I was pretty sure I had blogged more recently than I actually had... Turns out I have 5 races to report on. I don't think I have ever let this many races go by without a post. Oops. I won't even ask for forgiveness. I don't deserve it.
Let's cast our minds back to mid October. The weather was fine in Moab, as usual. The Other Half was waiting for me in all its hilly glory. The Other Half is one of my favorite races, although the course is also one of the tougher ones. A lazy girl like me should hate this race and its relentless hills, but I really enjoy this one. I think it has to do with the scenery, the race swag, and of course, the chance to go to Moab. This race is really well organized and the fire pits at the start are heavenly. Everyone huddles around to stay warm and it's a good time to get to meet new people. I met a very nice man named Kirt, who has been at many of the same races that I have. Hopefully, we'll keep running into each other. Meeting new running friends is always exciting. I was able to beat last year's time on this course by about 14 minutes. That felt great, since I had been sick for the 4-5 days before the race. I didn't really do any running that week because of the cold I had. I guess the rest paid off!
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| Gorgeous scenery! |
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| A strong finish! |
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| A perfect day. |
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| Gotta love the pint glass. |
Just 6 days later, I was on a bus, being shuttled up Provo Canyon to run the Halloween Half Marathon. Now I know I had said that I would never run this one again. And I wasn't going to. Then I learned that they had changed the course, the busing, and the start. This was intriguing to me, so I gave it another shot. This year was a much better experience all the way around. We didn't have to get on a bus at 4 a.m. for a race that started at 9 a.m. This was a huge improvement. The course didn't have the steep, awful switchbacks this time. Instead, it ran along part of the Utah Valley Marathon course. The packet pickup was also much improved from last time and I got a shirt that actually fits. It was a bit of a rough race for me, I was feeling tired and fatigued, but I got it done. And I managed a sub 3 hour finish, which surprised me, since I certainly felt like I was going much slower.
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| The closest to skin and bones I'll ever be. |
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| It's a pretty sweet shirt. |
I then had a whole week where I didn't have to run a race at all. It was strange, but nice. After my tiny break, it was time to pack up and drive to Las Vegas for the Ragnar! I was pretty excited about this one, even though I really wasn't sure how I was going to do. My total mileage was relatively low, 12.4 miles roughly. At first I was disappointed by the lower mileage, but then I knew it would be good for my body to take it easy this time. Last year in Vegas, I ran over 21 miles in the two days. I didn't have to prove anything this time around.
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| Basil got decked out for his trip to Vegas. |
I survived the solo 6 hour drive down to Sin City and met up with my team. It was good to see them all again, plus a few new faces. The team that I ran Wasatch Back with had invited me along for the Vegas adventure and I readily accepted. I wanted that Saints and Sinners medal real bad. We had an overall good time, no drama to contend with (at least in my van). I heard rumblings of some trouble in the other van, but our Ultra team and Van 1 were doing great. Van 1 rules! Woooo! Okay, now that I got that out of the way... Everyone nailed their legs, the sleep deprived shenanigans were many and varied. A rubber chicken cheered people on. It was a magical adventure through and through.
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| A beautiful finish line. |
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| Love the double medals! |
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| Van 1 rules! Yeah! Wooo! |
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| Sweet, sweet bling. |
After I recovered from the riotous Las Vegas Ragnar, it was time to run the Mustache Dache. This race is a 5K with proceeds going to men's cancer research in conjunction with Movember. I had talked a few friends into running it with me but due to some unforeseen circumstances, only Jesse and I were able to run it. It was a cold, snowy day. But it was a short race, so it wasn't so bad. My face did try to freeze clean off, thanks to my lack of facial hair. Jesse was perfectly comfortable in his beard. We made sure to get a warm breakfast following the race. I finished in a fairly decent time, for me at least. I have been struggling with some serious calf cramping issues and was pleased with how I was able to do.
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| A medal for a 5K? Don't mind if I do! |
And finally, my last race of the year was on Thanksgiving day. I was originally supposed to be running the Seattle Marathon (actually, I would be running it as I type this, if things would have worked out) but life got in the way, not enough leave from work, not having the training to meet their strict 6 hour cutoff, money constraints, etc. But I didn't want to end the year with a 5K, so I decided to run the Thankful 13 again this year. I really enjoyed it last year, and this year my little brother would be joining me! It was his second half and he really had a good time with this one. The course was different than last year, but it was still quite nice. The finish line was a fun, party atmosphere with lots of families and kids having a great time. It was a perfect way to earn our turkey. I did have more of the calf cramping problem throughout the race, so I was happy to finish at three hours. It was slower than last year, but a finish is all that matters.
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| Whoosh! |
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| Feeling much better this time around. |
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| Bones go with Thanksgiving, right? Right? |
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| Oh noooooo! |
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| Such a fun race :) |
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| Comfy shirt, and the medal has a turkey joke on the back! |
So there you go. Lots of pictures and not a lot of explanation. What can I say? I'm a lazy blogger as well as a lazy athlete. I'm going to enjoy this bit of time off. I can't stop running completely though. I have a half marathon the second week in January... And then the training for the Ogden Marathon starts, as well as my 50K training. If I could just make myself go get a good sports massage, I think that would help with the leg fatigue and cramping that's been happening. I should probably make massages and foam rolling more of a priority if I think I going to keep this up. But like I said, I'm a lazy athlete! I've been doing this long enough that I think my next year's training will be a little different. I'll do my best to keep y'all posted!
Enjoy the holidays, and keep on running happy!
