Provo Halloween Half Marathon

Today I ran in the Provo Halloween Half Marathon. What a fun race with almost all the runners dressed up in costumes. The race experience actually began the night before with a dinner and sleepover at Marilyn Thomsen's home. She opened  up her home to those of us who live quite a distance from the race so we didn't have to get up so early to drive into Orem.
Cyndie met at my house at 3:30 pm for our trip to Orem. After a couple of stops I needed to make we arrived at the University Mall about 5:15pm. The line for packet pickup was over 2 hours long! Geezzz! So we left and went to Marilyn's to have dinner first instead of spending all evening waiting in line.
Gathered for dinner was Liz, Cyndie, me, Gwen & her daughter, and Stella. We had a delicious spaghetti dinner with a tossed green salad, fruit salad, olives and garlic bread. Yum. 

After dinner Cyndie and I headed back to packet pickup where it took just a few minutes to get our bib and shirt. When we returned from the mall all of us spent time working on our costumes and getting our things ready for race morning. 

Marsha & Cyndie

Danielle & Marilyn 

Soon we made it to the area where we made a U turn to head back to the drop-off point. Once off the bus we headed to the porta potties and then to a huge heated tent to wait for the race to start.

Inside the tent.

The first start time was 9am for those runners who knew they would finish the half in 2:20 or less. The second wave was 9:20am. Finally the runners started lining up for the first start. We could not see the start from the tent area but we could hear the gun.

Soon it was our turn to run and we were off. I ran with Cyndie and Stella for the first mile but they decided to do the downhill with no walk breaks and I didn't want to do that so I let them go on ahead and began running the 3:1 that I had practiced. Downhill is always a little tricky because it can be hard on your quads. I had never done one quite so steep. We went from 7000 ft. to 5200 in a little less than 5 miles. That is pretty quick.

Jesus

Here are my stats for this race. I didn't do too bad on the run with my 3:1 pace. Wearing a costume was different. Mostly for me it was probably the wig....it held the heat in but luckily it was cold. But it didn't help my thighs which were numb and purple for the first 8 miles. That was weird. It was fun running all dressed up.

Bridal Veil Falls
One reason why running in Utah is so cool.

Mile 1 I just ran with Cyndie and Stella: M1 10:49.4  M2 11:21.7  M3 12:05.3  M4 11:38.5  M5 11:26.5  M6 13:04.1 then for the rest of the race I hung out in the 12:00+ range. I felt like I settled into a nice consistent pace. Brought me in officially:

2:40:10

2938/3300 overall

2074/2363 females

19/30 age group 55-59

PR for Cyndie 2:29:21

2009 - 2:45:36.3

2010 - 02:33:29.3

L-R Front: Marsha, Danielle, Gwen, Liz & Jason.
Back: Rosie, Stell & Angie.

Desert Shark friends: Karie, Steve & Cindi.

Friends Finish Times:
Karie Underwood: 01:29:15  2ND F 35 - 39
Cindi Glenn: 01:53:13
Steve Avery: 01:53:14
Kelli Davey: 01:55:23
Rosie Talker: 01:57:25
Angie Whitworth: 02:19:03
Jason Gotter: 02:28:43
Cyndie Nell: 02:29:21
Gwen James: 02:31:55
Stella Blight: 02:34:42
Marsha Monson: 02:40:10
Danielle Musick: 02:41:06
Liz Gotter: 03:00:35
Marilyn Thomsen: 

16 yr old Rosie as Edward Scissorhands.
PR 1:57:25

Rosie and Gwen

P.S. Many of these pictures were taken by Gwen. She is quite the awesome photographer. 

SoJo Half Marathon

Another half marathon in the books. This is number eight for me. This moved me up a "moon" in my Half Fanatic status from Neptune (2. 3 Half Marathons within a 90 day time frame) to Uranus (3. 8 - 11 Half Marathons within 365 days)
This half started out different, I got a ride to the start line from my employer Mike Davey and his wife Kelli. Their GPS got the location wrong (an empty field) when given the address. Luckily with the help of a policeman we found it and Kelli and I were dropped off just a few minutes before the race started. Just long enough to start to get a bit cold. We didn't even have time to do a drop bag so we left them in the van. (Mike had to drive to the finish line quick- he was entered in the 5K.)

I met up with fellow sharks Cindi Glenn and Steve Avery before the race. There were 5 sharks in the half, several sharks and Cyndie Nell in the ranks of the awesome race staff. As you can see in the picture I had on my race belt with everything needed to enjoy the race - even my music and camera this week. 

On the downhill side.

I left my Gymboss on the 3:1 split that I did Thursday. Ready Set Go! First mile, looking good, feeling a little tight finish it in 11:07.3. On to the second mile, still running in the Daybreak community took me 11:39.9. On my way now, getting warmed up by my third mile 11:16.5. This is when I started to think, why don't I try for a PR. I feel good. My legs are working good. There are hills but I have trained for them. I was a alone with just my ipod for some company, lets see if I can do my best race.

I rocked this hill climb up to the
Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

At mile 4 there is a line for the restroom, I decide to go on. I know this may slow me down if I wait too long but I hope not too much. Next miles: M4 11:21.7  M5 11:08.7  M6 10:32.8 M7 11:58.5 M8 11:25.7. Finally the restroom about 8.5 miles, not a 8 miles as promised, still a line but I only loose about 4 minutes. Back to running.

Some elk along the run.

As you can see, after a lighter bladder I was able to pick up my speed back up a little. I was not impressed with the placement of the restrooms in this race. Start, mile 4 & 8 and finish. It is just a long time between.  M9 12:57.7  M10 10.47.2  M11 11.10.4  M12 11.31.0  M13 11:16.4  

No luck finding my time.

So this race was a PR for me 2:30:27. Whooo hooo!

Finish line.

The race timers had to use my Garmin for the time, they lost my time - bad timing chip she said. I was very disappointed about that. But I ran a great race, pacing myself with the 3:1 on my Gymboss. I wouldn't want to push like this every time, but once in awhile is a good thing.

Kelli Davey 1st Place age group at the
SoJo Half Marathon. Way to go Kelli!

Coming Up This Week - Ragnar Las Vegas

This week I will be running my second relay - Ragnar Las Vegas. Wow, I can hardly believe I signed up for this sleep deprived run again. My running friend Cyndie is smarter than me, Wasatch Back was her last relay.

The one thing that is the hardest about Ragnar or any relay is that you rely heavily on 11 other runners to commit, show up and run. We are very fortunate in the fact that our team has only had a couple of glitches, early on Brian's wife decided to run with a team of friends she's run with before, so we were able to get Lance Brandow on the team, then another opening when Brittainy broke her foot, and Larry found Mike, a runner from Reno, Nevada.

Ragnar Las Vegas I'm ready for you.

8 Mile Day

Awesome weather today. Woke up early to about 38 degrees, some wind. Time to run. I've been a slacker and haven't run since Saturday. Long pants, my pink 32 degree shirt and off I went for a run in the dark. The moon was nearly full, so that made for quite a bit of light. I took along one of my Knuckle Lights to make sure I could be seen by drivers and spot any holes in the road.
Distance: 4:06 miles
Time: 55:40 all 13+ minute miles

Afternoon, nice and sunny and warm. Work done. Time for a hike with the dogs. The hike leader I have been going with, Julie Kilgore, was going to hike straight up Cherry Creek again so I had emailed Valeta to see if she wanted to do an actual casual walk hike on the off leash test area in Draper. Yes was her answer. So that is what we did.

Here is how we knew we were at the end of the off-leash area. 

One happy hiker. Big smile.

A trailhead we passed on our hike.

When hiking we went through the area where the fire was this year. There were places where the vegetation was already coming back. Our hike: Started out on Upper Corner Canyon Road, to Aqueduct Trail, to BST, to Orson Smith Trail to van.

Burned out section of the mountain.

Distance: 3.99 miles
Time: 1:47:02
Elevation gain: 637 feet

Coming Up This Week - SoJo Half Marathon

This race will be a milestone marker for me. Last year I ran the SoJo 5K. It was really tough for me to run just 3 miles. I was a poor runner, no endurance, and it took all my energy to finish. It was painful. And now this year, I will be running the half marathon, more than 4 times further than I could hardly do last year - and if timing of other races had been better I know I could have run the full marathon. A weak performance can be changed - even at my age.
Like last year, the guys at work and their families are participating. Jan will be doing the 5K again, he got a free entry because he took 1st place in his age group in the Clydesdale class last year. Mike, Lafe and Brian are all running the 5K and some of their children are running the Children's Marathon: a 1/2 mile run around the park. It should be a fun morning.
My friend Cyndie is running the full marathon, and it is not an easy course. I am very glad that I pulled out of that one because I have Ragnar the following weekend.

Race support: Aid stations at miles 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, &12 with water and gatorade. Port-o-Potties at the starting line, miles 4, 8 & finish line.


Schedule of events for all races:

October 15, 20115AM Marathon and Half Marathon buses begin running from West River Front Park to take athletes to various starting lines. There is no parking or spectators at the starting lines, so please be on the bus! 5:25AM Last Marathon bus leaves from finish line for the starting line. DON'T MISS IT AND DON'T BE LATE! 6:00 AM Last Half Marathon bus leaves from the finish line to the starting line 6:45 AM Marathon pre-race meeting, final instructions and national anthem 7:15 AM Marathon start 7:15 AM Half Marathon pre-race meeting 7:45 AM Half Marathon Start 7:45 AM 5k pre-race meeting, final instructions and national anthem 8:00 AM Start of 5k 8:30 AM Beginning of finish line party. Get a massage! 9:00 AM 5k Awards Ceremony 10:00 AM Kids Marathon starts 10:30 AM Half Marathon Awards Ceremony 1:15 PM Road course closes. All aid stations, volunteers and officers removed from the streets. Any remaining athletes who have not at least reached the Jordan River Parkway Trail will be asked to sag forward to the trail. 1:45 PM Finish line closes. 2:15 PM Marathon Awards Ceremony

RunningFree Report 2nd Week October

RunningFree report for 10 October 2011

Last week you completed: Sport # Distance Time Run 2 16.7 mi 4:05:20 Total 2 16.7 mi 4:05:20

Pink Series Park City Half Marathon

...girls just wanna go run.

Today I ran with 700+ women in the "pink" down the rail trails of Park City. It was a very difficult race for me, right now I am happy to be home sitting on the couch. Number 7 is in the books. So what happened? What went wrong? Maybe I should say what went right first: I finished!!! That is always good. And I finished it running. A big plus.

Finishing my 7th half marathon for the year.

And more positive things: Jan came with me and we spent a nice overnighter at the Newpark in Park City. The room was nice with a cozy fireplace.

The main "pain" for me was the cold. I love running in the cold, but the problem was the duration of time that we waited after the buses dropped us off at the start line. It was about an hour and a half. I did not realize that my calves were getting that cold and it would effect my running so drastically.

The first part of the course was a gentle uphill with a headwind and my calves just stung. I didn't know if I'd be able to keep that up for 13.1 miles. They really hurt. I was wearing long pants and also compression socks. It took a full 3 miles until they finally stopped giving me a lot of pain. I need to remember to wrap my legs next time I am forced to wait in the cold.

What else went wrong? Well, I took my ipod out of the suitcase for some reason and forgot to put it back. So, no enjoyable music to run to - also no distraction from pain. Yeah, I hope to never forget that again. And my camera was with my ipod. I used my phone but that was much harder to use.

got pink?

Clothes: I had brought several "pink" choices and waited until I got up in the morning and checked the weather to see what the temps were before I dressed. Since it was cold I opted for long pants (with my pink skirt over) and a long sleeve shirt. Yeah, pink.

All set for 5:15am wake up call. Yes, I woke up at 5am
before the alarm went off. Sigh.

The other thing I goofed up was breakfast. I didn't check and this hotel had no continental breakfast. So I ate a banana and a bar. During the run I got hungry, and Gu does not get rid of hunger pains.

Celebrate my sister Nancy Berry.
Celebrate a friend Debbie Lean.
Celebrate a friend Jeanne Nixon.
Celebrate my friend Mony Likes.
Memory of my friend Katherine Larson.
Memory of my Grandma Gathe.
Memory of my friend Colleen Anderson.

On a positive note, I was running so fast my dedication cape flew off and I didn't realize it. (The running fast might be a bit of a stretch.) This was the most important part of my run for today, honoring those who I know who have been effected by breast cancer or have lost their lives to it. I got my cape back when they did a clothing sweep of the course. I was very, very thankful.

It's over, I survived, and the scenery was beautiful.

All the runners I met were very nice. The promised good looking "Fab 4" were at the finish line. I got my Pink Series charm and some great chocolate cupcakes.

Official Time and Placement:

3:03:22.7

Age group placement 10th

Overall placement 607th

Garmin Says:

Fastest mile: 12:39

Elevation Gain: 346 ft

Elevation Loss: 590 ft