Utah Valley Marathon Recap

Jeff and I are still basking in our PR’s from Saturday’s Utah Valley Marathon.  Thank goodness both of us exceeded our expectations and ran PR’s, otherwise it could have been a long drive home for one (or both) of us.  That is the risk running couples take…. but the reward is AWESOME if both runners in the couple have success!  It is so much fun to share the excitement of a PR with someone you love and have trained with. (I apologize for the nerdy sappiness, I will try not to make you gag anymore)

PRE-RACE

3:30 AM – We had to get up early to catch the 4:15 AM bus to the start.  That is way early for me and I was glad I set  everything out the night before; I was like a zombie getting ready.  We stuffed our faces with bagels and peanut butter, a banana, and coffee before rushing out the door at 4 AM (nothing like cutting things close…...).

(Don’t ask me what Jeff is doing here, but he is thinking “I’m gonna own this marathon beotches!”)

4:15 AM – We were the last in line for the bus and therefore got the only school bus they had, rather than the luxury buses everyone else rode in.  We ate the rest of our food (protein bars and GU chomps) and drank some electrolytes on the way to the start.  Luckily the school bus had no shocks and every bump encouraged my intestines to get moving and I was ready to empty my bowels by the time we got to the start line (too much info, but I don’t care!). 

RACE

6:00 AM – MARTHON STARTS! 

Jeff and I jumped in a few minutes late and did the typical marathon start dodge-and-weave the first few miles trying to hold back our pace.  Jeff and I stayed together and the first few miles FLEW by.  In fact, we got to mile 7 and I thought it had only been 5 miles (I LOVE WHEN THIS HAPPENS!).  It was about this time the wind picked up and was in our faces, I HATE headwinds.  BUT the wind did cool us off because it started heating up at this time.

At mile 7, Jeff took out a GU and reminded me to do the same.  Then came the first real hill, I just put my head down and owned it.  It was also at this time that I lost Jeff.  I love him, but I never looked back and just continued to run my race and my pace.  Sorry Jeff…. but I knew you would be fine :) 

[BARB] There were plenty of awesome down hills where I just let myself go, although the wind was still relentlessly pushing me back.  Sometimes the wind was so bad that I would stumble a bit and I had to crank up my music just to hear it!  I concentrated on passing people and made a little pact with myself that I would not let anyone pass me from this point on.

[JEFF]  At this point, I decided to turn on my music…from my SanDisk (MP3 player). Yeah, they still make MP3 players. You can get one at Costco for just $59.  It has 8GB of space, that’s a lot of MP3s!!!  I really was feeling good especially after starting off 15 seconds per mile faster than I had planned. I told myself, let’s just go with this.  Why hold back?!?!

[BARB] By the halfway point I hit a 1:39 and was on pace to hit my goal of 3:20.  I also was feeling great and decided to increase my pace.  I continued to pick people off, especially all the Lululemon-wearing matchy-matchy women.  Seriously, I feel like every female ahead of me was taunting me from behind with either obnoxious ruffles or ugly patterned clothing.  One female had on disgusting bun huggers with ruffles and her butt cheeks were hanging out.  For some reason all of these horrible running clothes irritated me and I just wanted to get in front of them (or push them out of my way).  Anger = fast Barb

[JEFF]  At 13.1 miles, I looked down at my watch and saw I was on pace to run a 3:19 marathon. I thought to myself…well typically, for most people, the second half of a marathon is slower than the first half… Like 20 minutes slower, due to “hitting the WALL”.  So then I said to myself, based on this statistic, I will not even PR today!  This can’t be true.  This is not good.  Maybe I can just maintain my pace, and I won’t hit “the WALL”.

[BARB] I knew the second half of the marathon was going to be easier than the first from driving the course the night before, so I just continued pushing my pace and kept feeling great.  The scenery was gorgeous and seeing women in ugly clothes ahead of me were few and far between.  I was continuing to pass people and had yet to be passed, woooo hoooo!  I took a GU at mile 14 and then again at 20.  I also was drinking water at every water station to keep hydrated.

[JEFF]  I knew that the second half of the marathon was more downhill than the first, but I still feared hitting “the WALL” or cramping up.  But there was a tiny bit of hope in my little pea head, that I kept telling myself, maybe I can maintain and hit a 3:20, or even break 3:20!  So I continued to run..  and think...  and enjoy the scenery… 

[BARB] I can’t believe how great I felt the last few miles.  My splits in the last 10K were the fastest of the race.  I just saw the finish and went for it.  In the last .2 miles someone tried to pass me, the first person since I made the pact to myself at mile 7.  Oh no you won’t pass me person…. so I just kicked it in, didn’t get passed, and finished with a PR! 

3:17:19 (official), 99th finisher overall, 20th female, 5th in 30-34 age group

[JEFF]  I told myself around mile 15…I can’t wait until mile 22.. b/c then I will only have 4 miles left.. well… 4.2 miles left.  So I was getting so excited for mile 22!! ?? I know, I’m weird. 

Mile 22 came and I was still on pace to break a 3:20 marathon.  I felt good, and I could finally say I only had 4.2 miles left in the marathon.  And the next few miles seemed to fly by.  Every other marathon I’ve run the last 6 miles seemed like an eternity.  Not today…not at the UTAH VALLEY MARATHON.  I started to become a believer.  A believer that I would be able to complete a marathon under 3 hours and 20 minutes… and guess what..??  I DID!!!  BOOM!  I am so lucky to be have the ability to complete a marathon, let alone in that time frame.  WOO HOO!!

3:19:35 (official), 115th finisher overall, 97th male, 18th in 30-34 age group

** I (Barb) could hardly finish this because of the hilariousness of the difference between how I write and how Jeff writes…. and also how different are mind-sets were during the race! I think we should start blogging each of our accounts of every experience, too flipping funny and interesting!**

POST RACE

9:30 AM – WE ARE DONE RUNNING, got some water and a delicious creamy popsicle (don’t remember what it was called) and hobbled straight to the car and back to the hotel.  A shower never felt so amazing…..  

It was at this time I remembered that I didn’t get the Boston Qualifier shirt that I knew the race was rewarding to BQ-ers.  We then checked out of our hotel, loaded up the rat dogs and all our stuff, and headed back to the finish to get my shirt and check out the finish line festivities.  I got my sweet long-sleeved BQ shirt and a heck of steal at the California Pizza Kitchen booth ($1 for EVERY ITEM, we ate lunch for $6) before we loaded back into the car for Park City, UT to celebrate our PRs!!!!!

The Utah Valley Marathon is a GREAT race!  It has great scenery, is mostly downhill, and is in a city full of ridiculously nice people.  The race entry fee was reasonably priced and you get nice technical t-shirts, and if you get a BQ time, you get an additional shirt!!!  SO COOL!  This particular year was not blessed with great weather as we ran during a wind advisory (up to 50 mph gusts according to the news) and it was warm (60s).  But if you get good weather, this race is DEFINITELY PR-friendly!

3:17:18

Got myself a PR at the Utah Valley Marathon…. AND so did Jeff 3:19:35!!!  If there wouldn’t have been a wind advisory (up to 50 mph gusts) and warm weather (70s at the finish), I can’t even imagine how much we would have smashed our PRs!

More to follow later…. we are up in Park City for the afternoon/night and then headed back to Colorado first thing in the morning. 

BOOM goes the dynamite!

Preparing for the Utah Valley Marathon!

After a mini road trip across Colorado and Utah, Jeff and I (along with the rat dogs) arrived in Provo, UT and started our “day-before a marathon” routine. 

We checked into our hotel, dropped off Jay and Elle, and headed to the expo for the Utah Valley Marathon.  The expo was small and we were in and out with our race bibs and T-shirts.  We decided to eat some Italian for lunch, gelato for dessert (I have a strange superstition that need gelato the day before a marathon, I think I am 8 for 9), and then back to the hotel to check on the dogs.

While back at the hotel I noticed that my T-shirt was for HALF marathon, and I am doing the FULL!  So back to the expo to get the correct race T-shirt. 

As I was walking into the expo, I bumped into the author of a blog I follow, Hungry Runner Girl.  She is how I actually heard about this particular marathon and after asking her about the course several months back and she said it was PR conducive/awesome scenery, I signed up (plus it was within driving distance, 8 hrs, of Denver).  Thanks Hungry Runner Girl!!!!

She is actually the first blogger that I have ever met in real life…. I always wondered if bloggers were what I imagine them to be.  Well, she set the bar high, because she is just as genuine, nice, and engaging as she is on her blog.  It was such a pleasure to meet her and her husband. They are two awesome people who have many adventures ahead of them (baby on the way, moving across the country) and it will be so much fun to continue following their journey, especially after meeting them!

Jeff and I then decided to drive the marathon course, something I have done before and like to do.  We are SO glad we did this…. we now know what to expect and are even more stoked about the race.  The course is absolutely GORGOUS!  Plus it is mostly downhill, with maybe 3 longer hills in the first half of the marathon. 

 See, how amazing are these views?!?  If it stays cool and the wind is not too bad (both these are concerns at this point), things will go our way.  There is a potential for it to be windy, but you can’t control the weather…… so fingers crossed the wind is calm between 6-9:30 tomorrow morning.

On our way home we walked around the BYU campus (beautiful!) and then grabbed spaghetti from Olive Garden to share back at the hotel.  We just finished getting everything laid out (including finalizing our music playlists, yep I am particular about things) and prepared for the morning and are laying down to sleep.  Tomorrow morning will be here before we know it!  Oh and we have to catch the bus to the start by 4:15…. way too early!

Good night, hopefully I have good things to report tomorrow!  If not, then there is always the next marathon :)

While on the topic of hybrid animals…..

Elle looks like the cross between a fruit bat and a meercat.  Exhibit A:

 

See, I don’t really have dogs.  I have dog-like versions of hybrid creatures. 

I should be the spokesperson for Italian Greyhounds, “Get an Italian Greyhound, your dog could end up looking like a KangaDeer or a MeerBat!”

How much weird stuff can I witness in 1.25 miles?

Tonight Jeff and I headed over to Crown Hill Park where there is an inside path that is 1.25 miles and an outside path that is 2.5 miles.  We took the rat dogs with us and decided to trade off running and walking them.  I started walking the dogs on the 1.25 mile path. 

I don’t know if strange things gravitate to me, or if I just notice things, but all sorts of weird stuff went down in those 1.25 miles.

1) As Jeff ran by on the outer loop, he waved at me.  In between us were 2 pre-teen boys.  One of the boys waved back at Jeff (he didn’t see me) and then turns to his friend and says:

“That’s my cousin.  He’s a runner.” But he said it like he was bragging and in a really creepy tone.  And not only that, the boy was Hispanic (Jeff is a red head). 

So weird on several levels.  First of all, why would he claim Jeff was his cousin and why would he brag about it?  Secondly, are runners so cool that when you see us you want to claim we are related??

2) Two half-drunk men were fishing and drinking a 30-pack of Natty Light.  One of them men kept thinking he had a fish on his line.  He would dramatically reel in the line like he was fighting a 30-pound bass, but each time would come up empty and act SOOOO disappointed and shocked that this monster fish wasn’t on the hook (it kept getting stuck on the bottom of the lake).  This happened several times in a row.  Did he really think they were catching things?  Or was he that drunk?   

3) A large man is slogging along and right as he gets to me, he stops, lifts the sunglasses off his eyes and with an appalled and disgusted expression says:

“What ARE they?” and points dramatically at Jay and Elle like they were some sort of alien that should be quarantined.  I get that question a lot, but most people are not that weird about it.  I understand that my dogs are really bizarre looking and most people stop and ask me what they are, but really, is it necessary to point and mock my poor dogs’ appearance?   

I awkwardly smiled and gave a fake laugh and said “Italian Greyhounds. Yeah they are different.”

What I really wanted to say was, “I’m a geneticist and one night got a little drunk and decided to cross a kangaroo and a deer.  This is what I got.  Messed up, riiighhht?” 

Next time someone is rude like that, I’m saying that to really confuse them and make them feel stupid.   

This Week is starting out GREAT!

Typically Mondays suck, because they are Mondays.  But yesterday ended up being a pretty great Monday!

First of all, I am still in the field for work which is always a good thing.  I didn’t even mind that it was in the upper 80s because it just helps me get used to heat.  Seriously, the longer that I spend time all day in the heat, the easier it is to run in the heat (in my opinion, this is not verified).  I consider these long work days outside included in my training, heat training.
This is what groundwater sampling looks like.  So exciting, right?  They won’t let me bail the wells anymore because I dropped the bailer down the deepest well.  But the guy in the picture took the fall for me and said he dropped the bailer, how nice is that?!? I fail at wells and am being sent back to the office to do more technical writing. 

I received my GU package in the mail over the weekend, WOOOO HOOOOO!  Opening that box of GU goodness was better than Christmas!  I then spent half a day organizing all my edible endurance products and Ooooohhhh and Ahhhhhh’d at all my delicious running treats (as you can see, orange is my favorite flavor). 
I recently discovered Honey Stinger Waffles and Chews.  Those things are absolutely deliciously amazing.  But I am finding that I have no self control around them and eat them like regular snacks.  I need to get a job with Honey Stinger so I can eat these amazing little waffle treats all day long.

I found out that I get to do the field work for a project I am working on located on Whidbey Island, Washington.  It just happens to be during August when the weather is the best in Washington, WOOO HOOOO!  ALSO, Hood to Coast falls on the weekend while I am in the Pacific NW so Whoops-A-Daisy I’ll be within driving/train distance of Portland to meet up with my Hood to Coast team (Rocky Mountain Hotties) for the race weekend.  So excited for Hood Coast even though I will be spending 4 days with complete strangers. 

FINALLY, I found out yesterday that my friend and I were selected as the RUNNER-UP to the Oiselle Totally Trials contest.  First loser is AWESOME because being first loser came with $300 worth of Oiselle running clothes.  THANK YOU OISELLE!  Oiselle must have seen how poorly dressed I am and felt compelled to throw some presentable clothes my way.  Or maybe Oiselle was impressed that I am an appendicitis survivor?  Here is what got us our first loser prize:

I am like a basic PowerPoint wizardess and can PowerPoint the hell out words floating in and out of a presentation set to music.  Call me if you want me to make you one, I know you are super impressed with these basic skills. 

My friend acted as my social filter and wouldn’t let me put anything too awkward, weird, or offensive.  I still snuck a few things by her :) 

Thanks Oiselle for sitting through our application and for selecting us as a winner.  We will wear our Oiselle running clothes with pride and hopefully they will also make us run faster.

Also, ONLY A FEW MORE DAYS TIL THE UTAH VALLEY MARATHON……AHHHHHH! EXCITED!!!

Countdown to the Marathon…. 1 Week!

In exactly 1 week, or 7 days if that is how you like to think about it, I will be over halfway done with the Utah Valley Marathon, my 9th marathon. I am SO excited!  I don’t think I have ever been this excited to torture my body for 26.2 miles?!?

I am the most prepared for this marathon than I have ever been before.  And I TRUST my training over the past several months.  Pending any crazy weather (which it could be HOT), I should be able to beat my previous PR. 

I don’t want to be overconfident, but I also want to go in to the race next week knowing that I CAN DO THIS!  (And all of this goes for Jeff too, as he has been with me every mile… he is going to SMASH his previous PR!)

1) I have consistently ran 40 mile weeks for the past 5 weeks.  This is the most mileage I have ever accomplished.  Prior to the other 8 marathons, the most I had ran was 37 miles in a week and all other weeks were in the 20-30 range.

2) My average pace over those 40 mile weeks is consistently faster than before the other marathons.

3) I have had absolutely NO PAIN or any nagging injuries.  Before the last few races (when I was playing soccer 2-3 times a week) I had knee pain, muscle strains, muscles soreness, and was just plain tired all the time.

4) I actually got in all my long runs and I felt good in all of them.  It seemed in the past I would struggle to get in the long runs and could never quite get in the miles that I set out to do. 

5) I PR’d in a half marathon that I did not set out to PR in, and felt comfortable at a 7:00 pace per mile. 

6) I have consistently been doing core work and lifting 2-3 times a week.  I definitely notice my arms and core have muscles and I FEEL STRONGER!

This past week I was on my feet a lot for work and to work an expo, so I backed off the mileage and took 2 days off from running.  But it worked out because it was taper time anyway!  I want to get in one last tempo run today and then a 10-12 mile easy trail run tomorrow and then easy miles all next week.  I am PUMPED!!!

(By the way, I really love jump photos and feel they capture my enthusiasm of this post and for next week’s marathon.  Yes, very nerdy and sort of strange…. but I am a strange nerd so it works out.  In fact, I want to go jump around outside and make Jeff take more jump photos of me.  Weird.)