Drop 13 Half Marathon

Had the chance to run the Drop 13 Half marathon this weekend. My hubby was a pacer for the 1:30 group with the American Flyers Race Pacers. I was supposed to pace the 1:45 but since my ankle still is suffering from tendinitis, I decided not to pace. I didn't want to fail my group just in case I couldn't hold my pace. We drove down the night before and picked up our packets. It was awesome to go to the Salt Lake Running Co store, super awesome running store, it is like runners-heaven!!! I picked a little something! That sweet Pearl Izumi cropped jacket! Talk about cute and functional!

Hunny and I stayed all to ourselves at a hotel, rare occasion, however with a 4am wake up call, no time for romance, hahahaha.

We walked to the bus load up from our hotel and found our pacer friends and my sweet friend Angie from crossfit. We loaded the bus with no problems. The ride up was easy and was able to nap a little. Start of the race was a bit hectic though, not enough porta-potties and the lines were super long. I had to go so I needed to stay in line otherwise I would poop my pants! So I waited and waited and waited. The race started and guess where I was, yes, I was still waiting to use the pooper!!! Both, Ang and I were there waiting. As I waited for the bathroom, and saw the race start, I thought well, it is better to not poop my pants.

Both Ang and I started the race at the same time, we were all alone with another runner at the start line, kind of lonely. However, it was kind of nice to see all the runners as we got closer and closer to them. We were joking while waiting for the bathroom that we could start counting our "Ragnar kills" that very day hahaha. Being at the very back was not what I was planning. I wanted to run with Sam but there was no way I could run fast enough to catch him, I was a good 5 minutes behind him to start off. But, I certainly tried. I kept looking for the Pacer signs to see how far I had to go to catch him. He was the first pacer, so I had a lot of ground to cover. I ran as fast as my ankle could carry me. It did alright but around mile 3 it started bothering me so I took some ibuprofen for the pain. Also, my stupid gut was starting to burn so I took some tums too. I can take the pain from the ankle as that is pain but the burning in my belly is not something I can control or help. As I ran, I kept passing the pacers and they were all so friendly and awesome.

Finally, I reached my friend Josh who was pacing the 1:35 group, it meant that I was that much closer to Sam but my ankle just didn't have it in me for the 6:30 pace I needed to catch him. The entire race really went super fast, I was very surprised when I saw the 10 mile marker. I even doubled checked my Garmin to make sure it was correct. It really felt like time had flown by. But when I saw the 10 mile marker, I knew it was crunch time and time to drop the hammer and leave it all that I had in the tank.

The last three miles were AWESOME. Usually, I am dead tired but not this time, I felt strong and knew I could continue at a good pace. I looked down at my watch and it said 1:29, I knew hubby had already crossed the finish line so I dug deep and ran my heart out to the finish line. I saw my sweet hubby there, waiting for me :). He made my day!

What I found hard about the race: not knowing my place in the field. I started at the end so I didn't know how far back I was from the other women. If I had seen them in front of me or known how far back I was, it could have helped me push a little harder.

I finished the race in 1:30:34. I placed 1st in my age group and 5th overall. Overall, it was a great race. I still love the course as much as I did last September.