Each Day Is a Gift

Came home late last night after my grandbaby's 2 yo birthday party. Got may be couple hours of sleep. Woke up at 3am, showered, read scriptures...the usual morning routine...decided to wear sleeveless top, so slather sunscreen and Glide all over. Karen and her sister, Jill picked me up at 4:30am. This year bib pick up is outside the hotel next to the start line, in the dark. They didn't have size small shirt, so gave me a medium non-gender shirt. That is so lame! I think this is my 7th PCM and sad to see there's no support and sponsorship anymore.

We used the hotel's bathroom and waited for RAD, Gary and Lowell (this is Lowell's 100th marathon) in the lobby. Gary has a full day scheduled: run the marathon, meet his buddies at Utah Lake to water ski at 11am, then drive his son to Phoenix (with a stop in Vegas) to start dental school...oh, I should mention that he flew in from Hong Kong and had a total of 6 hours sleep over the last three days.

The race started and Jill was looking for a place to shed her jacket so we were the stragglers. There was a mist across the field and the air felt wonderfully cool. Hot air balloons are rising in the distance and soon the sun too. My heart was overfilled with joy and gratitude having RAD by my side. My mind was flooded with all the fond memories of our many PCMs together, how we'd danced and pranced with not a care in the world. I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!! :)

RAD knows everyone on the course. She'd run a little with them but always waited or caught back up to us. We picked up Deb (a truck driver from Canada, I think) and shared stories of running adventures. I told her PCM used to be a sufferfest for me until RAD started running with me, then it becomes a running party, the ONLY way to do PCM! :) :) :)

I reflexively stopped my watch at the first aid station (something I do during long runs for water fountain stops) and totally forgot to restart it until 0.75 mile later when a fella asked if we'd passed the mile 3 marker. I should've not even wear my watch because I never looked at it anyway. We went off course to use the "outhouse" around mile 7 aid station cause there was a long line at the one POP. We used the flush toilet bathroom by the tennis courts. We stopped and took pictures several times, ate pretzels, etc. The powerade was terribly watered down and only 2-3 oz in each cup. They also cut out one of the aid stations...and no live bands!

We talked, laughed, walked, jogged, teased the entire way up to Deer Valley. Met Lowell and Tara on their way down. Lowell picked me up with a bear hug and nearly broke my back! :) :) :) We saw "marathon Larry" running his 1,008th marathon! Oh how I missed my Larry! He'd be at every crossing and key point, cheering, taking pictures, giving us ice or pickles. I started sharing the difficult medical experience my Larry went through in April and May this year with Jill. And before we knew it, we're done with the uphills!!!

After a lengthy stop at the Barn where we ate, took lots of pictures, we crossed the last tunnel and onto a descending bike path. The sky is clear blue with not a stitch of cloud, luckily the temp was in the 70s. I love that little stretch. The last 5Ks was always a grind if not for RAD there telling me her summer adventure of the chickens story, GREAT distraction and very entertaining, not to mention educational! I needed to pee so bad but decided to hold it till the finish for fear that if I stop I won't be able to get going, a choice approved by RAD! :) My shins started to cramp up the last mile and all I could do is focus on not letting them cease up. I saw the clock 5:00:xx so I kicked it up hoping that I would sneak under 5 and RAD uttered something like "she always beat me to the finish!" I kept walking, jogging back and forth in the food tent to keep charlie horse at bay. RAD grabbed me drink and made sure I was okay. Why am I SO lucky to have RAD in my life!!!! Did I mention I just LOVE her! :) :) :)

I was so slow, they ran out of chocolate milk, BOO! and the award ceremony started. I made a bee line to the POP, more pictures with Karen's family, Lowell, then heard they announced Gary as the AG winner. I got up there to pick up his medal and found out I took 3rd in my AG. Lowell won his AG so did Marci!!! RAD would've won if she hadn't "partied" with me! :) :) :) We (Karen's parents and hubby and kids and Jill's kids) went to Cafe Rio for lunch. I should mention that Jill came from California over the weekend just to run this with us. Another memory making marathon in the book! :) :) :)

Summary

Distance:	25.41 mi
Time:	4:50:52
Avg Pace:	11:32 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	1,156 ft
Calories:	2,189 C

Details

Timing

Time:	4:50:52
Moving Time:	4:39:17
Elapsed Time:	4:59:13

Avg Pace:	11:32 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	10:59 min/mi
Best Pace:	:24 min/mi

Speed

Pace

Elevation

Elevation Gain:	1,156 ft
Elevation Loss:	1,151 ft
Min Elevation:	6,362 ft
Max Elevation:	7,214 ft

Running Dynamics

Avg Run Cadence:	179 spm
Max Run Cadence:	249 spm
Avg Stride Length:	0.78 m

Laps26

View Splits

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	4:50:52.0	25.41	11:32
1	10:03.9	1.00	10:04
2	10:20.3	1.00	10:20
3	10:03.8	1.00	10:04
4	10:25.1	1.00	10:25
5	10:39.5	1.00	10:39
6	10:23.1	1.00	10:23
7	13:34.4	1.00	13:34
8	10:31.6	1.00	10:32
9	10:31.1	1.00	10:31
10	11:51.3	1.00	11:51
11	11:20.2	1.00	11:20
12	10:51.6	1.00	10:52
13	14:06.8	1.00	14:07
14	13:49.2	1.00	13:49
15	13:03.7	1.00	13:04
16	10:57.1	1.00	10:57
17	12:06.7	1.00	12:07
18	13:37.8	1.00	13:38
19	11:25.6	1.00	11:26
20	10:30.2	1.00	10:30
21	15:16.7	1.00	15:16
22	10:10.5	1.00	10:11
23	10:12.1	1.00	10:12
24	10:25.9	1.00	10:26
25	10:30.6	1.00	10:31
26	4:03.6	0.41	9:50

Weather

46°

Feels like 46°

0 mph N wind

Humidity 87%

Source: K36U

Additional Information

Device:

Garmin Forerunner 220, 2.60.0.0

Elevation Corrections

Summary Data:

Edited

Each Day Is a Gift

Park City Marathon