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Run From an Angel Marathon

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Location:

UT,

Member Since:

Oct 14, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

85 marathons, 5 times Utah Grand Slam finisher (division winner twice).

7 Bostons (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016).

Two 50Ks, one 50 miler (Pony Express).

A handful of AG wins in all distance races.

Marathon PR: 3:57:09 (Boston'08)

Half Marathon PR: 1:48:41 (Bryce Canyon '11)

10K PR: 47:50 (Spectrum 10K '09)

5K PR: 22:31 (Nestle 5K '08)
 

Short-Term Running Goals:

2017 Races:

June 10 - Utah Valley Marathon (5:13:43)

June 24 - Morgan Valley Marathon (5:49:01)

July 8 - Hobbler Half (2:19:37, 2nd AG)

July 24 - Temple to Temple 5K (27:43)

July 29 - Timp Half (2:08:01, 3rd AG)

Aug 26 - Mt. Nebo Marathon (5:16:16, 3rd AG)

Sep 16 - Huntsville Marathon (4:48:53)

Oct 7 - St. Geroge Marathon (4:57:11)

Nov 4 - Canyon City Marathon (5:30:07)

2018 Races:

Jan 13 - St. George Half (2:19:45, 3rd AG)

Mar 3 - The Woodlands Marathon (5:01:35)

Apr 6-7 - Ragnar So. California

June 1-2 - Ragnar Wasatch Back

June 9 - Utah Valley Marathon (5:19:22)

June 30 - Morgan Valley Half

Sep 1 - Pocatello Marathon (6:00:43)

Sep 15 - Huntsville Marathon (5:37:08)

Oct 6 - St. George Marathon (5:25:43)

Oct 20 - SoJo Marathon (5:29:23)

2019 Races:

June 1 - Utah Valley Marathon (5:44:24)

June 22 - Morgan Valley Marathon (6:15:13)

Aug 31 - Pocatello Marathon (5:38:47)

Sep 14 - Big Cottonwood Marathon (6:03:51)

Oct 5 - St. George Marathon (5:57:46)

Oct 12 - SoJo Marathon (5:55:45)

2020 Races:

Jan 18 - St. George Half (2:38:28)

Feb 15 - Sun Marathon (5:51:54)

May 5 - Conquer Covid-19 Virtual Marathon (5:49:07)

May 16 - Clear Creek Canyon Half Marathon (2:32:15)

May 25 - Utah Valley Virtual Marathon (5:33:110

June 9 - Independence Run Virtual Marathon (5:55:22)

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Run happy and healthy all the days of my life. Be an example and inspiration to my family.

 

Personal:

I'm 64, retired RN, happily married, nana to 14 beautiful grandchildren, mother to 6 children (1 daughter, 5 sons) who are kind, hardworking, caring, wonderful people! Wish they live closer!!!  :)  :)  :)

Picked up running in 2005 at age 50, to stay healthy so I can take care of my husband who had endocarditis resulting in AVR and MVR in 2004, end stage renal failure in 2014, kidney transplant on Dec 30, 2015.  Six months after the kidney transplant, we discovered that he has a rare auto-immune disease that was probably triggered in 2004 with then the undiagnosed infective endocarditis.  The doctors had to make up a name for this rare disease, Monoclono Gammopathy with Renal Significance (MGRS).  It is not curable.  After desperately trying different chemotherapies, the doctor finally found one immuno-therapy, Daratumamab, that works to treat the MGRS.  It is a miracle!!! 

Grateful for the gift of life, blessings, dear friends and loved ones!!! Thankful for the ability to move, walk, jog, and yes run!!!!

 

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Saucony Guide ISO Wide Lifetime Miles: 311.91
Saucony Guide ISO Lifetime Miles: 313.31
Sacony Guide ISO (2) Lifetime Miles: 225.26
Altra Torin (sz 7) Lifetime Miles: 44.49
Saucony Guide 10 (2020) Lifetime Miles: 60.91
Race: Run From an Angel Marathon (26.2 Miles) 04:15:17, Place overall: 23, Place in age division: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.006.370.000.0026.37

Went to bed at 11pm, woke up at 1:43, 3:45, then my cell alert woke me at 5 at which time I laid in bed waiting for the alarm to go off at 6.  Showered, dressed, went down to the hotel cafe to grab a muffin and yogurt.  Hubby being the efficient personal race manager (PRM) kept reminding me to eat while I was texting away with Karen and Wendy on the drive to Lake Mead Recreation Area!  :)  We got to the Boulder Beach Event Picnic area (start of the race) around 7am.  They directed us to park the car 1/4 mile down by the beach/dirt.  Forgot my Garmin and sunglasses while walking to the start, had to walk back to the car... so not ready for this race.

A beautiful sunrise at Lake Mead

Walking 1/4 mile up from the car to the start a second time. 

This event has several race distances with staggered start times: 50 miles=6am, Marathon =8a, Half=8:30a, 10K=8:45a, 5K=8:50a.  The course is the same out-n-back with various turnaround points for the different races.  There was a friendly atmosphere with everyone smiling and milling around at the start. 

Gotta love no line at the port-a-potty and the cleaning stations right outside. :)

The race director using a bull-horn instructed us to gather by the timing clock/mat and gave straight instructions to run within the white line of the road shoulder and to put litter in the trash cans at aid stations.  The course, entirely on National Park roads, is open to traffic.  Running out of the white line as well as littering would result in DQ. 

I figured in a small race, I'd be running alone most of the time.  My PRM thought some tunes would be helpful.  It's the first time I've ever run a race with iPod. 

Putting the iPod in my shirt pocket just before count-down.

The weather was perfect: low 40s starting temp, 6mph WNW wind, sunny blue sky.  The course is USTAF certified, entirely on pavement, nothing but HILLS with net elevation gain of 2839'.  Here's the description of the course from the race website:

Departing the Boulder Beach start line there is a gradual climb of about a 1/4 mile until you turn right onto Lakeshore Drive. The next 3.5 miles are a series of rollers and flat-ish sections. Then a series of 1 mile long stretches of downhill, uphill, downhill repectively taking you to the 1/2 marathon course turn around- keep going straight! You'll continue with another 1 mile downhill. Then miles 7.7 to mile 10 are a series of rollers with a slight net gain. At mile 10 take a right onto Northshore Drive. A 1 mile downhill preceeds a series of rollers which lead you to your course turn around. Heading back you'll cover rollers for about 2 miles, climb 1 mile back to Lakeshore Drive (you are now at mile 16.2) Roughly 2 miles of rollers with a net loss leads you to a 1 mile climb. Now you again start the stretches of 1 mile sections going uphill, downhill, uphill. Mile 22.5- roughly 26 is a series of rollers again leading you to a strong downhill finish the last 1/4 mile. ** This course has an 8 hour cut-off.

With a 7lbs weight gain and a bum knee, I was in NO racing shape...so I thought I'd run this by feel...hoping to finish under 5 hours...perhaps 4:30 under the best scenario.  Plan was to: 1) keep an even effort on the uphills, 2) practice running smoothly on the downhills, 3) walk through every aid station, drink/fuel to prevent hitting the wall like I did at Mesquite.  Turned out there were 17 aid stations in all with 5 of them designated as Ultras providing choices of food/gel as well as water and Heed.

We had to stay within the white line on this winding hilly road.  Some of the hills are a mile or longer.  With the earbuds on I was startled a few times when teams of cyclists whizzed by and a group of shinny speedy cars (corvettes and the like) zoomed past. 

Lotsa hills!  There were mile markers (blue ones for marathon) every mile inserted in the orange cones. 

There were only couple of places my *PRM* could pull over to snap pictures.  Here's the widest section of the course with a median divider and right turn lane.  Otherwise the road is a narrow single lane w/ double yellow dividing lines.  The beautiful scenery more than make up for the lack of spectators/cheers. 

Mile 1 ~ 9:58.  First 1/4 mile is a climb out to the main road, then a slight drop for 1/4mile and level out for 1/2 mile.  My hands and feet were numb.  Strides were clunky.

Mile 2 ~ 9:24.  Slight incline the first half then an uphill and downhill the second half.  Saw couple of guys who look like Kenyans doing their warmups (probably for the 5Ks) on the trail parallel the road, running towards the start.

Mile 3-4 ~ 9:37, 9:24.  Gradual uphill for these two miles cresting at mile 3.75.  Gu'd at mile 4.  Legs finally woke up.

Mile 5 ~ 8:59.  Downhill for 5/8 of this mile then uphill.  Right knee creaked a little.

Mile 6 ~ 9:49.  The road sign shows a 8% grade for this uphill mile.  Passed one woman who appears to be in my AG and a pack of 5 runners.  This is at the crest of a lookout view point area with gorgeous views of Lake Mead and the surrounding mountains.

Mile 7 ~ 8:59.  First half of this mile was downhill then a slight incline and flatish for the last 1/4.  Knee seems to warm up a bit.

Mile 8 ~ 9:10.  Finding my groove on this winding semi-flatish stretch and soaking in the sun, gorgeous scenery and enjoying the ipod (The music my PRM loaded for me range from Amy Grant, instrumental church hymns, Phantom of the Opera, LDS pop songs, Barbara Streisand, YoYo Ma, Sissel, MoTab and little bit of Conference talks).

Mile 9-10 ~ 10:07, 10:08. Uphill climb to the highest point of the course.  Gu'd at mile 9.  The course turned off a road that went down and passed Lake Las Vegas. 

Mile 11 ~ 8:48.  The steepest downhill of the course.  I took note that it would be quite a climb on the way back.  Saw the lead runner at mid-hill running as fast or faster uphill as I was downhill.  WOW!  He was cruising.  He went on to win it in 2:54:33

Mile 12 ~ 10:39.  An uphill climb of 250' for 3/4 of this mile.  One of the nice things about an out-n-back course is you can see and count the runners ahead of you.  There were over 20 men and 7 women that I counted and congratulated/cheered as they ran towards me on their return.

Mile 13 ~ 8:57.  This is mainly downhill with a slight incline at the turnaround.  Ran the half in 2:06:xx.  Gu'd at mile 13. 

Mile 14 ~ 9:35.  At the turnaround,  saw another woman right on my heels.  I was determined to not let her pass me.

Mile 15-16 ~ 9:45, 9:43.   These two miles were half up and half down.  Just concentrated on even effort.  Slowed to cheer on the runners coming up...should've taken advantage of the downhill. 

Mile 17 ~ 10:22.  Most of this was a climb back up to the highest point of the course.  Felt some side and head wind as the course turned south.  Gu'd at mile 17.2. 

Mile 18 ~ 9:14.  Quads started to ache.  Concentrated on reeling the runners ahead who were strewn about 1/2 mile apart.  Passed 2 women and a handful of men over the next  couple miles.

Mile 19-20 ~ 9:31, 9:22.  These were the backside of mile 6.5-9ish.  I was pleased that my legs were still holding out ok.   The sun was beating down on us getting warm.

Mile 21 ~ 10:53.  Had to walk 3x(10-30 seconds each) on part of this short but steepest climb of the course where I had cruised down at a 8:48 pace 3 hours earlier. :) Got passed by a Japanese runner wearing cyclist top.  He was cruising...where did he come from? 

Mile 22 ~ 9:33.  The gradual downgrade helped the legs and lungs to recover.  My energy was spent and thankfully at the mile 22.2 aid station, the volunteer gave me an Expresso gel which literally *woke* me up. 

Mile 23 ~ 10:32.  Another uphill mile where I picked off a couple more roadkills.  Just 5Ks and two uphills to go...I can make it.

Mile 24 ~ 9:22.  Looked at my watch and realized if I kept my pace under 10mm I may be able to finish in 4:15.  That became my goal. :)

Mile 25 ~ 9:37.  Quads and shins were screaming with pain.  I was determined to pass one more guy ahead.  Skipped the drinks at the last aid station.

Mile 26 ~ 10:09.  There were two inclines on this mile that did not feel like downhill 4 hours earlier but now appear to be major uphills!  How cruel!!!  Just get it over with...I'm so DONE with hills!  :)  

0.37 mile ~ 9:39.  I did not nor dared sprint to the finish...my shins were ready to seize up any moment.  Crossed the finish passing Yolanda who had started her marathon 2 hours ahead.  She was the 2nd woman I saw before the turnaround.  She walked over 100 miles at the ATY 48 hr. race a week ago.  WOW!!! :)

After getting my chip cut off and collecting my medal, I talked to the Japanese fellow who flew by me.  He ran a 3:42 chip time but started late so his gun time was 4:12 and placed 3rd even though the 1st & 2nd guys ran chip time of 3:59 and 4:11 respectively.  He was really bummed.  Went to congratulate the 52 yo woman who beat me in my division, she's from Canada.  Our division (50-59) has the most runners (13 women, 15 men). 

I felt good for my effort, 5th out of 39 women (the 4 women who beat me were all younger than me) and 23rd overall of 95 runners.

The medal for all the different race distances was the same...kinda lame.

They had wash clothes and lots of food for the runners at the finish picnic area: chili, chicken noodle soup, corn chips, all kinds of baked goods, hot chocolate, banana...

In the afternoon, my PRM and I went sightseeing and walking on the Memorial Bridge and Hoover Dam. 

The bridge was near finish when I was here on Oct 31, 2009 running the Hoover Dam Marathon.  It's fun to come back and walk on this finished project, a most amazing engineering marvel.  It was VERY WINDY.


 

 

It was a FUN trip with a NICE 26.2 training run!  :) :) :)


 


Elixir 5 (charcoal 2) Miles: 26.37
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Teena Marie on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 01:52:03 from 174.27.210.108

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!!!! :) :) :) Did I say, WOW????

7 lbs??? WHATEVER!!!!! You look FANTASTIC!!!! I LOVE the pics of you on the bridge!!

LOVE YOUR MILE 24!!!!!

What a bummer for the Japanese fellow. Dang!

Chili at the end of a marathon? Now that is different!!! :)

Congratulations, SSF!!!! WOW!!! :) :) :)

Love you.

From glidergirl on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 01:58:02 from 67.2.143.17

I love your detailed posts, thanks for sharing!! :) What a great way to do a long run and a great accomplishment, I'm so proud of you! I love that you have such a great PRM too. :)

From Chad on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 11:25:05 from 168.177.153.27

Nice job. You're amazing and inspiring.

From Smooth on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 15:51:49 from 75.162.95.99

SSF ~ Thanks! You always make me feel like a million bucks! :)

Yes, I have gained over 7 lbs. sadly I can't seem to be able to loose an oz. of it. But hubs like the extra *softness*, he calls me SSS. :)

Oh, the chilli was so good, they give you shredded cheese and tortilla chips for topping if you want. They have potatoes too. Coffee, cookies, brownies, pastries, cupcakes, muffins, all kids of salty food too. The complete opposite of the Mesquite Marathon.

Love you and can't wait to see you soon! :)

Brooke ~ I'm SO SO SO LUCKY to have such a GREAT PRM. He did ask for a raise! :) :) :)

Chad ~ Thanks! You say the nicest things. How's your running been going?

From Rachelle on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 16:55:07 from 159.212.71.69

Wow what an amazing race!! Congratulations Smooth, you did amazing. This course sounds a lot like part of the Las Vegas Ragnar course and I totally know what your talking about with the hills! They are so tough. You are so strong and I am so incredibly proud of you. :)

From Nancy on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 21:16:32 from 76.23.21.118

I loved your race report and pictures. You are an awesome runner.

From flatlander on Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 13:36:50 from 198.207.244.102

Just saw this, I have been so out of it since Christmas. Congratulations on yet another great race. Hope you are all healed up and ready for your next one in Huntsville.

From Toby on Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 21:13:29 from 199.101.229.254

LOVE your race report! I love the detail and pictures - so much to learn! Plus your longer hair is darling (it's been awhile since we have run together)!!!!

Nicely done Smootherific!

From RAD on Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 03:59:06 from 98.202.23.178

Oh, I loved reading this report!! I'm SO proud of your amazing effort and beautiful pictures. I'm glad you had your PRM there to help you out! What an awesome run and you did great in placing and pacing :) Hill work, vacation and beautiful pictures - can't get much better :)

From Tom Slick on Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 18:53:46 from 69.171.160.202

Hey Ms.Smooth - Sorry I'm so late adding my 2 cents worth. Loved your report! Calico racing really puts on a great show at all their events, the scenery is beautiful and their courses are challenging!!!!! And you are an animal! Way to run and kick butt and bringing home the AG win.Hey, "Everything about you is Special"!

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