Sunday (June 1st, I wrote this but kind of forgot to post it...oopsie) I woke up before my alarm went off at 3:45 a.m. and got ready for the big race. I met Jorge and Holly outside at 4:30 to head to the starting line area. As we drove I pulled up the weather on my phone, it was 63 degrees, which would have been great but the humidity was 77%. I had a feeling it was going to be a rough day, you can train in high elevation, you can train hills but in Utah you can’t train for humidity. Holly and I did some people watching as we ate, visited the porta potties and got photo bombed my Skinny Runner (Sarah) and Run Eat Repeat (Monica).
I LOVE Holly's eyes...who dat?
We lined up in our corral, corral 2, where we saw Sarah, Monica and Kristin (Stuftmama). We all wished one another well and we were off. I started out feeling pretty good, which considering how I felt on the 3.5 mile shakeout run the day before, I was grateful to feel like I did. I’m so grateful we train on hills, hills, hills, because this course is super hilly.
Let's run a marathon but first let us take a weezie
There wasn’t a lot of talking between the two of us which is never a good sign. We were working hard to maintain a good pace. At mile 6 I had 3 Margarita Shot Bloks, I was so grateful that I had picked some of those up at the Pro Compression shake out run, they saved me. I knew I would be sweating a lot due to the humidity so the extra salt was needed fo sho! Thank you Pro Compression, Sarah and Kristin for hooking us up with some free goods.
I felt pretty good until about mile 12-13, I think, the whole race is kind of a blur. There was a funny little guy on a bike who told us to “Get da money! Go and get da money!” I told him we would go and get da money. He passed us on his bike a few miles later, still saying “Get da money, get da money!” He was fun J
I run with my own personal photographer
This was my favorite part of the race
At about mile 16 I started to feel my calf and hip flexor wanting to cramp up…NOOOOO! I took more Margarita Shot Bloks and prayed for a miracle. My calf calmed down but my hip flexor did not. I was so mad, we were on our way to a 3:30 finish which would be a PR for me and one I have been chasing for 2 years now. However, having been injured just last year I was scared to push through too much pain for fear that I would end up injured again. I backed off a bit and it killed me to do so. Holly mentioned that she was cramping too.
At about mile 18 the 3:30 pacer passed us, I was so sad but couldn’t really do anything to keep up with him. At this point I was actually wondering if I would even be able to finish the race. It was HOT and I was not feeling awesome. Holly and I started dumping water on ourselves, and each other at this point. I would feel good for about 4.6 seconds and then right back to feeling like death.
Mile 19 was for Jake and I’m glad it was, it helped push me through. Then the beast of a hill came and we climbed and climbed and climbed for over a mile. That part of the race really sucks…like a lot!!! Holly chatted a little with a feller who had run this race all 17 times. He was impressed with our hill climbing abilities and wished us well. I will say that Holly and I didn’t walk once, most people were walking the hill, I think I knew that if I walked I wouldn’t start to run again J
At some point, I really don’t remember where maybe around mile 22-23, someone smacked me on the butt. I thought it must be Jake but why the heck would he be out here on the course. I said, “What the HECK?!?” and turned around to see Sarah cruising by us. I wanted to try to keep up with her but there was no chance of that happening so I just watched her run off into the distance.
Mile 24 was for McKenna so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. Having miles dedicated to people really helps me, I wanted to walk so many times but thinking of others helps to keep me running. I also remembered seeing a guy with a shirt that said “I run for those who can’t, no excuses.” I love that and thought about it a lot as I ran.
There was a point around mile 24 where the course turns so you are passing people going the other way. I heard someone say, “Stay focused Utah!” I didn’t see who said it but it was the feller Holly had talked to on the beasty hill. That gave me a little boost, thank you random citizen. It was at about this point we were started seeing people going down. The paramedics had someone loaded in the ambulance and we saw at least 3 more people go down in the last 2 miles. It was like Boston 2012 all over again. I just wanted to be done. I felt my face get flushed a few times and I got the chills which is never a good sign.
One thing I really liked was that the last few miles there were coaches out on the course giving tips, drop your shoulders, concentrate on your breathing, lean forward, etc. I have a tendency to tense up so it was helpful to have them remind me to relax and run.
Mile 25-26.2 was for Kobe, as usual, thankfully we had a little downhill finish.
Done!
My cute supportive family
We watched Aloe Blac for a bit
We finished in 3:37:15. I couldn’t believe I had done it faster the year before in 3:35:35. That was only 2 weeks after running the Ogden Marathon and I felt great the whole run. Last year wasn’t near as humid and the sun wasn’t out, great running conditions. The humidity and sun killed me this year. I did finish 9thin my age group though which is pretty amaze balls!
I’m so glad that Holly and I were able to come down to our favorite land and run together. It’s not every day you find a great running buddy and even though we didn’t talk much we still had fun seeing San Diego while we tried to “get da money, get da money!”
