Goal going into today was to run this half at my goal marathon pace for Boston which is 6:12-6:13 pace.. (I am trying to qualify for the olympic trials and this is the pace I need...)
Anyway, I was nervous going into this race because the most I had done at mp was 6 miles. I decided to start slightly conservatively and see if I could run a 1:21:30 or better..
Woke up to a perfect day.. 40 degrees with sun shining and no wind! Best conditions! I've never ran this race so I didn't know what to expect except that its a loop that starts and finishes at the same place. After warming up for a mile or so the race started and I felt great, tried to hold back a little.. After the first mile or 2 I was the first girl but Jen Hughes was only a couple seconds back and she stayed that way until mile 5 where I pulled away going up the hill. Anyway, took me 3 or 4 miles and then I just got in a rythm. There were two boys in blue that I was trying to pace with- I don't think they liked me running by them and they took off after about 2 miles of running with them. This race winds through a neighborhood and has a number of turns first couple miles-not bad though. Lots of little rollers here and there-but nothing big until you hit mile 5-7 and its slight uphill the whole time! (Felt like I was prepared for the hill considering the hills I have to run every day here in Farmington) Anyway, my pace slowed, but I knew it would.. At the top of the hill around mile 7 or 8 I was slightly behind 6:12 pace but I knew I had a good 1.5 or so of great downhill to make up some of the time lost. At this point there was absolutely no one around me to pace with. There was a girl on an eliptigo that was leading me though and I kept telling myself to work on getting her.. So it helped make the pace seem easier to have her right in front of me. The next mile was straight downhill (hurt your legs downhill) and after that you head on a bike trail for a couple miles before finishing at the dixie center. I started getting tired around mile 10 or so, but kept telling myself I was almost done and to hold onto the pace.. I was so happy to see the finish line and got a little emotional when I crossed in 1:21:10. 6:11 ap. The emotions came because I doubted my ability going in to this race and I surprised myself and was able to pull it off and feel great doing it.. It made me realize that maybe it really is possible to qualify for the trials.. I know I have a lot of work to do still-but this race made me realize I am stronger mentally and physically than I think. So glad I did it to give me some confidence! Up next Boston!!
Splits were 6:09, 6:16, 6:13, 6:00, 6:06, 6:25, 6:32, 5:54, 6:05, 6:09, 6:21, 6:08, 6:13..
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