Ogden Half Marathon

I was lucky enough to get to run the Ogden half marathon this year. I didn't sign up b/c I just kept putting it off and by the time I got serious about it, the race was full. I was way bummed out because I love this race. About two weeks ago I got an e-mail from Danny's Uncle Dana asking if I wanted Katie's number. She got married and wasn't going to be back from her honeymoon. I was so excited!! I hadn't run 13 miles since one year ago when I ran the half last year. I do run every day but it is usually between 3 and 7 miles, not 13. I was a little nervous but still way excited to run the race. I had to get up at 3:45 to meet Uncle Dana and family to carpool to the race. I was so glad they were nice enough to stop and pick me up so that I didn't have to drive up alone. Thank you!! We got bused up to the starting line and had to sit in the freezing cold for about an hour and a half. This is the worst part of the whole racing experience. It was so cold and just a long time to sit and wait. 7 o'clock finally rolled around and I was ready to just start running. My stomach hurt pretty much from mile 1 to 13.1. I don't know what the deal was but it was just cramping and killing me the entire race. It is a good thing I am extremely competitive or I would have sat down on the side of the road and curled up in a ball. It really hurt. I tried slowing down to see if that helped but it didn't so I decided to just keep running as fast as I could. At least that way the race would be over quicker right? My stomach hurt so bad I didn't feel anything else hurt until about mile 11 or 12. I am a treadmill runner so I don't think my legs knew what to do with all the pounding on the hard concrete. I was pretty tired from mile 10-13 but I kept my pace up and hit my goal time. Well, I would love to get under 1:40 but I never have and I hadn't trained to run that fast so I wasn't expecting that at all. I was really hoping to get about an 8 min. mile pace and I did!!! I am really proud of myself for this. I came in at 1 hour and 44 min. Of course this makes me want to train hard to do another one and try for 1:40 but we will have to see about that. My cheering squad barely made it there in time.

 I took my phone and I was texting Dan to tell him what mile I was at so he could know how much time he had. Anyway, he made it just in time for me to pass by. Aren't they cute? I love them!
The pictures of me running aren't that great b/c the buildings were shading me. I tried to lighten them but still not that great.

If  you were to ask me if I am a competitive person I would probably answer no. But man when you get me in a race it just comes out like crazy. I can't help myself. The whole race I would pick a person and then pass them and I picked people off like that the entire race. Towards the end I am always really worried that they are going to pass me so that helps me keep my pace up at the end when I am really tired. At the beginning I really wanted to stop b/c my stomach was hurting so bad but I just kept thinking "you can't stop, these people will think you're an out of shape, bad runner." Oh brother! Nobody cares but hey, it kept me going I guess.

These pictures just crack me up. The first one is me saying "are you sure you know how to work that camera? Did you put it on the setting I told you?" I'm so bossy. I was so sick after the race the thought of food made me sick but I got a creamy and some bread for Sam. Nothing like a creamy at 9 am to get your day started right. I can't believe how bad my stomach hurt. I'm not sure what caused it either. It could have been the ridiculous amount of carbs I ate friday "preparing" for the race. Really, it was a lot. I kind of used the race as an excuse. And I'm pretty sure I felt every jelly bean and piece of licorice I ate Friday. Why do I do that to myself? I really don't know if that is what caused it b/c I eat candy all the time and my stomach doesn't do that. It cramped on and off until about 5 pm on Saturday. I had to force myself to eat around 2 b/c my body was so stinking hungry and dehydrated. Every time I tried to eat or drink though it would kill so I was avoiding it at all costs. Don't worry though we got some delicious pizza Saturday night and I ate it pain free! 

I love half-marathons. Doing the race confirmed yet again that I have NO desire to do a marathon. None, nada, zip, zilch. We ran the same course as the marathoners so you see there 20, 21, etc. mile signs and the whole time I was like " I am so glad I am not running the marathon." I've said this before but I'm okay if I don't do another marathon. If the desire comes back I'll think about it but for now I am perfectly contents with half-marathons or no races for that matter. I'm doing the Wasatch Back Relay in a few weeks and I am so excited. I love that race. I'm running a lot of miles this year. I think all 3 of my legs adds up to 18 or 19 miles. Having them all broken up helps though. Happy running folks!!