3:16:31 AP: 9:52 4-mile warm up with Karen: 9:23, 9:52, 9:48, 9:49 13.1 mile Spanish Fork Half Marathon: 9:16, 9:14, 9:40 (water stop), 9:30, 9:20, 9:32, 9:32, 9:59, 10:31(water stop), 9:54, 10:20, 10:27 (water stop), 10:02 (AP for race was 10:05) 3 mile cool down with Karen and Rachel: 10:22, 10:31, 10:01 I have mixed emotions about this 20 miler. First and foremost, I am SO SO SO grateful for such good running friends. There is NO way I could have done this alone! I went to bed at 9:00pm Friday night and slept terrific! Karen picked me up at 5:30am and we headed down to Spanish Fork. We needed to do 20 miles, so we decided to run a 4 mile warm up - run the Spanish Fork Half Marathon - then a 3 mile cool down. As we headed out for the 4 miles, we saw Rachel picking up her packet. It is always so great to see friends at races! Just as we finished our warm up, we heard the race start count-down. I grabbed my jelly beans from Karen's car, but forgot my Ipod. Bleh..... The first few miles, I felt good. I stopped at the water stop and jelly-beaned up. I was planning on there being a water station on mile 6, but there was NOTHING! The sun was starting to beat down and I was starting to get dizzy. I was running with Terry (who by the way tells great stories! I told him, we need to chat during a non-hard run...I really do talk. I'm just not very good at it during a long run). I told him to go ahead. I walked for a minute and the light-headedness went away. Finally at mile 9, there was a water station. But I drank too much too fast and it started sloshing around in my stomach. I took some more jelly beans. I feel like I started to tank at this point in the run (mile 13 of 20). I had to walk some during the race and never felt really hydrated. Walking is hard on the ego! The out and backs (there were 2 of them) were hard mentally for me. Good practice I guess. There was another water station at mile 11/12, but they didn't have any cups. REALLY! So I knelt down and tried to get some in my mouth. Warm well water is AWESOME! Around mile 12.5, I saw Rachel running toward me. I can't tell you HOW wonderful it was to see that gal. I couldn't talk to her (too tired and thirsty), but was so grateful to have her at my side. There were 3 gals in front of us. Rachel told me to sprint to the finish and beat them. I politely (I hope it was politely) told her to bug off. My legs were done! She kept on and told me to catch them. So I took off the last 400 meters and caught them. Thanks for being there Rachel! I probably drank a gallon of gatoraide after the race and then felt sick. I was chaffing badly and found some vaseline. Karen, Rachel and I headed out for 3 more miles. They asked which way I wanted to go and I told them I was in no condition for making decisions :) I just followed. It was slow and I was feeling defeated for running so poorly. I was hoping this long run would have gone more smoothly than the last 20 miler. I felt like I walked too much and didn't hydrate properly. My expectations for SGM have definitely decreased! If I do another marathon, I think I need to add more 15, 17, and 18 milers. I do a lot of 12-13 milers, but they aren't enough. Live and learn! I had a massage this afternoon. The gal really worked my lower legs...so they are a bit sore. Hopefully a good sore. I just hope I can finish SGM.
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