Provo Canyon Half Marathon

It's 10:30am on a Saturday morning, and it's already been a LOOONG day(but in a good way). I have been awake for about 7 hours already! Yep, if you just counted back 7 hours from 10:30 that means I've been up since 3:30am. That's kind of crazy, but what's even more crazy is that I couldn't go to sleep now if I tried. I just got home from the Provo Canyon Half Marathon, so my blood is still surging with adrenaline, and my mind is alert as can be with the runner's high. It's funny how I can actually have MORE energy AFTER I run 13.1 miles than I do before I run it. That's the beauty of the runner's high. It will eventually wear off and I'm sure I will crash and take a nap sometime today, but for now I will try to take advantage of this energy surge and get as much done as possible. (ya I know blogging probably isn't the most productive thing I couldbe doing, but it's a lot more fun than cleaning)

As usual I woke up and asked myself why in the world I was doing this, and then I crossed the finish line and my memory was refreshed. I was just a little bugged that we were supposed to be there at 4:45am and freeze our butts off when the race didn't start until 7:00am. I've noticed from the two times that I've run this race that it could use a little more organization, and a few more porta potties at the start too. My friend was brave enough to go in the bushes, but I held out until after the race was over.

I ran my fastest post-baby half-marathon today. (I have to separate my running times into pre-baby and post-baby so I don't feel too bad when I come in 10 minutes slower than my fastest half marathon time.) I ran 8 minutes faster than my first half-marathon this summer, and two minutes faster than the Bryce Canyon half-marathon. I came in at 1:45. I am happy that I'm slowly improving my times, but I felt WAY too good at the end of this race which meant that I should have ran faster.

I couldn't help being a little disappointed in myself for not pushing harder. (I do have an excuse if I may. My ankle was acting really weird and my foot kept wanting to land on the pavement in awkward positions. I had to really concentrate on making my foot hit the pavement straight. This actually happens A LOT to me during distance races. Never during training, but all the time during races. What is wrong with me? Anyone know? I need to talk to a physical therapist) However, looking on the bright side, at least I felt GOOD at the end of the race, and still improved my time. According to Scott I ran the perfect pace because I still felt great when I crossed the finish line. He likes it when I'm still happy and energetic after a race rather than sick and wasted. Go figure? I think I actually prefer to cross the finish line feeling like crap becasue then I know I gave it EVERY LAST BIT inside me, so I can't have any regrets. I'm used to feeling like I'm going to puke when I cross the finish line, and it takes at least two hours for me to even want to LOOK at food or think about eating. After this race I just stopped and thought, "It's over already? I don't feel crappy enough yet." Then I went straight over to the food and loaded up my plate with some pancakes and watermelon. That was another sign to me that I definitely didn't push myself hard enough.

I was so close to being under an average of 8 minute mile pace and I know I had enough in me to push a little bit harder and get it, but I didn't. I realize though that I will ALWAYS have thoughts about what I could have done better at the end of each race. That's what keeps me motivated to keep running more races! I am so competitive with myslef, and since I'm never going to be 100% satisfied with the outcome of any race, I continue to sign-up for more and more races hoping that I take what I learned from the last race and improve a little bit. (this was my 11th half-marathon) The awesome thing about distance running is that you're really only competing against yourself.

Here are a few pictures from the race today:

Me with my FAVORITE running buddy. I know the stroller is a lot heavier with the carseat in it, and I know Boston is old enough to go straight in the stroller now without the carseat, but I continue to put the carseat in the stroller just so I can look at his cute face while I'm running.

This is me waving to my FAVORITE person and #1 fan about 45 seconds before I crossed the finish line. This picture is proof about what I said above. I look way too happy to be that close to the finish line. I'm supposed to look like I want to die like I usually do. That's how I know if I ran as fast as I could.

Another of the same thing. I actually tried to delete it, but blogger wouldn't let me for some reason. Blogger acts weird sometimes.