First off, I had such a fun day. Rachel picked me up at the Park and Ride in Lehi and we started laughing from that point and on. Sleep deprivation and really funny stories made me feel really loopy and so happy to be in the car riding with her. We got to P-town and I got my packet. We proceeded to wait around for the pace team to show up so we could grab Rachel's pace gear. I was fine by that. The later we hung around the finish area, the less time we had to spend up in the freezing temps. Rachel got her pace gear and we headed to the bus with the rest of the pacers. I have never really "hung" out with pacers, but tell ya what, they get a lot of attention. Sat by the 5 hour pacer for the marathon on the bus and we had a good conversation. I kept thinking that 5 hours was an awful long time to hang out on that course. 11:36 was the pace, oh boy, so crazy slow. I hope she survived and had someone to run with. Got to the start area and Rachel and I made our way to the fire pits. We squished into the crowd of runners and people were asking Rachel all sorts of questions about her 2:00 hour marathon she was about to attempt. Made me laugh. I mentioned that Rachel had just been to the Boston Marathon and also paced Salt Lake City Marathon. After I mentioned all of that, I felt really bad. Lots of questions and conversation about the topic. I learned my lesson and felt really bad I said anything about it. One of my brother's best friends was also standing right next to me at the fire with his wife. It was fun to re-connect with them. We made our way to the pacer pow-wow and they were given instructions. I made my way up toward the big porta line party. Did my business and then it was time to strip down. That was the worst part of the day for me. I was shivering from head to toe and I just wanted to start running. Marathoners were off and we lined up. Saw Rachelle and Jeff L and that made me happy. Off we went! Down Viviann I was actually gasping for air a little. The high elevation was really high for me and I concentrated on taking big, deep breathes. I had a side stitch at the bottom of my throat. I just prayed that it would go away soon. At the bottom of Viviann, it was starting to subside. I only ate a banana before the race, so I was concerned that I would need fuel. Pulled over at mile 4 and stuffed a GU down with some water quickly, glad I did. I ran rather well down the canyon and I felt great. Mile 7, the brakes were put on a little and that was expected. By that time my high hamstrings were starting to cramp up. I was thankful the downhill was over. I then plugged into the tempo pace I have been practicing back home. The last two miles drug a little, but I was almost done. Super sad that my sub 1:30 was not going to happen today. I just gave it a push and finished and felt pretty good the whole time. I was pleased with my 1:32 time, won't lie. :) I am a little upset that I probably won't get another chance at 1:30 for a very long time. Maybe even years. There just aren't downhill courses in Texas. Did some cool down miles and headed back out on the course to run Rachel and the 2:00 hour runners in. I was super impressed with Rachel's pacing skills. She ended at 1:59:59! There weren't very many mile markers to pace off during the race either, so that is a plus on her part. Partied at the finish with Rachel, Rachelle, and I even saw Allie too! It was a lot of fun and it felt so good being back in such an inspiring running community. :) My stinkin watch didn't record the splits and I didn't run with pace on my Garmin. I have a new Garmin and I didn't set it up correctly, so it was all my fault. I also wanted to pace myself according to the way my body felt. I wanted a 1:30, but I knew somewhere between 1:30 and 1:35 is what my body has been trained to do.
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