I ran the Provo River Half Marathon this morning. My coworker, Gina, talked me into signing up for it earlier this summer. It's the same race I did 2 years ago. Training for a race while being a mom and working full time is a hit-and-miss affair. I didn't feel nearly as well prepared for this one as I did the last one. My 10 mile run a couple of weeks ago didn't go well at all. For me, walking at all means it didn't go well and I had to walk a mile or so. I didn't get any runs in this week either which made me slightly nervous.
The race began at 7 am, though the website and emails said 6:30. I got up at 3:45am, picked up my friend Mindy, and drove down to Provo. We got there around 5am and got our numbers and chips. FYI, each runner is given a chip they put on their shoe. The start and finish have pads that record your exact time by the chip on your shoe when you cross it. Love technology! I think there were around 2000+ runners.
We found Gina and got on the school buses that took us up the mountain to the start of the race. Our poor driver didn't exactly know where he was supposed to go and we had a bit more of a scenic ride than expected. Fortunately, we were so early, it didn't really matter too much. It was a little after 6 when we got up there. We got off the buses to a summery 45 degrees. It was so stinking cold for August! It was not that cold 2 years ago. I think I heard on the radio that it was new record low for here. That global warming is working out great, isn't it?
I digress! We immediately got in the very long line for the porta-potties as we'd been guzzling water prior to the run. We then waited for the start with goosebumps and shivers. About a quarter to, the truck came through for our drop bags. This is a trash bag with your race number and name that you put anything that you don't want to run with but wanted to have before the race, such as jackets. So the 3 of us were really cold and really ready to start running.
The gun finally went off and we waited for the crowd to move. Hence the use of chips, it can take a few minutes to actually make it the start with such large crowd. We got moving and I went off on my own. Once I started running, I realized my hands were numb from the cold. They regained feeling after a couple of miles. The first 3 miles felt like nothing. It was fairly steep descent and I think the numbness helped.
As the road leveled into a more gradual grade, my knees, especially the left one, began hurting insistently and intensely. My right knee bothered me some when I first started running this summer and it gave me problems 2 years ago, but never the left. It reminded me of the original version of The Little Mermaid. In the story, The Little Mermaid is given legs, but is told that every step will feel as if she is stepping on knives (or maybe glass). She was willing to endure the pain for a chance at true love. So each step felt like there was someone was stabbing at my outer knee with a screwdriver causing pain to shoot up to my hips. The pain would increase anytime the grade changed, especially to uphill.
Though true love wasn't on the line, my personal competitiveness and drive was. I knew if I stopped at all, I wouldn't be able to start again. So I kept going, hoping the pain would dull or go away. Mile 4-6, I was having doubts if I would even finish, the pain even brought tears to my eyes. I thought about giving birth and I made it through that and that pain was far worse and that lasted way longer so I persevered. Besides the stabbing pain in my knees, I actually felt really good. I managed to enjoy some of the gorgeous scenery of the river and mountains and tried to forget about any discomfort. I was surprised how quickly the time was passing and that I was maintaining a good pace.
By mile 8, I knew I would be finishing the race. I was accustomed the shooting pain in my knees and it thankfully wasn't getting any worse. I'd glance at my watch and tell myself that I had far longer to go than I really did. For some reason, that helps me when I'm running. More people were passing me than I was passing, but I just kept plugging along.
We came out of the mountain trail and I knew we were close to the finish, but I had no gage for how close. The course wound all over the place at the end 2 years ago so I actually thought it was further than it really was. I picked up my pace as much as I could. Before I knew it, I turned a corner and there was the finish line 20 yards away, I saw the finish line and managed to have a final sprint to the end.
It was pure agony to stop as I knew it would be. My legs were jelly and shaking while the chip was clipped off my shoe. I finished the race in 1:56:55. My goal was to finish in under 2 hours. That's about 8:55 mile pace. I finished 653 overall. I think there were 2000 or so runners.
Even with the pain, it was exhilerating to do the run and just finish it, no matter the time. I hobbled to the watermelon table reveling in my accomplishment. I love the power of the mind over the body. I think that's my favorite thing about running. Your body is screaming and pleading to stop or slow down, no more, and through simple will and determination, you make it keep going. I love how we can train our bodies to do something that seemed so unlikely in such a short space of time, too. Theres's just something about being a part of a race that can't be had in any runs on your own.
My knees are still killing me. I try to walk with bending my knees as little as possbile so I've got a cool Frankenstein gait going on right now. I'm really wishing that I didn't have stairs at my house. I feel great when I'm not moving...I'm hoping that a good night's sleep will take care of most of it. I'm already looking for the next race to run and seeing about improving my time. Let me know if any of y'all want to sign up with me!
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