9:02/M Yay! A PR! I wanted to beat my only other half marathon time from 2008 and I did that. It's good to be back! I'm so excited to be under 2 hours. I was hoping for that. I was worried about pushing myself because I'm training for the TOU Marathon but I decided to go for it and see what I could do. My quads are sore today and I can't do stairs very well (which is from the downhill, not the speed right?) I may write more tomorrow but I have to go to bed so I can get up early and keep training. Hopefully I can still run tomorrow :) So, Lysa and I slept at my Mom's in Provo and got up at 4am. I ate toast with peanut butter and took a banana with me. Drove to Mapleton and got on the second bus I believe. This was my first time doing Hobble Creek and I didn't realize that at the top we were supposed to walk up the hill to the start line. Anyway, we used the potty a few times since we had plenty of time before the race started. It was supposed to start at 7:15 and I think we started around 8am. The only other half I've done is Provo River and they started on time. I won't be doing this race again for that reason. The sun was already high and almost to us when we started. I stayed with Lysa for the first few miles and talked. We were doing 9:25, 9:09, 9:03, 9:09. I was so cold after standing up there and waiting so long. I see now why people warm up with a jog to begin a race. It took a while for me to get warm. There was an annoying lady talking in front of us and then behind us after the first water break. She was talking way too loud and she was prancing like a gazelle ( I don't know why that was annoying me but it was). I was finally feeling warm and I decided I needed to blow outta there and start racing. I took off around mile 4. Somewhere around this point I saw some cows coming toward the road. 2 cows and 2 calves. Didn't expect to see that. Anyway, next few miles I listened to music and got in zone. It was so hot and I was thinking, the faster I run, the sooner I'll get to the finish and be out of the sun. Mile 5-9:09 Mile 6-8:52, 7-9:01,8-8:57, 9-8:53. At mile 10 I decided I would stop and drink (I had my water belt and hadn't really been stopping to drink much). I was going to put on some chap stick cause my lips were so dry. For some reason I stopped my garmin and that was stupid. In a split second I changed my mind about stopping cause I'm racing for heaven's sake and I really wanted to get in under 2 hours. I just walked and drank and then took off without starting my garmin. I realized a half mile later that I hadn't started it. Dang! I hadn't really been looking at my time cause I was just concentrating on running. I just tried to stay under 10 after that and hoped I was still under 2 hours. After that last up hill it was flat and through the neighborhood and to main street to the finish. It was so hot and I was so tired but I just pushed myself. I kept thinking "just pass that girl" and then I would pass her and think "just pass that guy" etc. took it one person at a time. When we turned onto main street and I could see the crowd at the end I tried to run as fast as I could. I got goose bumps the closer I got to the crowd. Excitement, adrenalin, I wanted to get to the finish line and see my family. I saw Scott and Oliver (my friend's family) first and then I saw my husband and one of our girls. So happy to see them. My husband told me later that he was surprised to see me so soon. That made me feel good. As I ran around the little building that takes you onto the grass and to the finish, some guy had collapsed and a girl (runner) was helping him up. I don't know if he tripped on the curb but he couldn't get up, his legs were all wobbly as he tried to stand. I think he had collapsed cause she was telling him to breath and she would get him a drink. I felt bad but I kept running and tried to race to the finish. I passed a guy in a red shirt right at the end. :) So happy with my time and so grateful for my family who came to support me. I was so glad my parents came. They were in England for my first half and I'm glad they came to support me at this one. My sister asked me later that day if I thought I could turn around and run another half marathon after this race. I said no. That day will be different. I won't be racing the first half, I will take it easy. I will finish the marathon (TOU) when it comes and I'll finish it as strong as I can!
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