Race report

Saturday was the American Fork Canyon Half Marathon. It was great. Great to run it and great to finish it. Here's the low down:

Friday night after work Brenna and I had planned to meet up at my mom's and stay the night there. My mom lives about 10 minutes from the AF high school (where we had to catch the buses). I picked her up and she went with me to get my packet (she'd gotten hers about an hour earlier). There wasn't too much in the bag which kind of made me sad but I realize all the money goes to help those that can't afford cancer treatments and appointments so I can see why we don't have much. I mean we got a shirt and the medals we got at the finish line were pretty nice. So anyway, we hung out for awhile then my mom came back and we hung out talking to her until about 9:30. Then it was time for bed. We had to get up at 3:45 to get to the buses. We didn't want to be first there but didn't want to be last (the last bus took off at 4:45am). I ended up falling asleep fast and sleeping so much better than I ever thought I would. 

The next morning we got there in more than enough time but the lines were HUGE! Actually when we got up to start of the race there were tons of people up there already and more kept coming. There were people everywhere! 2500 to be exact. In one, not so large, parking lot. Brenna and I use the port a potties and then walked around trying to stay warm. It was kind of chilly; probably in the mid 50's. Some people had blankets that they were putting in their bags to be taken back down the canyon. Finally it was time to start. Crazy thing was there were so many people it took us 3 1/2 minutes to get over the actual starting line once it started because of all the people. Even as we ran we both felt like we were elbowing people left and right as we ran. It never really thinned out until the last couple blocks. It was amazing. I've never done any type of race that had that many people in it. 

So my foot...it actually felt amazing until about mile 7. Then i started feeling these twinges on the side of my foot. After about a mile my whole foot hurt. At mile 9 I stopped and walked for a minute (while I drank some water and chomped down a few bits of an energy bar). It actually started feeling worse when I was walking so I ran again. I stopped and walked a couple more times but not for very long each time. I probably walked about a half mile all together. Not too bad I'd say for being "lame."

Also I had no music. NONE! Can you believe my MP3 died at the very beginning?! It had been acting weird for awhile and lately had only been playing for about 2 hrs and then shutting off. So I waited for a couple miles to go by before I turned it on. Halfway through the first song it turned off. I just looked at it like I didn't understand what it had just done. How in the world was I going to run 11 more miles without music? I could enjoy nature...I could talk to others around me...I could listen to myself breathe...nothing really sounded that great to me. I was so ticked. To be honest it really didn't bother me that much until about mile 11. I would have given anything for music those last couple miles. I didn't realize how much it helps push me. How it helps me go that extra amount i don't want to go. I will need to get something a little more reliable before I do any kind of race again. 

Brenna had told me she was going to stay with me the whole race. She'd run a great practice run with Bryce the week before and said she knew what she could do. I told her I didn't want her to. That I wanted her to see what she could do in her first half. She said she'd feel bad if she left me because of my hurt foot. I told her I'd feel bad if she held back for me. We decided we'd play it by ear. During the race at mile 5 I talked her into going on her own. I was glad. I knew I'd held her back some for a few of those miles (all the people held her back for others) but I knew if she took off then she'd still get a pretty good time. Which she did. 

So there I was running 13.1 miles with a hurt foot, by myself, with no music. I did fairly well at pushing myself until I saw the 12 mile mark sign. At that point I just wanted to cry. I still had 1.1 miles to go and I was exhausted. I started walking. Just then I heard "SISTER TOEWS!!" It was one of Dallin's friends that I'd met many times and even saw at my last half (he ran it too). He was so excited to see me and I was happy to have something to make me forgot how miserable i felt. He told me he'd been watching for me all morning, that Dallin told him I was running the race. I told him about my music issue so he ran next to me being my beat box. It was a little annoying but also funny. It gave me that extra energy I needed. 

He stopped after a few feet and went back to his post. I stopped, got a drink at the last water station and took up. I didn't stop the rest of the way. Coming around the last curve I heard my name being yelled. It was my mom, Brooke, my niece Emma and Brenna. She'd finished and come back to yell for me. I gave her a high 5 as I ran by and kept going. My end time was 2:20 and something seconds. A couple minutes slower than my first half marathon but with the no music and my foot I was more than OK with the time. Brenna came in at 2:04 and something seconds. I am so stinkin proud of her. She was awesome. And I know she can probably even do better next time. We had a great time. 

Funny thing is...she's already talking about her next half marathon (I've bowed out but said I'd come watch her finish) and we were talking last night about next year_which one we wanted to do. There's one in Vernal at the beginning of May. The medal is in the shape of a dinosaur. :-) I love that she's so excited about racing now. It's nice to have someone else to talk about it with. 

My foot...it hurt really bad this morning (almost needed crutches) but is feeling better at the moment. Tomorrow will be my first trip to the gym in a week and a half. I'm a little scared. I'm going to have to take it easy. No running. Maybe some rowing. Definitely some sit ups and push ups. I can totally tell it's been a while since I've done crossfit. Dang it. It sure doesn't take long!  

Injuries never happen when you want them to

I didn't write last week. My 11 mile run was good. I felt good but I was really slow. I didn't get any carbs though the day before and didn't have anything more than a sip of Gatorade while I was running. I think all of those things made a difference. Because my body felt like I could go longer I just couldn't go faster.

That was my 11 mile run. Last week was my 12 miler. The last one before my big race. I mapped out a couple different routes. I wanted to find the easiest route. I figured 12 miles was hard enough I didn't need to add tons of hills or new roads on top of it. I planned on getting up at really early Saturday morning to get going and done by 8am. Kim was going to meet me at Macey's (at the end of my route) with Leah for chocolate milk and donuts.

Saturday morning I got up and was at the top of Elk Ridge by 5:45am. It was actually cold! I had to wear a long sleeve shirt over my regular shirt. It hasn't been that cool in awhile. It felt good. There was a slight breeze but it went away as soon as the sun came up (which is pretty normal I've found). I made it to my 1st drink stop at mile 5.6. I felt great. My time was awesome. I'd been averaging a 9:50 min mile. I loved the route and decided I'd maybe use it next time I trained or wanted to do a longer run. I started up again and felt good. But around mile 8 I really started slowing down. By mile 9 I was feeling like I wanted to walk so bad. I'd stopped twice for street lights but that hadn't been enough. When I got to the gas station around mile 10.3 I was more than ready for the break. I got a drink, wiped my face off a little and texted Kim to let him know where I was and when I thought I'd be done. I told him I was ready to walk the rest of the way. And when I left the gas station I really thought I would. But once I started running I went a lot further than I thought. I had to stop again around mile 11 to cross the street. I think that was the last time I walked. I made it until my Garmin dinged at mile 12 running.

I was pretty slow the last few miles but I did it. I made it 12 miles. If I figured out how much I actually walked I'd say I walked about 3 blocks or about 1/4 of a mile. It was interesting...my first 6 miles took 55 minutes but my last 6 miles took 68 minutes.

When I stopped at Macey's I was exhausted but so thrilled I'd made it. Kim drove up about 5 minutes later and we went inside to get some chocolate milk & donuts before getting some groceries.

This is what I was thinking about the last couple miles. I got two of them and they tasted amazing! Chocolate milk makes my stomach hurt a little bit but I've heard its the best thing to drink right after a hard, long run.

After we ate our "breakfast" we walked around the store to get some groceries for the family dinner we were having that night. A few minutes into walking around my right foot started hurting. Bad. Like I was barefoot and stepped on a sharp rock. I hurt. But I kept going. When we got home I helped Kim mow the lawns. By the time I finished I could barely walk. I went inside and put my foot up. It hurt so bad!! By the evening I couldn't walk at all. I Googled my injury and kind of figured out what it was but that didn't make things better. I kept reading "need to not run for a few weeks" "No running". I had my half marathon the next Saturday. I almost cried.

It's now 3 days later. My foot is better but still really sore. At least the shooting pain is gone. Now it's more of a dull ache. I can handle that. Monday morning it hurt so bad I thought for sure I wasn't going to be able to run. I know I can now as long as I stay off it the rest of the week. That's so hard though!! No exercise at all-all week! I haven't thought of anything I could do that wouldn't possibly hurt my foot. And I don't want to chance it at all. I did some abdominal exercises yesterday and may do them again tomorrow morning just so I feel like I did something. I worry about the weight I will have gained by Saturday. But I really worry about the distance ability I will have lost by then. No running for a week and then doing 13.1 miles...what the heck!?

We'll see. Wish me luck!
****
Saturday night we had a BBQ. Matthew leaves on Wednesday for the MTC. He'll be gone to Ecuador for 2 years. It's hard to believe. So we decided to have a BBQ. Nice, expensive steaks and great food. It was so good!  Unfortunately Nate didn't come. It was too bad because we wanted to do a family picture too. So we did it without him. It turned out really great I thought. The boys had a good time joking and eating. It was a nice day. Probably nicer if Nathan had been there but nothing we could do about that.

After 6 years of being married here is our first ever family picture. 

I like it. 

Just call me Rocky

Saturday was my first double digit run with this training schedule. I re-read my journal entry from last year. It wasn't good. I put in there that that run was my worst so far. I walked a lot and had a ton of problems. I figured maybe this year would be better. Nope. It was bad as soon as I started. Problem...I had to use the restroom. Even though I'd gone twice before leaving the house for some reason I needed to go again. And my stomach was upset. I'd carb loaded just a little too much the day before and I was feeling it. I had my Garmin on so I figured I would just do my route through Elk Ridge but change it up a little so I could run by my house. I ran 1.5 mile and then stopped at my house.

When I started out again I knew it just wasn't going to be good. By the time I got to mile 4 I was wondering about going back home. My Powerade that I'd left the day before was around mile 5 so I stopped and drank. But by then I was exhausted, it was hot and I wanted to just go home. But I trudged on. I actually had to stop and walk some of it. I was about 2 or 3 blocks from my second Powerade stop when I looked down at my Garmin and realized I hadn't turned it back on when I'd started running again after my first drink stop. I was so mad!! I had changed my route and was hoping my Garmin would help me know when I should be done with my 10 miles.

The only thing that saved me was that I'd reviewed my route on line a ton of times so I knew once I hit my second drink place how many miles I should be. That helped save the route. I have to say the last part of the route (from miles 8-10) weren't as bad as the rest. I felt better finally and actually felt like I could get into a rhythm. Next week is 11 miles. Yipee. Although I think I'll go back to my old route. I changed it up this time and it didn't work at all. That was another thing...most of the first half of the route was this gradual uphill. It was killer!

Now for today...

This is the top of Elk Ridge Drive looking down towards Hwy 189. You can't even see Hwy 189 it's so far down there.

Today I decided I was going to conquer this road. I'd tried running up it more than once. Quite a few times actually in the last couple years. I could never do the whole thing. I've run down it many times. I actually love the downhill, it's perfect for canyon training. But the uphill...just keep slipping through my fingers. Last week I did the last mile of the uphill and was so excited. So I decided this was the day I was going to make it the whole way.

I got up and felt pretty good. The weather was a little cooler than I'd wanted but I just put on a short sleeve anyway. I knew long sleeve would be too hot really quick. I drove to the top of the hill, left my car and started down. It felt great right away. I hadn't brought my Garmin so I didn't know how fast i was going but I knew my time was good.

When I got to the bottom I turned around and started heading right back up. I didn't even stop. Just went straight up. The first mile up was good. I was so glad I hadn't run even faster downhill like I'd thought about doing. I knew I needed every ounce of energy to make it back up. I hit the spot I knew was 1 mile from the top. I was still doing pretty good; tired but good. I had a rhythm going. I knew I was running really slow but I didn't care-I was going to beat this hill.

As I got closer and closer to the top my legs started really hurting. Like at Crossfit when there's 100 squats to do and you try to do them all without stopping but your legs start burning half way through...that was this but I knew I couldn't stop. When I was at the bottom of the last steep portion I was so happy! I knew I could do it from there. I even was chanting it to myself "I can do this. I can do this." :-) And I did.

When I made it to the top I wanted to jump up and down; I wanted to pump my arms and fists into the air like Rocky did when he finally ran up all those stairs in the first Rocky movie. I was so happy! So freakin proud of myself. I'd done it. I'd made my goal. It had taken a few tries but I'd done it. At that point the fact that my 10 miler had been bad didn't matter anymore. I also knew that I could do this race...something I was really doubting after Saturday's run. I know I can now. That's one stinking huge incline! And I did it. Yes er re Bob. :-)