Layton 1/2 Marathon Recap

It's been a week since my 1/2 marathon. I apologize for it taking so long to get a race recap in here.

A week before the 1/2 marathon I was sick for about 10 days and hadn't been able to workout. As you can read in the previous post, I was nervous about the race, because I didn't know how I would do physically, but mentally I was ready for it. I just felt ready.

This was my second year doing the race. The first year it was an out and back course, and this year, they bussed us out to the starting line.

The race was supposed to start at 7:30 a.m. and it didn't start until about 8:10 a.m. I was getting kind of impatient at the starting line until I found out that it was out of the race directors control as to why we were starting late. The race director had ordered 9 school busses to get everyone out to the 1/2 marathon starting line and only 6 showed up!

The only other downer about the starting line was it was terribly cold. I didn't dress too warm for the race because I knew as soon as I started running I'd warm right up. But before the race, it was SUPER cold and they only had a very small heater for everyone to crowd around. :(

Finally the race started and I started my heart rate monitor. I normally don't look at my heart rate monitor during the race because it messes with my mind. I can see the time and I'm afraid it'll mess with my mind too much and it'll frustrate me. I decided to look at my heart rate monitor at the 1.0 mile mark and I had ran the first mile in 8:45!!! Woot woot!!! Never run that fast before.

I tried SO hard to keep the pace up for most of the race. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it up the whole race, but I wanted to keep that pace for as long as I could.

I kept looking for my dad along the race route too, but never saw him. It was really frustrating. However, there were lots of other people along the route that was cheering everybody on. There were lots of cowbells!

I didn't check my watch again until the 1/2 way mark. When I got to the half way mark I looked at my watch and it said 1:08:45. That didn't register in my mind that it was slower than a 10 minute pace until just now, but I still don't care. I felt like I was keeping a good pace.

Soon after the 1/2 way mark, there was a little boy, probably couldn't have been more than 3-4 years old and he was holding a poster board that said "Touch this sign for extra energy!" It was SO cute. Everybody that ran past touched the sign.

Soon after the 1/2 way mark, I started to feel rumblies in my tumblies. I thought "oh crap!" (no pun intended). I told myself though, I don't care if I crap myself, I REFUSE to stop at a honeybucket along the way. That is VERY valuable time.

Right during the rumblies in my tumblies, my earphones kept falling out of my ears. I thought screw this and ran the last 6.5 miles with no music. I should have done that from the start.

I finally crossed the finish line at 2:11:01.1! Yes, that is a new PR. My time from last year was 2:12:37. So, I improved my time by a whole 1 1/2 minutes! That is a LONG time in the racing world.

As soon as I crossed the finish line I headed straight for the honeybuckets. God bless the honey buckets! Lol. Wow, never thought I'd say that.

Unfortunately, the only pictures my dad got was at the finish line. Every time he tried to pull over on the course to watch for me, a police officer told him he couldn't park there. :( So, that's why I never saw my dad along the course. I'm not sure where my camera is right now, so that's why there are no pictures on here.

I was just thinking tonight...the 1/2 marathons are getting easier and easier. I didn't struggle with energy or anything during this race. I'm SO ready to try my hand at a full marathon. I'm going to try & sign up for the Ogden full marathon in May 2012.

Ready or Not

Ready or not, here I come 1/2 marathon. In 2 days I'm running the Layton 1/2 Marathon.

This is my second year running this 1/2 marathon and I'm pretty excited. They've changed the course a little bit and I'm super excited. Last year it was an out and back course. This year, they're bussing us out to the causeway to Antelope Island and then we'll run back 13.1 miles. I'm excited to be running on the causeway. This is a nice run. Last year I saw parts of Layton that I've never seen before and I've lived in Utah my entire life. Lol. It's actually a pretty flat course too.

I wanted to do the full marathon. I emailed the race directors a couple of months ago to see if I could upgrade and do the full marathon, but they never emailed me back, so I'm just sticking with the 1/2 marathon. My first full marathon will be next May.

Earlier this week I wasn't feeling to hot. I'd been sick for about 2 weeks and this last Monday was the first day I felt REALLY good. So, I've been working out every day this week. I've been pretty worried lately about my running this 1/2. Especially since I haven't been able to workout as much lately.

Today while I was at work, I just got this overwhelming feeling that I'm SO ready for this race. I might not set a PR, but mentally I am ready for this race.

Ideally I'd love to finish this race in less than 2 hours, but I don't think that's too practical considering I've been sick and this is the first full week I've been able to workout. Last year I finished in 2:10:00, so I ran a 10 minute mile, but I just don't think it's practical to hope I finish in less than 2 hours. I'll be happy just finishing.


Me before the race last year