SLC Half Marathon Race Recap.....

I woke up at 4:30AM on race day. After showering and getting ready, the best friend showed up for breakfast. We had oatmeal with banana, protein powder, and vanilla soy milk. Then, Love(he is a trooper!), BestBud and I headed to the trax(which is like the San Fran trolley) station. After boarding, I ran into my brother's ex girlfriend whom I love. She has always been an inspiration to me. We hugged, talked for a few and rode trax to the starting line. Well, we decided that a pre race potty brake was needed(TMI: I took epsom salt 2 days prior to clean me out and it was still pretty active). We waited in the porta potty line until about 20 minutes after the race had started. My official start time was 22m10s after the gun went off.

Mile 1: I felt like Best Bud and I were starting out too fast(9m26s mile pace), but the adrenaline was really apparent. I felt amazing, so happy, proud, and better than I ever have in my life.

Mile 2: This was a touch slower at about 10m13s. I was feeling great though. Everytime I felt blah, the supporters would be right around the corner cheering you on! It rocked my nation!

Mile 3-5: Not much to say about these miles. We kept our pace in the 9m and low 10m mile paces. I took a gu at about mile 4.5. They were out of cups at the second water station and that blew.  Best Bud was still by my side. We were flashing the I love you signs, high fiving, BSing and RUNNING!

Mile 6-7: I don't think I stopped smiling. We hit the half way point and I was feeling great. I felt like I could keep going strong and pushing hard. At mile 7, I was so flipping hot. I took off the race technical tee and shoved it down the back of my pants. My shirt underneath was soaked with sweat. It was awesome!

Mile 8-10: Nothing to write home about. Slowed down a little, but then picked it up again at Mile 9. Lost BestBud at this point. She was kicking ass though for practically no training. I also took a Gu at mile 10.5.

Mile 11 & 12: These were my toughest miles. Mentally, my mind was screaming you are going to do this, you rock! My knees were calling me a B*TCH pretty hard core, but I kept trucking. Mile 11 was all uphill. This was my slowest mile at 11m35s. I had to stop and walk for 2 minutes. Mile 12 was pretty flat and started going downhill for a bit.

Mile 13-13.1: I was on top of the world. I was about to finish my first half marathon and I could not believe the euphoric, amazing feeling that swarmed my body and mind.

I crossed the finish line at 2h16m18s Garmin time. Official time was 2h16m on the nose.

I did it. I had just ran a half marathon. Did I cry? For a second, when I saw BestBud. I saw Brother's Ex, and hugged the crap out of her. Then, I found the love of my life and he gave me the best hug in the world. He is so proud of me for doing this and it means the world to me, because I have NEVER been so proud of MYSELF as I was the day I completed My First Half Marathon!!

 I totally hammed it up for every photog I saw!!

Post Race: My knees were kicking my trash. I took a hot bath and rubbed some icy hot on them. The next day they felt amazing. However, 1 week later and the bottom outside of my left foot is still hard to walk on. I get shooting pains every time I step on it. So, I have rested all week.