Provo River 1/2 Marathon-August 8th

Yesterday I ran the Provo River 1/2 Marathon with Emily Fuller and Keri Smith. Wow! It was one tough run. The 1/2 Marathon is 13.1 miles long. It started at 7am so we left our home at about 4am. It was freezing in the morning but we had the perfect weather. We also finished together. It was awesome! I can officially say that I ran a 1/2 Marathon and I'm alive to tell the story. I had a side stitch for about 8 miles and finally got rid of it and felt great. I was a little behind Emily and Keri but could still see them about 100 yards away. There was a part of the race that we had to backtrack so it was a little discouraging to see other runners on the opposite side running back. I thought to myself a lot, "When am I going to turn around?" Finally I caught up to Emily and Keri at one of the water spots. Running with water is quite awkward so you have to walk, drink, throw the cup and continue on your way. I can say that I ran the whole thing besides the water spots and about 10 seconds towards the end. The last couple of miles were a killer. I would have rather had the stitch than feel the aches and pains in my feet and calves. Ouch! Emily and Keri were nice enough to hook my arms with theirs to get me to continue. Soon a guy yelled, "Only about 200 yards left." I was determined to finish strong. I saw the end at last and we all sprinted to the finish. It was such a great feeling to finally be done with the race.

My sister n' law Emily Roberts also ran the 1/2 Marathon. She ended up finishing in First place. She was the first girl to cross the finish line in about 1.24 hours. She is amazing! I finished in about 2.23 hours (an hour later than Emily-ha) which was about seven minutes faster than our projected time. My favorite part was the yummy watermelon and cantaloupe at the end. Pancakes are NOT good after a long run. They were disgusting. I couldn't even swallow a whole pancake without gagging.

Well, it was quite the goal to finish a 1/2 Marathon and I'm so glad I did it. I'm not sure if I'll do it again or not but we shall see. There are always surprises up my sleeves. Thanks to all those who came out and supported us especially my mom and hubby, Adrian. Thank you so much! I love you.