Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon Race Recap (Photo Overload!!)

I knew it was going to be an interesting race from the moment I woke up.

Early Saturday morning I peaked out my window and said a quick thank you to the weather gods--there was no snow.  Weather reports had said there was a risk of snow for the evening, but luckily (I thought) we had avoided the bad weather.  I quickly got ready and hopped in the car to go pickup my coworker and Running Roommate (RR).

I was about 3 miles away from my house when I realized that I had forgotten my purse and my sunglasses.  I had someone meeting me in SLC to pick up tickets from me that were in my purse so I HAD to turn around.  Crap.  This meant I was going to be a bit late--no biggie, right?  I could just make it up by driving a bit faster (hee).

So, I returned home quickly and then hopped back on the road to my destination.  Roads were clear with no snow.  That is until I hit the city.  All of a sudden, there was a crap load of snow on the road.  I'm talking 5 inches of fresh new snow on dangerously unplowed roads.  In fact, on the drive to pick up Jess from the hotel she was staying at, a car three lanes over hit some pretty gnarly snow/slush and started spinning 360s on the highway right in front of me.  I missed getting into a really really bad accident by less than 3 feet.  At 5 am I was not ready to be dealing with these types of situations!

However, the road soon cleared up and we were able to make it to Thanksgiving Point with 20 minutes to go before the race started.  It was FREEZING outside.  It was really hard to judge what to wear--the weather was being a bit unpredictable (hello---it should NOT be snowing this much when it is nearly May!).

We settled into the start line queue and snapped some quick pics:

We so sexy!

Gingers Unite!

After a few minutes delay, they finally started us off.  We settled in to the 12 minute mile pack as we wanted to take this run nice and easy (especially since I wasn't sure how my knee would feel).  We quickly fell into a comfortable rhythm.  I tried to snap a quick photo of us on the run, but my skills are apparently lacking...

Pay no attention to my photography skills...

The course was BEAUTIFUL.  Even with the tulip gardens covered in fresh snow, the scenery was breath taking.  Or the asthma was.  Either way...  But in all seriousness, I would run this course every day if I lived near Thanksgiving Point.  It had beautiful pathways, fun tunnels, gorgeous waterfalls, and beautiful mountain views.  I loved it!

You should come run here

I was feeling really good for the first 5 or 6 miles.  My knee was only slightly stiff, but nothing even remotely unmanageable.  The course had been mostly flat or uphill up until that point.  When we reached the golf course portion of the run, we started a brief downhill descent.  I had been looking forward to the downhills on the course because I knew it would even out my slowed pace from the uphills we had been running!  Except one problem--I took one step on that downhill portion and there was INSTANT FIRE in my knee.  It was a completely debilitating pain.  I had no choice but to walk down those sections, but even that hurt.

Suddenly, this went from being a nice easygoing run to a problematic course.  The golf course was filled with MANY up and down sections.  As you runners know--a continual uphill can be quite exhausting and the brief reprieve you get from the downhill section is much looked forward to.  Except we were dreading those sections.  Both Jess and I had the exact same problem--big-time pain in our left knee.  We seriously were hobbling down all the steep sections.  We even had to result to this funky side step maneuver that looked more like a country line dance move than a viable way to get down a hill!

While I'm sure we looked rather funny to all the other runners, we were in this together and we continued to push through the pain to finish the race as strong as possible.  We hadn't set out to run the race with any particular time in mind.  We just wanted to finish it and have fun.  Admittedly, the pain got so bad for me around miles 10 and 11 that all I wanted to do was lay down and cry but I knew that I would regret not finishing and I really only had one way to get off the course and that was to keep going on the path set in front of me.  I wasn't about to swim across the freezing river to get to the finish line!

Because of the continual uphills (and the dreaded downhill walking sections) our pace took a hit.  We ended up finishing at 2:46, which I am very happy with considering what we went through to get there!  The last two miles were ran on pure willpower.  Both Jess and I were exhausted past the point of fun--we had to dig deep and push through pain that I had never experienced while running to finish up those last miles.  However, we did it and I have never been more excited to see a finish line in my life!

About 100 yards before the finish line, I saw some people waiting on the corner cheering runners on.  As we got closer, I recognized my in-laws cheering loudly for us.  They were beaming from ear to ear.  At that point, it was taking everything I had in me not to walk (though walking hurt worse than running, so that really wasn't an option either).  However, once I saw them I was able to forget my pain and power through to the finish line where my husband was waiting for me.  It was so amazing to have their support and hear their cheers.  I may or may not have gotten choked up as me and Jess crossed the finish line together after the most grueling thing I've ever done physically.  I was SO PROUD of us for powering through and finishing strong.

Who says you can't smile when you are in pain?

It might have helped that my super sexy husband was the one taking the photo!

We can do it!!

And we did!!  PROUD FINISHERS!!

And chocolate milk for all!

I wish I knew what I was saying in this photo...either way I think it is funny so I'm posting it!

I normally am not one to get all mushy on ya, but I have to take a moment and give a quick shout out to Jess.  She is a freaking rock star.  I would never have ran a 10k (and DEFINITELY not a half marathon) without her encouragement and support, and she's been there for me 100% of the way.  She is continually sending me texts of support, and checking on me to make sure I'm taking care of my body and resting properly.  (It's not her fault I don't listen.)  She was in just as much pain as I was, but she never complained and she continued to push through to finish something that neither of us ever thought we would ever be doing.  Not only is she a fantastic running buddy, but she's also an amazingly selfless person.  She's the kind of friend that only comes around once in this life, and I am so lucky she's crazy enough to stick around and hang out with me!

Love this girl...

Anyway...I better stop before she gets mad at me for being a softy.  :)  Moral of the story is that even though the knee pain sucked, the race was still awesome and I left it feeling like I had accomplished so much.  I can actually say that I've ran a half marathon!  WOW.  It hasn't sunk in yet, and I'm not sure it ever will but I am glad to have actually achieved this goal.  I can't wait to see what else I am capable of!

I actually ran a half marathon!  Proof!!

Oh...and for those of you that might be wondering about my knee:  Yep, I totally screwed it up and I am going to have to take an extended break from running.  My physical therapist suspects it is IT band pain from learning about my symptoms, but we won't know for sure until I see her tomorrow.  Either way, she says that I need to chill out and rest my poor knee for quite a while.  I'm not going to lie--Sunday morning I woke up in so much pain that when I needed to go use the restroom I had to army crawl the whopping 15 feet it is to the toilet.  In tears.  Ummm...yeah.  Let's not talk about that, shall we?

Sweethearts 5k

Better late than never, right?

Walking into the rec center at 8 am...not sure if I really want to run this race yet!

Mr. Inspiration on the left (55 lbs down!) and my other coworker on the right

Jason took this picture while we were running.  Check out my redheaded friend in the background--so awesome.

Can you find me??

At the finish line...not feeling fantastic, but super stoked about the surprise medal.  Yay!!

Saturday morning I woke up feeling like someone had turned my head into a balloon and filled it to max capacity.  Hello sinus pressure!  When my alarm went off at 7 am, I really thought about just snoozing through it and taking a day off for myself.  But then I remembered my goal of at least one race per month for the year...I couldn't give up on it so early in the year.  The 5k is the shortest race I will be running and I really couldn't justify not being able to suck it up for a 30 minute time period.

So...I got out of bed and got dressed.  I ate a quick breakfast, and hubby and I set off.  We got to the rec center and got our packet and our goodie bag.  They hooked us up!  Our race tee was awesome and we had free water bottles and snacks and a free gym bag...it was well worth the $20 we spent on the race entry fee.  Usually I am disappointed in the goodie bags, but this one was pretty awesome.

We had a few coworkers that had signed up to run this race with us.  We met them and chatted until the start of the race.  One of the people we were running with has lost 55 lbs over the last year by running.  He was planning on running the race at 8:00 minute miles!  Such a success story...I think it's awesome.

Eventually they moved us outside the building out to the starting line.  There was quite a bit of a delay between herding us out there and when they finally let us start running.  I was dressed for the cold so it wasn't a big deal for me, but there were other people running that were just in shorts and t-shirts.  They must have been freezing!  Even though it was a beautiful day to run, it still was too cold for that type of clothing!  Crazies...

We ended up running the race and staying with our friends the entire time.  It was fun to run as couples and take it easy.  Well, they were taking it easy...I was feeling like I was going to die.  I started out feeling okay, but halfway through my body realized that I was going to make it run for 3.1 miles and it tried to revolt.  I was fatigued, but I stayed with our group and had a good time.  They haven't posted our results yet (lame), but my Garmin has us around a 10:30 mile pace for a finish time of 33:30.  Overall, it was a fun race and I'm glad I sucked it up and went.  They even gave us medals as we crossed the finish line!  Totally unexpected...I love the little surprises like that!

Overall, it was a great way to start the Valentine's Day weekend and I think I will run this race again in the future.

Ragnar Relay Florida Keys

So....I will be posting a bunch of race recaps.  I had written the posts, but hadn't taken the time to upload the photos so I never posted them.  Prepare yourself for a bunch of posts about races!

Let's just start this out by saying that using a race to cleverly disguise a much needed vacation is a great idea.  Hubster has wanted to run a race with me for a long time, and I have wanted to go on vacation to a beach for a long time. 

How the discussion went:

"Hubster...I think it would be really fun to run this race with you.  Look at me--I'm being ACTIVE!  You don't want to discourage me from being active, do you?  DO YOU??"

Sneaky, sneaky wife...how can you argue with that?  In any case, we signed up, flew clear across the country and landed in sunny Florida.  Goodbye snow, hello sun!

Look at that--not a snowflake in sight!  So far so good!

We spent the first day trying to recover from our red eye flight.  We were crazy enough to think it was a good idea to take a midnight flight out of Utah and arrive at 10:30 am in Florida the day before the race.  Who said you need a good night's sleep before a big race?  Dirty liars...  Oh wait.  They were telling the truth.  It's actually good advice!

The day of the race came.  The anticipation was high.  We drove to the starting line only to find everything but the starting line...we were lost.  Really lost.  And we weren't the only ones.  We suddenly encountered many 12-passenger vans attempting the impossible:  U-turns.  For those of you who haven't braved a u-turn in a gigantic vehicle, let me just tell you--it ain't pretty.  Eventually (approximately 42-point turns later) we found our starting line and showed up to start running approximately 30 minutes late.  Oops.

So we didn't start out in a very good place.  However, our captain was our first runner and he decided to vent his frustrations by running 3 miles in 21 minutes.  He managed so skim off one minute per mile on his pace.  Basically he was running like a mad man.  Go him!

Eventually it became my turn to run.  After a couple of quick trips to the lovely port-a-potties (what is it with pre-race jitters??) I made my way to the exchange.  I was ready to go!  My first leg was a simple 4.3 miles and I was anxious to get started. 

Apparently this is how I psych myself up pre-race...yay dolphins!

Hello, my friend...

Anticipation is killing me!

Jason was racing the leg before me, so we got to meet at the exchange for the baton pass off (which was a slap bracelet...brings me back to the good old days!). 

Jason coming into the exchange...

...and I'm off!

The first leg was great.  The lower elevation made running a lot easier and my pace was great!  I'm normally at around 11:15 for my pace and I was down at 10:00 miles for the entire leg.  It felt wonderful!  I had great support from my teammates along the way.  They were cheering and yelling and making me feel like a rock star. 

The dramatic pass off...can't you hear the slap?

I finished my 4.3 miles in 43:33 with an average pace of 10:10.  That's a personal best right there!  Awwww yeah.  I did a happy dance afterwards.  Gotta love running at sea level!

My next leg was during the night around 9:00 pm.  I ran pretty much the entire length of Key Largo.  Those are words I never thought I would get to say in my lifetime!  I would like to say this run went just as well as my first leg, but somewhere along the day in Florida I made the mistake of eating some local treats.  I ate a number of tasty fruits from a magical farmer's market, but I am gonna go ahead and blame the boiled peanuts.  Something made my stomach mad.  Halfway through the run my stomach was all in knots and I wanted it to be over with.  Right. Now. 

Alas, I had to continue on.  I ran my first 3 miles of my 7.2 mile leg in just over 30 minutes, but then I hit the stomach problems and my pace got worse and worse.  I ended up with an average pace of 11:20 for the whole run.  I was SO happy to be done.  I don't even remember coming into the exchange at the end...I just remember the feeling of joy that it was over. 

7 Mile Bridge...just keeps going!

I finished my run and then we took off to find a place to sleep for the evening.  I made a few bathroom visits (curse those delicious boiled peanuts!!) and finally got situated and ready for bed.  If I had to pick the part of the race I liked the least, I would have to say climbing in my brand new down sleeping bag being all hot and sweaty and sticky and smelly.  I felt like I was marinating in my own sauces.  Yummy, right?  Just had to share that with you...It will serve as a nice reminder to me when I run the Wasatch Back relay in June.

After sleeping through the night in a mummy sleeping bag on a random baseball field in a random park, I woke up somewhat refreshed for the last run of the day.  I remember saying to myself, "Self, it is only a 3 mile run.  That's cake!  You could run that any day of the week!  It will go by so fast you won't even remember it!"

. . . .

Lies.  Dirty rotten lies.  

Those three measly miles were the hardest miles I've ever ran.  I started the run at 11:00 am and it was hot outside.  I've been running in 20 degree weather and it was 80 degrees outside.  My body was not adjusted.  I was sweating like crazy.  It felt like the whole thing was uphill.  A very gradual and painful uphill.  I remember thinking to myself that the hill was never going to end.  I am embarrassed to say this, but this was the only leg I actually walked on.  Yep...I stopped and walked on a 3 mile run when I am able to run 8+ miles without stopping usually.  I was definitely suffering.  Once I stopped to walk, I walked for about 5 seconds and it felt so good that I knew I had to start running RIGHT AWAY or I would never start again!  So I sucked it up and just plowed through it.  

At the exchange...I promise I am more excited about it than I look.  And it happened much faster than it looks.

Mid-run.  Dying.  Must have water.

My awesome support team running with me to the finish line

Fake smile for photos!

Fake smile wavering...

I think it's important that I come clean right now and let you know that when I got home and plugged my runs into Garmin Connect I discovered that my last leg had the smallest elevation gain of all my runs.  So yeah...there's that.  Apparently the boiled peanuts destroyed my ability to run.  My average pace ended up at 11:58 which is higher than my usual pace.  Yay for fatigue!

Overall, I loved the race.  It was a challenge, both mentally and physically.  I had a great team which made it fun.  Hearing their cheers during the long parts of my run made it easier to keep going and stay focused.  I got my first finishers medal and love it!  I am proud that I did this, and I can say I will do another one in the future.

Did someone say Wasatch Back aka The Original Ragnar Relay?

Awwww yeah, baby!  Here I come!

Races!

One of the (many) bridges we will be running

We haven't updated in a while so I figured it was time to drop a quick line to let everyone know what we've been up to!

Jason recently finished the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay race with some friends which marks the second Ragnar Race he's ran this year.  For those of you unfamiliar with the race, twelve runners run three legs each for a total distance of just under 200 miles!  It's quite the race and takes place over a two day period.  He had so much fun he convinced me to run with him for the Florida Keys race.  Sunshine--here we come!

The race starts out in Miami and finishes in Key West and takes place in January.  We've convinced a bunch of our friends to fly down there with us and run the race.  It is going to be a blast!  It also gives me something to keep me focused on training for my half marathon I'm running in May.

Yep, you read that right.  Becky, aka the anti-runner, is running the Ogden Half Marathon.  I'm way excited!  I will actually be trained up enough to run a half marathon by January (thanks to Ragnar training), so Jason and I might run one before the Ogden race.  I'll keep you updated!  I've been really excited to get into running--it's helped out with my asthma immensely and also has helped me lose almost 30 lbs.  Awwwww yeah!

Anyway, that's about it for us.  We've been really busy with work and training which hasn't left much time for anything else, but it has been good!  I'm excited to be able to run a race with my husband and am really looking forward to it!

Lake Powell Goodness...

This past weekend the whole Lloyd family went down to Lake Powell again for some fun in the sun.  It was abnormally warm for an October trip--it was 95 degrees most days!  Perfect weather!  We were there from Thursday to Sunday, which was just enough time to relax from the stressful work weeks that Jason and I have been having.  Thank goodness for well-timed vacations!

Even better is that Jason's brother, Brandon, was able to come down to Utah and spend some time with us.  We really miss having him around.  He's currently in Baltimore in a ridiculously hard Oral Surgery program.  Jason and I are really hoping that when he finishes it he ends up close by.  What can we say?  We love having family close!

Beautiful Sunrises!

Relaxation at its Finest...

I think these old trees look awesome.

Reflections on the Glassy Water

I tried the stand-ups!

Sharon did too!

Early Risers...

Big Pimpin....

In other family news--we have a new niece!  Katelyn Patrice England was born the day we left for Powell.  She was three weeks early and is TINY!  She weighed 3 lbs 9 oz at birth.  So small and so cute!  Shantel had to have an emergency C-section, but it looks like both mom and baby are fine.  Congrats to Greg and Shantel!  She's going to be beautiful. 

So small!

The next big adventure (for me at least) is going up to Spud Harvest.  It's my dad's last year digging--I can't believe it!  I have to go up there and spend some quality time with him.  Also, my Grandpa on my mom's side is moving clear across the country to Texas so we are having a farewell dinner for him.  I can't believe how quickly it all happened once he decided he wanted to move.  It's been less than two weeks and his house and car are sold and he's out the door on Friday.  Wow!