Top of Utah Marathon!!

For starters let me just say that I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this race.  Of course, we did get rained on, correction POURED on, correction HAILED on!  It actually became quite comical, the only thing I could do was laugh and I did a lot of that.  At the starting line it started pouring and everyone started to scramble about, a gal grabbed a big lid to a plastic container and 5 of us jumped under it with her.  They announced that the race was going to start so we had to buck up and go stand at the start.  As crazy as it sounds I actually didn't mind the pouring rain at all.  I warmed up fast and just tried to enjoy the view.  I loved the dark sky and clouds.  The leaves had started to change a tiny bit in some areas.  I just soaked up the beauty of it all.

The last couple of weeks my right quad has been hurting quite a lot, I was actually nervous to run this race for fear that I would injure myself.  I went to "Jorge's House of Pain" TWICE this week and he reassured me that my muscles were "mirroring" which I guess was a good thing.  The massage hurt just as much on the left quad, it was just as knotted up but for some reason I was only feeling it on my right...weird!  So I went into this race with really no expectations.  I knew I should take it slow and not try to PR or anything crazy like that. 

The first lots of miles my leg hurt pretty bad, I was worried but I kept plugging along.  At around mile 13 or so it was pouring like crazy and I was soaked, my capri's were soaked and clung to my legs which I think acted as an ice pack.  My legs started feeling GREAT.  At about mile 16 we could see a titch of clear sky and Holly said "I am going to run to that blue sky" or something along those lines.  So that's what I did.  I suddenly felt AWESOME!!  I saw my cute little family at mile 17 and that made my day.

As I was running along I realized that I was passing runner after runner and it felt great.  People were starting to slow down when I was finally feeling good and picking it up, I haven't checked my speed but at this point we were out of the canyon which meant no more down hill.  People were awesome and were cheering me on the rest of the way.  At one point a guy looked at me and said, "You look great...you feel great don't you?"  I said "Yes, I do!"  That was at about mile 19.  Shortly later a dude passed me and told me that I had been pacing him for quite a while and that I was rocking it.

At mile 19 my stupid Garmin got paused somehow.  I didn't realize it for about a mile I guess.  Mile 21 was where my dedication miles were supposed to start but since I was feeling AWESOMESAUCE I decided that instead of miles, I would spot someone up ahead that I wanted to pass and do that for my people.  First on the list was a guy waaaay ahead of me in a black and white shirt.  I started to second guess my awesomeness ;) for a bit.  I didn't think I was EVER going to catch him, but I had to do it for Kenna.  When I FINALLY caught him I said "YES!  I finally caught you, I have been trying forever."  He looked at me like I was some kind of crazy person and said "Well...here I come."  But guess what?  I never saw him again :)

I continued to pick people out and push until I got them.  It was quite enjoyable!!  Then at mile 23 when I was feeling awesome as ever, some guy got the crowd chanting "Pink, pink, pink, pink"  I was wearing pink and that made me have great happiness in my heart.  After it hit me how awesome that was I got a bit teary for a minute.  It was nice to get teary because people are awesome rather than because you are in terrible pain. 

Between mile 24 and 25 this guy caught up to me and said "You are killing it!"  I looked over to see a face that I had seen at least a half a dozen times or more throughout the race.  He would pass me, I would pass him, he would pass me, I would pass him, and on and on.  We ran together for a few minutes and then I think he may have had a voodoo doll or something that he started stabbing needles into because I got the worst side ache EVER!  I slowed down drastically but continued to push through the pain.  People must have been able to see my pain cause everyone kept telling me how close I was to the finish.

Then as I turned the last corner Tammy popped out at me and said "Come on!  You are 1st place in your age group!"  I tried my hardest to push through the pain but it was so hard.  She ran with me and continued to cheer me on telling me how awesome I was.  I was in such a zone that I didn't even notice Jake, Roberto and the kids cheering me on.  I finished the race and was a lone, little, lost lamb.  I got emotional from the support that Tammy gave me.  I looked up and saw Wendell from our Ward.  I don't know him very well but decided to cry to him for a minute ;)  Then I saw the two cutest little children of the corn that you've ever seen. 

I ended up finishing in 3:34:and some odd milliseconds.  Not a PR and NOT 1st place in my age group.  Jake and Tammy had received a text at mile 21 that I was 1st in my age group and not one single girl passed me the last 9 miles of that race.  I was so sad to see that not only was I not 1st but 11th in my age group.   But I will look on the brightside of things, I qualified for Boston again and I can't complain about that!  Holly qualified again too WITH an injury.  She did awesome!  The only way I can keep up with that girl now is if she is injured.

It was such an awesome race!  I got to run most of the first 16 miles with Holly and I felt awesome the last 10 miles.  We headed back to Jake's grandparents house for our ice baths, etc.  The grandparents are amazing!  They think we are nuts but hey, so do we :)  Jake tried to explain to Granny that we had to "carbo load" and take ice baths.  As we were driving to Logan on Friday his grandma called to say that they had bought us 3 bags of ice for our baths.  I just love them to pieces!!  As we arrived after the race soaking wet and freezing cold Grandma said "Are you sure you want to take an ice bath after all of that?"  Heck yea Granny, bring on the ice...just kidding we didnt' really say that :)

My sister in law, Stephanie, ran as well.  She PR'd by like an hour and a half or something crazy like that.  Way to go Steph!!!

What kind of GU etc. do you use?

I tried ROCTANE GU and holy schmoly it is awesome.  Okay, it still has that horrible texture but wow it made me feel awesome.  I would highly recommend it.

Do you take ice baths after races or long runs?

For sure, I really notice a difference in how my legs feel if I take an ice bath.  However, I am pretty sure the water in Logan is way colder than the water in Springville :)

P.S. Sorry if there were tons of grammatical errors but it has been a looooong day :)