Hobbler Half Marathon.

On Friday, June 25th, Nick dropped me off with my old pal, Ruthann.  Ruthann and I then proceeded to drive to Utah county.

 

Ruthann and I went to the same Junior High School, and High School.  In High School we, oh-so-briefly hated each other.  To this day, I don't know why?  We were dating brothers, at the time, but that's really all I recall about that time period.

I broke up with my boyfriend.  Ruthann went on to marry hers :)

Anyway, we got over our stupid teenage girl issues; and became fast friends.

Together (along with Jill) we were big cry babies during (many a run) through cross country season.  This is ironic.  Because, as Ruthann pointed out, #1- we're in better running shape at the age of 34, than we were at 17.  And #2- We hated running in high school (I know, I would find ways to cut any corner I could, during track and cross country season), and now here we are; running for fun.

 

Ruthann and I went on to be roommates in College at Southern Utah University.  To this day, she is the only girl I've ever shared a bedroom with, besides my own sister.

 

We've kept in touch, over the years.

And when I got the hairbrained idea to run a half marathon; Ruthann was the first person I thought of.  I was so happy that I was able to con her in to doing it with me.

Ruthann's still in great shape, and she already has many half-marathon's under her belt.  So, this wasn't a huge deal for her.

 

Back to the night before the race.

I booked us a room at a hotel in Provo.  We checked in, and then we went to dinner at a pizza restaurant that was highly recommended on Yelp: Nicolitalia Pizzeria.

 

We stayed up for hours talking.  Thoroughly enjoyable.

Our alarms went off at 4AM.  Not enjoyable.

 

We parked at Springville High School, and rode a rickety school bus up Hobble Creek Canyon.  Even though it was the middle of July, it was really chilly at the higher elevation.

Ruthann and I sat on the pavement.  It was warm-ish.



We were all smiles, at the starting line.  In my head, I was really nervous.  But I was glad I had a friend with me, to show me the ropes.

 

Ruthann and I lined up with the 2:10 pacer.  And we joked that we hoped to beat her to the finish line.

 

Honestly, I 100% believed that I'd beat the 2:10 pacer to the finish line.  I felt like I had trained well, and was ready for this.

I stayed on that "high horse", for the first 10 miles of the race.

 

I had no problem keeping up with Ruthann for the first three miles of the race.

The race was down, the canyon.  But it was rolling hills, in a downward direction.  Does that make sense?

Ruthann is better at running UP hills, than I am.

I kept Ruthann in my sights until mile 6.  Then, I had to stop at use the port-a-potty.

 

I always run with my phone, and I use an app that tracks my progress.  I like hearing the pace I am keeping, and what mile I am on.

I hated that my phone couldn't get service, so I had no little voice in my earbuds, telling me about my progress. 

Of course, there were signs at every mile marker.  But I was having a hard time gauging how fast I was doing those miles?   I'll never be certain.  But I am pretty confident that most of the first 10 miles I did were between 8 and 9 minute mile averages.

 

Anyway, around mile 10 there was a section of the course that went off of the main road.  They had us running on a sandy/rocky surface.  It wasn't packed trail.  And it was awful.  I hated it.  And my body hated it.

I made it back to a paved running surface, and felt a twinge of pain in my knee.

 

The pain became increasingly worse as I ran.

 

By this point, we were out of the canyon, and we were running on surface streets in Mapleton, UT.  I stopped running, and used someones mail box to hold on to, while I tried to do some stretches to alleviate the pain. 

I repeated this process at probably, another half dozen mailboxes, along the route to the finish line.

 

AND by mile 11 I couldn't stand the pain any more.  I started walking.

 

I saw a (very) pregnant lady pass me.

And then, the 2:10 pacer lady passed me.

 

In my head, I was crying.

I was so embarrassed.

I walked from mile 11 to mile 12.

 

I kept telling myself, it was mind over matter, and that my last mile was going to be respectable.

 

But it wasn't.  I walked the last half-mile of the race too.

When the high-school came in to my view, by sheer force of will, I ran.  And I crossed the finish line.  With a disappointing time of 2hours 20 minutes.

 

I had wanted Nick to be at the finish line, with my kids, waiting for me.  But the logistics of making that happen, didn't pan out.  And I am glad they didn't.

I know, if I had seen them at the finish line, I would have burst in to tears.

Instead, I held my shame in, and pulled myself together.

I kept drawing parallels between my performance, and that of a certain boy Ruthann and I went to High School with.  He would always talk so "big" about his athletic performance, but he cried like a little girl- a lot.  And always seemed to be injured.

 

I grabbed an orange creamy (who knew ice cream would be the perfect end to a long, hot race?!) and I located Ruthann.  She had been waiting at the finish line for me, and finished 15 minutes before I did.

 

Ruthann told me that this half marathon was a lot harder than other ones she has done.  I don't know if she was saying it to make me feel better about myself?  But I appreciated it. 

I met Nick in the parking lot of the High School.  We went to my Aunt Vickie's house (she lives in Springville), so that I could shower.  And then we hit the road, and drove to Las Vegas.  More on that later.

When people ask about me running The Hobbler (did I mention, that was the name of the race?), I've simply been saying. "I finished".  It's the truth, and it's the small tidbit that I have to be proud of.

I really wish I could get a "do-over"!

As it stands, I want to run another one.  And now I have a time to beat.
I don't know how soon it will happen, though?
Ruthann invited me to do the Cedar City Half Marathon with her.  But the cost of the race + a hotel room/travelling expenses are going to make it impossible.
I looked at the Huntsville Half marathon too.  But it's also too expensive.
I did sign up to run the dirty dash on a team with some of my neighborhood friends, and that's in September.

Jeff, my brother in law, has me looking at a half marathon that'll happen in October.  We'll see.  And until then, I'll try to keep my whining about running, to a minimum; on the blog.