Y'all, I ran my fifth half-marathon, and hit a total of three states I've run in this year. This was more of a run, than a race (more on that later), but I am still so, so, happy and grateful. So let's get into it, shall we?
How I Decided on the Race
My husband wanted to go to Salt Lake City, Utah for a concert with friends. He wasn't sure if he wanted to leave me behind, so I found a reason to go--a race! The Traverse Mountain Half-Marathon looked pretty and more low-key. It wasn't too expensive, so I signed up! I thought this race would be easy, one I could run while training for my next big hurrah. After the Nationwide Columbus Half-Marathon, though, I was not sure. I had some initial soreness and then felt depleted. I had a few good runs prior to this race, though, so I decided to go for it. I also carb-loaded like a boss (or at least I think I did)!
The Days Before the Race
I was really hungry the week of the race, so I just ate and ate and ate. Maybe I overate, but at this point, I just wanted my body to have what it needed for the race. Although I might not have needed a three day carb-load, I did one anyway. I hit way more than 400 grams of carbs a day (but I also ran seven miles Wednesday, eight Thursday, and one with a walk on Friday). I was curious what would happen with only one mile run on Friday (I usually run an easy 5K), but I was not really racing this race, so I still don't think I fully know.
The week of the race was fairly stressful. I tried to get to bed at a reasonable time each time, but struggled with that. I also felt like I had so much to do, and not as much down time, or time with my husband as I would have liked. We made up for that Friday with a bit of a busy morning, but then a complete rest after our flight. Our midday flight to Salt Lake City was only about an hour, and once we got to the hotel, we chilled with a Christmas movie (our Halloween tradition), ate carbs for dinner, and then I sat in the hotel bed scrolling my phone, planning for the race, reading, and eating more carbs.
Race Morning:
We got up at 5 am. I dawdled around the room doing PT, reading, etc. until 6 AM, and we left shortly thereafter. I made coffee and drank that (with my RNWY) in the car. I also ate a strawberry bagel. (Pretty much, I followed my Nationwide Columbus Half-Marathon fuel strategy.) It was dark and cold, but looked like it would be a nice day: with lows in the forties and highs in the sixties, with clear skies overall. The forecast was accurate, but man was a I glad for gloves, arm warmers, and long pants. Since the sun rose at 8 am, I only needed my sunglasses on the way back.
I had to pick up my packet race morning. That was not a bit deal, except that it was dark, and I did not necessarily know where at the park to go to pick up my bib. My husband found a parking lot, and we traipsed up a hill, across a road, and through some grass down into the park, at which we found closer parking spots. I suggested that we move the car, and we did, but it was a bit of a slippery walk to do so, with frost on the ground.
I got really frustrated trying to clip my bib on my shirt. I couldn't get it even. My fingers did not want to work my bib boards. Thankfully my husband threw the shirt over the steering wheel and managed it for me. That is love right there, and saved me a lot of what would have been wasted stress and energy.
I stayed in the car until about 7:30 am, at which point I went and ran an 0.6 mile warm-up (since 13.1 plus 0.6 equals 13.7, and I am 37.) I went to the bathroom again and went out for the course briefing. Apparently I did not listen as well as I thought I did, which I will go into later.
Goals:
My training plan said to do a 12-14 mile aerobic run this day. I initially read that as "easy run, which would have been 9:10-10:30/mile. But I misread. It said aerobic, which was 8:40-9:55/mile. Whoops! I still thought I could do that, but it might be a little bit harder.
I had no official A, B, or C goals. My goals were to run the training pace if I could, and somehow run under two hours.
Strategy:
This race had some hills, and I knew those might be hard. Looking at aid stations, I decided to fuel at approximately 4 and 8 miles so that I would have fuel. That meant taking a gel right before the start, which I did.
Course:
Miles 1-2 The first mile was pretty easy. Then we hit a massive downhill. I am a flatlander, so going up or down hills is not my speciality. Lots of people passed me on this hill, but who cared? I was running, not racing (and that is what I repetitively told myself). Mile one came in at 8:31/mile and mile two at 8:40/mile. Right on the money.
Miles 3-4 The race followed the Murdoch Canal Trail and was a little up and down, but overall, a beautiful run. We could see mountains and trees with fall colors. A few people came out to cheer on their loved ones. One mom's kids were in this stretch. That was so sweet to see. I played cat-and-mouse with her the whole race (more on that later), and enjoyed seeing her fan club.
"This is awesome," I thought around mile three. "I should run more races in more places for fun." And then I hit mile four and thought, "Why am I doing this? This is long." I see that I broke down some around this point at Columbus, too, so maybe I need to gel at mile three, like in a marathon, instead of at mile 4 or 4.5, like I did here. Something to ponder. Mile three came in at 8:07/mile and mile four at 8:08/mile. Maybe I was also just going too fast....
Miles 5-10 We switched to the Utah Rail Trail somewhere in here. There was another long hill around mile five. I just told myself I could do it and kept running up it. Thankfully, I was not racing, so I could just go at my own pace. As things flattened out, I could see a hang glider training area. It was pretty awesome to watch the people soaring up, down, and around. We descended a little bit into Shadow Ridge Park, and there did a loop. This is where the catch came in. I heard, "Do a loop." My husband told me he heard that we were supposed to do two loops. Well, I did not see any indication of that, so I just did one and kept going. I felt like my effort was about 4/10 here and felt great!
I have decided that I really like out-and-back races, because of the ability to cheer people on coming the other way. Maybe I am that annoying positive person, but you know what? I like runners, and I think it is a way I can contribute to the community, so I did it.
We went down that big hill, and then up and down a bit more. I gelled again at eight miles. At ten, I passed a gentleman who was struggling at little bit. "Just 5K more," we told ourselves.
Mile five came in at 8:15. Mile six was 8:36/mile. Mile seven was 8:19/mile. Mile eight was 8:07, mile nine, 8:41/mile, and mile 10, 8:23/mile.
Miles 11-12 Things were going pretty well here, I ended up passing the mom who I saw with her kids earlier in the race. She appeared to be cramping up a big, as I saw her stop and stretch a few times. I thought I could pass her, and , I did. I felt a little bit bad, though, as I was not racing, and I wondered if she was. "Should I let her back past me?" I wondered. I yelled back that I was going to pull her along. She said I might need to.
Then came that big hill I had run down. I knew it was coming. I said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and went up it (Phil 4:13). I was not pushing. I didn't want to push. Strong mom passed me, which I expected she would do. I passed her again on the flat, but as we rounded the course into the finish line, so got ahead. I didn't try to keep up. I didn't want to hurt, and I wanted her to beat me, especially if awards were on the line, and I thought they might be. Mile 11 was 8:12, and mile 12, 7:53.
Mile 13-13.1 The race course was short, and I came over the line somewhere around 12.89, if I remember correctly. I threw my hands up as I went through the arch and yelled at my husband that I was going to keep running. I am that runner who wants the full distance. Mile 13 was 8:26/mile and mile 01.0 7:59/mile. My finish time was 1:49:11, 8:20/mile.
After the race:
I went back for my medal, which the person graciously gave me. The Happy Trails company makes all of their medals locally, and this was so cool: engraved tile on wood. I asked my husband to take some finish line photos and then went for the goodies. I had forgotten my water bottle, so had several Dixie cups of water, and then grabbed a banana, rice krispie treat, Bobo bar, and Great Harvest bread. I had my husband hold all of it while I checked my finish time. The race website said 1:47:24.
Sure enough, strong mom had placed--first in our age range. I had come in seven seconds behind her which sounded about right. I could see her, but not reach her. I high-fived her afterwards and told her what a great job she did. Hooray! I was stoked for her. I got second for my age range and other wooden medal. So cool! I chugged some more water, and having eaten my banana, I grabbed another one, plus some more snacks I hadn't seen, and we headed out.
I wanted to recover well from this race, since it was just supposed to be for training (but sure enough, I went out faster than that), so I had brought my protein shake powder with me. I asked my husband to stop at a coffee shop to get hot water, and we sat there while he had coffee and I had my shake. Then back to our hotel for stretching, foam rolling, and a shower. (Yes, I packed my small foam roller. It takes up half a carry-on suitcase, but it is so worth it!) We grabbed burgers for lunch (a post-race tradition) and then I napped and otherwise sat in the hotel bed the rest of the day. Rest and recovery make for gains, right?
Final thoughts: This was such a cool experience! I am thankful to God for a body to do it, grateful to have had the time, space, health, and monetary resources to do it, and appreciative of a husband who supports me in my sometimes crazy, off-the-wall ideas and pursuits. Running a race during training cycle, and I think I would like to do it again if we have funds to do so. Utah is also very beautiful and I think I want to come back again to visit! All in all, such a great experience!
.jpeg)
%20and%20simple%20sesame%20rice%20(Budget%20Bytes).jpeg)
.jpeg)