I'm not crazy...I'm just bored!!

Halloween Half Marathon

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Location:

Herriman,UT,USA

Member Since:

Jan 01, 2009

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

St George Marathon: 3:23:54 (10/6/12)

Half IM: 5:44:03 (8/25/12 - course was long!)

25K trail - Buffalo Run (16.5) 2:34:50

Half Marathon: American Fork - 1:30:44  6/23/12

Spectrum 10K 43:42   3/17/2012

Best 5K: Spanish Fork 21:55 05/30/09

Short-Term Running Goals:

Okay, so for 2013 I am going to have FUN! Not that running isn't always fun, but I had a wonderful breakthrough year last year and I want to play this year :) AND get faster! So, my first goal I'm going to put out there is my yearly mileage goal.
It is 2,186 miles from my driveway to my sister (QP's) driveway! I want to spend this year on a virtual trek cross country running those miles. So, that is how far I will run in 2013...from my house to QPs. It will take all year and yes, this is measured on Hwys so it isn't really exactly how I COULD run it, but good enough. 43 miles/week...totally doable, and a fun goal to track how far I've traveled as I go along. Who knows...maybe I'll even run PAST her house :)

I will do more trail runs, Boston, Pacing duties, another Half IM and some other tris. I'm excited for this next year and look forward to having fun with all of you out on the roads, and trails! Maybe bag a few peaks this year too!!

Long-Term Running Goals:


Big Dreams: 5K in 20:2X; 10K in 39:XX; Half in 1:29:XX; Full in 3:15:XX; complete the Rim2Rim2Rim run and not die; Comrades; Iron(wo)Man.

Run for the rest of my life!

Personal:

4 children: twelve, eight, five and baby Fartlek - 2 1/2. Wonderful supportive husband that lets me drag him and the family all over for race after race!

Finished 13 marathons and LOVE running that distance! I'm definitely hooked to the marathon monster and hope to constantly improve my endurance, speed and stay injury free!

I've also found a love of trail running! I hope to keep improving on this front.

After being injured with a broken foot at the first of 2012 I found a tri group and started training with them and am now loving tris! The half IM was harder than I'd ever imagined...and am ready to do it again. I'll earn my bike butt and someday have enough time to train for a full IM.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
BIKE MILES Lifetime Miles: 1168.40
LUCY MILES Lifetime Miles: 25.25
Adidas Lifetime Miles: 319.66
Orange II Lifetime Miles: 390.41
Boston Mizuno Lifetime Miles: 568.97
Fargo Nikes Lifetime Miles: 500.03
BEANS Lifetime Miles: 755.00
Orange Bostons Lifetime Miles: 527.59
Solomon Trail Lifetime Miles: 363.98
PI Tri Shoes Lifetime Miles: 4.00
Boston Mizuno 10s Lifetime Miles: 140.75
New Orange Lifetime Miles: 157.05
Race: Halloween Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:59:40
Total Distance
15.10

Another crazy Halloween Half in the books. It is always a fun time meeting and chatting with TONS of friends at the start and the warming tent as we wait and wait and wait for the 9AM start after getting on the buses at 6AM. SO tired. But, the company and excitement is always good!

Catherine and I were the 2:00 pacers and the end of the 1st wave. They did different pace waves this year so that they could open the highway (the canyon road) between the waves and not just do a hard close for an hour as everyone came by. So, we had to do sweeper duties for the first wave, because when we came to the road it was the cue for the officers to close the race course and let cars through. If you didn't make it through with the pacers you had to wait for 15 minutes until the next wave came through. That would really stink for anyone really wanting to get a decent time. 

When we started we tried to be the last through the line, but people continued to stream through. I stopped and went back to the last person and explained what was going to happen. Then every group I passed I made sure to tell them what was going to happen if they didn't keep up with the pacers. Just over 2 miles down the canyon at a 9:10 pace - that was all you had to keep!! I felt like I did my due diligence in warning and encouraging people to make it through, but when we got to the highway there was a trail behind us of a good 50 feet or so, but then there was a gap... I knew that when that gap hit the highway everyone else would be cut off. I think there were only a handful of people behind that gap, but they were there. I shouldn't feel bad, they were warned and warned about the waves and to pace yourself properly for the wave starts, but well it just didn't completely work. I still feel bad they had to wait.

The course started further down the Alpine Loop than in years past...by about 2.5 miles. Less canyon pounding, but they threw in a really nice out and back along the frontage road just before Nunns Park....UP the canyon about 1.3ish miles. Ugghhh! Even just poking along that hill wasn't fun to tackle. I hope everyone had seen that change on the course map and that no one was expecting their normal crazy downhill course this year! They would've been a little disappointed.

Catherine and I had a few different groups that tagged along with us. Allison was our first tag along and she was doing great, but she stopped at the first water station and since we hadn't banked our time on the downhill canyon miles (we wanted to be closer to AP for the road closure issues) we didn't have time to walk through and I never saw her again. Catherine  stopped there at Vivian for a pop stop and so I was on my own for the next mile-ish until she sprinted her way back. Pop stop = tempo run when pacing :)

During those miles I picked up the jail bird, the ghost and Dolly Parton (okay, not really her costume, but the balloons in her shirt made it look that way!). We all had good chats and conversation, but when we hit the out and back with the hill, we dropped them all. The ghost and jail bird hung on REALLY well and they were determined, but it was just too much after a mile or so. The sheet on the ghost was making a really good sail so he was working nearly twice as hard as well! 

The next miles we just kind of passed through a lot of people and didn't get a huge crowd, but around mile 10 we picked up a couple people that did really well sticking with us to the end! The tall pirate was running his first half and all the women in his family had encouraged/inspired him to do it. Yes, he was ahead of all of them! Then there was a lady in a red jacket and she hung tough those last miles too. At the final turn to the finish I could tell we were early. I knew how far out the finish was from there and we still had 90-120 seconds to get to the finish. So we slowed down a bit and walgged to the end (walk/jog). Then about 50 feet in front of the finish we ran backwards and stopped a bit to encourage runners to beat 2:00! We got a few to pick it up and push through for a strong finish. Then, the finish line cameras were in view and we had to finish running :)

About being early enough to fudge the last .10 of the race: There were NO mile markers! People said they caught them every once in a while, but I only saw 8, 11, 12, 13 AND they were off. Like .20-.25 early. I don't like to trust my garmin, especially on this race because of the canyon so I was relying on the mile markers! Stink. I didn't know who was right and who was WAAAY off. Well, my garmin finished at 13.06 miles, so they had to be off a lot more than I thought. Anyway, I know it isn't a good excuse, but we just tried to keep our overall AP at 9:09 and if the course was long/short we couldn't help it. So, the course was short - nothing I can do about that. I finished in the correct AP for our pace time and that is all I can do with no mile markers and faulty garmins. Even with that 1:58:40 isn't TOO terrible, right? I once heard that 30 seconds either way for a half is acceptable. So, I'm acceptable!

The finish didn't have much of anything good :( chips that weren't all that good and fresh fruit. The apples were YUM!! I could've eaten 10 of them...at least. I wanted an orange, but they weren't cut. I didn't want to peel an orange with gloves on or cold sticky hands if I took the gloves off. The bananas were cut up though...go figure. I grabbed an apple, said good bye to Catherine and ran back on the course to run in with Danielle (my ride) who was pacing 2:20.

Along the way I saw Steph and Heidi my friends from the old 'hood where we grew up. Heidi was running her first half and Steph was her support. I ran maybe a tenth of a mile with them before the sideline crowd got too dense and I peeled off to run back again. On my way back I saw Rachelle and Julie walking back to their cars! I'd only gotten to see them for a second at the top, so it was fun to chat for a bit. Then right on cue came Danielle! I joined her for her last mile into the finish.

We passed a couple teenage boys walking and I harassed them into running again. Danielle and Laura, I think, were embarrassed by my prodding, BUT we never saw them again! They took off, you gotta know how to get them going :) Then just before mile marker 13 we came to an older guy walking. I said to him "c'mon finish line! no more walking!" It took a little bit, but he got into a run again, then admitted he hadn't done any of his long Saturday runs. I simply replied "well, you've run .25 mile, right?" "yeah" "you have less than that left! You KNOW you can run that much! Who cares what is behind you and in the past, you can make the finish with no more walking!" He then admitted that I was much too positive :) Oh, and our tall pirate that finished with Catherine and I remarked that we had waaay too much energy for him! All good comments as far as I am concerned!

So, I got a good couple miles extra in and made a few more good memories. The last 2 were slow, but hey...a mile is a mile, right? Afterward we returned our singlets, grabbed my bag and rode the bus back to our car. A little stop at the cupcake shop and we were on our way home. Another Halloween Half in the bag!

Thanks to everyone who made this one a fun one for me! I loved it, as always! Well, except the anxiety about not knowing my exact pace and if I was on time or not, because the mile markers were obsolete and/or wrong. Oh well, despite the worry we still brought it home on time and had a great race.

Pokey Purples Miles: 15.10
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Rob on Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 17:10:57 from 204.15.86.95

I didn't get through the whole report, i'll come back later. But anyway, good seeing you today. Pacing is really a lot of fun.

From Toby on Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 18:42:27 from 199.101.229.6

Every run/race is a PARTY with you!!!! Glad you guys had fun time and the weather was beautiful! Hooray!

From Nancy on Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 06:46:37 from 76.23.21.118

It sounds like you had a fun time.

From Teena Marie on Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 17:14:24 from 65.130.15.13

You're a running machine! I have never heard of a race doing that type of "sweep/road closure" type thing.

Sounds like you were an awesome pacer!! :)

From RachelT on Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 09:16:31 from 24.10.224.129

Hey great job on the pacing, it was really annoying about the mile markers. I don't run with a watch and was counting on those to be better. The pink wig was a nice touch, good job out there.

From Lily on Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 09:17:19 from 67.199.178.95

Awwee I missed seeing everyone there this year. Hmmm maybe next year

From Rachelle on Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 09:32:59 from 159.212.71.25

It was great to see you Saturday Rachel and I love, love your pink wig. It matched perfectly with the new bright pink pace shirts. :)

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