13.1 take 2

Last Saturday, Oct 20, I ran my second half marathon this year and well in my life. It was the SoJo half marathon, it took place in South Jordan, UT starting in the Daybreak area. I was kind of excited mostly nervous because I had become lax in my training. My first on I was all gung-ho doing my running everyday but there was a point where I started burning out but I knew I HAD to go run or I would really hate myself after my race.

I went to bed my normal time,because I have found that going to sleep earlier does nothing for me other than add hours I am in bed... awake. I slept great!... for 2 hours and then I was up every hour. I seem to always have this fear I won't hear my alarm clock go off and I'll be late or miss whatever it is I need to be to. However, in the past my phone (which is now my alarm clock) has fallen under my bed and managed to hide under some clothing and I have still heard it going off. For some reason I suddenly think that I'm not going to hear it when it is 10 inches away from my head with the volume set a few notches higher than usual. I'm weird, it's okay I'll admit it. So here I am race morning waking up every hour checking the time. At 5:30 my husband's alarm goes off, after that I gave up trying to go back to sleep and I was out of bed at 5:45. As I ate my oatmeal I went over all the things I need in my head. Even with all my preparation, when I got to my friend's house she asked if I had my shot blow. NO! crap. Shot blox are of most importance to me when running long distances. They are like gummy bears but a cube and the there is science behind them, all I know is they keep me going. I used them in my last half marathon about every couple miles after mile 5 or 6. My brain was freaking out about how I was going to make it through this half marathon without a good amount of training or shot blox. Fortunately Kim had some energy blast things, made by Power Bar, that she dug out of some drawer in her kitchen. At first I was weary but figured about mile 9 I probably would have eaten it off the floor.

It was chilly, cause it's autumn time and Utah is actually getting that season this year, and the wind was BLOWING! Worst combo, in my opinion. I hate running when here is a lot of wind. It just makes shedding your jacket the worst. Even though in your head you know that once you start running you'll be glad you put your jacket in your drop off bag (which are bags you put all your stuff in, usually put your number and name on so you can pick it up at the end of the race). Shivering all the runners huddled at the start line to send off the 2 hand cyclists and a few minutes later we were off like a herd of cattle, only faster. My first mile was clocked at 8:24 (8 minutes, 24 seconds) once my little app thing communicated that to me I looked at Kim and said, "I just got an 8:24 mile." She nodded, "We should probably slow down". Our next mile average was 8:45... Eventually I had to break away from Kim (meaning she left me in her dust) because I knew if I wanted to finish this race this was not the proper pace. The race went well. Most of it was downhill which I think helped make up for my lack of training. Mile 8 I started getting a pain on the top of my right foot near my big toe. I continued to run because I figured the sooner I get to the finish line that sooner I can get off of it, only 5 miles to go whoo hoo! The miles flew by as I was listening to my audiobook, well at least until mile 11. I made myself run no matter what and I made it to the finish line and I celebrated my 2 hour and 17 minute finishing time. One thing I thought was really weird about this race is they had pretzels and Swedish fish at some of the aid stations. Swedish fish I can understand because they would have the same effect as my shot blox. But pretzels? I can't imagine running while chomping on pretzels. I understand salt replacement and that they would be a great post-running snack but while I'm running? I just thought it was weird.

Yay for experiences. I think after my Ragnar Trail Experiment I am interested in running on more trails but I may hold off for a while. Give my body a break from running because I think my brain is burned out on it. I do intend to keep exercising, I'll just find some other ways for a little bit. Thank you for reading =)