(Wow. It's been way too long. Fortunately, no news on here is usually good news and means I am just having too much fun to sit down and write about it. Most of the fun was had with the kids while they were out of school. There is never a dull moment and usually not enough brain cells left at the end of a summer day to write a somewhat coherent blog post. But the kids are back in school (Kindergarten and 2nd grade) and I have no more excuses... I am looking forward to writing more than just race reports and getting some of those posts I 'composed' while running and biking on paper.)
view on the trail half marathon
The third Feat of Fortitude is in the books and it all went according to plan! Well, mostly. Which is about all one can hope for. While I have written two separate race reports in the past (2011 here and here and 2012 here and here), I am going to just write one this time. In an attempt to keep it short and not bore you with too many details. Haha. Who am I kidding? That didn't happen.
Both mornings were beautiful and sunny. The first few days after returning from Utah were overcast and rainy and I was not happy. In fact, I was ready to turn around and go stay with my in-laws for (even) longer. But Flagstaff redeemed itself and I am glad to be back. Although, just as I had feared, coming back up here to 7,000 ft after 6 weeks at lower elevation only 4 days before the Feat of Fortitude was not a smart move. But, of course, I would do it again because I wasn't ready to leave Utah Valley any earlier. Time to suck it* up. Literally.
*Every tiny bit of oxygen.
The best part of doing the BBBS Half Marathon is that it starts less than 2 miles from my house. Time to sleep in until 6, be with the kids for a while, let the husband go for a run, eat a little breakfast, bike to the start, do a little warm up, chat with a few friends, be ready when the gun goes off at 7:30.
The plan:
1. Take it easy.
2. Don't count the women ahead of you.
3. Keep HR under 150.
4. Bridle your competitive nature.
5. Put pride aside.
6. Don't care about time or place.
Reality:
1. I took it easy. I tried to take it easy. Really.
2. But a race is a race and so of course I knew exactly how many women were in front of me. I couldn't help the counting.
3. I struggle quite a bit up here with getting my HR up but today it was ridiculously high. I knew it was a direct result of not being adjusted to the altitude, so I threw that plan out the window. (Who doesn't like to throw plans out the window? It's my favorite...)
4. I tried. For a while. But then I realized that one can't change his/her nature willy-nilly. So I gave up.
5. I am not a fan of pride. And at the same time I am full of it. Why do I care so much about what other people think? Why do I feel like I have to prove myself over and over again? Who even cares? Or remembers?
6. I managed fairly well until mile 10. I was in 3rd for a while, then realized that the 4th place girl had stuck with me ever since I passed her, she re-passed me, I let her go, I let another girl pass me and go.
I was in 5th. Not too bad. I would've loved to be Top 3 (like in 2011) and I definitely wanted to be Top 5. And I couldn't let go of that goal. I had a feeling that I should turn around and check if any other girls are close but I ignored it. And then she passed me.
At mile 10.5:
Ok. Stay calm. Let her go. Just let her go. Who cares about Top 5. Who cares about this race? Your race is tomorrow and in order to win you need to be smart today. Everyone knows that you could run her down if you wanted to. It's no big deal.
At mile 10.7:
Nice and steady. There we go. Good job letting her go. See? It's not that hard. It will pay off tomorrow.
At mile 11:
To heck with this! This is a race and I am going to race it. I am not interested in 6th place. It's only 2 miles. I can do anything for 2 miles and still recover quickly. I don't care what happens tomorrow. I am not going to miss out on an opportunity to push myself! I am going for it. Top 5 or bust!
I chased her down and was on her heels for about half a mile. Then I made a move and ran the last mile at 6:01 pace. In the process we also reeled in 4th place and 3rd was within sight. But I ran out of real estate and finished a happy 4th. No regrets. At that point...
The boys were there to cheer me on at the finish which is always a welcome sight! I loved chatting with so many friends after the race which really is the best part of it all! Congratulations to Sara and Michelle for putting on an amazing race and finishing 1st and 2nd. None of the rest of us were even in the same zip code. Very inspirational!
And guess who came over and congratulated us and was just as nice and sweet as she always is? 2012 Olympian Janet Cherobon-Bawcom. She lives and trains in Flagstaff most of the year and is so fun to have around!
Then it was back home for some good recovery which included an ice bath, a shower, compression socks, and lying down for a bit. But, unfortunately, no nap. I wouldn't have wanted to miss Max's first soccer game for anything. Not even a nap!
But that left me very tired at night with too much stuff to do before bedtime. The husband decided to buzz his head but, due to a misunderstanding and a tired wife, he ended up looking like this:
Oops!
Our last conversation of the night went something like this:
Me: Just leave it like that. At least it will look normal from the front.
Him: Are you serious???
Me: Yes.
Him: Just go to bed.
So I did. And he went and shaved his head.
Good times!
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