Anatomy of a Race

THE FINISH
I AM SO HAPPY! I got a marathon PR this morning. I know I'm doing this backwards, but I thought I'd ease the tension of waiting for the finale by starting with it. :) Final time: 3 hours and 54 minutes. 5th place female (not sure how many there were, but there were only 100 total runners). I crossed the finish line with a smile and happy tears on my face. Then I got hugs, flowers, a blanket, and a Mtn. Dew from my fans. Aren't they the greatest? Besides Leif and the kids, my mom, Nicole, Bernan, Travis, Rhonda and all the kids were there. In the rain! Troopers.

MILE 25 AKA "PASS-OUT ZONE"
I didn't pass out at mile 25. Mission accomplished.

THE PLASTIC BAG
I was cold throughout the entire race. Scratch that. I was cold for about 15 miles of the race, and then I was frozen for the last 11 miles after it started to rain. Then at about mile 21 some angels from heaven (aka race volunteers) drove the course offering big plastic garbage bags to wear. The nice lady put the thing over my head and I said, "THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!" It helped a ton, and I looked awesome, so bonus. :) Unfortunately, my muscles were so cold they didn't respond to my attempts to "kick" the last several miles. My hamstrings and glutes were incredibly tight. It was frustrating to have my lungs feel fine but not be able to go faster because my muscles were lumps of ice. 

NEMESIS
So there's this hill. It's pretty huge. If you've ever driven out by Sand Hollow Reservoir it's that giant thing that you have to drive up (you lucky ducks on wheels) if you're heading east to Hurricane. I promise it's bigger than it looks. Anyway, this hill runs from approximately mile 18 to mile 19 on this marathon course. Heather and I ran together for 18.3 miles, and then she needed some recovery time up that hill, so I left her. Brutal, I know. She's the best running partner around, so I was sad to leave, but thanks, Heather, for being so awesome and understanding and telling me to go. (She rocked it, by the way and got a PR by 10 minutes!)

Well, we had been running near this group of gals the whole race, and when I passed them as they walked up the hill, one of them says to me, "Oh, save your energy. You've still got a long way to go." Um, what? At first I thought it was weird, and then I was downright mad at her when I realized that I would NEVER have the audacity to say that to another runner. I'm pretty sure every runner knows how to run his or her own race, and even if I make a mistake and bonk later, isn't it still my decision on when I want to run or walk or go fast or slow or backwards? I will tell you that my new race goal was not to let that chick pass me and have the opportunity to say, "I told you so." Second mission accomplished.

THE TURN AROUND
At the halfway mark (approx. 13.1 miles) I felt great. The watch said 1:54. This course originally was a loop, but they changed it to an out-and-back, which I'm really glad for now. It was nice to hear Heather say, "We're on our way home."

THE CLOTHING DROP
I started the race with a long-sleeve shirt and gloves, and I kicked myself the whole time for dropping them at mile 1.5 and 4.5 respectively. Those little arm warmers absolutely didn't cut it today. Knowing what to wear for a race is the hardest part! I kept thinking to myself how nice it would be to get back to my gloves and put them on, even though I knew they would be wet. So I approached mile 21.5 and there was only one glove now. Huh? I understand if someone wanted to steal them for their cold hands, but why take only one? So I wore one wet glove on my left hand for the last few miles, and my right hand nearly got frostbite.

THE HOT SHOWER
Speaking of that right hand, I had minimal use of my appendages in the defrost stage of a rainy run. A super hot shower is the best part of any race, I tell you. I stay in there till the hot water is gone, both to warm up and because I am so frozen (and sore and tired!) that it takes extra long to do things like lather, rinse, and repeat. My wrists were not working! And my right hand was literally frozen in this weird claw-like position so I was trying to wash my hair with one hand. Seriously, I'm not being dramatic. OK, that's enough about me showering.

And now for the photography portion:

That's it for this anatomy lesson. There will be a test next week.