Haunted Half

Looking back, I can say with confidence that my favorite thing about the Haunted Half is the fact that it's over!

I have run 2 half marathons this year and I'm done. After finishing the race, my family met at Cafe Rio and I told my brother in all seriousness that I "never want to run another half marathon." His response was, "that's what you said after the last one."

Where to begin...

Runners had to be shuttled by bus up to the top of the mountain. I woke up at 12:50am thinking it was time to be up and ready to go. After that, I didn't get much sleep. My dad picked me up at 6:15am so we could be to the shuttle on time. The race didn't start until 8:30am. We arrived at the start with more than an hour to kill. The darkness and startling temperature didn't help.

I was nervous. I'm a worrier. I was mostly concerned about shin pain. I had plenty of ibuprofen on hand (just in case) and iced my shins the night before the race using dixie cups.

Less than a mile into the race, I complained about shin pain. Luckily, this pain didn't last very long which was a huge relief. If only that brief shin pain was the worst of my problems...

Not long after my shin pain disappeared, I noticed a side cramp. It didn't go away quickly. In fact I dealt with this cramp for a couple of miles. Eventually the cramp went away, but then I got a cramp on the other side. My dad was helpful in telling me how to breathe to help alleviate the cramp.

My dad and I had run 10 miles of the course a couple of weeks prior, so I was familiar with the scenery. Something that caught me off guard was the fact that we had to circle back and go up the canyon for a little bit (a minor hill). This change didn't help my mood, but luckily it was a quick detour from the course I was used to.

At about mile 8 I started to notice that my feet were burning because blisters were forming. This was not a fun feeling, especially knowing that I had to continue on for another 5 miles. At each mile marker on the course, there was a sign with a quote on it that was supposed to be humorous. There were several statements about blisters and toenails. "Your toenails do not matter anyway." I did not find the blisters quotes to be funny which is probably why I can't remember any of them. (I blocked them from my memory.) 

Little did I know I would be using the ibuprofen for blisters, not my shins... The last 5 miles were rough to say the least. I felt like I was going to cry multiple times. I'm so grateful that my dad was running the race with me to keep me going. (Note: He is a speedy runner and could have finished the race 30 minutes faster.) Also, a positive thing to note is that my headphones and music lasted the whole race without dying which has been a problem in the past.

Anyway, near the end, there was a rather large hill. The hill just about pushed me over the edge. My dad suggested that we walk and I happily agreed. At this point, I thought I was well beyond my goal time and all I wanted was to be done.

Near the finish line, my dad told me to push it and keep going because I would be thrilled with my time. I was shocked. I thought I had long since passed my opportunity to meet my goal. (I had misheard a time my dad said earlier.) I was feeling terrible throughout the run.

I was able to finish the race in 1 hour 56 minutes and 57 seconds... 1:56:57. My goal was to break 2 hours and I did it! To top it all off, my chip didn't work, so my time wasn't recorded. Luckily my dad was with me the entire time, so I was able to look up his info. 

My true feelings... I wanted to sit down immediately

These are the mile splits: 8:45, 8:15, 8:20, 8:39, 8:50, 8:46, 8:47, 8:48, 8:56, 8:44, 9:19, 9:43

Andrew, James, my mom, and Jill (who happened to be in town) were cheering for me at the finish line which I appreciated. Lindsey, Simon, and Esther got caught in traffic on their way to the finish line, but we got to run right by them.

I'm proud of myself for finishing! I think that race was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Andrew is planning on running a half in January in St. George. (The one I ran earlier this year.) Before the Haunted Half, I was considering running it again. Now,I have zero desire to do it.

Jill got stopped by a stranger who thought she was dressed in a costume

Things I want to remember...

• The beautiful location. Wow, the snow-capped mountains surrounding us and the gorgeous leaf colors boosted the experience.
• Talking to random strangers while waiting for the race to begin. One of the strangers happened to be a lady named Candy from Spokane who is in Andrew's mom's ward. Small world.
• There was pizza at the finish line and it was from Costco! (I wasn't necessarily hungry and couldn't enjoy it as much as I wished. Eating goo doesn't necessarily make you want to eat again.)
• The costume contest before the race began. Some people dressed up (and no, I was not one of them.) I thought my superwoman shirt was creative enough. The guy who won the male costume contest was dressed up as what a foot looks like after a half marathon. It was gross with blisters and such, and he even pulled off a toenail. I thought it was so clever!
• The weather could not have been better.

Things I want to forget...

• Pulling my shoes off and expecting to see monstrous blisters all over and not finding that. I did find 1 blister, but it disappeared quickly. I was expecting nasty, blood blistered feet. I'm frustrated about the thin socks I wore. I blame them for the excruciating pain and friction they caused. I didn't have any blisters on our 10 mile run.
• How sore I was afterwards. I woke up Saturday night (after the race) when I rolled over because my body was so tense/tight.
• Stopping for a drink at a water station and thinking I was taking a big gulp of water, but instead inhaling orange juice.

We'll see if there is another Half Marathon in my future. For now, I'm content just continuing my regular gym routine.