Well it aint called Hurricane Utah for nothing. The wind did the city proud today. Unfortunately I had to run in it today - Fortunately i had a decent race. I got to the starting line 15 min before the race started, and really didn't feel that bad about not getting much of a warm up in. The wind was bone chilling! I felt perfectly dressed for the race, but had forgotten my gloves - I have never wanted them more during a race! (wore arm warmers, race singlet, shorts, headband, and compression socks). That was one of the first races were i had less on than my hubby:)
It was great to see so many familiar faces at the start -lots of friends and a bunch of my ladies from class were tackling their first 1/2 marathon today and it was so cool to see their commitment! I felt pretty confident in my race that day - I was hoping for a 1:24 or 1:25 - With a strong, cold headwind that day, a hilly 1st 5 miles, and nemisis to be climbed, that sort of time would have been a tall order. As I toed the line, i looked around and didn't recognize anyone that was going to challenge me for 1st (but you defintely never know). I tried to not hold myself back like i tend to do.
I saw that i was right as i stayed out in front of even the guys for the first 8 miles. Here are my splits.
1 - 6:24 - flat
2 - 6:33 - flat -slightly up - i was already thirsty and the first aid station didn't have any cups!
3.- 6:33 - rolling up - I kept eyeing the lake and was glad that i wasn't the one doing the ironman next week - that lake is going to be freezing!!!
4 - 6:35 - up then down, starting to turn into the wind - my hands were painfully freezing
6 - 6:55 - started up nemisis - nasty, nasty hill - now wind is straight on, ugh!
7 -7:51 - end of nemisis - had to get legs moving down the other side - we now are running into a headwind for the rest of the race;(
8 - 6:40 - down then up - 1st guy catches me here, next guy is a ways back next girl is not even sight
9 - 6:38 -
10 -6:45
11 -6:45
12 - 6:33 - i knew i had secured 1st woman at this point, but i wanted to catch the 1st guy - just to say i did. He continued to speed up and I finished about a minute back.
13 - 6:26
.2 - 6:24
My body wanted to go harder on the last 5 miles, but the wind was puting up a good fight. I had taken some ibuprofen, so i'm not sure how my abs handled it. I tried to concentrate on the deep breathing, and it may have helped. My diaphragm area still felt tight during the race, but i was definitely manageable. My abs twinged at the end, but that's it! hopefully this means that they are on their way back:)
Ran 1 cool down mile and got to pace my hubby in - so proud of him:) and cheered my friends in. I changed into some fresh clothes right when i finished, but i still froze my tush off until after the awards ceremony.
I'm happy about how i did today. i would've liked a faster time, but felt like i did what i could today. I wish the Hurricane half would step up and improve their race as their were many things i'd change. it does have potential. the old course was much faster and drew more competition - classic sports did a much better job sponsoring it! They we\re not the most organized or enthusiastic crew today either - but maybe they were hating being in that wind as much as we did. Anyways , there's my 2 cents. I was happy to get a $50 gift certificate to both Classic Sports and Hill Sports! | 