Donna Hawkins- June- Run a half marathon

This goal is an interesting one because with all the running I've done in my life, I've never done an official half marathon.  One time in college, my sister, Monica, and I were supposed to run a half marathon on a Saturday morning.  We hadn't preregistered, but planned on registering that morning.  Back then, races were less official, without all the fancy timing equipment, so registering day-of was no big deal.  Well... we slept in and didn't make it to the race.  Instead, we pulled out the map in the Logan phone book (before google earth) and planned out 13.1 miles and started running.  It was an out and back, but by the time we got all the way out, it started raining and raining and raining!  I remember being very wet and my shoes made that funny noise, but I also wasn't very thirsty, so there you go.  We made it.  My roommates thought I was crazy.  Fast forward 12 years and I'm finally running my first official half marathon!  The American Fork Canyon Half Marathon!

The timing was great.  I just weaned Dallin about a month earlier.  Running with a flat chest is so much easier, right?!  There's one thing it's good for!  It was early in the season, nice and cool in the morning, but the longest day of the year, so it's special.  I also felt good about the cause:  the fight against cancer!  They had so many sponsors for the race that every dime of the runner's fees went to cancer research in Utah County.  They raised $250G that day!  It made me feel good.  Unlike Ragnar, which is ridiculously expensive and isn't helping anybody.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Choosing this race was also a matter of convenience.  Bevan ran it twice and knew the course very well.  His parents live 2 blocks from the bus load/ finish line at American Fork High school.  We left the kids sleeping at 4am, and made it back by the time they were finishing breakfast.  Can't beat that!

Now comes the training.  I did none.  Too busy, sick kid, stressful work, too hot, blah blah blah.  Well, I did get out about once a week, twice when the race got closer.  Most of the time, I was pushing both kids, so that counts for something, right?  I even printed this fancy training calendar, but neither Bevan or I really followed it.  Bevan doesn't need to train, he's a natural athlete, so he decided to stick with me on race day.  I was happy about that!  I was a little nervous about my feet.  When "training", after about mile 5, they start going numb.  Huh, hopefully that doesn't happen.

Race day came!  We stayed up way too late the night before, but still managed to get up and catch a bus on time.  No more worries, right?  Half way up American Fork Canyon, our bus broke down.  We were sitting in the back listening to a "career" runner telling us about ALL his races (we all know one, right?) and we just sat there.  Bus after bus came back down, driving right past us.  Some would stop and talk to our driver.  How complicated could it be, right?
"Bus broke down"
"Should we use my bus?"
"Alright"
After 40 MINUTES our driver finally announces:
"We've decided that the best solution is to load you all on another bus"
You're kidding?!

We were all getting a little nervous.  The race planners account for stuff like this, but time was slipping away.  By the time we got to Tibble Fork Reservoir, we only had 10 minutes to get undressed and get to the start line.  I kinda felt bad for everyone else, they've all been shivering for the last hour!  It was COLD at the top of the canyon.  I felt a little lucky.

BANG!
Here we go!  Whenever I run downhill, I get cramps behind my rib cage, which means I need to breath harder.  It felt funny.  People thought I was huffing and puffing in the first mile.  They probably thought, "she'll never make it".  The cramps finally went away.  It was a beautiful race!  Narrow canyon, tree canopy, cool air, slight downhill, motivating signs every half mile, water, gatorade, raspberry power gel (nasty!), and my hubby by my side!  He really stayed with me!  I was secretly not expecting him to.  He's VERY competitive and doesn't like it when people pass him.  Well, he did, and we had a good time!  I felt alright... until mile 13.  Bevan told me to push it!  I started sprinting.  I felt like I was on the high school track team again.  What a mistake!  Totally NOT worth the extra 20 seconds it saved me.  When I crossed the finish line, I felt terrible.  Lesson learned!

I got a super-heavy finisher's medal, found a portapotty, ate some french toast, and felt a whole lot better!   Not a bad time either, 1:52!  I sure paid for it later!  I couldn't walk normal for about 3 days!  Especially down some stairs!  I've realized something... training isn't just for the race, it's for the recovery afterwards.  I also realized I need some PRETTY running shoes!  I have these old asics that used to be white, but are now gray.  Everybody at the starting line had neon blue, hot pink, vibrant purple, electric yellow, and so on!  Bight running shoes are the rage right now.  Maybe I would've trained more if I had pretty shoes.

I've realized one more thing... a half marathon is the LONGEST race I will ever do.  Period!  Bevan is itching to do another marathon, but I just reminded him about the arduous training schedule.  It takes a lot of time, time I don't have.  If I was still single with few responsibilities, sure I might poor the time into training for a marathon, but not now.  Also, I've visited the finish line of a marathon, and it was not pretty.  Bodies all around, vomit, tears, etc.  After finishing my race, I still felt alright, not on the verge of collapse.  I also don't think our bodies are meant to run that far anyway.  That's when injuries start happening.  If I want to become one of those crazy running grandmas, I need to take it easy!