Dino Half Marathon, the second time!

You guys, I've been running long enough now that I'm re-running all sorts of races! And it's better than any kind of television re-run because things are never the same in running. Now that I said that, I'm not sure it's better that way... Uh, so yeah.

This year in Vernal, things were a big ball of stress and anguish. Well, not the whole time, just the part where I was trying to get to the race. The night before went well enough. We found a little place to get some pasta for the ever important carb-load. I had time to relax and do some foam rolling before bed. I woke up perfectly on time and proceeded to slather myself in body glide and sunscreen. My mother, AKA photographer/race chauffeur, and I headed out the door and on the way to the bus pick up.

Here's where the tranquil trip turned into the big ball of stress and anguish. Well, the stress part started when I realized that I had left my water bottle and energy gels back at the hotel. We flip the car around and head back to the hotel, trying to keep the speed within the reasonable limits of the law. I calmed down somewhat when I realized we had just enough time to get the bottle/gels and make it back to the bus pick up just in time to catch the last bus. I run into the hotel, grab the forgotten nutrition and sprint back to the car. We start off again. We get even closer to the bus pick up, a mere couple of minutes away, and I have a sudden, horrible realization. Here's the anguish part. I don't have my race bib. Perhaps the most essential piece of running paraphernalia. It's the key piece that lets you on the bus in the first place. It has my timing chip on the back. It's how to find your official race pictures taken during the course. And I had left it, sitting under my stuffed dinosaur, Mr. Mittens, back at the hotel. I start hyperventilating and having a panic attack. I don't have time to get back to the hotel and back to the bus pick up in time. But I can't run the race without the bib. So we turn the car around again, and burn rubber back to the hotel of forgetfulness, for what I prayed was the last time that morning. I grab the race bib and we're off yet again. If all else fails, we can drive up the course ourselves and drop me off at the start. This is what I keep telling myself, to keep the bawling to a minimum. Just let them try and stop me. We careen into the parking lot of the school where the bus is supposed to be. No bus. But, wait. There are people. Quite a few people. Standing there in their race clothes, bibs and all. Standing. Waiting for the bus. HALLELUJAH. I was late, but so was the last bus. And that's when my heart stopped trying to pound its way right out of my chest and the adrenaline had a chance to work its way out of my system.

Looking back, I realize the level of panic and freaking out that happened may not make sense to other people. It's also a little obvious that I might be a tad obsessed with racing. The thought of not being able to run that race was heartbreaking. It was not an option. We all have our things. Don't judge me.

Then things were just fine. Because of the bus's lateness, I didn't have to stand around in the cold canyon waiting for the race to start. It started off well for me and my fellow racers. Up until around mile two, when a poor woman ended up smashing her face on the road. I only saw the aftermath, and it wasn't pretty. She had blood streaming down her face and the pacer had called in a vehicle to come pick her up. I made a conscious effort to watch my footing the rest of the race. Canyon? What canyon? All I see are my feet, not tripping and making me die.

Once the road smoothed out some, I could relax my vigilant feet watching and enjoy the race somewhat. I love this course. It's such a nice, gradual course. The ups aren't too uppy, the downs aren't too downy. It was one of my faster races last year and it was my fastest of this year. Although I didn't beat last year's time, I was only about 30 seconds slower. I felt really good through the whole thing and wasn't as sore afterwards. I take that as a good sign.

I had to recreate my epic finish, since there was a snafu in my original finish line crossing. But this way, Mr. Mittens could share in my glory.

I saw this giant orange dinosaur walking by a hotel the night before the race and started giggling like a school girl. And then it was at the race. Best day ever? It's quite possible. 

The front of the medal, a sweet fleshed out stegosaurus. The back, the skeletal version. Best medal ever? It's quite possible.

The small town of Vernal, Utah really knows how to put on a good race. I'll be doing this one every year for the rest of my life. In case anyone hadn't noticed, I have a bit of a "thing" for dinosaurs. And running. You add the two together and I'm powerless to resist.

Next up, two more half marathons and then the big one. The Utah Valley Marathon. I'm oscillating between sheer terror and massive excitement. I've done this before. I can do it again. Now what I want is to actually finish a dang marathon in LESS than 6 hours. I CAN DO THIS!!! (Right? Right?!)

Until then, happy running :)

Another double race post!

It's race report time boys and girls! I had two races in the month of April. The first one was the inaugural Rock n' Roll half marathon in San Francisco. Who doesn't want an opportunity to run on the Golden Gate Bridge? The course was tough. Hillier than I expected. I figured that since we were running so close to the bay, the hills would be minimal. Oops.

I had a rough first 5 miles but then we got to the bridge. The bridge was phenomenal. The slight incline was just what I'd been training at on my treadmill and the slight decline was perfect for speeding me along at a sub 11 min/mile. I made up a great deal of time on the bridge. With as tough of a course as it was, I managed to finish in under 3 hours, my fastest Rock n' Roll half ever!

My second race of April was the Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon. Another tough, hilly course. What was I thinking?! For some reason, I thought this race was just great last year... But this year it seemed so tough! I'd like to blame it on some icky GI issues that started at mile 9, causing me to walk most of that mile until the aid station restroom at mile 10.25. I calculate that I lost a total of about 13 minutes due to the walking and the pit stop. I was on pace to beat last year until mile 9. Oh well, there's always next year, right? It was a really perfect day to be running though. The tulip festival was in full swing and the course was very pretty. 

See the girl in blue? I heard people on the sidelines yelling "Go Emily, go! You can take her!" As I heard footsteps pounding up behind me, I realized I was the "her" that was to be taken! I couldn't let that happen, even as tired as I was, so I kicked it into gear and fought hard for the win. I've never been challenged at the finish line like that before, it was kind of fun. We high fived after; Emily is a good sport :)

As far as training goes, I'm doing pretty well on working up to my next marathon in June. I managed a solid 19 miler last Saturday, finishing it in 4:04:48, all on the treadmill even. I've also started with a personal trainer to round out my cross training. I go three times per week and I think it's making a difference. I know that if I can correct all the imbalances in my body, it will improve my running, and that's all that matters, right? I've got another half next weekend, one of my favorites. Just wait until you see the medal! I'll keep you wondering until next blog about what it is. Until then, happy running! 

Catch up time.

When your mother comes to you and asks "Are you ever going to blog again?" then maybe you should... I guess it has been three full months since the last post. It's not that I haven't been running; I've been running my little guts out. And I've done three races. So I suppose I should actually say something about all that :)

I'll start with bubbling on for a minute about my latest acquisition, a Nordictrack treadmill. I named him Odin, it seemed appropriate, what with him being a NORDICtrack and all. Odin has been a tremendous help with my pace. I've worked my way down closer to an 11 minute mile with nice consistency. Odin keeps me from getting lazy. When I run outside and get tired, I slow down without realizing it. To slow down on the treadmill, I have to make a conscious effort and push the button to slow down. So for the most part, I stick it out until the end of the run.

Now remember how I signed up for that crazy thing called the Goofy Challenge? Well, I survived it and even kind of enjoyed it a bit. It was honestly one of the more difficult things I've ever done, but that doesn't mean I won't do it again. The major difficulty came from the humidity. You would think that the major difficulty would be from the 39.3 miles you have to run, but no. I had no idea that I could sweat so much. After the first mile of the half marathon, I was basically drenched. It was also hotter than average for that time of year. They had signs up all over warning people to hydrate and slow their pace. Hey, you don't have to tell me twice. I like to drink and run slow, so it was my kind of atmosphere. I actually felt fairly sassy at the end of the half and sped across the finish line, since I took it so slow throughout the race up to mile 12.5, it seemed like the thing to do.

This picture is at mile 4. Notice the insane amount of sweat. It's my gift, and my curse.

When Sunday morning rolled around and it was time to run the marathon, I started to panic. I actually got nauseous waiting in the corral. That hasn't happened to me before a race. I knew I wasn't really prepared for this. The half wasn't such a big deal. I do those all the time. But a full marathon in and of itself is rough, and throwing it in the day after a half is something else entirely. It's interesting how much one's mind influences one's body. I was actually pretty miserable for the first 16 miles of the race. I even considered dropping out, it was that bad. But I'm very stubborn and this race was darned expensive. I decided to stick with the 7 hour pace group (since you had to cross the line in 7 hours to get the medal, it was sort of a no-brainer). They were doing a 20 second run with 40 second walk ratio. It worked really well and I started feeling much better. The group was fun too, lots of joking and laughing. It took my mind off how much my feet hurt. I broke away from the group with a quarter mile to go. I actually felt refreshed and strong enough to sprint that last quarter mile and cross the finish line with a smile on my face. And when you can end a race with a smile, you're bound to do it again. So in January 2015, I'm planning on running the newly introduced Dopey Challenge. It consists of a 5K on Thursday, 10K on Friday, then the half marathon on Saturday, and the full marathon on Sunday. Bring. It. On.

A couple weeks ago I completed half marathon number 21, running the Canyonlands Half marathon for the second time. It's exciting to have been running long enough to be repeating races now. I'm pleased to report that I beat my time from last year by just over 9 minutes. It was a gorgeous day to be running in red rock country. They also added a finisher medal for this year. Bonus!

And because running 13.1 miles isn't enough sometimes, you go hiking after. That's to insure you won't be able to walk normally the next day.

My next race is April 7th.. I'll be running the inaugural Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in San Francisco. It should be a grand adventure, which I'll report on in a timely manner (I promise mom, okay?).

Until then, happy running!

Goodbye 2012, you were something else.

I realized that I had not posted about my last two races of the year. So I'll just work that into my year end wrap up (since this is MY blog, I can do that if I want). I finished off my 2012 racing schedule with the Winter Sun 10K in Moab followed by the Rock n' Roll half marathon in Las Vegas. The most fun part of that back to back race weekend, was the 7 day stomach flu that I got the morning before the Moab race. At first I thought I had food poisoning, but it turns out there's a new strain of stomach flu that sticks with you for 7 whole days! Neat, huh?

So I spent most of Friday in bed, trying to pull myself together enough to drive the two and a half hours to Moab. I made it down there without throwing up, but it was close. Saturday morning I was up and at 'em, not feeling great, but well enough to stay upright, mostly. I surprised myself by finishing with my fastest 10K  race time. I think I was really just trying to get done so I could rest some more... I received the Triple Crown award for running all three races of the Moab race series in 2012. That got me a sweet pair of socks, a sticker, and a guaranteed entry into the Canyonlands Half Marathon for 2013 (Now with finisher medals! Woo!).

My mom, AKA my race photographer, loves to get shots of me stopping my watch. I even waited until I was a bit past the line to give her a clean shot. *sigh

As soon as I had finished the 10K, I managed to get some Gatorade down, and then it was back in the car to drive to Las Vegas for the race on Sunday. We stopped off in Green River so I could be super classy and take a baby wipe shower in the bathroom and change out of my sweaty race clothes. Oh running, you have given me a new appreciation of indoor plumbing.

Moving on. It's a long drive from Moab to Las Vegas. It was over 7 hours to get there but we made it in time to settle into the hotel and for me to try and lay very still. My insides were throwing a royal fit and the lack of eating after running wasn't adding to my feel good status. Thank goodness the race on Sunday didn't start until 4:30 p.m. Sunday morning, I tried to get some food in me, settling for a ridiculously over priced Vegas smoothie. I wasn't moving too quickly that morning, so by the time I was actually up and functioning, I didn't have much time before it was time to go stand in line for the port-a-potties and get a racin'.

It was really great to run on the Las Vegas Strip at night. It almost took my mind off of my intestinal distress. Almost. It was my slowest half marathon time ever, but honestly, I'm just glad to have finished it. I knew I needed to get my blood sugar up, but every time I even thought about eating a gel, I got nauseous. So I just kept plugging along, real slow like. At the finish line, they had some apples, so I plunked myself down on the curb, choked down the apple, and held back the tears. It was a rough race but my medal glows in the dark so I guess it was worth it. I trudged my way back to my hotel, which was sort of on the strip, but set back a ways. It was hard to find the entrance in my whacked out state (that's a scientific term, by the way, "whacked out"), and a nice man guided me to the doors. He could tell I wasn't doing well... There's nothing like running back to back races with the stomach flu. I don't really recommend it, but it sure was an experience.

Now for the gushy 2012 wrap up. 2012 was a year not to be forgotten. I ran my first Ragnar, my first marathon, I traveled all around the Western states in search of bling. I cried, a lot, which was new for me. Running makes me kind of emotional... I got blisters on top of blisters. My toenails fell off. I made it into the Marathon Maniacs, the Half Fanatics, and the Idiots Running Club. My race totals are as follows: marathons: 4, half marathons: 17, Ragnar relays: 2, 5K's: 2, and one 10K, to keep things interesting. I learned that things I thought would kill me actually wouldn't, even though at the time I may have felt like I was dying (Park City Marathon anyone? I have PTSD from that race). I have met some amazing, inspiring people. I now have running friends all over the United States and throughout the world. I've been invited to be part of relay teams and grand adventures. Running has added so much more to my life than just some heavy medal. I know I can't stop now. I just can't. Especially since there are some people I know who think this running thing is just a phase. Like I'm going to grow out of it or something. Yeah, right. I've even made the leap to acquiring a treadmill to keep me going through these frigid winter months. I've begun planning out 2013's epic adventures, the most intimidating and exhilarating being my first 50K. Here's to the year gone by and the year to come. And as always, happy running.

Thanksgiving Racing!

I have never participated in a Thanksgiving Day race before. Now there are a myriad of 5K's around on turkey day, I've just never been inclined to participate, until this year. But why just run a 5K when there's a half marathon available, with a medal and everything?! You all know how I feel about medals; it's become somewhat of an obsession I suppose.

So the Thankful 13 race helped me to earn my turkey and another sweet medal. What more could a girl ask?  The race was in Lehi, and much of the race was along the Jordan/Provo river parkway trail, which is lovely, by the way. The morning was clear, no snow to contend with thank goodness. There was a biting cold wind that spurred us along for the first few miles. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the wind became less of an issue. It even became quite pleasant. There were flocks of birds, large and small, flying overhead. There are a good deal of wetlands in the area and the wildlife was a nice diversion.

I felt really good through this whole race, which is a big change from my last few races. My last 5 half marathons have all been over 3 hour finish times. I realized around mile 5 that I was well on track to finally get back to a sub 3 hour half. And I was feeling pretty sassy about it. The sassyness continued through the rest of the race even. I began to pass people around mile 7 this time. Most races it takes me till around mile 10 to catch up with the people who don't pace themselves and bonk around there. I managed a really consistent effort for this race, and was pleased to come in at 2:50:41. My family was waiting at the finish line and I think it's the first time that they've all been there to see me finish a race. I ended up getting an apple pie along with my finisher medal too! Then we were off to enjoy Thanksgiving frivolity at my uncle's house.

It was a great way to start off a day of Thanksgiving and I'll definitely be doing this race again. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend and running happy :)
Cheers!

2 weeks, 2 races, 2 states

I am going to attempt writing this blog with a hazy mind clouded by whatever cold virus is circulating itself around these days. I had fought the good fight for at least a week, only succumbing to it after a weekend of Ragnaring. And now, the race reports.

The first weekend of November took me to Pocatello, Idaho, for the Just Cuz Half Marathon. Why? Just cuz! This little race had a theme to follow, a double theme actually. It was Zombie Apocalypse/Joe Fro. I didn't feel much like wearing a big fro wig, so I went as Shaun from Shaun of the Dead. I carried a toy shot gun for the entire 13.1 miles too. It was a fun, small race. I was expecting it to be mostly locals, but was surprised to meet a bunch of Utahans that had come up just to run. I ran almost the entire race with a nice lady from Salt Lake named Marva. It was nice to be able to run with someone who had the same pace. We were able to talk the whole way and that really helps the time go by. I really need to get some local running friends! Even a group run once a week would really boost my morale I think.

The course for the Just Cuz was down a little canyon and ended in a small city park. It was mostly downhill, but towards the end, it went to rolling hills. I don't like hills at the end of a race! But there was a delicious dutch oven lunch waiting for us at the finish line, so I soldiered on. Unfortunately, there was no finisher medal for this race, but that tasty lunch pretty much made up for it. They had a ton of random prizes to give away as well, most everyone walked away with something. Well, I didn't, which is strange since I usually have good luck at drawings like that.

I spent this last weekend down in Las Vegas, Nevada, running in my second Ragnar. Again, running with another group of complete strangers. It's a great way to meet new people, that's for sure. We all met up for dinner Thursday night and enjoyed getting to know each other a bit before we had to spend the next two days living in a van together. We went to bed early, since our start time was 6 a.m. A cold front was pushing its way through and the start line was all snow and ice up at Mount Charleston. I was feeling pretty lucky to be in Van 2, since we didn't start running until they had come out of the mountains. Van 1 survived the cold and ice, ahead of schedule even and without anyone slipping or getting injured. Hooray!

I always have the most anxiety waiting for the previous runner to hand off to me, and that was the case when runner 6 came through and I was up to run. We had a smooth transition though and I was off on my 5.2 mile leg (which turned out to be 5.51 miles instead). The wind was blowing the entire day and the air temps were low, which would prove to be a challenge when the sun went down. I managed 1 kill on this run (I'm not the best at passing other runners, since I'm pretty slow...). Our van completed our legs just before the sun set and we were off to grab some warm food for dinner. We had driven past the Cheesecake Factory on our way to pick up our last runner and it was calling out to us to eat its delicious vittles. With our bellies full and a few hours to kill, we headed to the next major exchange, where Van 1 would be handing off to us again. We expected the exchange to have a place to sleep. How silly of us to think that! It was a gravel parking lot and they told us we had to sleep in our vans. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep.

By the time runner 6 came though the exchange it was around 10:45 p.m., pitch black, with a bitter biting wind blowing right in our faces. I bundled up the best I could and started out on my 7.9 miler (which ended up being almost 8.5 miles in reality). This leg was really rough for me. Not only was it dark and frigid, but it was a steady incline the whole way. I knew this before I started running and had a negative attitude right from the start. It was a slow, awful run, mostly walking really. I spent the entire time wishing it was over. Running is so much more mental than physical!

I lived through it and tried to get warm in the van while the rest of the runners did their legs. We were able to get some sleep intermittently and runner 12 finished just as the sun came up. Runner 10 had a brother in law in Henderson that let us come over to his house to shower and sleep that morning. It was a life saver. He even had food waiting for us. The man is a saint. After we got cleaned up and rested, it was time to head to  our last major exchange. My last run was scheduled to be 6.2 miles but turned out to be a whole mile longer than that! At least for this run I was feeling really good. I managed 6 kills even! One of them I fought pretty hard for and reveled in it quite a bit. It's the best feeling when you finish your last run of the Ragnar. It's one tough race mentally and physically. My total mileage should have been 19.3 miles but ended up being 20.96. It was a weekend of ups and downs but it ended on a high note with a successful finish. Most of our team qualified for an extra medal because of running more than one Ragnar this year. Nothing like extra bling to make it all worth it!

I know this blog hasn't been the most humorous, but at least I didn't skip 4 weeks this time! If anyone needs me, I'll be back in bed recovering from all this excitement.

Happy running!

Race Montage Blog!

My friend Trevor suggested that I should do this episode of Plump Runner as a montage, since I have 4 races to report on (I'm not very good at the whole "timely blogging" thing). I only wish I had the technological skill set to add some epic 80's music while triumphant pictures and inspirational quotes filled the screen. Since I can't manage a montage, I'll just give a quick and dirty recap with plenty of pictures. Deal?

The last weekend of September, I completed my fourth and final marathon of 2012, the Huntsville Marathon. This was the final race to get me into the Marathon Maniacs. Mission accomplished, by the way, you're looking at Maniac #5880! Woooooo! Any way, the race was gorgeous. The canyon we ran down was very scenic. The leaves were at their peak of fall splendor and the weather was perfect. It was an easy downhill, nothing too steep and jarring. I managed to finish in my second fastest marathon time of 6:10 and some change. I know basically everyone in the world runs faster than that, but I was pretty pleased.

Those are cat ears with the medal shot, he just can't stop being a camera hog...

The second race to report on was the Utah Half Marathon on October 13th. It had spent the entire day before raining and being quite cold. But the weather held for the morning of the race. Thanks Mother Nature! My friend Jesse ran this race with me as his second half marathon. He wasted me by a good bit. It was a super hilly course, the first 6 miles were basically uphill. It was a nice run though. Lots of great old homes to run past. My best friend Krista came to the finish line and brought cake! Woooooo! Gotta love that chocolate cake.

The third race was The Other Half down in gorgeous Moab, UT. I loved this race sooooo much. Moab is such an awe inspiring place! The scenery can't be beat, the weather was absolutely perfect. The Taiko drummers at the top of the hill at mile 11 were goose pimple worthy. Great race swag too! I will definitely be running this one again. It's actually a fairly tough course, quite hilly, but who cares when you get to run in such a beautiful setting?! After the race, we made sure to hike up to Delicate Arch and enjoy the perfect lowering light, which set the red rocks aglow. 

And the final race of this report was this last Saturday, the Harvest Halloween Half in Syracuse, UT. It was a tiny little race, maybe a couple of hundred runners. I dressed in costume, as a runner. I'm so very clever. It was a nice little course, flat and easy. I didn't feel very good for the first 5 miles though. After a pit stop and a good mental reset, I just started plugging along and by mile 6 I was feeling pretty good. I was able to catch up to the group by mile 10 and was passing a few people in mile 11. There wasn't a medal, but there was a nice finisher glass, so I'll live. 

This weekend brings a half marathon in exotic Pocatello, Idaho. C'mon, you're all jealous. I'll leave you with a shot of my two favorite things :)

Happy running!