Yesterday I was stuck at work until 530pm. All day my coworkers were thinking how I could get off early. Miraculously I was able to leave an hour later. Left for Moab at 550pm. Arrived in record time at 9 pm at the expo and that's with missing the Price exit and driving to the next one. Ha ha. My husband is a good driver. I am pretty much closing my eyes through Price Canyon.
I picked up my pacing gear as the expo was packing up. Walter was running the booth. No pace band yet and was thinking I would bank time at the beginning if there was wind. Walter said he had a course specific band for me but didn't have it with him. Oh well. I got a little nervous about my pacing spot--- 1:30 because I haven't done any pace work longer that 6 miles and that was last Monday!! hee. hee. I was also nervous about the course. I haven't run it in 11 years and I honestly only remember it stating it was a downhill course...cause the river flows downhill. But after the courses in Utah county and Bryce, Moab is not downhill. It drops 150 feet the first mile then goes up and down about 16 times, a good up between mile 9 and 10. Total uphill 343 feet. Total down 420 feet. Net loss 77 feet. Hearing this and Walter telling me that people interested in the 1:30 pace were saying to him "YOU got a GIRL for the 1:30????" I was wondering if I got myself into too deep. I might want to add that 11 years ago was my fastest time here (I believe I have run moab 5 times) was a 1:42!! LOL. Faster with age I guess. Seriously back then I was a recreational runner. At 39 I started to think about getting faster. Now at 44, I am reaching my peak. Luckily, Walter stuck up for me and told them "she is a great master runner and she will kick your butt". That energized me. But I must point out HOW utterly exhausted I was. Working two 12 hour shifts, zipping it down to Moab and only sleeping four hours Thursday night, and shaky 5 hours sleep Friday night. I was in FOCUS mode.
Kelli picked me up at my hotel. Kids asleep husband rolling eyes. Come on it is 745am!!! Wake up. Moab half starts at 10am for those who don't know that. I packed warm gear but ODDLY I wore my running skirt and never once felt the need to put on my sweats. I wore my fleece pullover to the start but didn't even need my gloves. I put them on though when I got to the start just cause. We had our pacing signs (and course specific pace band provided by Walter at the busses) and made our way to the start. I looked over the pace band and decided to try and follow it the best I could. Not knowing the course really I just had to believe the band.We arrived at the start at 910am. It was a crowded walk uphill. The steepest and really only net downhill mile is the first one. I realized I hadn't even warmed up and this ol' body needs a warm up. I placed my bag in the truck and ran 0.1 miles downhill through the crowd and out into the open. I then picked up my pace until it read 6:40 at 0.3 miles and turned around and jogged easily uphill to the start. Ha Ha. That was the extent of my warmup. Got at my pacing spot and introduced self. BUT now I had to pee real bad. Kelli, Amy and I already stood in a 20 minute porta potty line. But now I wondered if I really had to go or if it was nerves. There was no way I could run feeling this urgency. I rushed over to a side of a cliff and went as privately as I could. Good thing I did. I really did have to go!! Ha ha. Rushed back to the line with 5 minutes to go and talked more to my group. I met Paul and Caroline. Stories of last years wind from Paul and how the pacer was off, yahta yahta. Yay me!! more nerves. Caroline, had never run a half marathon but ran her first full marathon in 3:10. YIKES.
And we were off. In the first 0.1 miles my pace was at 5:30!! My followers with me. Slow down Nelli!! So I backed off and hit the mile in 6:37.91 (6:40 goal). Okay, I will just show you how on I was to the pace band-- actual pace first, goal in parenthesis.
1. 6:37.91 (6:40)
2. 6:47.23 (6:48)
3. 6:46.38 (6:52)
4. 6:49.79 (6:48), water station between miles 3 and 4.
5. 6:51.44 (6:52). Paul asks to take my pace sign for me for a few miles. Go for it. It was breezy for my five miles and it was tricky to run with it. I felt naked without it at first however. My bright pink shirt, stood out however.
6. 6:45.70 (6:44),water station right at the end of this mile.
7. 6:48.80 (6:48)
8. 6:52.23 (6:52)
9. 6:48.48 (6:52)
10. 7:01.84 (7:00) , the hill at 9.3 miles was a bit of a shocker, I slowed way down to a 7:15 pace and even with some downhill after cresting I could couldn't get the pace to 7:00 in time. Water station too. Get the sign back in my hands close to the end of this mile.
11. 6:59.12 (7:04). Surprising. I was ready to kick it in but can't. I am the pacer. Held back and let my pacing buddy Paul take off. He was glad he held back and hung with me. He said he would have gone out too fast and crashed before finishing. He came in at 1:29:28. He was happy.
12. 6:58.71 (7:00)
13. 6:58.02 (7:00). Okay here I am turning it up a bit cheering guys as I pass them or they pass me. Getting cheered on by the crowd. I am at a 6:40 pace at the 1/2 mile mark of this mile and as I turn the last corner I see the finish line and think "wow that is really close" then look at my watch ...it reads 1:26:45....uh oh. I am way ahead of schedule...so my garmin that was reading the miles about 30 seconds early after mile 6 or so was really just the course markers being off. So I just ease up on pace and reach the crowd where I can see the clock as it is about 1:29:55....and I am like...oops slowed down too much and started picking it up but I was too late for the 1:30:00. I was like "how did that happen?" and then realized my watch read the course at 13.19 miles instead of 13.1. The finish looking so close was an optical illusion. It really was 0.5 miles away!!! ha ha. Despite that I felt pretty good in my timing. Right on the money for all the splits. I would just look at my garmin about 0.2 miles into a mile and lock my pace in for that mile based on my pace band. It was that simple : D. If there was a hill I would slow a teensy bit and if a downhill I would pick it up.
13.19 1:15.87 (supposed to do 41 seconds for 0.1 miles). Obviously if you cut that time in half it would be 38 seconds so I would have been right on the nose :D .
Okay...so Paul was happy and all the guys who glared behind themselves at me with the sign sped up...quite a bit. I am certain they were running away from the girl with the sign :D . One guy passed me at mile 11.5 saying "I have been chasing you for 5 miles, Thank you pacer!!". At the finish green hair guy said Thanks. He at one point during the race said I was going to fast...but it was him going too fast (I said that to myself) cause he was sprinting up to me then reading that mile on his garmin. We talked about that at the finish. Good times!! Fun to be around a lot of guy finishers. Caroline finished in 1:31:45. She stuck with me until mile 6. She was bummed but realized how hard this course was and was able to feel better after I told her she rocked it. She really did. First half marathon in Moab, come on that is awesome!!! Waited for Kelli to finish. She had a good group of followers. : D.
My kids were at the finish. "Mom, are you ready to leave now". Ha ha. We stayed one hour. My kids informed me that they heard the announcers at the finish say I won the top Master Award. Later I learned that it was a special award in Memory of Sheri Haymore. Sheri died 200 yards from the finish of this race in 2005. Wowsers. Her three daughters were there to give out the award. I was on the grass with my family just talking. We never heard any announcing. Apparently the award ceremony is VERY short and was held at 12:15 (45 minutes after I finished). At 12:30 my kids were itching to get out so I went over to the awards table 10 feet from where I was sitting and asked when they were doing the awards...and they had already done them. I felt foolish. The race director walked me over to one of Sheri's daughters and she presented me with my trophy and a nice back pack with some fun things inside (head lamp and two pairs of socks). I was very humbled and honored to have won this award. We hugged and talked briefly. Wow. What a day!!
Later we hiked in Arches National park to the Delicate Arch and Balanced Rock. On Sunday we hiked to Double O. Sunday there were few clouds in the sky and the wind picked up as the day went on. We had 30 to 50 mph wind gusts on our entire 3 hour hike!! I had some moments where I had to sit down on the rock in fear of falling. I am afraid of heights. And lots of silent prayers for my children who seem to have no fear. We were quite the site with all the dirt in our hair and shoes. Not sore either of the two days, but ankle gave me grief enough. Story of my life ; D. Drove home at 3:30 pm. Dinner at Grandmas in American Fork. Everyone took showers when we got home. Ahhh....nice to be home in the frozen air!! what the heck??? wind and artic air again????? blah : D. | 