Last year I ran the Ogden Half Marathon, and loved it. The weather was perfect, there were beautiful views of the canyon, the early morning sunshine sparkled off of Pine View, and the finish line party with all the Diet Coke and popsicles a girl could want was fun. And, I got a PR the last time I did the race (1:54:00). What could be better? So, last fall I signed up with my dad and sister to run again this year!
However, this year the week leading up to the race was far from perfect, weather-wise. It was cloudy and WET. I checked the weather compulsively leading up to the race, hoping that those rainy clouds would magically disappear from race day. They didn't disappear, but accu-Weather said it would just be cloudy at race-time with the rain not starting until 11:00 a.m., well after I should been done with the race. It should be fine, right? Right. Let's go.
My PR coming into this race was set at the Haunted Half last fall (1:49:46 for 13.1 mi), and I wasn't planning on trying to beat that time, which is about 8:22/mi. Especially since there was less downhill in this race. I decided to just try for a course record, so I trained aiming for 8:30/mi. Good luck to me!
My nice mom drove us all up to the starting line the morning of the race. The sun was shining here and there as we drove, but there were giant, big, ugly grey clouds coming in from the north. My dad had done the Salt Lake Half Marathon in the rain a couple of years before and had said that if it was going to rain, he wasn't going to run. I told him that the weather report on my phone still said no rain until 11:00, so he got out of the nice, dry car.
A decision he would probably later regret.
As we walked over to the starting area, there was a pretty rainbow (my mom's picture):
Only problem with rainbows...they mean it is raining. Yup, as soon as turning back was no longer an option, the rain started coming down. It was just a light sprinkle as we got into the porta-potty line and the starting gun went off.
We were still in line for the potties when the race got going, so we didn't get started at the front of the pack, but that is okay. That is why they have chip timing, right? I did have to dodge a lot of people at the start, and by the time we really got going, the rain had gone from sprinkle to drizzle to straight-up pouring. Here is a picture my mom took of some runners as they went by Pine View:
And another one as we ran by a field with some horses.
It rained EVERY. STEP. OF. THE. WAY. Mostly it drizzled, occasionally it sprinkled, sometimes it poured. I cannot stand to run wearing a poncho, because the flapping noise drives me insane. So, I just ran in a long-sleeve tech shirt and a baseball hat, and I was soon soaking wet. There were inevitably puddles, and a collective groan would go up as we splashed through them, soaking our socks. But I was surprised at how good I was feeling and how fast I was going, even with squishy socks. I didn't get cold until mile 9 or so, as the breeze started blowing up the canyon.
I still felt okay during the last couple of miles, which gave me trouble last year when it was sunny. Instead of being hot, I was actually getting colder. There was a cold head wind on the final straightaway, and my fingers had been numb for so long they felt like bananas. But I was excited because I was on pace to not only beat my course record, but my PR too! I wasn't quite to the finish when I hit 13.1, but I stopped my watch anyway...here it is:
my numb banana-fingers. A nice person had to help me out. Within a minute or two, the shivering started. Needless to say, I skipped the popsicles and I wanted OUT of the rain, which was still falling hard. I got my mom's keys, headed to the car and huddled under my dad's dry sweat pants while my mom waited for the other racers with her umbrella.
My sister and my dad both had good races too, and my dad didn't yell at me for making him run in the rain, so I was pretty happy about that. They were not averse to running in ponchos, so they were slightly drier than me. But not much.
So, overall, I really enjoyed my run in the rain! I really REALLY enjoyed my so-hot-I-can-barely-stand-it shower afterwards. And no meal is better than a post-race, eat whatever I want with no guilt lunch!
Ogden Marathon, I'll probably be back next year, rain or shine.
(But please try for shine!)
1 comment:
Good Job! You run like a fish out there! :)
And the bathroom looks ah-mazing!!!
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