PR - Timpananogos Half Marathon

What a fun race. Proper preparation played a big part in this - not only the running but in setting everything out to get dressed for racing the day before. And I did set it up during the DAY, not evening like I normally do. That made it so I could go to bed early. Got a good nights sleep. Bed: 8:45pm Alarm: 3:00am  Six hours of sleep. When the alarm went off I felt pretty rested.

Ready to run. Let's get this party started!

Race morning went smoothly. Dressed, breakfast made it out the door early to meet Cyndie in the Peterson's parking lot. She was already there, I appreciate her so much, she is always on time. More prior planning, I mentioned to Cyndie that I was interested in setting a PR so she set her virtual partner for a 12:12 minute mile so that I could get a PR. Great friend.
The buses left right on time, we got a nice cushy bus with nicely padded seats, much different than the school bus ride. We got the front seat. Had a nice friendly bus driver.

Braydon, Cyndie & Marsha.

It is always fun to see friends at races, today we happened to find Braydon. He is from Washington, Utah. We met him at my first half marathon, the Dogtown Half. He also ran Thanksgiving Point. He was running slower today because of injuries.
We had to wait until 6:00am for the race to start, not sure why we didn't start on time at 5:40am. It was warmer at the start line than I thought it would be, I had a light jacket and blanket.

Beautiful canyon to run.

It started to get light and we were off running down the road. Yes, downhill. If you keep your stride the same as on the flat you shouldn't have too much "downhill" muscle pain at the end of the race. Cyndie and I decided that to give us a little help finishing "in my PR time" we would set the Gymboss for 2:30 run 1:00 walk. 
Running faster definitely kept Cyndie and I a little winded. Having the downhill course really helped us to keep up the pace. I am surprised the difference what just an extra minute can make on the overall time and also in how you feel while running. It was so nice to run by a beautiful stream. To hear the water. Sometimes it was on our left, sometimes our right.
I had to go to the restroom about mile 5. It was in the plan, but I still hate stopping during a race. Especially when there is a line. It is just not fun for me to be uncomfortable while running. It took me quite a while to catch Cyndie, running longer (2:30) she got further ahead than she normally does. I finally did catch her.

Walk break during the race.

After we exited out of the canyon we ran on the paved trails of Cedar Hills. This part of the race still had a lot of downhill, with a few minor hills to challenge us along the way. Some of the course still ran along by a small stream or maybe it was irrigation ditch made to look like a stream. :-)
It was in this area that added a runner to our "Galloway group," Whitney, who is a pre-med student at the U, a former Copper Hills "Grizzly" running her first half marathon. She ran with us for a short time. During this time we picked up yet another runner, our second Whitney, who was also running her first half marathon. We gave the newbies a little run/walk advice along with some thoughts on why we GU.

Cyndie having fun on the run.

The course finally took us to the streets of Cedar Hills and then into American Fork as we headed to the finish line at the American Fork High School. On one leg we ran past the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, this is where Jan and I were married. I love that temple.
I kept having Cyndie check how close we were running to virtual partner. At about a mile out I decided to run most of the way in, with two or three short walk breaks to make sure I made this half a PR. Cyndie was close behind, so as I came in by the time I turned around and found a place to take a picture she had already run in. Darn, when I got the picture of Braydon I finally realized I'd missed her. Another great half marathon finished!


Finishing Times:
Marsha  AG 10th Overall 624 (720 female finishers)  2:36:48.1

Me in my new blue running outfit. Look at the Big Bling.

Cyndie  AG 68th  Overall 627  2:37:29.2

Be inspired by Timpanogos Half Marathon
finisher Cyndie Nell.

Braydon  AG  84th Overall 445 (460 male finishers) 2:43:50.8

Braydon's kids joining him in crossing the finish line.

Whitney Ludlow  AG  31st Overall 680 2:53:59.3 (pre-med student)


Garmin Stats:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	02:34:18	13.16	11:43
1	00:11:53	1.00	11:53
2	00:11:30	1.00	11:30
3	00:11:44	1.00	11:44
4	00:11:12	1.00	11:12
5	00:10:49	1.00	10:49
6	00:10:31	1.00	10:31
7	00:11:25	1.00	11:25
8	00:11:23	1.00	11:23
9	00:12:41	1.00	12:41
10	00:12:29	1.00	12:29
11	00:12:33	1.00	12:33
12	00:12:55	1.00	12:55
13	00:11:12	1.00	11:12
14	00:01:55	0.16	11:44