I Can Do Hard Things

Salt Lake City Half Marathon

Recent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesToby's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewMonth ViewYear View
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

American Fork,UT,

Member Since:

Nov 27, 2009

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

St George Marathon

2011 - 4:11:52 

2017. -4:01:17

2021 - 4:03:05

Salt Lake City Full Marathon

2013 -  4:23:03 

Ogden Marathon

2012 - 3:58:35

2013 - 4:17:20

2014 - 4:02:51

2017 - 3:55:22**

2023 - 3:57:09

Utah Valley Marathon

2019 - 4:05:37 

Top of Utah Marathon

2014 - 4:09:27

Mt Charleston Marathon

2019 - 4:05:33

West Mountain Marathon

2015 - 4:42:34

 

St George Half Marathon

2012 - 1:55:00

2013 - 2:03:00

2014 - 1:46:00

2015 - 1:48:00

2022-  1:42:45**

Salt Lake City Half Marathon

2012 - 1:51:00

2014 - 1:44:01

Hobble Creek Half Marathon

2001 - 1:40:00**

2011 - 1:45:00

2012 - 1:43:00

2013 - 1:43:00 

2022 - 1:48:53

American Fork Half Marathon

2013 - 1:48:24

2014- 1:53:23 (pacing Tim)

2017  - 1:47:54

2018 - 1:48:12

2019 - 1:47:50

Timp Half Marathon

2012 - 1:47:18 

2022 - 1:49:40 (AF Cancer course)

Utah Valley Half Marathon 

2011 - 1:55:00 

Top of Utah Half Marathon

2010 - 1:48:20 

The Haunted Half Provo

2018 - 1:51:28

 

Goblin Valley 50K

2014 - 5:58

Red Mountain 55K

2018 - 7:31:37

Antelope Island Fall Classic 50K

2017 - 6:14:23

Antelope Island 50 Mile

2015 - 10:10:00

Antelope Island 100 Mile

2018 - 26:53

 

 

**Personal Best 

 

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

 

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

To qualify for Boston

Personal:

Married for 23 years. I have 18 year old triplets and a 15 year old. I love to sew, garden, and run!

Favorite Running Quotes: 

1.  

"Sooner or later the serious runner goes through a special, very personal experience that is unknown to most people.

Some call it euphoria. Others say it's a new kind of mystical experience that propels you into a elevated state of consciousness, a flash of joy.

A sense of floating as you run. This experience is unique to each of us, but when it happens, you break through a barrier that separates you from casual runners. Forever. And from that point on, there is no finish line. You run for your life. You begin to be addicted to what running gives you."  

~Nike Poster

2.           A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Lao-Tzu

You’ve no doubt heard this.  And you’ve probably recited it in your mind on a run or at the gym when you’re just beginning to get in shape.  You have a goal in sight and this quote brings you back to the current moment.

 

But the problem is that many runners forget all of the steps between the first one and the goal.  If your goal is to run under two hours for the half marathon then you need to be honest about all of the little steps to get to that goal.

 

…and what I’d rather see you do is to get the goal out of mind completely, but rather focus on the process, not the outcome. -Jay Johnson Process orientation, not outcome orientation.

 

You should have goals, but you should take it one step at a time.  And you should be honest about the fact that you don’t know how many steps it will take to get there. ~ Vernon Gambetta

 

3.  Human beings are made up of flesh, blood and a miracle fiber called COURAGE! ~ George Patton 

 

4.   Find the courage to be patient.

Favorite Blogs:

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 22.33 Month: 127.28 Year: 374.00
2014 - Minutes Lifetime Miles: 28605.00
Race: Salt Lake City Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:44:01
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.0013.3013.30

Salt Lake Half Marathon Death March 

There was nothing beautiful or lovely about this race. It was a 13.3 mile suffer fest.  

I've been really nervous about this race.  I knew that if I ran a 1:44 at the race today, I would be close to my BQ plan for the Ogden Marathon.  I guess the anxiety of that 1:44 goal put me over the edge.  And I wasn't sure how my body would hold up.  It's getting worn out and semi-broken and I still have 4 weeks to go.

I left home at 5:00 am and found a great parking spot close to the finish area.  I took Trax to the starting area.  I found a few friendly faces, Josse, Ericka, Paul, Tiffany, and Allie.

 I found the 1:45 pacer and had plans to hang with him for awhile. The gun went off and immediately, I knew this race was going to hurt.  

The race started uphill and was followed by several more rolling hills.  My heart rate was already going crazy and my breathing labored.  My stomach felt sick with anxiety. I still had a LONG time to suffer through the streets of Salt Lake.

I hung with the 1:45 pacer for awhile but eventually left him during the Memory Grove down hill.  I was able to pick up some speed during this section, but felt like I was still putting forth a lot of effort.  

Tim and the kids were waiting for me at mile 5.  It was SO wonderful to see friendly faces with a big sign!

Eventually, I saw the 3:25 marathon pacer and ran with them for several miles until they split off at mile 9. I still felt like I was exerting a lot of energy and had a long ways to go.

After the pacer turned off onto the marathon course, I tried to stay with the half marathoners that were with that group.  My wheels started to rapidly fall off at mile 10.  I felt like I kept pushing the gas pedal harder and harder, but the speed was not coming.  

My calves were cramping and my mental mojo was trickling away.  I was in shuffle mode and was just trying to hang on for dear life. The numbers on my watch kept getting slower and slower and my stomach was growing angrier by the second.  

I kept thinking to myself, "This is SO hard.  This isn't fun.  My body is going to start revolting."  I felt like I was going to burst into tears.  This desperation was not part of my race plan.

I knew I only had less than a half mile to go.  I turned the street corner and could see the finish line.  But the more I pushed the pace, the further away the finish line got.  It took forever to complete that last .5 miles.  There was no euphoria or singing angels when I finally reached the balloon arch.  I stepped off to the side right in front of the camera man and tried to keep my breakfast together.  Tears started to form in my eyes....I have never had a race experience like that before.

 photo imagejpg3_zpse4b8fd6c.jpg

My body hurt in ways I didn't know was possible.  I had exerted so much mental and physical energy that I didn't care about anything else.  Pain was the only word in my post race vocabulary.

But then I saw my beautiful family.  My kids were cheering and the pain subsided momentarily.  I was so glad they were there.  I wanted to make them proud.  I told them I ran the race in a very horrible 1:44:01....which was exactly my goal.  A 7 minute course PR (the race director changed the course and it was way more difficult than last year in my opinion).

 photo imagejpg1_zps70eb8d6a.jpg

I said a quick goodbye to my beautifuls and all my grumpies returned.  I left the race shortly thereafter to get home for a soccer game and egg hunt.

 photo imagejpg2_zps427f0167.jpg

(Good to see Ericka at the finish line....she totally rocked her race!)

I was hoping to have a mental boost from running this half marathon today for my big race in May.  But I'm unsure of what to think of the situation.  I'm not sure I can handle that kind of excruciating nonsense for another 2 hours in a marathon.  I felt like the harder I tried push the pace, the more I mentally and physically hurt.  There was no adrenaline to take off the edge.  

I hit my goal today so I'm not sure why I'm so hesitant and not feeling the "high".  I may have entered into that next level of physical discomfort.  

And it is really painful. 

TT:  1:44:01

AP:  7:52 7:59, 8:00, 7:21, 7:37, 7:20, 7:57, 7:49, 8:12, 7:58, 7:52, 7:43, 8:26, 7:57, 1:46

2014 - Minutes Miles: 104.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments
From allie on Sun, Apr 20, 2014 at 16:52:01 from 174.27.221.249

seven minutes faster than any other version of this course is significant! your splits stayed consistent throughout (accounting for the ups and downs), and you rallied after the 12th mile for a strong finish. i felt the same way about the finish line -- it took so long to get there!

1:44:01 -- you were RIGHT on target. i am sorry your body wasn't feeling great today, but despite the revolt you still ran your exact goal. i think you did great and (whatever your plans), you should be confident that you can get your BQ.

it was great to see you yesterday.

From josse on Mon, Apr 21, 2014 at 14:51:48 from 67.148.98.20

Way to run and hit your goal! I'm sorry you are hurting.

From Toby on Mon, Apr 21, 2014 at 20:56:34 from 74.81.235.5

Allie: Thank you for your continued support! You always appear to have such a level head and don't get rattled by the emotions of running! I'm still a rookie in that sense :). Congratulations on your amazing race!

Josse: It was so great to see you at the start! Hooray for getting Ericka to her goal! Thanks again for all your help!

From prlman on Tue, Apr 22, 2014 at 14:27:50 from 208.54.5.190

It was so good to see you!!! It was a much tougher course even looking at the elevation profile. To hit your goal and have a 7 min pr is phenomenal. Great job!!!

Add Your Comment.
  • Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
  • Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
  • If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.
Only registered users with public blogs are allowed to post comments. Log in with your username and password or create an account and set up a blog.
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
Recent Comments: