Ran 13!

Today I woke up at 5:00 AM, with a sick stomach and a racing mind. Not surprising, since I've done that for the past 3 days. In 3 hours, the gun would go off and I'd be off to the races (13.14 miles worth) around the Provo area. Temperature, around 38, I think. Snow. Wind. Probably not the best conditions for my first ever half marathon. I preempted the possibility of pain with 3 ibuprofen, gambled on taking a tiny swig of water, loaded up the girls and Erik, and headed in to Provo at 7:15.

True to form, as my Grandma Tronson always said, I was "the best dressed" runner on the road, according to Erik and his parents. I say it was money well-spent. There's nothing worse than freezing your butt off for 13 grueling miles. I had and UnderArmour shirt, Castelli soft shell cycling jacket, CW-X running tights, Pearl Izumi cycling gloves, and my trusty Nike baseball cap, which I wore for my debut run in the Ragnar WasatchBack race last June. Doesn't seem like a lot for the weather, but it was just right. As you might have noticed, I've become a bit obsessed with pricy brand-name exercise paraphernalia lately, thanks to backcountry.com and all their affiliates: steepandcheap, bonktown, chainlove, etc.

The most concerning part, besides the weather and being physically able to complete 13 miles in a row (I've never actually run this far in one shot in my life), was the possibility of .... ummm.... shall we say, any digestive tract type of "inconveniences."

Let me familiarise youwith all the possibilities. First, there's the F.E. (fecal emergency), the F.U. (fecal urgency--fecal emergency's more urgent cousin). Then there are all sorts of other categories... the G.L. (gas leak--can get a bit explosive at times), the U.E. (urinary emergency), the U.I. (urinary incontinence), the F.E. (fecal incontinence), and finally, the B.C. (blow chunks-itis). Maybe it would be simpler if I made a table to report the occurrances and at which mile the affliction occured, but I'll just summarize....

Here goes.... Ha! Actually, none of the above occurred. Except for a few hours after the race, but I can't necessarily blame that on the race, so I'll leave out the details. :)

The race was really quite good. I felt great pretty much all the way through. The wind out by the lake in some places was really brutal, but I wore sunglasses (oh, forgot to report those above--polarized Arnette's) to protect my eyes from the snow and wind. The miles went by a lot faster than I thought they would.

Except for the military guy I conversed with for the first mile or so (and then passed him and never saw him again), I ran by myself, watching several familiar behinds who I pretty much stuck with the whole way. There was Pearl Izumi man, cute-butt guy, anorexic girl, and the tie dye twins, to name a few. Oh, and how can I forget the dude in lime green short-shorts, pink fluffy mittens, and a 70's fro?

Erik and the girls cheered me on out by the lake--around mile 8 or so--and Erik's parents showed up as well to watch both Justin and I come through the finish line. Justin beat me by a ways. I'm too embarrassed to confess by how much. Come on, he's younger, thinner, and well, is MALE, which always seems to provide a distinct advantage for some odd reason.

I'm feeling a little bit sore, but nothing that won't be wiped out by the half hour bubble bath I took to warm up when I got home (I even used the jets!), a good movie, and a good night's sleep. Thanks to everyone for their support. I can now officially call myself a half marathon runner!!! What is next??