This Last weekend Ben and I ran the Provo Halloween Half Marathon. This race started up at Aspen Grove and ended at the Riverwoods Mall. Neither Ben or I had been running very much this month, I had been recovering from St. George & had been cross training throughout the month. Ben hurt his knee at the start of the month, and so had taken some time off as well. We were in good shape to run 13.1 miles. HA!
We stayed at my parents so they could watch the kids, I put together a little costume for myself, a tutu & wings, and at 6:30 am we were on the bus to the race. Only our bus missed the turnoff to the canyon. He decided to go up and over the American fork side of the Alpine Loop, and tried dropping us off at the Timpanooke Campground, then admitted he had no idea where we were going. We got him in the right direction, and some of those tight turns were a little interesting in a huge yellow bus. We made it though, had time to see people's costumes and hang out. It was a lot of fun to see everyone so excited to run a race. It was so different from any Half Marathon I have ever done. It didn't seem one bit competitive, just like a fun run.
The course was extremely downhill and I thought I could easily PR on this one. I really wanted a time in the 1:30's. So I got in line with the 1:35 pacer and just decided to stay with him as long as I could. Ben however, got in line with the 2:15 pacer. Part of me really wanted to just run with him, there was this serious internal struggle of getting a PR, or having fun & running with Ben. I decided to PR. Race started, and we took off. Seriously. THe first 5.5 miles drop drop drop in elevation. It seems we lost about 1500 ft in those first miles, and I was flying. 6:50 min miles the whole way down, I knew it was too fast but I could stop my legs from just carrying my down that mountain faster than I wanted to go. I kept looking at my watch and being shocked that I was running so stinkin fast! I would for sure PR in the race, but..... I was alone. And I wasn't having fun at all. My legs were hurting, of course, my lungs were started to burn just a bit, there was no one to chat with, to race with, to enjoy the course with. I was bored. really really bored.
I knew I could push myself for another 5 miles and get the time I wanted, or pretty close to it anyway, but I didn't care. The only thing I could think about was Ben. And that for once we were both running the same race, and weren't running together. So just before mile 8, I turned around and started running back up the trail. Can you imagine the looks I was getting? Oh yeah. I didn't care though. I turned off my watch and went to find Ben. When I saw that tall handsome husband of mine I couldn't help but smile to see him, he smiled back. He was happy I had come to find him.
He was in great condition and really wanted to get a time under 2 hrs. He had done a half marathon the month before and had gotten a time of 2 hrs 3 min. So he really wanted to break the 2 hr time. He was holding a great pace, even 9 min miles and we had so much fun talking and enjoying the race together. Those last 5 miles flew past me. I didn't even feel like I was running, just enjoying time with my sweetheart. We weren't sure what our time was, I had turned off my watch and wasn't sure how off it was from the clock time. So I really tried to pace him well and hold just under a 9 min mile. The last mile we picked it up and really picked it up when we saw the finish. It was a race to the end and I just prayed that the clock would say something under 2 hours. We rounded the corner and I saw the clock just as we crossed the finish.
1:53:25
We did it!!!
I was so excited when I saw that clock. I hugged Ben as hard as I could and just about started crying I was bursting with Joy for him. I have never been so happy about a time in all my life. Seriously, I was just bursting with pride and bragged to everyone about it. We had so much fun as we hung out at the finish eating about 1000 orange slices, drinking water bottle after water bottle and just being happy to have run a great race, together.
My mom took these pics in her basement real quick before we showered and changed. Don't you love our medals? It's the best one I have gotten so far.
It was then that I realized that I had been missing something all summer long. That for the first time all year, I had run a race, and 100% enjoyed it. I hadn't cared one bit about my time, but I had had fun! And I enjoyed just running, because I love running. I love running with people. And it doesn't matter how fast I run those miles, if you push your body to its max at every race, trust me, you get burned out really fast. Every run I did this summer I pushed myself as hard as I could. Yeah I got faster, but how much fun did I have? The funnest runs I did were not my fastest ones. They were the ones that I ran with friends and family.
At the start of the season I ran a half marathon and got a PR time of 1:42, this one was 11 min slower. I never look back at that first one with fond memories. It was miserable. and I had zero fun, and I wasn't even proud of the time because it wasn't exactly the time I wanted. Sheesh. However, this last race, was by far the funnest race I have ever run. If all races were like that, I would run one every stinkin weekend. So from now on, I don't care what my time is. I don't. I am just running for fun these days. I'll run with a friend and just have a good time.
I knew I loved running, and this race just reminded me of why I love it so much. It is not the time I get anymore, but it's the people I run with, and the race itself. It's seeing the sea of people ahead of me, filling the road and moving forward. It's the joy of seeing so many other people enjoying the sport I love so much. It's enjoying the country and areas I am running through. It's cheering others on, and helping them to finish the race. It's feeling my feet land on the pavement and carrying me forward. It's knowing that my body is strong and can run for miles on end. I am once again excited about all the races planned for next year, but for completely different reasons. Instead of planned finish times, I am planning on what friends to help train and and run the races with. The greatest joy I have felt in all my running to my great surprise, was not my PR, but seeing Ben get his PR time of 1:53. Great Job Ben. So so proud of you and can't wait to run race after race with you.
Oh, we got some pictures from the photographers that were there. If you would like to see them they are posted HERE Just type in Morrise and you will get Ben's and my pictures. It is fun to see us running together.
