Halloween Half Marathon 2011

Confession: I am a quitter.
Or at least I have been in my life. I've never stuck through with anything. If it got hard, or I realized I didn't like it, I didn't finish it. Plain and simple.
Somehow I got "talked" into running a half marathon. Actually, it started when I signed up to run in the Dirty Dash 10k, which just seemed like a whole bunch of fun, not a whole bunch of running. And that's exactly what it turned out to be. But when I said I was going to do the Dirty Dash, my cousin suggested I then run in the Vegas half Marathon with him in December. I said okay. I was looking for something new to get into, running could be it. When my friend Jen heard that I was thinking of the Vegas marathon, she told me I should do the Halloween half with her in October. Okay again. Mostly because we had to wear costumes and it sounded hilarious.
So I started to train. And I found that as I added a mile, or as I pushed for a faster time, my body adapted really well.
But then we went on the cruise in the middle of my training... and I never got my groove back.
So with a lack of finishing my training I knew I wasn't physically ready to run 13.1 miles. I was close, but not ready. My finish goal went from 2:30 to 2:45. I was going to do this.
So I got up at 4 a.m. and put on my pirate costume and met up with Jen and Kim in 36 degrees to wait for a bus to take us up Provo Canyon to the starting line.
I literally lost all feeling in my toes, and even by the time the race started I still had no feeling in them for the first few miles. But the view at the starting line was beautiful,
as was the view for the entire run. And I ran.
Until Mile 8 when we stopped and took a picture in front of Bridal Veil Falls. What? We're running a marathon? I guess we should keep going then.

And by mile 9 it hurt. My hips and calves just hurt with every push forward. But I thought of my kids, and how they had watched me train (in the beginning before the cruise messed it up ha). They had ridden their bikes with me on my runs, and asked me every time I came home from a run how far had I gone? How fast had I done it? And they started talking about joining the track team, just to be like Mom. So with every painful step, I thought of them, and I had so much to teach them right now. How NOT to quit. Even when it's hard. I knew they'd be at the finish line. And I was going to run across it.

And the circus was there for me. They were yelling, jumping, screaming, and I laughed. They joined me for the last few feet to the finish line. It was probably one of the most significant moments in my life. I didn't quit. My circus was there. I did it.

And I have the medal to prove it.

2:48 is realistic. I wasn't 3 hours, and if I do it again, I'm nailing 2:30, maybe less. Today is Halloween, and it's fitting that I'm walking like a Zombie from the soreness in my hips and calves. But I think about it, and it makes me proud of myself. I did it.

To the finish line

It seems I'm always behind on blogging... I still need to cover my sister Kimmy's wedding, being a leader at Girl's Camp, maybe I don't need to dedicate a whole post to it, but Brynn's ear drum burst (poor thing, it really hurts her :( ), our family trip to Raging Water's (which is now Seven Peaks Salt Lake but I don't really want to stop calling it Raging Water's) where I don't have any pictures (I know, what is wrong with me? What good is a waterproof camera if I don't use it?) but my dad, Brent, was an amazingly good sport. And I mean amazingly. And now our awesome 4th of July celebrations.
BUT these things will have to wait.
Right now I'm wanting to talk about something that is NOT near and dear to my heart. But I have such a strong urge to tackle it. I'm not a runner. I could be. On the few occasions where I've joined others on a run (and they have been very few) it hasn't been hard for me at all to slip into a runner's high. I could keep a steady pace forever if I wanted to. But getting me going on running... I just don't like it. Having said that, there are now two things that have landed on my bucket list and I feel I really want to do:
The Dirty Dash
Who wouldn't want to run in a 10K that starts out with this description:
"Have you ever said to yourself, “Marathons are too easy, and Triathlons are for sissies?”
We haven’t either…those races are really hard. Think about it…the first person to run a marathon actually died. HE DIED!...and he probably didn't even have fun along the way!
Well let us introduce you to the new race in town…THE DIRTY DASH. This race puts all other races to shame. The Dirty Dash is a mud run obstacle course where a military boot camp meets your inner five-year-old’s fantasy and subsequently converts boy to man and then…man to swine."

Once I posted on facebook (because it isn't official until the facebook world knows about it, right?) my cousin then introduced me to the idea of "the worlds largest night time running event", the Rock N' Roll Las Vegas half marathon.
I don't know what's wrong with my brain. Calling the dirty dash a 10K hardly counts. Seriously, it's just a giant obstacle course in the mud and I'm down with that! Plus, 10K is only 6(ish) miles. I can wrap my mind around that. And did I mention it's just a big obstacle course in the mud??? Yes! But for some reason, the thought of doing a half marathon suddenly intrigued me when placed before me.
I just listened to a motivational speaker (more of this coming up when I finally get around to blogging about Girl's Camp) about her experience in her first half marathon. It was gruelling to say the least. But her recap of the finish line... plus she got a medal.
I'm going to do it.
And thus I'm embarking on the start of my running career. Which, I might add, will also be the end of it. I just want to check it off my bucket list (and get my medal), I don't need to repeatedly torture myself with it.