You know, I wasn't nearly as stressed nor worried about this race than the TOU Half I ran last year. That is, until Friday morning when Camilla W. called me and asked if they could spend the night before the race. I spent all Friday nervous as I prepared for their family to come and prepped for the race. I was mostly nervous I would have to run just as hard for this one as I did the TOU because I can't go slower than last time! And that last one hurt.....BAD!!
Well, we got up bright and early (such is the life of an athlete) to head up to the race. Ryan and I went together at 5:15 and the families would follow later around 8:00. The race was held up by Pineview Reservoir, a beautiful place up Ogden Canyon. We arrived, parked in a field, picked up our packets and boarded the bus to be taken to the start line. I really enjoyed hanging out with Ryan and chatting. So glad to have someone with me on these races. As the buses arrived, there was a mad dash for the port-a-potties. Fortunately, we were on the second bus and I got in line with only 8 people ahead. Later, I looked back and my line had grown to about 50! Yikes! But I wasn't about to do what some others did and go in the bushes! From the drop-off point we had to walk up about 1/4 mile to the start line. We asked a fellow runner where the bag drop was and he said that we were supposed to just take our bags with us to the start line and then after we start we would see a trailer to drop them in. He must have been misinformed! Ha!
We got to the start, looked around, and were the only ones we could see with our bags in hand. I was a little nervous that we missed the bag drop and would have to carry the dang things for a few miles to the first aid station. I felt like a complete dork running with my bag! And Ryan looked like a complete dork running with his bag! Ha ha! Fortunately, we did find the trailer for the bag drop about a 1/4 mile down and tossed them in.
Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE pacers? We lined up with the 2:00 pacers, but quickly outdistanced them. I stayed in-between the 1:50 and 1:55 pacers for most of the race and Ryan ran ahead of the 1:50 pacers. I was proud of him for running so hard! I settled in to a steady rhythm and just tried to keep going. I had been thinking a lot about and article I read titled, "Enjoy Every Mile" and really tried to focus on that. I found myself looking around and enjoying the scenery as I ran down the canyon. Baby animals were everywhere! So cute!! I passed a pond where the frogs were croaking so loud, there were some horses racing us in their pastures, and a cute, white mama sheep with twin black lambs.
During my last half, I made the mistake of drinking only one gulp of water and was determined not to do that again. This time, I wore my water belt and sipped water at least every 5 minutes. I was glad to have that. I should have brought some goo, though. I think that may have helped me the last 3 miles. Because I had my water belt, I had no need to stop at the aid stations and ran through every one of them. We saw our families at mile 8 and that was a joyous sight! It really lifted my spirits and helped me run faster for a bit. Ryan ran well ahead of me and it wasn't until mile 9 that I caught him. He was running goofy and I could tell he was hurting. My hips were starting to hurt at that point as well. We played leap-frog for the rest of the race. Ryan would walk then run fast and I just ran my steady pace. At the 11-mile aid station he walked through to get water and I thought I might try walking through it as well. It hurt more to walk at that point so I just said, "Forget this" and ran. I knew I had two more miles to go and had to gut it out once more. I was really hoping this half would not be so hard the last few miles. But I was wrong. :( Ryan won the leap-frog contest and finished in 1:54. I came in at 1:55.25, a touch slower than the last one.
About 1/2 hour after the race and for the next 24 hours I experienced the 'Runner's Trots'. Ugh! It was horrible! My stomach hurt so bad and I couldn't be far away from a bathroom. I did a bunch of research trying to figure out what I did wrong. It could have been the gyoza I ate the night before or the IbuProfen I took before the race. Whatever it was, I've gotta be careful to make sure it doesn't happen again.
In retrospect, I was frustrated the last three miles were so hard again. However, as I look back on my journey thus far, a 5k used to be my max. Now I barely break a sweat when I run a 5k. 10ks.....easy...10-miler....not bad......Half marathon.....maxed out. Maybe someday that will no longer be my max. We'll see.....
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