St. George Half Marathon

On Saturday, January 13th, I ran the St. George Half Marathon with my dad. The temperature at the starting line was a balmy 35 degrees. I was grateful for gloves, a hat, and a jacket (at least in the beginning).

This boy loves to travel. He was fantastic on the drive and was fascinated with our hotel room.

I struggle with my shins when I run long distances and I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle another half marathon. I was able to work around my shin problems with new shoes and an appropriate amount of time off between runs. My shins aren't fixed, but I wasn't popping Ibuprofen throughout the half like last time. 

My dad has done several marathons, triathlons, and a half iron-man. We didn't train for the St. George Half together and didn't intend to run it together. (I'm not much of a chatter when I run.) I didn't want to slow my dad down by making him run with me. The morning of the race, my dad asked if he could run it with me. I was surprised, but happy. 

If my dad had not run the grueling 13.1 miles with me, I think I would have had a different outcome. I felt really great at the beginning of the race, okay in the middle, and horrible at the end. There were 3 miles in the middle that were far too hilly and they definitely took their toll. 

My ultimate goal was to finish the race in under 2 hours. I was 19 seconds off, but I'll take it. I was proud of myself and felt like I gave it everything I had. It was fun for me to compare my previous half marathon time with my new time and see that I knocked off 10 minutes.

I'm still nursing James which added another challenge. Staying hydrated was a concern while I was training, and my dad helped remind me to drink at every water station. I also had my first experience with nutritional goo. Not a fan, but who is? The flavor of my goo was even peanut butter, so if I didn't like it, who would?

At about mile 10 I was battling and at my dad's suggestion, I had some more goo, pineapple this time. I was pretty weak at this point and even had my dad open the goo for me. This is also about the time when my headphones died. Perfect timing. I had plenty of quiet, thinking time the last few miles. 

My dad literally helped coach me to the finish line with encouraging words. I was set to make the time I hoped, but I slowed down near the end. Right after finishing, I immediately wanted to sit down. I was exhausted and relieved. I have been asked if I'll do another half. As of now, I'm in no rush to embark on such a difficult task in the near future.

Here are some things I always want to remember about this race experience:

• My Dad asking in the middle of the race what I wanted to eat after. My response was "anything will taste amazing after this goo."
• My Dad trying to be encouraging when we hit mile 8 by telling me, "Only 5 more miles to go. That's like what you typically run on Saturdays." Although he was being positive and had good intentions, I realized I was already exhausted at this point and I was concerned about what would lie ahead.
• Having goo in my jacket pocket (which was tied around my waist) bruise my thigh from hitting it for 13 miles. 
• The super "peppy" lady at the beginning of the race who was so loud and annoying. She even went and spanked 2 strangers butts. 
• Thinking I only had 1.1 miles left of the race, but in reality having 2.1 miles remaining. (Our course overlapped with the 5k course and some of the signs threw us off.)
• Volunteers and cheerleaders at the halfway point loudly saying, "You're halfway there!" Little did they know how discouraging these words were.
• Hearing my mom and Andrew cheer for me at the finish line and not even looking at them. I was so focused on getting to the finish line.

On our way to St. George, we stopped at the Cedar City Temple and did sealings. A family friend is attending SUU and was able to babysit James, so we could go. It was stunning and this temple might have my favorite interior of any temple I've seen.

We had a short, but fun trip filled with good food, lots of laughs, and plenty of soreness. Rumor has it that Andrew and my mom get to do the half next year. I'm excited to be their cheerleader!