Good things happen in St. George! I don't know why but running comes to life for me when I am surrounded by the beautiful landscape of St. George. Last year I was injured and unable to run this race. So just being able to run this year made me extremely grateful. I was not expecting much out of myself going into this race. I was pleasantly surprised with my overall race experience on this honest course. I ran my mile warm-up to pre examine all of my running equipment. My new shoes were rubbing my foot raw and it started to bleed. I ran back to my car and bandaged my foot. I had no problem with that during the race and I was impressed with the shoes. (Nike Elite) The first few miles I really paced myself according to the way my body felt. I passed hundreds of runners in the first few miles. Slowly I found the 40 year oldish men that were moving at the same pace I was. I passed a few more ladies by mile 8 and I was happy that after that no other ladies ever passed me up again. I didn't mind the course and the way it looped twice. I was rather content with the fact that the second time around the loop I knew what to expect. I felt my finish was strong and over all I was extremely pleased with the way I ran and held my pace. I ran one more mile for 3 reasons. 1. A dear friend was racing 2 miles and I wanted two focus two of my miles to him. 2. One of my students was turning 15 so I told her I would run 15 miles for her on her Birthday. 3. To thank God that I have an able body that can run and do amazing things. :)
The end of Painter's was a party. I got to hang out with RAD, Julie C, Smooth, and Melanie B a little. My roommate was also there cheering me on which was really sweet. So happy that I had a winter race to look forward to the last few months. Now I will continue my training geared toward the National Marathon where I would like to PR.
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