I DID IT! I accomplished all my goals! ... #1 to finish the race feeling well and happy, #2 to get a PR, and #3 to qualify for Boston. Sleep: This is an area that I really need to work on. I'm embarrassed to admit how little sleep I get on a regular basis -especially the week of the race. I only averaged 5 hours of sleep/night the week before the race. (It didn't really help that we had to drive across the country either, but that is another story). Mark was determined that he did not want to ride the bus up the canyon on race morning. We stayed in Pine Valley with Aubree, her mom, and siblings. Thanks Lisa for the extra couple of hours of sleep! Nutrition: I ate two plates of the pasta dinner the night before at the Expo. Race morning- I ate a half a banana & 1/2 a yogart before the race. (I probably could have eaten more, but this was my own fault for not going grocery shopping. Thank you Lisa for sharing your food with me!) I took 2 Advil and 1 salt tab. I packed 2 energy gels and a couple more Advil & salt tabs for the race. Luckily, I was able to grab one more Gu at one of the aide stations. I needed this extra boost. I'm not really sure what I took when during the race. I do remember just emptying my pockets around mile 21 and eating anything that was left. I drank water at every stop and Gatorade at a few of them, however, Gatorade can make me feel a little nauseous. Race: I took a total of 17 short walking breaks and 5 long breaks during the race. Here are my splits. 8:29, 8:14, 7:59, 7:23, 7:44, 7:18, 7:25, 8:50 (vejo hill), 8:54 (long aid station/bathroom break), 8:42, 8:36, 8:15, 8:28, 7:57, 7:33, 8:04, 7:45, 8:10, 8:32, 8:33, 8:09, 9:02 (Mile 22 is the real half-way mark. My legs started to feel like lead. I kept telling myself, "I can make it to the next mile... It's just like Echo & back (a favorite easy coarse), ", 8:43, 7:57, 8:39, 8:38. Overall pace average: 8:13 I really did love the race! I didn't put any pressure on myself. Rather, I focused on "good running karma." Definition: 1) Appreciating everything around me - the scenery, the people who came out to cheer, my health, clean air... 2) thanking all the people at the water/aide stations-especially thanking all the people who rubbed Icy Hot on my legs at almost every aide station. (They really went the extra mile for that)! 3) Trying really hard not to accidently throw my cups at people or the volunteers. (I think this only happened once). 4) going out of my way to slap hands with the little kids who were cheering. (If there was a group of kids, I always picked the smallest one). 5) dancing when I heard the live music and radio music along the way. The people on the race inspired me. I teared up when I saw a man push his physically disabled son in a wheel chair. I teared up a few more times during the race seeing some of the work that took place to make this event possible. I really got choked up with American pride hearing that another man ran the entire race carrying an American flag and then was humbled running the last few hundred meters with US soldiers cheering everyone on. In my heart, I was cheering them on. I finished the race with a big smile on my face. My overall emotions, were happiness from a sense of accomplishment and deep gratitude to the Lord, Mark, Aubree, my children, Cheryl, Suz, and everyone else who helped me. I couldn't have done this alone. Thank you everyone!
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