Finished 13.1 - Dog Town Half

I remember not so long ago thinking I wish I could run 6 miles so I could enter a 10K (like the one through the gardens at Thanksgiving Point). It wasn't too long after that I clicked on the link that entered me in a marathon. 20 miles over that little 6 mile dream. Now here I am, I am on my way to the bigger dream, I just ran 13.1 miles.
All my preparation went well for this event. Drinking lots of water on Friday, created lots of stops on the way to St. George. But I was hydrated and did well.
When we got to Washington we checked into the Red Cliffs Inn and then drove to Washington Community Center to check in and get our race packets. We also browsed the booths set up by the Homeless Animal Rescue Team (HART) and others to help raise money for homeless pets and to help purchase a police dog for Washington City.
Friday I also ate lots of small meals and snacks. I was a little worried about a choice for dinner Friday evening but we settled on Applebee's where I had:
Chicken Broccoli Pasta Alfredo
Juicy grilled chicken on a warm bed of fettuccine tossed with fresh broccoli and creamy Alfredo sauce. Topped with Parmesan and served with toasted side bread.
I had them leave off the Alfredo sauce and Parmesan cheese. I added a bit of butter. It was great and best of all my intestinal results the next morning were ok.
After dinner we went back to the rooms. Cyndie and I went over some recent training runs of mine on runningfreeonline.com and she was commenting after looking at my heart rate that I am not running fast enough. My heart rate hasn't even been getting into the fat burning zone. I stay in the recovery - cool off zone. Tell that to my legs - they think they have arrived in the torture zone. Guess I will have to work on that next week. She said I at least needed to run harder for a couple of miles. And I thought Cyndie was my friend.

The warmer St. George winter weather I was hoping for did not materialize. Keep that cute running skirt for another day. Looks like I was destined to run in the weather I trained in. We arrived at the park early because Jan's 9K race was starting at 8:30am. It was lightly raining, cold and windy so Jan dressed appropriately for walking. People thought he was a volunteer with the fluorescent orange coat so they'd ask him race questions. What a great husband he is for coming out to support me in the fowl weather. 

I started out with a short sleeve shirt based on the temperature but it was just too cold so before my race I changed into long sleeves. Cyndie gave me a rain poncho to wear - this really worked great to keep me from getting wet and chilled before the race. It came off early in the race as it stopped raining and also I got too hot. Cyndie and I were also noisy, I thought we sounded like a flag whipping in the wind.

 

Here is Jan on the starting line. Who, let the dogs out... who who? Ready, Set, Go! Click here to see Jan's race results in the Dogtown K9 9K.

The half marathon started at 9am and I was ready. I was running with a group of fun ladies, Cyndie Nell, Liz Gotter and Stella Blight. Here is a before the race picture.

L-R: Cyndie, Marsha, Stella & Liz

We did the run/walk where we ran for 2 minutes walked for 1 minute. We use a little timer called the Gymboss. It beeps and we run. It beeps and we walk. During the race we talked, told stories, encouraged each other and enjoyed the scenery and the clear clean air.  Well at least most of the air. There were some cattle ranches out there and the smell was less than desirable. I wonder if our times were faster as we ran by trying not to breathe through our nose?! Here is a picture of me taken by Cyndie, don't I look happy to be running a half marathon? I have included her caption as she put it on facebook.

"Marsha still thinks running is fun. What other 55 year old thinks they I should run a marathon this year."

Those walk breaks we took were nice. Although sometimes the timing was off. Like when they occurred on the downhill instead of the uphill, what's up with that? Below you can see me, I took a picture of my red face during a walk break. That close up with no makeup is scary.

The Dogtown Half Marathon was a fun race, I was prepared. Here is what I was carrying in and on my race belt. All the essentials, camera, cell phone, 2 8oz bottles of water with Prolytes (makes water a sports drink), 2 GU packets, 3 Shot Bloks in Cran-Razz flavor, 1 van key, $10 just in case.

 "Let's run girls."

The one thing that did get all of us was that we hadn't done any hill work because this race was supposed to be a gradual downhill in Coral Canyon. At the last minute they changed the course because of the predicted rain. I guess they felt the canyon would be unsafe. So running in a rural Washington we did several hills I wasn't prepared for. My running leg muscles are a lot more sore than usual. I spent some time thinking during hills about the special person I was running for, Maurine Geiger. It was her birthday present. Happy Birthday Maurine! We did it!
Here we all are after the Dogtown Half Marathon, we don't look too bad for a group who just ran 13 miles. I've included Cyndie's caption.

L-R: Jan, Marsha, Stella, Liz & Cyndie

"We made it. We showed those hills who is the boss.

Jan ran the 9k he is Marsha's husband.

With Jan, Marsha, and me we make half the Brady Bunch."

Well it was personal record race for me. I've never run that far before. I found out I need to include some hill work in my training because I could sure feel the difference. I learned how fun it is to run with a group. During mile 11 I decided I had enough energy to run a little harder during the last mile and not take walk breaks so that's what I did.

 "Cyndie coming over the finish line. You can see me in the distance."

 "Marsha coming over the finish line."

If you click here you can see my race results for my first half marathon. My mile splits are as follows: Mile1 12:06 Mile2 12:39 Mile3 12:38 Mile4 12:37 Mile5 12:47 Mile6 12:52 Mile7 13:17 Mile8 13:38 Mile9 13:37 Mile10 13:25 Mile11 13:29 Mile12 13:10 Mile13 11:06. And I did better on my heart rate this run.

"Hot Pink Ladies! Tinkernell "Cyndie" and I pose with our finisher medals. Cyndie is a really sweet person, and funny, and she tells me like it is - to get my butt moving I'm not working hard enough. It is hard to believe we've known each other for less than two months! What a wonderful friend."