Didn’t go into this race with expectations, really, of
any kind. Good or bad. I just wanted to finish.
Which, I guess, is an expectation.
I definitely had hopes.
I hoped to finish having run most of it, walking as little as
possible. I hoped to finish faster than
I did last year where, for some reason, I just really sucked it up. And I hoped to have fun.
All of my hopes came to pass except the first where I
exceeded it. I managed to run the entire
thing except through the aid stations and a section of mile 10 when my knee
went all funky for a minute.
I even managed to finish in under 2 hours which really
kind of surprised me considering my summer training.
The race began with me feeling a bit stiff. It took a bit for me to loosen up, but when I
finally did, it was great! Secondly, I
was having some stomach cramping issues throughout the race, but I managed to
run through them. And then, in miles 10
and 11, as I said before, my knee went all funky on me; but for the last mile
it was behaving and I actually managed a sprint to the finish, courtesy of Teena
and Michelle.
The first year I ran this I wasn’t so much impressed with
the course. There were sections that
just seemed to go on and on forever. And
it was flat. What I really loved, and
what brought me back the next year, was the fun I had with friends and the
super-awesome raffle at the finish. But
the course has actually grown on me. It’s
no PR course, but it’s not one to beat up a body either. And those sections that seemed to go on and
on forever have actually gotten shorter, seemingly.
I ended up averaging 9 minute miles—and I may have
actually had a negative split!
Teena and Michelle came out and ran me back in the last
couple of blocks and apparently I follow instructions really well. My last full mile split was 8:10 and the pace
I was running between mile 13 and the finish (less that .01 by my Garmin) was a
6:44! I kept thinking, “My knee, my
knee!” but it didn’t even let out a
peep. Good knee, good knee!
And so, I finished.
Yay me!
Top of Utah is next week, baby!
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