Provo River Half Marathon

Jonny (1:28:09), Melody (1:52:02), Grandma Julie (2:57ish)

This was my first half marathon and Jonny's third. (I'm pretty sure Grandma lost count years ago!) Man, it was no walk in the park.

First of all, the training was challenging and tricky to fit in with two little kids and a hard-working husband who leaves for the office early in the morning. But we both managed to squeeze in some extra weekly mileage and felt pretty prepared for the race. That is, until I had some sort of stomach pain all week. Seems like it was a mild case of the stomach flu. Whatever it was, I felt awful and didn't know if I'd be able to race Saturday morning. But I prayed that I'd feel well enough to run and fell asleep hoping for that. I felt a little sick when we woke up at 4:15 but by the time we were in the car on our way to Provo, my stomach was as calm as ever. A miracle? I think so.

The race course down the canyon and past Bridal Veil Falls was gorgeous. The first three miles were quite steep and went by very quickly. The entire course was downhill except for the turn-around where we ran back up the canyon passing other racers going the opposite direction. The wind was against us and our legs weren't used to the uphill. So that was pretty tough. Luckily I had David Copperfield on my iPod to keep me distracted!

There were several water/gatorade stops that seemed to show up just when I needed them. All the miles were marked, which was helpful. Around 6 miles I remember thinking, "Man, I'm not even half done. Can I really do this!?" Then at 9 miles I knew I'd make it just fine, even though I could feel my legs really tightening up at that point. Next time I will have to do more downhill training for sure.

I came in under 2 hours, so I was thrilled. I was also a little surprised because I felt I was going so so slow at times. Plus, I was passed often by other runners. I guess I kept a decent pace, though. I think my next half goal will be 1:45. With better training, I think that is realistic.

Jonny was a superstar, as usual. Not only did he fly in under an hour and a half, but he was in the top 25 men in the race of 2,000+. Seriously, wow. He said he felt great - much better than he did during his half last summer.

We were so excited to see Grandma coming in under 3 hours - her goal. There's nothing like cheering, "Go, Grandma!" at a half marathon. She is amazing. Running a half with her has been a goal of mine for the past three years. And it was so fun to chat with her at the beginning and celebrate at the end. Dad even came to cheer us on at the finish line! It was quite the event.

I really did miss the kids, as running a race without them is very rare. But they had a blast at home with Katy. Next Saturday we'll all run Alpine Days together - if our extra-sore muscles will allow it! Yikes. That was some race.

Here is Jonny and his Top 25 Men poster.

Here I am pretending I was in the Top 25 Women.
Hey, I did make it into the top 25 in my age division (21st out of 158 total). Not too shabby.

P.S. Not to put a damper on things, but the shirts were pretty lame. They are extra cheap-o t-shirts that look like an Easter egg, featuring a tortoise and hare. I don't know why a half marathon wouldn't provide a cool tech shirt.

P.P.S. See full results here.