Race Report: Spanish Fork Half Marathon

The timer will go off in five minutes for the zucchini bread baking in the oven. So why not blog for five minutes?

Plus, I need to do a quick race report, even if it's mostly for myself. Saturday I ran the Spanish Fork Half Marathon, a smaller race about 30 minutes from my house. I signed up for it to get my fourth of four races I needed to complete Run the Slam. Here is my race report in the form of some random thoughts:

(Why can't I look normal even when I stop running??)

• The race was an out-and-back, my first out-and-back half marathon. It was actually an out and back, turn, out and back again, turn, back to the start. The first part was on country roads along a river and the second part was along a paved trail. It was a pretty run with a few walkers and bikers along the way.


• It was pretty flat. The flattest half I have run.


• The flatness made me wonder how I would do since it was a new thing for me. My PR (1:52:39) was set on a very downhill course. I finished this race in 1:53:15.


• I came in fourth in my age group. I came in less than a minute under the third place runner. I know I could have pushed myself a little more and finished third AND beat my PR.


• This knowledge (and regret) will be useful in St. George when I am doubting myself. "No Regrets" became a new mantra for me after this race.


• My stomach started acting up the last few miles. The first thing I did when I finished was head to the bathroom. I am just grateful it was after I finished. This experience reminded me how important it is to be careful what I eat the days before I race, especially since my stomach hasn't bothered me as much in the past few months. I can now really tell it is because of my pre-race eating habits.


• I thought it was great that it was chip timed even thought it was such a small race. The volunteers were great. And the temperature was perfect for a fall race.


• In all honesty, I will probably not run this race again. And not just because I didn't get a medal. Although I think it would be better to spend a little money on medals and less money on the raffle prizes. Another complaint is that the shirts were supposed to be Brooks tech shirts. They were tech but not Brooks. And it is kind of ugly. I also didn't love that they ran out of cups and Gatorade at the finish. I was really thirsty!


• My cousin (in-law) Erik ran this race too. I didn't know he was running until he surprised me just before the race. He came in fifth overall and first in his age group.


• My awesome support group/race crew/family came to see my finish. LOVE seeing them at the end of a race, even if The Princess thinks I should run faster so I can get an award like Erik.


• I am still shocked the hours and days after my races that my legs are so conditioned to do this running thing and are hardly sore at all anymore. Love it!

I can't remember if I blogged about it or just mentioned it on DailyMile last week, but the front of my hip has been bothering me lately. It doesn't hurt when I am not moving my leg, but is quite painful sometimes if I have been sitting or standing still for a while. I am leaning toward a nerve issue because of where it is, how it feels (hot, tingly, and sometimes shooting into different parts of my quad) and how it comes and goes. I tried several different anti-inflammatories that did NOTHING to help. But my Celebrex has been a life-saver.

My hip didn't hurt much the day before the race, but it was pretty sore for the first three miles of the race and then it either stopped hurting or went numb. Either way, I was glad it was gone. It hurt a little after the race, and then I had the hubs pull me up from sitting on the floor later that day and took a huge step that made it hurt A LOT. Since then, it has been pretty sore. I'm giving it a few days off from running before I give in and go to the doctor. Fingers crossed it subsides with a little TLC and a lot of icing.

By the way, have you entered my giveaway yet? It ends tomorrow. For an extra entry, follow Gone for a Run on Twitter. Leave a comment on my giveaway post letting me know!