Last Saturday I ran my second half marathon: the Spanish Fork Half. I signed up way back in April or May and had a plan to train super hard throughout the summer so I could improve my time by 9-10 minutes. Well, I didn't actually start training until we got back from DC. That left me with only 5 weeks to try and get back in shape, but I still wasn't going to change my goal.
But about a week before the race, I kind of lost hope. My training wasn't going too well and I wasn't excited to run...until I looked at last year's times. The top finishing times in my age division were definitely within my reach. And then I saw that the top three finisher in each division would get a medal. In all my years of track, I NEVER got a medal. I got a lot of blue ribbons, but never got a medal. I've always, always wanted one so this completely re-motivated me. I wanted to get a medal!
Race day came and Kari and I set out to for a great run. Or so I thought. The stressors came even before the gun went off. We didn't have time to warm up because of the super slow potty line, and I lost my bib number five minutes before the start (how? I have no idea!) and had to really quickly re-register. Somehow, I still got to start on time.
I felt good for the first three miles. I was right on pace. But then the wind came, and whoa, that made it a lot more difficult. I slowed down by about 20 secs/mile and decided that I would be able to pick it up a lot once we got through the hills and got to run the opposite direction. I was in sixth place for the women until about mile 6 when the treacherous hills started. Oh those sucked. Once the hills were done at about mile 8, I decided to pick it up and make up for some lost time, only to realize that the wind had switched directions and was now opposing me again! By mile 9, I just fell apart and had to walk for a minute. After getting passed by two girls, I knew my medal was in jeopardy so I picked up the pace again. But I couldn't handle it! I'm not sure why, but I was just dead. By mile 11, I was having a full blown asthma attack and had to walk again for a couple minutes, getting passed by three more girls. At this point, I would have hopped in a car and quit if given the chance. I really struggled in the last two miles with the wind, sideaches, and my stinkin' asthma. Even though my time was crappy, I was soooo happy when I crossed the finish line.
I surely didn't get the time I was shooting for, and I really thought I lost my chance to get a medal. But to my surprise, everyone else in my age division must have been struggling too cause I still placed second meaning that I DID get the medal I came for! That cheered me right up, haha. Of course, Kari did awesome.
I don't know if I could say this race was fun. But I can say that I had fun with Kari and I am now more motivated than ever to get my toosh in gear and redeem myself. For those of you who are wondering what my time was, read this post and add 2 and half minutes. Blah. My goal time was 1 hr 35 min. But no, that did not happen.
