STG marathon photos

Here are some photos from the race :) Totally random and out of order, too lazy to fix it, hehe.

First up, the big blister, I have a couple better shots but maybe I'll spare you the goryness, both feet looked about the same.


I was walking away when I realized my cousin was taking this pic, I had absolutely no balance, my legs were just done.

Running the finishing shoot with some of my fam and my friend Lisa with her fam.

Right after the fam joined us, I cried of course :)

My cheering crew, minus Lucy who was taking the pic.

Mile 24, red, hot, and sunburned.

One of my favorite signs, hehe.

Truer words were never spoken.

Being silly the night before.

Start line!

Thanks for looking :)

St. George marathon race report

I contemplated shutting this blog down, but then I couldn't post my race report if I did, lol.

This year has been crazy busy for me, so my training for this, my second marathon, was seriously lacking. I wanted to run this one for fun, since last year was so miserable in the rain and wind and all alone. I ran this with Lisa mom extraordinaire, she is my hero.

We decided to go ahead and get on the early bird buses, try to win a prize and get the fast pass massage. So I found myself, at about 3:45 sitting on the bus on the way up to the start line. Lisa got me some sweats and shared her blanket with me as we sat up in the cold around the bonfires. We chatted with different people to pass the time, though I was really tempted to try and nap. It took us about 9 minutes to pass the start line and then away we went. Lisa wanted to prove that she can go way faster than she says, when I had to slow her down a few times ;). The adrenaline just gets to you, so I can't blame her :)

By mile 3 I was already sweating, not a good sign for me. I haven't been able to train in any sort of heat in quite awhile now, so I was worried about the expected upper 70's at our finish time. I brought some salt with me to take in case I started having problems.

Veyo hill is actually a welcome site for me, it's huge but I know once we are over it, the biggest one is done. I wish people would mention the hill on mile 18, that one isn't as big but it's late in the race and just sucks out my will to live :P. So we get up and over Veyo, passing many people on the way, that was an ego boost for sure.

Oh and Lisa's huge family, or part of it anyway, were at Veyo cheering her on, that was really cool. They all had matching t-shirts and they had signs, such a sweet family :)

At the halfway mark we were already behind about 15 minutes, not good, but we were feeling pretty well and just kept plugging along. I started feeling the dreaded blisters at mile 8 and just tried to ignore them the best I could. We did get a bit more downhill at this point and picked it up a bit, that was good because the sun was out and I was getting nervous.

At mile 15 I couldn't stand the blister pain anymore so I stopped and took off my shoes to glob on more vaseline, that is when I found out my right foot had a huge blister and the left hurt more but the blister was smaller. The aid station only had one moleskin so I decided to put it on my right foot. I got back up, sadly already tightening up, and away we went.

Mile 17 I have cell phone reception and I had several texts waiting for me, that was awesome. My hamstrings were yelling at me for quite awhile, I focused more on downhill than uphill and it came back to bite me, hard.

Mile 18ish, I thought that maybe I could count down to mile 21 or so, where more spectators should be, maybe Lucy and Keera would be there. My knee was mad, though I was really trying to hide it, and I was just so very tired. I got some cliff bars around here somewhere and ate one, plus some orange slices and a banana, that really helped with the energy.

Mile 21 we had yet another potty stop, we both were plagued with problems for the first part of the race, but poor Lisa got hit hard for the last 6 miles or so. She was so awesome pushing as hard as she could though, such an inspiration. I got a text here from Lisa's husband saying they were at 23 and would be ready and waiting. I also got a text from Stu saying they were at the finish and would be cheering us on from there.

Mile 23 and there are Lisa's family, her sister? Karen joined us here and I can't thank her enough, I was struggling bad, just having someone able to talk and help us count down was amazing.

I got a huge surprise at mile 24, there were Lucy and Keera, which I was expecting, but my Dad and Mom, sister Natalie, and her 4 kids. They all had smiley face signs for me, I of course cried, hehe. Things were really tough for me at this point, I was hot, I knew I was getting a sunburn on my face and I just wanted to be done.

Mile 25 ish Lisa had to make another potty stop and my knee decided that it was, in fact, finished, so I tried stretching and walking in place to warm it up, no go. I cried from here on out, it just hurt. I ended up using my hip to pull my leg along, which wasn't good but I needed to be done. We turn the last corner and there is my whole family again, including Stu and the kids. I got to run it in with Stu holding my hand as my hip decided to try and leave my body :P, my kids running around me, as well as nieces and nephews. I totally ditched Lisa at this point, it was either go or just lay down and give up :P. I know her family ran it in with her, so I dont' feel so guilty, hehe.

Oh, a quick funny, Lisa wanted some sports beans and I had some in my pack but the zipper was stuck, Karen said she would help get them so I just ripped off the pack and threw it at her, haha. I feel bad now but I was done. She was nice enough to carry it in the rest of the way.

I finished in 6:15:53 surrounded by family and friends, the support was amazing. Lisa and I cheered on the volunteers and spectators through most of the race, I know we were slow and they were tired, but we wanted some cheers, lol. The finish line spectators were awesome though, so loud and encouraging, just what I needed.

I got a free massage, that was pure heaven, and some much needed quiet time while i waited, I was just too tired to speak.

My feet hurt more than my legs and my knee is still angry with me, but I am planning on running another one, this one with better training though ;). So it must not have been too bad, hehe.

I know this is disjointed and poorly written, but I don't care, hehe.

Thanks to my family that came and my family that couldn't but thought of me and cheered me on from wherever they were. Also to my many friends that supported me as well, it really helped :)

St. George marathon race report

Sorry for the long and rambling report, I promise I edited it to shorten it and this is the best I could do :P. I will post pictures as I get them. And thanks to all of you that have supported me, I definitely needed it and thought of each of you while I was out there.

I obsessed with the weather up until Friday morning, I was so busy preparing for the trip and our mini vacation afterward that I forgot to check the weather one more time. I was prepared for a chance of rain and some cooler temps but not prepared for what I got.

I knew I wouldn't sleep, so I decided to ride up on the early bus and just hang out and enjoy the experience. When I arrived in St. George is was pretty warm so I didn't put my pants on, I figured my legs would be warm enough. What a mistake that ended up being, I was freezing. The wind was really strong up at the start so we couldn't all huddle around the fires, you had to stand along the sides for quite a while. Then the rain began, luckily a sweet woman next to me had an extra mylar blanket so I used that until the volunteers started giving out trash bags.

I joined the 5 hour pace group since that was my original goal, but 15 minutes slower than my predicted time after Hobble Creek. I was worried since I missed so many runs due to my car accident and hip injury. The pace team leader was hilarious and I really looked forward to running with him, unfortunately he apparently decided to bank some time after hearing about Veyo (he was from New Jersey) the first mile was 11:23, just a tad fast (shooting for 11:27) but the next mile he started pulling ahead, I tried to hold my pace and I finished it in 10:57 oops, mile three the group was quite a bit ahead and I hit it in 10:27, at this point I knew I was on my own. I was cold and wet and not happy to running 23 more miles in this weather.

I'm thinking that maybe if I could run faster I wouldn't have frozen so much ;). By mile 11 I was really struggling with the cold, I was shivering and angry. I never thought about dropping out, I was just mad that I had to continue in this rain, hehe. I decided that I had to start using up my motivations early, I had planned the last 6 miles to run each one for a family member or friend that inspired me along the way. I chose my Uncle Jeff first since I wasn't really hurting, but mentally I was struggling, he died from complications of arthritis at the age of 52. He spent most of his life in excruciating pain and he always just tried to do his best and keep plugging along. Thinking of Jeff really helped me for the next several miles.

Mile 13 was a low point for me, I couldn't feel my fingers any more and I knew I hadn't even reached the hardest part of the race yet. I'm actually thinking that mile 13 was my "wall" because after that I knew I just needed one foot in front of the other. I did cry at the aid station, I couldn't open the stupid banana and I just cried, so embarassing now. One of the volunteers laughed and then caught herself and said "You can do it, sweetie, you are halfway there" I was mad at her for laughing at me, but it did give me something to think about, so that's good.

At mile 14 I took a picture of myself with my cellphone and text it to my husband, my Aunt and some friends hoping for some support. My husband and Aunt sent encouraging texts which really helped through the hard times. At mile 18 I started to hurt, my left knee was really complaining by then and my stomach was already complaining about the Gu. I think I sat in the porta potty here for 3 or 4 minutes, just to dry out for a little bit and to prepare for the continuing rain.

By mile 21 it was just a drizzle out, but I was so wet I didn't notice if it was raining or drizzling or dry, I didn't care anymore. I discovered that I liked carrying some toilet paper in my hand, I could have one dry spot on my body and that a big comfort to me. Strange how odd little things keep you going.

At the mile 25 aid station I saw a porta potty and decided to use it so I wouldn't have to worry about it at the end, lol. After the little potty break I decided that I would do no more walking or stopping and would finish as fast as I could, after many 12:45+ min miles I finished this one in 11:02 and the last .2 in a 10:15 pace. I saw my family standing on the side waiting for me and I began to cry, I'm sure the finishing photo is going to be flattering, ha.

The sweet volunteer handing out the metals was an older gentleman, reminded me of my Dad. I was crying by now and he gave me a big hug, told me he was so proud of me and that I worked really hard and should be proud of myself. I hobbled over to my family and gave them all hugs and cried some more. One downside to being slow is they run out of food sometimes, I got an ice cream but the only other thing available was melons and grapes, I don't like melons and people were just sticking their hands in the grapes, eww so I didn't get anything else to eat. I did get a coke to drink and we hobbled over to get my gear and the car.

I ended up using the porta potties 8 or 9 times during the race, my garmin has me running for 5 hrs 18 min, so I wasted a lot of time in the potties. I didn't drink more than normal, in fact I drank less than normal so I don't know why I had to go so often, that's something I'll have to work on next time. Yes, there will be a next time :)

I hate the cold, always have, so I doubt I'll be running any winter races after this :P

A quicky

I will post a long and rambling report later. I just wanted to let you all know that I made it :). It rained, a lot, it was windy from time to time. I froze. I cussed. I finished it.

5 hours and 40ish minutes.

Hobble Creek Half Marathon race report part 2

This race starts at 7:30, which is way too late for August in Utah, but I guess the race directors have to do what they can to get everyone up to the start. It took a good 20 minutes to get up the canyon and buses started loading at 5:15 am. Cathleen (my friend that trained with me, this was her first half marathon, she rocks!) and I ran for about 1/2 mile or so for a warm up, it was pretty chilly up there. We stretched out and then chatted for a little while. We tried to get in the middle of the pack for the start, but it was pretty packed.

The "gun" goes off, it was a police siren sound, kind of weird but whatever. And we don't move, it took about a minute and 20 seconds to cross the line, dang it. Then it was so crowded that we couldn't get into a good groove until about 1.5 miles in :S. I started cramping almost immediately, in my abs, but toughed it out until the 3 mile aid station where I walked and drank water. I decided to start munching on sports beans to see if that would help, it really didn't :(. I was well hydrated and thought I ate well the days prior, so I don't know what was up.

After the mile 3 aid station I decided it was time to just push it as much as I could since this was supposed to be the best downhill part of the course. I passed many many runners through here, which was pretty motivating. My one complaint is the campfire smoke, it kind of just hangs out there in the canyon, but didn't last too long which was good.

I took a Gu at mile 7 or so with the Heed sports drink, man that stuff was gross! I forced myself to drink it because it was getting hot and I was still cramping! Luckily it calmed down just a bit so I could ignore it fairly well. There were quite a few hills through mile 10 or so, which was a surprise to me, no one said anything except for the hill around mile 10.5-11, though it is Utah I should have known ;).

At the mile 11.5 water station, the person in front of me stopped completely, so I had to do the same, I was never able to recover fully and my pace suffered :(. I had been following blue shorts girl for about 2 miles, her pace was pretty even, which was really helpful but I lost her here and had to settle for passing other people instead.

Now, before you all think I'm a big jerk, I was tired and had to pick any motivation that I could. I know people have different ailments and or philosophies when it comes to long distance running, so I don't fault her for what happened, I just used it as motivation. Ok, disclaimer done. There was a woman that was running with a friend and she kept peeing her pants, I passed them at mile 8.5 or so, not wanting to get splashed, it was that bad. But they caught me after the 11.5 aid station, I kept them close, as she went again! And at mile 13 I passed them one last time, I didn't want to be behind her in the photos, I know! I'm so mean.

I really wish I would have had someone to run with, I think I could have done even better, oh and the cramping didn't help either, I forgot to say that I had to stop and walk for about 20 seconds while I tried to stretch the cramp out, that was at mile 11 or so.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with my performance and I'm sure I'll give the race another chance, see if I can run more even splits. I usually remember a little more about the course than I do this time, I guess the fender bender knocked out some of my memory, hehe. Though this report is long enough, so I guess that's good that I don't remember.

Here are my splits, I lost my signal on my Garmin through the canyon, so my mile splits are off a bit.

Mile 1 - 10:25 very crowded at the start
Mile 2 - 10:10 still trying to get my groove
Mile 3 - 10:38 water stop and stretch the abs
Mile 4 - 9:42 nice downhill
Mile 5 - 9:56
Mile 6 - 9:42 found someone to pace with, but he drops back at the aid station :(
Mile 7 - 10:10 aid station and out onto the main road
Mile 8 - 10:11 mean hill
Mile 9 - 10:06
Mile 10 - 10:33 aid station
Mile 11 - 10:48 aid station and walk to stretch again
Mile 12 - 10:43 it's hot!
Mile 13 - 9:08 Garmin reads 12.92 miles, so this is a 9:56 pace

Per Garmin 2:12:16 :). Official results still aren't up yet, so I don't know the seconds, just 2:13:xx

I guess my thoughts that I can't hold a 9:xx mile for more than a mile are wrong, hehe.