlier this year I was trying to break 1:25.  I'm not sure how long this is going to last running PRs in every race but I am loving it and can't wait to see what I can do in St. George!