American Fork Canyon Half Marathon

I am so happy that this race is over!  I have been training and preparing for it since the end of February!  The only reason I say I am glad it is over is because I never thought I would be in so much pain at the end of that race!  I guess I forget about that part!  But there is something that really makes you dig deep and you switch over from listening to your body to listening to your mind.  It tests your mental toughness because all your body is saying  is to stop and shut down.  You have to keep your mind telling you to keep going!  It  becomes a mental game at that point.  I love this race.  It is very well organized and it is just amazing to be able to run for such a great cause, Cancer patients!

David gave me a sweet blessing that I will treasure always a couple days before my race that brought peace and comfort to me.  I was having problems with my achilles heel in both feet and it was really hard to walk without shoes.  It is from over stress of my body I think and also my shoes I was using.  Anyway I just was super worried if I would be able to finish this race, let alone finish it in my goal time.  The day before the race I went to pick up my packet with my bib number and all the extra fun things they throw in there for you.  They had a bunch of other tents up.  One was selling Altra shoes.  They are a zero minimal shoe, which is what I have been using.  I decided to buy these shoes and use them for the race the next day.  I was nervous about wearing shoes I hadn’t run in but I also knew the shoes I was currently using were more of a sprint shoe with very very little cushioning.  After 13 miles I was afraid my feet would be shot!  My legs were shot anyway by the end of the race but I think buying the shoes for the race was a good decision.

The kids made cute signs for me out of the posters the race provided.  Jason drew a picture of me running in the race with 3 other runners behind me.  I really think he was disappointed when he asked if I won and I said “no”.  Jason is super competitive and I really think he thought I had a chance to win!

During the race the first 7.5 miles are all in the canyon, downhill.  I averaged a 6:45 to 6:55 mile pace down that canyon.   Once I got out of the canyon I really slowed down, ending my last 2 miles with an 8:15 pace.  My goal was to run under 1:40.  I really started to panic when the pacer with the 1:35 passed me by at about mile 10.  I knew I could not keep up with his pace.  I wondered if I could last 3 miles (about 24 minutes) ahead of the 1:40 pacer.  That really helped push me to keep going.  I did not want to run that fast 1/2 the race and totally blow it on the last part!  This is where the mental toughness really needed to kick in!  My lungs were great, my legs were exhausted!  But I finished with a time of 1:36:05, cutting 15 MINUTES off the time David and I ran it last year.  I was really happy about that.  I trained with crossfit as my main workout 5 days a week and running mostly interval training 2 to 3 times a week.  And it paid off big time!  I have a new goal for this race next year already, under 1:35, that I KNOW I can do! 

This picture shows the pain on my face trying to get to that finish line.  Melanie and Grandpa are on the other side cheering me on. 

And Jason does not look happy in the next picture because I just got done telling him I didn’t win.  They left before 7 am to be there for the finish!

It meant a lot that my parents came home a day early from their motorcycle trip to be there at the finish line.  This is the first run they have seen me do since High School.

Could not do any of this without this guys support!  My biggest cheerleader right there!

Now to recover and get ready for Ragnar this weekend!