When we booked our tickets to Utah one of the first things I did was look for a half marathon to run. Utah has some sweet downhill races and I've been itching to see what my legs could do on a downhill course. I was lucky enough to find the perfect race, running down the canyon just 15 minutes from my parents house, happening the first the weekend I would be in town. I was pumped!
On race day my nerves were all over the place, as usual. I felt really confident in my training, but a few things had me worried:
1) 4:00am call time to take bus up the canyon for 6am start time. That meant waking up at 3:30. which meant very little sleep the night before.
2) Elevation difference. I'd been training at 150 feet elevation and would be running at 5000 feet. Wasn't sure how my lungs would handle it.
3) Forgot to bring my chia seeds and energy gels which I always use in training and count on for race day fuel. Wasn't sure how my stomach would handle the shot blocks available on the course.
4) When I left the house at 4am it was already 70 degrees and the sun hadn't even come out yet. I hate running in any temp above 60 and with a forecast calling for a 95 degree high I was worried.
So with all that on my mind I definitely had to do a few rounds at the port a potty's before the race started.
As the sun came up over the mountains we lined up at the starting line. My previous half marathon PR was 1:56:37. My goal was to break 1:50, but my stretch goal, was 1:45. That's an 8:00 min mile pace, which I'd never been able to pull off in a training run longer than 6 miles, but I was hoping the downhill course would pull me through. So with that goal in mind, I lined up with the 1:45 pace group and at the sound of the gun we were off!
The canyon was nice and cool and the scenery was gorgeous. I had the 1:45 pace group in my sights but I also wanted to run my own race, so when they took off I held back a little, easing into the race and clocking my first mile at an 8:07 pace. I knew I was going to have to pick it up to make my goal so I finished mile 2 in 7:45. After that my legs were warmed up and I flew through mile 3 in 6:37, passing the 1:45 pace group. I knew that was too fast so I backed off a little and mile 4 was a steady 7:27.
At that point my lungs felt good but my quads were already starting to take a beating from running downhill. It also became clear to me at mile 4 that if I didn't find a bathroom soon things were going to get ugly. No port a potty between mile 4 and 5. Clocked it in 7:16 and started running faster, hoping to find a pit stop soon. I was tempted to duck into the woods, but the kind of um..."relief" I needed required...well...toilet paper. So yeah, I kept running. I started running faster, praying there was a port a potty coming up soon and finally at mile 6.5 it was there! I sprinted to the John and tried to take care of business as quickly as one can take care of that sort of business, which in this case, didn't seem very quick at all. In the end it cost me 2 minutes but I felt like a new person when I came out of the Lou so it was worth it. I started running again and to my relief, could still see the 1:45 pacer, even though she was about 30 seconds ahead of me. I figured as long as I kept her in my sights I would reach my goal.
Mile 7 was 7:26, mile 8 was 7:40. That's when we came out of the canyon and the course started to flatten out and even sport little hills here and there. Nothing major but after flying downhill earlier they slowed me down. Another slowing factor at this point was the sun. It was out in full force and the temperature was rising quickly. Mile 9 was 7:51, mile 10 7:52. I was tired at this point and so were the people around me. I started thinking that a 1:50 wouldn't be so bad. After all, it would still be a big PR for me. I flirted with the idea of walking but then I would shake my head and say no, even if I don't break 1:45 I will NOT stop to walk.
As I subconsciously battled with my will I thought I heard someone shout my name. At first I shook it off but then I heard it again, and again! I looked around and saw my awesome friends, Justin and Tara, cheering me on, taking pictures and shouting my name! I had no idea they would be there, it was the best surprise ever! I know what a big deal it is to try to be somewhere early on a Saturday morning, especially with 3 kids! But there they were, kids in tow, everyone bright eyed and bushy tailed. I was blown away. Once I knew I had a cheering section it lit a fire inside me and I decided to fight for that 1:45 no matter what.
Mile 11 was rough, 8:04. A teenage boy I'd been following the whole race stopped and started to walk. I pulled his shirt and said, "Come on! 2 miles to go, we got this!" He mustered his strength and we helped each other get through the next mile in 7:49. 12 miles down, 1.1 to go. We saw another gal stop to walk and pulled her into our group. It was all we could do to put one foot in front of the other but we kept soldiering on. Half way through that last mile the teenage boy dropped back, so did the gal we'd picked up. But I wasn't stopping. "This is the price of a PR" I told myself.
As I rounded the corner towards the finish line I heard my name again. This time it was my sisters, Naomi and Sarah, and my little nieces, all shouting "GO BECCA!" and waving signs.
I tried to smile but all I could do was grimace. I know I look pretty terrible in this pic, but in my mind I was thinking, "wow! My sisters love me!" and also, "I think I'm gonna puke..."
Tara snapped this shot as I gave one last push to the finish.
Official time: 1:43:09
pace: 7:53 min/mile
Age division: 23rd out of 175
Gender division: 72nd out 786
173rd out of 1165 overall
New PR by over 13 minutes!!!
I felt fast. I felt good. I felt like eating a hamburger.
In the finishers area I was able to reunite with Justin and Tara and their cute kids and give them big hugs and thank yous for cheering me on! Love those guys!
Also got to see my sisters and nieces and thank them for being my cheerleaders. As good as it feels to run a solid race, it's 100 times better when you can celebrate with people you love.
Downhill courses are definitely where it's at! So glad I found this race, it was a highlight of my trip. In the end I came home with a shiny new medal and a sparkly new PR. Two excellent souvenirs from my Utah vacation.
5 comments:
Awesome post, Becca, and awesome race. Reading about the "predicament" at the beginning of the story, I started to wonder whether your picture would show up on a Google Image search of "poop pants marathon." Then, of course, I remembered your rule. It's only okay to do that if you're expecting to take first place.
You had me laughing, crying...sounds like an awesome time.
Holy cow! You beat your PR by 13 minutes?? Seriously girl, you never cease to amaze me! I was dying at the description of you having to find a bathroom. Hey, maybe that was the extra push you need to get some time off?? Ha ha!
When we saw you the first time, I knew you were going to beat your goal. You were bustin' it! Those are some amazing splits. Without your bathroom break you would have been right around 1:40, which is super exciting! Sorry my pictures were so cruddy. I have no idea what I'm doing with that camera, I should have just put it on auto. And I know that finish line picture probably isn't your favorite self portrait of all time, but I love it! That is the picture of endurance right there.
You did an amazing job. Don't you wish you could run downhill courses all the time? When I see the times you pull on your hilly courses though, I just can't believe it. You are amazing!! Great job once again!!
I love reading your race posts. And I love that you are such a crazy runner that when you are on vacation you still look for races to run. I am even more impressed with your running skills as of this week, because I attempted to run on the treadmill a few times, and i was going 1 minute walk, 1 minute run, 1 minute walk, etc., and not even running fast at all, and I kept thinking, "how does Becca do this so fast and for so long and not die?"
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