Big Cottonwood Half Marathon

First off, can you say PERSONAL RECORD?! Haha, I managed to run a 2:07:22 in this race! That's three minutes faster than my previous time. I was ecstatic crossing the finish line.

So I signed up for this race back in the summer, I can't even remember when it was. But I saw an ad for it on Facebook, saw it was the first year of the race, and the real clincher was the elevation loss. I am one of those weird runners that loves downhill running! Something about just letting loose and running as fast as I can down a hill without using a lot of energy just makes me happy.

After Top of Zion relay, I planned on a taking a little bit of time off of running. i was feeling a little burned out, since that was my third race since April, and I knew if I kept running when I wasn't necessarily enjoying it was a bad idea. That's how I know I'm getting burnt out, when I find myself forcing myself to run or not being able to even run a full mile without wanting to quit. So that's how I was feeling towards the end of June. July I ran a bit, but not much. August, I don't think I ran at all!! I went home to Arizona for about two weeks and I think I ran about a mile at the gym, but that was it. So then I come back to Utah, feeling refreshed and no longer burnt out, but faced with the fact that I had barely ran for a month and I had a challenging race in four weeks. I took it easy the first week (school started, things were a little crazy) but I knew I had to step it up. Over the next three weeks I ran some good quality runs, but I only ended up running an 8.5 mile long run the week before the race. I was okay with the fact that that was the farthest I had gone, as I knew gravity would take care of the rest.

Friday night before the race, I drove up to Sandy to stay at Shantelle's house, which was minutes from the place where the buses would pick us up. I got a jolly good 3 hours of sleep that night, nothing too unusual before a race :) ha ha. I caught one of the buses that would take us to the start at around 4:45 a.m., and had a good chat with the lady next to me on the ride up. We got to the start with about an hour to spare, so I hung out in the porter potty line for a bit. It was very dark outside still, the stars were stunning, and the air was very cold but not too bad. While I was chilling by the pottys, I looked across the road (just a two-lane highway) and noticed some bushes moving about, like an animal was there. It was too dark to see much, but after a while of letting my eyes adjust i could just make out the huge shape of a moose!! Finally it lifted up its head, not even ten feet off the road, and just looked at us. I could tell it was about two years old or younger, so I knew momma moose wasn't too far away. I pointed her out to other people around me, and we couldn't believe that moose didn't care we were there! She just kept eating from the bush and would occasionally look up and stare at us. I watched her for a bit, until I noticed people were trying to get close to get a picture of her. Idiots. Ha ha! Finally one of the race directors drove their truck right up next to it to push it back into the forest and away from the thousands of runners milling about. Smart move.

Anyway, after seeing my favorite animal in the world, I was feeling pretty happy! What made me even happier was that they gave us space blankets and gloves, for free! This meant we were all warm and happy until the race started, which makes it easier to run for sure. At 6:30 sharp, we were off! It was still dark, with just a tinge of light in sky behind us. It got lighter about 3 miles in, so that we could enjoy the full splendor of this amazing canyon. I had never been up this canyon, but it is now my favorite Utah canyon. The colors! The trees! I was on cloud nine. We were running on this forest highway and it was just breathtakingly beautiful. At one point I had my favorite song on, the air was crisp, the fall colors were perfect, the forest smelled divine (I caught a whiff of elk which made me giddy) and everything, in that moment, was perfection. I had the biggest smile on my face and my feet felt so light and quick. Nothing could bring me down!

I was right in thinking the downhill would help me out a lot. I was hitting a 9:30 pace (which I hadn't been able to do on flat land in ages) and even 5 miles in I was still feeling great. Of course, there were those moment where it got really steep downhill and my shins started hurting, but since I was mentally prepared for that I was able to run through the pain. It was easy to stay happy in this race, even through the pain, my surroundings were just so amazing and I was in my element.

I usually don't start trying to guess what my time will be until I'm 6 miles in, after which I can figure out nearly exactly what pace I should try and hit in order to hit a PR from there. When I hit 6 miles, I looked at my time and knew in that moment that I could easily beat my previous time if I kept under a 10 minute pace. I knew I had this in the bag, since I had been hitting such great miles during the race. My fastest mile was mile 8, which was about a 9:06.

We came out of the canyon at mile 11, and we crossed a street and headed onto two running trails which took us in the general direction of the finish. This is where it got quite difficult, as my quads were so completely trashed and my feet hurt so bad, it was hard to keep a good pace. Somehow I managed to stay under 10 minute miles. Those last two miles are always the hardest, and especially this time because I no longer had the downhill to help me out. They were gently rolling miles, but finally we crossed another street and saw the convention center, and knew the finish line wasn't too far now. The last half mile i pushed as hard as I could, because I knew a great finishing time was within my grasp. As I rounded the last corner, I took out my earphones (my tradition in every race, I like to hear people cheering me on in that last quarter mile) and started sprinting to the finish. I didn't have much left in the tank, which is how I prefer it because that means I worked hard! I crossed the finish in 2:07 and was so happy that I thought my heart would burst. Also my quads. Ha ha. Even though nobody was there to cheer me on, I didn't care. I gave it my all and ended up getting a PR on less than 4 weeks of training. It was amazing!

So now it is three days post-race and my quads are still so sore I have a hard time going down stairs. Sunday was especially bad! But because I hadn't been that sore in so long, I've been enjoying it!! Plus it prevents me from signing up for a race too soon. ha ha! However, I have every plan to take the next two months and just train as hard as I can for the turkey trot on Thanksgiving. I plan on breaking an hour in that race, and in order to do that there is going to be a lot of speed work and hills and simulation runs. I could not be more excited! I'll take about 1.5 weeks off from running, but then it is back to grind! I've found a new appreciation for running after this race, and I'm still on a happy high that I don't plan on coming down from anytime soon.

This may just be my next full marathon :)

Anticipation

So, I have a half marathon on Saturday morning. The longest I've ran is 8.5 miles since the Top of Zion relay race. I didn't run at all during the month of August, and have only been running regularly the last 3 weeks or so, since school started. So basically I am completely winging this race. Which is going to be awesome! Haha.

LUCKILY for me, the race starts at nearly 8,000 feet elevation and ends just below 5,000 feet. So probably the reason I am not too stressed out about this race is because I know gravity will help me out more than anything else. I love downhill running, some people say it hurts their knees or quads but I say if you have strong quads (which I do) then you shouldn't have any problems. Almost every run I've done so far has had some downhills involved in it.

So let's hope and pray that I come out of this race with a personal record!! That would be so wonderful. On that same note, I'm looking to PR at the turkey trot this Thanksgiving so I will be focusing on speed more than usual for the next two months! Should be fun!

The Holy Ghost is real, y'all.

A couple weeks ago, I was running up in Provo canyon on a beautiful crisp Saturday morning. There were so many people on the trail, so I felt totally comfortable running by myself. I was just finishing up about 6 miles of a pretty good run. I was up by Bridal Veil falls, and I knew that there was a part of the Bonneville Shoreline trail that started near there.

I have always wanted to try trail running, but I know it's not safe to do it by myself, which means I had yet to try it because no one will come run with me! Haha. Anyway, I ran To the trailhead (it's between the parking lot and the falls) and in a split second decision decided to run on it for as long as I could. So I start running on this trail, it climbs up pretty steeply while winding away from the paved trail below and all the people.

I'm only running for about five minutes when all of a sudden I stop in my tracks, like a sudden dead stop. I don't know why I stopped. I thought it was weird, but I was still excited to finally be running on a trail so I tried to keep going. I went another 30 seconds and all of a sudden it was like my feet stopped without me thinking about it.

It was at that point that I was like, okay, I'm obviously being told something. I stood there for a couple seconds, then the thought came really clearly, "Turn around!" Welp, I wasn't about to ignore that. So I turned around, ran the short distance back to the paved trail and parking lot, and left.

I have no idea why I had the prompting to turn around. And I will never know. But imagine if I had disobeyed the Holy Ghost? There could have been a bear, or a murderer, or I could have gotten lost (not likely! Hah). But I think in any situation, the HG doesn't just give you promptings for kicks. They are always for a reason.

I still fully intend on running that trail, but not until I find me a running buddy! Haha

Things.

So one of my best friends Annie does this thing where she posts about things she loves. I have a lot of things that I love, but not necessarily things that I love from a particular day, given that most days are typically spent in school, sleeping, eating, or running. Ha ha! So, I thought I'd talk about things I love about my life in general.

For one, I absolutely love the feeling after a good, hard run. One where the sweat is pouring into my eyes, a faster pace feels easy, and I feel like I can go on forever. The last few runs I have done have felt this way. Especially the run I did on Friday. It was 8.5 miles of steep uphills and downhills and I felt like I was exploring new territory the entire way, which is one my favorite things to do on a run. I love finding new places to go and new routes to call my own. Sometimes I even name them, for example I have the Temple Run (up to, and around, the temple and back), the Y Trailhead Run (only done once, probably will do it again soon), and the University Parkway Run, where I head up to that road, follow it east all the way around BYU campus, and back to my house. I named this new one the Timpview Run, because I spent about 2 or so miles on Timpview Road. So, any day that I get in a particularly good run turns it into a special day, and I think it is obvious that running is a thing I love.

Another thing I love: driving in a car with the windows down, music on full blast, and singing at the top of my lungs. The singing part is the most important part of the equation, I usually end up after every road trip with a hoarse voice and a sore throat, especially if it is the 10 hour drive from Utah to home. I just feel a rush of happiness when it is just me in the car, singing to my favorite songs with (almost) not a care in the world. I know it seems random, but we all have our randomness about us. 

Family. I love my family. I had a friend in school ask me the other day why I was moving back to Arizona in December (to do my clinicals, when most people are doing them in Utah). I told him one word: family. My whole family is in Arizona, both extended sides, and my life is so much different without them. I miss Clouse family dinners every month. I miss random game nights with the Wilkins side. Most of all, I miss my two sisters and my parents. Now, Dustin and Heather are up here in Utah with me, but as we are all so busy I might only see them two or three times a month. I expect to see a lot more of them when the little bambino is born in December! 

On that same note, I love Arizona. Like, in a I-could-never-marry-a-man-from-anywhere-else kind of love. I know that seems extreme, but even the thought of marrying a non-Arizonan just gives me a "meh" kind of feeling. Ha ha! Who cares if I am limiting myself. I do what I want!! Ha ha. Also, I love the monsoons. I love that you can have blazing hot deserts and cool beautiful mountains in the same state. I love hunting with my dad all over the state. I love my town, Gilbert. I love all the running trails that I have come to know and love over the years. I think I have about a hundred different routes, ranging anywhere from 4 to 20 miles. I love how it still has a small town feel, even though it technically is the largest town in the country (not a city yet!). We even have our own temple, to be dedicated next year. I love all of what I call my "Arizona friends"! They never fail to let me down when ever I make a trip home.

I love my little brother Wes! He's on his mission in Arkansas, and as such gets preferential treatment over all other siblings. Sorry, guys, but I think Mom would agree with me in that Weston is the favorite child right now. That could all change when he gets home in 7 MONTHS (!!!) because he could totally turn out to be some self-righteous little turd (hey, it happens to the best of 'em). But for now, he is favorite. I love his emails every week, he is so insightful about every experience he has, and he always has a way of turning even bad experiences around to make them positive. Hmmm, sounds a bit like me? I taught him well! Also he has funny stories every week, and he adopted a kitten, which you can't help but laugh at because this is the kid that will swerve towards a cat when it crosses the road. Bless his heart.

I'm starting to realize that I have a lot more things that I love, that I didn't even think about. But for now, I'll end this post before it gets too ridiculously long. 

Also, BYU lost again to Utah. Good thing I don't go there, or I would be upset. (I'm pretty sure I said the exact same thing last year). Have a good Sunday, y'all!!