Did NOT sleep a wink! Tried counting sheep, hubby's audible heart beats (he has artificial valves), blessings....yoga breathing....nothing worked. Kept replaying the scene of my son throwing up on the sideline at the football game last night. Poor thing, he played his heart out. Kept thinking & worrying about my children. Finally jumped out of bed at 4am w/ Mr. moon bright in the night sky. Showered and ate breakfast. Tummy was not feeling well. Kissed hubby goodbye and headed over to Wendy's house for our ride down to Spanish Fork. The 8 of us (John, Wendy, Diane, Carolyn, Mary, Katie, Beth and I) chatted excitedly for the 45 min drive. Stephanie met us at the park at 6:15. We headed to registration table and saw two sleeping bags under a tree. Felt bad that we might have woken up its occupants who turned out to be MichelleL's cute little boys. Michelle, the WONDERFUL volunteer was there VERY early already busy helping. SO VERY EXCITED to see her, the course record holder and her bright smile. It started to rain. Temp is warmer than last year. Gonna be a hot and humid race!
So HAPPY to see Kathie and Kimmy, Maynard and Running Utes; really missed Teena. We headed to the start and stood behind 3 rows of speedsters. Thought I would do what Huans32 suggested: run the first half at AP 9:19 (FIRST schedule pace for today's run) and 2nd half at AP 9:09 OR just hang with Kathie and Kimmy for as long as I could. Kathie, Kimmy Smooth & Maynard before the start. Aren't the sisters' WBR shirts clever?
The first 3 miles is a gradual incline with a small hill around mile 3.5; then level out till about mile 5.5 and began an uphill loop to mile 6. The loop meets back down to the course at mile 7.5 then the gradual decline from mile 9 to the finish; not a fast course.
Mile 1 - 8:23 (Started out too fast, saw hubby at the first turn, so sweet!) Mile 2 - 8:32 (Still a bit fast, trying to do the tangent on the winding River Bottom Rd.) Mile 3 - 8:41 (Could feel the incline, got into a good rhythm, passed TRI dude and Camelpak Girl. Gotta love the smell of the country, aka skunks, cows, horses.) Mile 4 - 9:08 (First hill, got passed by TRI dude and Camelpak Girl and Heavybreather who annoyingly "drafted" off me. There was a slight breezy headwind which actually felt wonderful. The view of the mountains is gorgeous!) Mile 5 - 8:32 (Re-passed TRi dude and Camelpak Girl. We chatted a bit about our recent races & paces. Saw TylerS running w/ someone on the opposite side. Cheered him 'cause I thought he was the front runner/winner. Took gel and got water from none other than our very own, KellieS. I couldn't talk to her as I was afraid I would choke on the water. It was so good to see you and your smiling face, Kellie!)
Mile 6 - 9:31 (Dropped TRI dude for good, Camelpak Girl hung w/ me. Kept the effort even going up this hill. At mile 6.5 my time was 58:xx. Hey! I may finish this thing under 1:57 if charlie horse stays away.)
Mile 7 - 8:58 (Concentrated on downhill form. Last year at this point, shin cramps started to show up and I had to sing to stiffle the fear of charlie. NOT this year, hallelujah!) Mile 8 - 8:36 (Camelpak girl passed me as I stopped at the aid station. ) Mile 9 - 8:27 (Passed lotsa folks here including Heavybreather, YES!) Mile 10 - 8:42 (Figured if I kept pace at 8:45 I could finish this thing under 1:55.) Mile 11 - 8:41 (Trying to run the tangent. Saw TylerS again running the other direction with encouraging words that mile 12 is just around the corner...sure enough!) Mile 12 - 8:28 (Legs feeling good, no cramps, YAY! Took a small cup of water. Realized I could finish under 1:54 if I kept the pace.) Mile 13 - 8:12 (Legs still feeling great. Everyone including me was pouring it on.) At the home stretch w/ about 0.2 mile to go, I saw MichelleL cheering enthusiastically. Then I heard her yell, TAKE THOSE GIRLS! There were 4 girls ahead. I could hear Michelle yelled, practice your kick to the finish! She must be running right behind me. Her awesomeness must have transferred over to me, I passed all the girls with Michelle cheering the whole way. I kicked it in to the finish with the clock barely turning from 1:52:59 to 1:53:00. Darn it! Should have sprinted for that one second! WOOHOO! What a rush! THANKS Michelle for helping me with a strong finish! Michelle is DA BEST friend, cheerleader, athletic supporter, race volunteer EVER!!!
I either did a wonderful job with the tangent or the course is short. Garmin showed mileage at 13:03. O well, I'll take it including the 2nd AG medal. Didn't win any raffle prize. But 3 from our company of 9 won prizes. Oh, Kathie's & Kimmy's mom won a Coolpix camera, SWEET! It was so nice to see KarinR (josse's mom) who also took 2nd in her AG and won a prize. Her hubby had knee surgery in April and won his AG in the 5k...very COOL!!! I really like this home town race put on by the SF Running Club! May have to make it a yearly event. Me and 4 of the 8 ladies: Wendy, Carolyn (her 1st Half), Mary, Diane (her 1st) at the finish. Good job, girls!
BYU just beat Oklahoma 14-13!!! WOOOHOOOOO!!!!
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