KAMIKAZIE!!! Yup, that was the plan :) I still have no voice and am coughing up crap like a bad smoker, but I decided if I was going to go for broke and blow up, I might as well make it a fantastic fail! What did I have to lose? Life was crazy and my poor husband who went to work at 9AM on Friday still wasn't home when I woke up at 4:30 to get ready to leave. He said he was close though, so I knew the kids would never even know no one was home for a while. Luckily my neighbor Jessica offered to drive so I could leave the family car for him to get everyone to 9AM soccer games. Only one problem...I was being cautious and locked the front door when I left and we always lock the garage door (into the house) at night. So...he got locked out. It took about 10 minutes of doorbell ringing and phone calls to wake up my daughter (no one else even woke up!) so that he could get in the house. I tell ya...the fun never ceases :) Jessica and I met Toby at trax and had an adventurous ride to the start (isn't SL always that way?) we got a fast pop line, I gargled with my magic mouthwash so I could drink without feeling knives in my throat, dropped our bags then lined up. We still had 10 min to show time so we made our way to the front to give Andrea and Allie and Emily a little pep talk (ha!) before the race and then we went off to find where we really fit into the crowd...the BACK! Once we crossed the line I just took off, I knew it would feel hard and breathing would be labored, so I just ran. Ooops...first mile came in at 6:42! Oh boy, Plan Kamikaze was in action - full force. I did catch the 3:15 pacers and Jose was with them so I decided to slow it up a little and hang there. It felt good now - not so kamikaze :) still couldn't talk and breathe, but hey I knew that would happen. Then we hit some good downhill and I just let it fly, blow up or not I was just going for it. I really felt good and in control and like I was running right where I should be and the miles just ticked by. I didn't like the extra out and back in Sugarhouse park, not that it was hard I just wasn't expecting it and it messed with my mind a little. I figured they had to have changed the course later down in the line because of the extra nearly 1/2 mile loop, but I didn't know where. I was hoping they'd dropped the mile 12 hill, but figured I couldn't get THAT lucky! I did take all the effort I could to give a shout out to Andrea and Emily when I got to see them on the turn, but it is hard to talk, let alone yell. I hope they heard me :)
I took a gu at mile 7 and I never stopped running. Not a walk through an aid station at all. I'm getting better at the drinking on the run thing :) well, okay just don't look at my white shirt in any of the race pictures...I had a drinking problem and red powerade is unforgiving. shirt, legs, arms - a very pretty sight I was! Just after mile 9 ticked off I saw the shadow of someone with a pace sign just over my shoulder. What the?!? REALLY?!? They started pacers at 1:40 so my only goal was to NOT let the 1:40 pacer pass me and I'd nail my PR...so what the heck was this?!? I'd been watching my splits and KNEW I was on track for a 1:35ish so why was he here?!? Someone asked "you 1:40?" "yeah, but I'm about 3 min ahead right now" THREE MINUTES AT MILE NINE?!? What kind of pacer are you? Other than a bad one?!? I said out loud (you have to understand how much effort it takes me to talk right now let alone when I'm running a 7:20mm) "Three min ahead of time at mile nine? that sure plays bad head games with some people!" A girl in pink in front of me said "but, it can inspire and push others" - oh SHUT UP! He is there to run a specific pace and his response of "well, that's just what the race has given me" is NOT a good answer OR inspiring. What about all the deflated egos of the people who were shooting for a 1:40 and couldn't keep up with his 1:36 pace those first 9 miles and gave up back at mile 5? Man...okay, I'll get off my rant now. I didn't see him until the end of the race after that, he pulled back and ran slower. Made me happy to put him in his place (am I a little bi*&$y today or what?!?) So, shortly after that I saw Rachelle at Liberty Park and it was SO nice to see her and have someone personally cheering me on. Gave me the push I needed to get through the park in good style. I didn't feel any fatigue or remorse about my kamikaze start until mile 11, but at that point I was at 1:20 and I knew that if I simply ran 10mm for the last 2 miles I'd still hit a PR! Awesome sauce. So, I just let myself let go of thinking about numbers and just do what my body would let me do. I climbed the hill in good fashion and never felt like I was going to die, which is good for me on hills! The crosswalk counter at the top of the hill was counting down from 18 when I noticed it and I told myself to get to the top of the hill by the zero. I made it! Turned to see the finish line (that had moved up from the gateway to East of the Energy Solutions Arena - thank you loop around Sugarhouse!) and I had a nice gentle downhill finish. Turn it on and give it what you got, and I did. Final .15 I recorded on the Garmin came in at 6:04 pace so I guess I can't hate the Kamikaze start too much :) The 2 near 8mm on mile 11 and 12 weren't quite what I'd wanted them to be and they were the result of the Kamikaze start, but I still don't think I regret it - yet. Finish time was 1:36:41, so an AP of 7:22 for the race. This is a 4+ min PR for me from the last time I raced a half. So, I get a new PR in my book and the knowledge that I CAN hit it better and harder if I'm not sick :) I just have to kamikaze the start and I'll be great. splits: 6:42, 7:13, 6:50, 7:06, 7:27, 7:40, 7:19, 7:29; 7:19; 7:24; 7:32; 7:56; 7:52 (my horrible mile 12 hill was a faster AP than the straightway on State St...awesome); 6:04 for last recorded .15 of the race. Feelin' good and now I just need a new head that doesn't have a sore throat, ringing ears, headache, stuffy nose and coughing fits to nail the full at Ogden. Thanks for enduring my novel race report. I'm a happy girl with a new PR today :) Thanks also to a great support crew: Toby, Jessica, Smooth and Lowell - you guys are amazing!!! Thanks for sharing this race and special day with me. Top 30/2800 females and top 10 in my AG - I won't complain!
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