I did not sleep well last night. Every time I woke up, my legs were aching. The last thing they wanted to do at 6 am is to get up and head to a race. But I did not care. I was hoping that even if they completely refused to join the party, my mind would still be able to pull it off. I signed up for this race knowing very well how tired I would be come Saturday. But I like a little challenge and this week was all about training the body and mind. And my mind was saying: Bring it!
Rode the bus partway up Snow Canyon to the start.
Warmed up on a nice trail with Colleen.
Found some good friends in this mayhem and chatted for a minute.
Time to hit it!
This was my first time wearing head phones in a race. The course was not all downhill but the first 3 miles we ran down Snow Canyon and the next 3 miles were on a false flat/slightly uphill. So I figured that I might as well be listening to music if the (possible) PR won't really count anyway... I am glad I made that decision. When my legs started screaming at me, I would just turn up the volume and ignore them. The music was really loud at the end...
I started out relatively fast. There was going to be no 'easing into it' or 'warming up for the first mile'. I wanted to get this thing over with as quickly as possible! I was also hoping to take advantage of the downhill, so I would not have to run quite as fast once we hit the flats. All according to the motto: Make hay while the sun is shining! If I was going to be blow up later, I was going to deal with it then!
I kept thinking: Where are all the fast runner girls? They must be flying by any second... But, lucky for me, only one showed up that day! I was in 3rd pretty much from the start and passed the 2nd girl at mile 2. She was looking so good, I kinda wanted to just stay behind her and admire her. But that was not part of the race plan, so I moved on.
Suddenly, we hit mile 3. Whoa! Halfway already? Crazy! Only about 20 minutes left! I can do anything for 20 minutes!
The uphills hurt but - when do they not hurt? The race went by so fast, it was crazy! I was actually having fun! Karl and the kids almost missed me, hence the (bad) shots from far away. But I am glad they came out to cheer me on!
These finish line shots certainly aren't pretty but I was not going for pretty! I pushed it all the way and ended up with a 38:18! I am stoked!
2nd female overall and 1st in our age group!
Colleen, my stud friend, took 2nd!
The kids (and maybe I) ate lots of frozen yogurt and then went off to the wildlife museum.
Colleen and I dragged ourselves over to the pool for a swim.
Then it was time for some yummy and long-awaited Cafe Rio!
Thank you, Rue family, for a great afternoon!
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