Race #4 of the Season: Haunted Half (Emigration Canyon)

I signed up for this race solely for the medal.

Let's just get that out of the way now. While last year's Haunted 5K had the creepiest clown medal known to man, the two Haunted races this year (Emigration Canyon and Provo) had dragon medals ... and the best two were the Emigration half and the Provo 5K. So I maybe signed up like a week before Emigration for both races.

I had barely run since St. George, but the race was downhill and I figured I had enough residual fitness to be fine.

(... I clearly have a LOT of faith in myself ...)

B was out of town so I was rolling solo for this one. I woke up early, ate breakfast, packed my handheld with Skratch, and grabbed some maple candies before driving down to Sugar House where I had to catch a bus. I also took Dramamine ... which is having the (helpful?) side effect of canceling the need for (any, really) race morning poops.

Unlike St. George, it was quite chilly up at the start and stayed that way through most of the race - it was probably low-40s up at the start and windy and I don't know if it even hit 50 by the time I finished. Maybe low-50s at the finish. In other words ... perfect running weather for me, since we all know I run hot.

Waiting to start. That arch was FIGHTING the wind.

We started and I just ... ran. The first ... 9-10 miles were all downhill running down the canyon. I don't even think I walked for the first time until three miles in.

In the meantime, I was just clicking off sub-10 miles, but I didn't feel like I was pushing it that hard.

I forget whether I started at two or three miles in, but I did start the maple candies and then ate them every other mile (so if it was at three, on the odds, and if at two, on the evens) ... as well as a slug of Skratch every mile.

I did walk a tiny bit here and there, but for the most part, it was just steady running.

The problem with this is, of course, is I started wondering if I could hold it and PR.

Photo courtesy of Runtastic Haunted.

Photo courtesy Runtastic Haunted.

We exited out the canyon with ... I think four to go to the finish, with half of that on the 5K course - which, if you recall, I ran last year. And I knew that it was a lot more undulating than I had been running, with one horrible hill in the last mile.

Still, I decided to push it, to try, to see what I could do.

It hurt. A lot. I was doing my best to keep the walk breaks to an absolute minimum and to never extend them longer than the 20 breaths. Since I have become a giant Empyrean series nerd (... peep the shirt that a friend designed!), I channeled my inner Violet Sorrengail by telling myself to box the pain in my brain and ignore it.

Look at that delightful grimace. Photo courtesy Runtastic Haunted.

The question is ... was it enough?

Holy. Fuck.

Overall Stats:

Time: 2:09:51.65

27/64 division (F40-44)

234/534 gender

483/891 overall

That, my friends, is an eleven-year-old PR broken. Almost 11 years to the date, too. If you recall from that race, the Garmin had 2:09:44 for 13.11, but it measured long, so watch stats had like 2:12 for 13.3 miles or whatever. This one? 

This one's official. 

There has been a part of me that wondered if I'd ever go that fast again, whether I wanted to try. 

Turns out I just needed a downhill course and the perfect conditions. And a willingness to suffer (nice to know that still exists, too).

Race #3 of the Season: St. George Marathon

Back about a little over a year ago (two?), I finally seriously started considering running a standalone marathon.

I don't remember if it was due to all the fun tracking friends at Chicago and New York or what, but I decided to go for it. Partially because the thought did scare me, and it's been a long time since I signed up for the big scary goal, so to speak. We all know that I tried for Chicago and didn't get in, so I went with my backup plan, which was St. George.

Early training started out okay ... and then I got sick in early July and training was never the same. 

(Training hasn't been the same since 2021. I'm starting to wonder if it ever will be.)

If I had to guess, I got in maybe 6 or 7 double digit runs throughout the whole training cycle. The longest I got up to was 16 (17, maybe?). The only thing that would save my ass would be, once again, just knowing I can do hard shit - it just hurts a lot worse undertrained.

I booked our hotel in St. George starting Thursday since I thought the 5K B was running was Friday morning - it was Friday night. Oops. It did make things a lot less stressful on Friday, though, with the expo and everything.

As I said in my IG stories - we'll see if this is a true statement by Saturday afternoon.

After the expo, it was mainly resting and eating (... and pooping - nervous colon was acting on overdrive this day) until it was time for B to do his 5K ... which was going to be in the mid-90s, thanks to the temps being slightly unseasonably warmer.

Start line. I was on cheer duty and unfortunately only mostly got video.

We know B doesn't do well in heat, but he had some water with him and knew to take it easy. Wasn't his fastest 5K by any means and the heat did get to him a little, but he finished, so hooray for that.

Then, off to Denny's for some pre-race breakfast-for-dinner and some to go scrambled eggs so I could in theory have some food for my ass-early wakeup call.

Race Day

The alarm came nice and early. I got dressed and prepped my pack. I attempted to eat my reheated scrambled eggs, but maybe only got down a bite or two. I also took some dramamine for the bus ride ... just in case.

My bus time was 5:15 so we left the hotel around 4:55ish in order for B to drop me off. I got on the bus and went up to the chilly and windy start line, 26.2 miles away.

I stayed in my hoodie as long as I could - up until the 15 minute prior mark, when morning clothes had to be dropped off - with the space blanket they gave me wrapped around my knees. I mostly sat by myself, but eventually huddled around one of the campfires and briefly chatted with a few other runners. I dropped off my bag by 6:40 - keeping my space blanket - and decided to try a porta potty stop pre-race. I didn't have to go much, but I went some, and that made me feel better.

They had a small drone show to start which actually did the race countdown and at 7am, the gun went off. I crossed about 8 minutes later.

The first few miles clicked by pretty steadily. I kept to my practice strategy of water every half mile and a swig of Skratch at the mile markers/beeps. I started eating two miles in, with a maple candy, and at 3, a bite of pickle chicken ... rotating those two every mile. (I think it was two in.)

5K mark: 34:51

Sometime early on.

I was a little surprised at how well the early miles felt. It was a gradual downhill, any breeze was (mostly) behind us, it was cool but not cold, and I just steadily made my way down the course.

So steadily, B barely beat me to Veyo.

10K: 1:06:23

Veyo was about 7 miles in and I was able to get a nice high five from the hubs before I started the hellish climb out of town. That I've ridden before, but completely forgot about.

... those would be uphill runners. Photo courtesy B.

It's funny to say at mile 8/9, but the post-Veyo hill really was the beginning of the end for me. Up until this point, I had been walk/running, but definitely mostly running, and the lungs were doing fine and the HR definitely manageable. I still kept to my 20 breath walk breaks going up Veyo ... but if I were to do this again, I wouldn't. I would only run once my HR truly got back recovered again. I think everything got elevated and then it never really wanted to come down.

This hill is like a mile and a half and then the next ... four?ish miles are like straight rollers.

Half-Marathon: 2:31:33

You'd see the star balloons a decent way off, so it was nice to know you were coming on a mile marker. Also, I saw this and was happy to be halfway done but also a little like, still another fucking 13.1?

I think it was some point after this that we got the super fun 6% downhill grade - I am very grateful I'm a decent downhill runner as the gravity on any substantial hill meant I was running - walking was too awkward; the legs were just going to run instead. 

It was also starting to get quite warm at this point, though I was happy with the pace I was maintaining. I kept to the side of the road, running on the painted lines to keep my feet from overheating.

Speaking of my feet ... I was feeling like maybe I was developing some blisters on my bunions (spoiler: I did), but there's nothing to do but keep moving, so that's what I did.

I forget exactly what mile marker this was near - sometime between 17 and 18, I think? - but it was where the wheels really started falling off.

The race had a misting station at the crest of this little hill ... but it didn't really do much. I refilled my Skratch bottle sometime around mile 16 I think and added ice to it when I got that at 19 or 20. The ice bag I got went in my hat for a second, at the back of my neck, down my shorts ... before I put one cube under the hat, saved one for each hand, and put the rest in my bottle.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get ice again. I tried at 22 or 23ish, but the aid stations were out.

I saw B again at 24, I think, and I drank some of the icy cold water that he had. Around 24 was also where I lost my sub-12 pace, unfortunately, unable to keep running much more than a handful of feet before needing to walk, due to heat and feet.

I had the perfect amount of maple candies and pickle chicken, finishing up the last of each in their respective mile (24/25). I probably could have filled my pack a touch fuller in the morning, as I ran out of water at like mile 24.5, but I had enough Skratch to still get me through (and still a few ounces left at the finish).

It was hard, horrible, and brutal - but I did it. And I didn't need to stop for IcyHot (... never used it before; wasn't going to start then) or walk backwards down the hills, like I saw some people doing.

Overall Stats:

Time: 5:21:12

131/197 division (F40-44)

1171/1802 gender

3101/4600 overall

First official race at a distance means an automatic ringing of the PR bell!

Wee, medal. I think B's 5K medal is actually a touch bigger ...

Dead and DONE.

All in all, not too horribly terrible for being undertrained. Despite being labeled as a downhill course, St. George is deceptively hard and terrible ... which everyone I know who's done it previously decided to tell me in commiseration post-race. 

I feel extraordinarily lucky that I was able to manage stairs okay both up and down the day(s) after the race. I even did a stick/puck session in Vegas Sunday night with friends ... though I was a lot slower and the foot blisters were not my friends. The massage I got Monday was probably the worst thing for my recovery as I'm pretty sure the therapist bruised my damn spine as that hurt for like a week after. 

****

So now I've run a marathon ... I do believe that it did technically hurt worse than an Ironman, especially given the comparative effort/time. Running is very stupid ... but I'll still probably do another one eventually. In like another 10 years.

September Round Up

Take one good guess on how September went.

Swimming: 1950m (1.2 mi)
Cycling: 14.66 mi

Running: 36.77 mi

Lifting: four sessions (1:09)
Other: six sessions hockey (6:03), twelve walks (5:37)

I swam right before Brineman and then at Brineman. Same thing with the bike.

Running ... well, unsurprisingly, I barely ran when I was over in Europe. My last long run was a lot shorter than I'd hoped. 

And really, I need to lift more.

And I regret not getting out for any hiking and leaf peeping.

... as I've said for months (years?) now, I really need to figure out my shit ...

Race #2 of the Season: Brineman Sprint Triathlon

Because I liked doing Brineman last year, I decided to do it again ... even though, as we all know, my swimming and cycling has been abysmal this year.

Like, bad. 

In typical Utah fashion, I went back to the gym to swim ... only to be told the pool would be under construction for like two weeks (almost the entire lead up to the race). This happens every time I try to swim again after a layoff - dead serious. I actually went to my backup option this time, though, and got in a few times. I also dragged out the ol' tri bike and got back on it - that was less painful. And running ... well, I've been doing enough of that.

I also have like 17 years of experience doing endurance sports, so meh. Which is the worst attitude to have, I fully admit.

They did a packet pickup at the Nature Center near the house on Thursday night, so I chose to do my daily walk to that (nice little two miles round trip).

Friday morning, I rolled out of bed, brushed my teeth, threw on clothes, threw together my transition bag, and walked the half mile to transition to set up my spot.

Then a walk back home to eat breakfast, poop, and actually get dressed (and sunscreened and all that good stuff).

I forgot that there's a looooong wait in between the swim waves - there's about 90 minutes from the start of the half to the start of the sprint - so I just hung out while B went back home to make more coffee.

Perhaps not smart, I got into my wetsuit way early. And it was obvious I hadn't worn it in a year - it was TIGHT.

In chatting with someone before my start, apparently wetsuits do shrink if you don't wear them (it's not that we all gain weight), so next time I apparently need to get it wet and put it on to start getting it stretchy again like a week or so in advance. Still learning ...

A little after all the Olympic racers got in the water, I popped in for a tiny practice swim, just to see if I remember how to swim open water. Kinda - just have to get used to that first rush of COLD, as always.

The Swim: 

I feel like I got beat up a lot less than I did last year on the swim. I also felt like the first tiny bit went well ... and not so much afterward. Drank some lake water, the usual.

I felt like my sighting was terrible - even B commented on how terrible it was post-race - and it was obvious in how much extra my Garmin said I swam this year as opposed to last year: it's a 750m swim; Garmin had me doing 800something last year ... and over 1000something this year. Ooops.

Therefore, it's no surprise that my swim was like a good 5 minutes slower than last year.

(also huh, maybe not swimming actually matters ...)

Time: 22:55.3

T1:

Teeny tiny bit of Aquaphor on the back of the neck just in case I chafed (only felt like maybe? but better to be safe ...) and otherwise, in, out, faster than last year. Boo-yah.

Time: 1:58.33

The Bike:

... they really need to update the maps and distance of the bike course in their system, as it was the same course as last year (my usual ride out to the Antelope Island Causeway with a u-turn soon after the guard station) and NOT the weird winding neighborhood route.

I went back and forth with a few people, but mostly left them in my dust, which was nice.

How I managed to do better on the bike this year (by almost THREE MINUTES), I don't know. But I did.

Time: 33:00.65

T2:

Uneventful as per usual. Also chose not to BodyGlide feet (eh it's a sprint). Shaved off like a second from last year.

Time: 2:24.71

The Run:

So ... I was a little surprised on how well the run went, but TriUtah really needs to get their miles figured out. I hit mile 1 at 1.08, 2 at 2.08, 3 at 3.05 and the "3.2" mile course is really like 3.5. But thankfully I knew that going in this year UNLIKE LAST YEAR.

In looking back at last year's report, mile one was sub-11 - it was this year, too. Mile two was actually a lot slower, though, as I gave up and had a porta potty stop. But mile 3 went back sub-11 ... so without that porta potty stop, my run probably would have been significantly faster as opposed to like two seconds slower.

Dumb.

At like ... 1.25ish, maybe? Not looking terrible, tbh.

Looking a lot more terrible coming into the finish.

Time: 38:03.24

Overall Stats:
Time: 1:38:22.30

5/15 division (F40-44)

34/100 gender

113/237 overall

A bit worse than last year, and it's pretty much because of my terrible shit swim. But given how much I haven't swum over the past, well, two years, am I surprised? No. Am I still glad I can pull a sprint triathlon (essentially untrained) out of my ass? Yes. Very much so.

And I'll never not take a hilarious oversized brine shrimp medal.

August Round Up

Oh, it's pretty easy to guess how August went ...

Swimming: 1800m (1.12 mi)
Cycling: 26.65 mi
Running: 69.7 mi
Lifting: six sessions (1:40)
Other: five sessions hockey (7:01), eight walks (5:02)

Well, I got back in the pool and on the bike, so that's a plus? I have Brineman in two days and it's gonna be interesting, let's just say that.

Running picked up nicely, but it's still been a bit of a struggle. Life has continued to be a struggle, but I try. I try my best, even if it's not much most days.

Hockey has been regular, which is good. Lifting needs to get there again. And I've always got a walk to fall back on (when I'm not being eaten alive by mosquitos).

Not the worst month, but it could have (should have) been a lot fucking better ...

July Round Up

... I'm going to say it. July was shit.

Swimming: 0m (0 mi)
Cycling: 14.99 mi
Running: 24.17 mi
Lifting: four sessions (1:27)
Other: two sessions hockey (2:32), 16 walks (7:09)

When the most of what I did was walking? Yeeeeah.

I started off the month sick, and whatever I had essentially lingered for the first two weeks of July. I ran once and managed to play hockey in that period, but yeah. I don't enjoy hacking up a lung on the bench.

Everything else ... I just don't know. Life continues to be hard. I won't lie and say that I'm not a bit worried about marathon training, because I am. But I did finally manage to get in a good long run today, so I am hopefully working my way back on track there. And I did sign up for Brineman again, so the pool (and my bike) are in my future.

One step at a fucking time ...

June Round Up

Did I almost skip this? Yes. Is it also because I let my workout log get terribly behind due to life and a cold that knocked me out for two weeks? Also yes.

Survival is still clearly the name of the game.

Swimming: 1200m (.75 mi)
Cycling: 27.78 mi
Running: 44.06 mi
Lifting: eight sessions (3:01)
Other: one hike (1:31), three sessions hockey (3:32), 12 walks (4:54)

Do I swim or bike? Not really. Am I running? I'm trying. Am I trying to not freak out about the marathon I'm signed up for in October? Very much so.

I wish I fucking knew. I really, really do.