Sarah and Jessica invited me along for their first half marathon! I felt privileged! Sarah wanted a destination event close to home that was a bit out of the ordinary. I suggested the Little Grand Canyon 1/2 Marathon, because some friends of mine did it and loved it. It's in the San Rafael Swell in rural Utah, near Huntington. Very remote, and the race is limited to 400 people. Awesome! The scenery is incredible, and there are even Native American pictographs right on the race route.
Here are all the race photos - do check them out, because you won't want to miss the videos and the scenic shots.
It was only about 36 degrees this morning at the start, but it was supposed to be 81 for a high, so I wore shorts, a T-shirt, and a long-sleeved shirt on top. I figured that way I could take off the long-sleeve and tie it around my waist when I warmed up. I also wore gloves, which I could tuck in my waistband when no longer needed. That turned out to be a perfect choice. The first 10 minutes were a little chilly, but after that I was fine, and by mile 5 I had tied my long-sleeved shirt around my waist. The sun warmed us quickly once it was up!
This was quite an interesting workout/race for me. Sarah and Jessica do Galloway's run:walk intervals at 4:1. Their running speed is about 6-6:15/km, which is speedier than my usual long effort (though not speedier than race pace, depending on the distance). But then they walk for a minute after 4 minutes of running, so it was kind of like a very long interval workout. For me, that was more tiring than racing continuously at the same speed, but I was more than willing to do it to hang out with them and enjoy the conversation and their first half marathon. I really did feel pretty good until about mile 9 or 10, when I started to have some intestinal cramps. At first they were mild, but then they progressed and miles 11-13 were quite painful at times. In addition, Jessica and Sarah decided to run the last mile w/o walk breaks, and they ran it slightly faster than the rest (they did have good negative splits!). Jessica was gung-ho to finish strong and she led the way, pacing us for a 9:38 last mile (5:55/km, and about my 10K pace!). It was tough to do 10K pace for the last mile of a 1/2 marathon, but I am proud to say that I hung in there for the strong finish, and it was a great workout at the very least. We crossed the finish in 2:23:12 according to my Garmin, though that may be a bit faster than our gun time. My Garmin connect data is here.
I'm so proud of Sarah and Jessica - they looked so strong, and never faltered. They were well-trained and didn't seem to be hurting at all. I admit that I did whine a little at the end when my lower abdomen felt like it was tied in knots and I was going at 10K pace...but they were fine and didn't complain at all! They did a great job and had a speedy time for their first 1/2 marathon. Sarah is already talking about doing the Ogden 1/2 with me next May and wants to train for the Top of Utah marathon in the fall next year! I will do it with her, most likely :).
My coach is happy that I have a good base now, if nothing else. He's writing my new training program right now, and I'll have 2 long ones each week, he says. Should be interesting to train for a 50K.
There is so much more about this race that I could say - the other runners were great fun, the uncrowded course, the snow cones at the finish and the amazing tasting watermelon, for starters. But I need some SLEEP now, so will have to stop here.
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