Salt Lake Half Marathon

Pictures to follow - stay tuned!

It was so nice & warm this morning. I was actually worried it would be too hot, but it could not have been more perfect. It was windy, but for the most part that didn't hurt much. There was a strong headwind for miles 1-3.5, but fortunately, most of that was downhill, so it evened out in terms of effort. Then we had a lot of tailwind with only a few more headwinds for the rest of the race. The tailwind was nice and cooling, as I did get a bit warm (but it was fine). The only really bad spot wind-wise was at mile 12.5ish, when I was about to turn north on Rio Grande to finish the race. The headwind was SO gusty and strong I could barely WALK, let alone racewalk. It was pretty amazing, but mercifully brief (20-30 sec?).

I got off to a great start, doing the first downhill mile in 9:30 or so. A bit fast, but I wanted to take advantage of the downhill. It was pretty crowded, but it didn't slow me down too much. The 2nd mile was mostly downhill but had some uphills, and I completed it in about 10:00. The 3rd mile was also mixed, and my watch said 30:11 total when I completed it. I was feeling really good, so I decided not to slow down, even though I was ahead of pace. The 4th mile was downhill to SugarHouse Park, and it was fast - I did another 9:30 for a total of 39:41. I was getting a little tired but breathing well at mile 5 in 50:05. I was quite pleased with my time at this point, though a little worried I would run out of gas since I'd gone out so fast. Miles 6-8 were a little tougher, as I did start to feel the distance, but I kept up the pace pretty well and hit mile 8 about 1:21ish (not sure how far). I took a bunch of water at mile 6 and a GU about mile 7, because I felt I needed a little nutrition. I saw Loren and the kids just before mile 8, as they had walked a couple blocks from our house to come out and see me :)! Going on, I passed some walker friends at the TNT cheer/aid station at mile 8, but they didn't see me even though I slowed quite a bit to take some water. I was feeling better now (the GU and water kicked in I guess) and got to mile 10 by 1:42:00 even! Awesome! Since my goal was 2:14:16, I had 32 min to do the last 5K. I knew I could do it, even though I was tired. I pulled a really fast mile out of my hat from 10-11, getting to mile 11 in 1:52:05. That might have been a bit fast, because mile 11-12 was very painful (had some intestinal cramps, too, which always happens to me in long races; the adrenaline/blood flow diverted to muscles does not agree well with my gut). I got to mile 12 about 2:02:30ish? (not sure) and the last 2 miles were a slight uphill... ouch. Still, I knew I could do the last 1.1 in 11ish minutes, so I poured it on, and the crowd was SO fantastic at the finish. I actually finished a few minutes ahead of the first male marathoner, and so the crowd was really big, because they were anticipating the marathon winner. I could hardly believe it when I clicked my stopwatch at the finish and it read 2:14:14!!! TWO seconds under my goal of 2:14:16! There were a LOT of runners finishing around the time I did, so the announcer was not able to read everyone's name, but even though I registered as a runner (there was no walking division), when I crossed the finish he said "and here's a racewalker, Tammy Stevenson"! I was so excited that he knew I was racewalking, and was elated with my time.

I made my way through the food line, got some food for Loren & the kids (I can never eat much immediately after a race) and saved a few items for myself for later. Called Loren, found out where he was, and had a sweet reunion with my family. They were so glad to hear of my fast race and new PR!

I'm pretty tired now, but feel good. I think my calves may be a little sore tomorrow - I was really working on my toe-off, and I feel it.

Oh, when I got home, there was an e-mail from an older gentleman who found my e-mail from the Wasatch Walkers website. We have been e-mailing all week since he's been rw'ing for about 25 years and used to have a club called the Wasatch Walkers! He came across our website and wanted to join, possibly. Anyway, I told him my race plans and he was there in Liberty Park (about mile 9.5) and said I looked perfectly legal with good form! This made my day even better.

Now I'm going to take a brief nap before teaching a piano student and going to the symphony tonight (and this after going to a 2-year-old's birthday party w/my kids! Busy day!).