Ogden Half Marathon

I just remembered that I forgot to blog about the Ogden Half!  It was back on May 17th.  My dad and my two sisters and I signed up last fall.  My middle sister Amanda is preggo (YAY!), so she bowed out.  So, it was my dad, my little sister Val and I who found ourselves wondering what we were thinking as we woke up in the early, EARRRRLY morning darkness and tied on our running shoes.

My super-nice mom drove us to the starting area, which saved us an hour of precious sleep, and a LOT of cold waiting by the starting line.  It was turning into a beautiful morning as we drove over Trappers Loop.  We got to the starting area and had just enough time to do....um....what it is that everyone wants to do right before a half marathon.  We ended up pretty far back in the pack as we crossed the starting line, but that was okay with me.  There were a LOT of people in the race, so I was hoping that starting near the back would mean that it wouldn't be so crowded.  My dad, my sister and I all run at different paces, so we wished each other luck as we crossed the start line and I ran off....hoping to accomplish what I swore I would never attempt.  I was trying to beat my PR (personal record) time.

If you remember, last year I ran my fastest time at the Dino Half .  I told Preston right after that race that if I ever started talking about trying to do a half in less than my 1:56:49, that he was supposed to say, "Mile 12."  I would then remember that long crappy mile and regain my sanity.  However, as everyone knows, time dims pain, so even though Preston did his assigned job, I still was tempted to give it a try.  I went through my training program in the weeks leading up to the race aiming to run 8:45 miles, which would leave me at the finish about two minutes faster than my previous PR.  Good luck to me!

The Ogden half is one beautiful race when the weather cooperates, and this year the weather was perfection.  Here is a picture my mom took of all the runners near the start.

It was so pretty!  The roads were still a little crowded, especially for the first few miles.  The beginning of the race also has a few uphill sections, which are NOT my favorite.  Okay, so I hate them.  I hate running up hills even more than I love running down hills.  There is one big hill in particular which I was dreading, but it actually turned out okay.  It was only a couple of miles into the race so I wasn't too tired yet, AND I had "Roar" playing on my ipod as I ran that hill, so I had the eye of the tiger and I was dancing through the fire! Thanks Katy Perry, for pushing me up that hill.

After the hills were over, we ran around Pineview, which was beautiful and sparkly in the early morning sun.  The miles were going by pretty smoothly, and I was still on my pace.  I was feeling pretty good.  Then came my favorite section of the race.  The DOWNHILL section.  Hooray!  We got to run all the way down Ogden Canyon, which is beautiful and also a nice, gradual downhill slope.  I love me some gravity when it is working in my favor!

Before I knew it, the canyon was ending, and I was starting to feel....tired.  I still had about 3 and a half miles left, but that isn't too much right?  Wro-ong!  Those last three miles seemed to last longer than the whole first 10 miles put together.  I was still on my pace, but those last miles were a struggle, and I got a little slower with each one.  The last one was the worst!  I could see the finish line with over a mile to go, but the more I ran towards that finish, the farther away it seemed to get.  I finally stopped watching it and just looked down at my shoes to make sure they were still going forward.

(SIDENOTE:  I also started seeing a runner or two who had already finished with the race, jogging BACK UP the course looking for their slower friends, shiny medals already around their necks.  I must admit, these guys really bug the crap out of me.  Not only are they fast, but they have just sooo much energy left that they can't just wait for their peeps at the finish line like everyone else?  Nope, they have to jog against traffic, mocking all of us who are still slogging through that last mile.  I might also be slightly grumpy at this point of the race.)

After what seemed like a really, REALLY long time, I finally made it across the finish line!  I checked my GPS watch as I finished, and it said some pretty happy things for me:

1:54:00 (this was my official chip time too)
13.22 mi
8:38/mi

Hooray!  I did it!  I actually felt pretty good after I could finally stop running.  I wasn't nearly as sore that day or the day after as I was after the Dino Half.  Val and my dad also survived and had great races!  Wahoo!

But I am sure that the 1:54 is going to stand FOREVER and ever as my PR.

At least pretty sure :)