Race #2 of the Season: Jurassic Run 5K

We were supposed to run this race last year.

We found it, saw "oh hey, dinosaurs," signed up. Then bought tickets for "How to Train Your Dragon" in concert (symphony plays to the movie) that night. Realized the race was an evening race and ... oooops. Thankfully, the race allowed us to defer a year so we got to run it this year.

The race takes place partially inside (but mostly outside) the Ogden Dinosaur Park so you know, right up our alley. Downside is that it's an evening race in late June, so it's also hot. Thankfully not as hot as last year would have been, but still.

Photographer got us walking around pre-race.

We got there relatively early - mostly for parking purposes - and then just hung out walking around and stretching before we were set to start at 7p.

Sign.

Like I wasn't wearing my T. rex (T. flex) shorts for this race.

Neither of us have been running a lot this year (you know I haven't and it's been a lot less for B), so we had zero expectations for this race. Well, that's not entirely true: since B doesn't do well in heat, the goal for him was to not die.

We ran together - what I didn't know is that the little park you do an out-and-back in nearby has a MONSTER hill. Yeah, we mostly walked that. 

But other than that, we were running fairly well early on, but the lack of any training for either of us, plus the fact that, y'know, balls, meant that we crumpled some in the back half. Eh. It was expected.

Final bit was actually in and around the dino park, as evidenced by the official race photo.

Weeeeee!

Wasn't much to the finish after this and though I crossed the line first ... B beat me by .1 second. Grumble.

Overall Stats:
Time: 33:13.5
7/30 division (F40-45)
40/211 gender
101/368 overall

What I DIDN'T know going in is that we got medals.

... and this picture made me realize that there were several different medals and that the third option was way cooler than mine. So obviously I swapped.

Regrets, I have zero.

Ultimately, fun race, we enjoyed it. Would it have been better had we trained? Yes. Would it also be better in the morning prior to the park opening as opposed as to at the end of the day? Also probably, but I get why it's in the evening.

Still, fun, small, local race. May do again. Probably. 

(because dinosaurs.)

Race #5 of the Season: Haunted 5K (Provo)

I also ran this one for the medal.

With how well I ran the half, I thought that maybe the 5K could also go well ... but I think I destroyed my poor immune system and got sick in between the two races. 

Everything was in my head - nothing in my chest - so I figured I'd show up, run easy, and if I needed to, I could just walk it in (perks of it being just a 5K).

Pseudo-dragon rider outfit. Kinda.

I definitely started out pretty easy, but I was happy with how much I was able to run. I walked whenever things seemed to get spicy with the ol' lungs (and heart rate), but I ran way more than I was expecting. 

Honestly, for running sick, it went well.

Truthfully, there's not much to say about this race other than that I FINALLY ran smart enough while under the weather to not finish it hacking and dying like I usually do.

That's growth, friends.

Overall Stats:
Time: 34:24.04
17/65 division (F40-44)
214/798 gender
442/1286 overall

And yes, I got another badass dragon medal for the effort.

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.

On Pivoting

I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but I have finally decided that I'm going to run my first marathon in 2024. And yes, I'm going to add the caveat of first standalone marathon, as I have technically schmecnically run four marathons at the end of all my Ironmans.

Years ago, I said the only marathon I really wanted to run was Boston. While I still would love and adore Boston, I realistically know that the odds of qualifying - for me - are ... not good. And yeah, I could try for a charity slot, but I loathe asking people for money, so there's also that.

But obviously, things change. Last year, while virtually cheering on friends and family at the NYC Marathon ... I decided that you know what? Maybe it's time. I haven't had a big, scary goal - one that truly does scare me - in a while and a standalone marathon does scare me.

I crowd-sourced some and got a lot of different responses, but the one that came up a bit more than others and did make the most sense - particularly given the family that runs it (or tries to run it) every year - was the Chicago Marathon.

So, as soon as the lottery opened up this year, I entered it. And yesterday was the day we would find out if our applications were successful.

I ... was not.

I knew this was a possibility. I could in theory take this as a sign that, well, running a marathon isn't for me. However, I also decided on two backup options: the St. George Marathon and the Tucson Marathon.

St. George takes place in early October - usually the week of or before Chicago (week before in 2024) and Tucson in early December (it's actually this weekend).

Both have their perks.

St. George: driving distance, smaller, has won many awards for being well-organized, downhill but not crazily so, can easily sneak down to Vegas after as a reward.

Tucson: technically driving distance, obviously it's in cactusville and we all know how much I love Tucson, also downhill (a little more ridiculous though), I know some people locally.

In looking over what I'm hoping to do for the rest of next year, though, I think ultimately, St. George makes the most sense. So, when registration opens up in April, I'll be on my computer ready to sign up.

(And if I somehow miss out on that? Well, Tucson was still open as of yesterday, so I've got that as a backup to the backup plan.

Race #3 of the Season: Haunted 5K

... maybe the Haunted Half 5K? I don't know.

I've done Runtastic races before - ye olde Dino Half back in the day - and got back on their email list now that I've moved to Utah. I knew I might not be around for the Provo race (... which, turns out, I would have been, as it was this morning), but I definitely knew I would be for the SLC race, so I signed up for that one.

(Had I known about the closer Halloween race in Farmington that same morning, I may have done that instead, given that it was like 25 minutes closer, but alas.)

I drove down to Sugar House Park perhaps a bit too early, but eh. Triathlete - it's what we do. Later than the buses went off to deliver the half-marathoners to their start, but definitely well before the 5K.

 
Sunrise.

I waited in the car for a bit, then wandered off to make sure I was parked in an okay spot (fairly close to the start/finish - more the finish and then the start line was up the hill from the finish). I wandered some, warmed up a little, and took a few photos.

Part of the finisher's chute. We finished under that pumpkin arch which is pretty cool tbh.

Soon enough though, time to start.

I had absolutely zero expectations for this race because my training hasn't really been training and except for walking, my movement has been basically poop for the past month or so (spoiler for the monthly recap).

That being said, I seeded myself a bit back from the front but not horribly far, knowing how the first mile or so of 5Ks always goes with people starting out way too fast and the like.

I started off pretty steady, doing well to keep running but also not push myself too hard. It took a good chunk of time before my first walk break and the first mile (according to my Garmin) was a fairly standard for me these days 10:44.

The race, however, had the mile 1 marker at like 1.2 according to my watch.

Things went downhill (literally) soon after through the neighborhoods so I was able to take advantage of gravity some and wind my way through Sugar House, not walking too terribly much. I was getting passed a little, but not much. I also think I was making up some ground, as well. Mile two was a very happy neg split ... and happened a bit before the mile 2 banner - 9:44.

Most of the last mile and change was back in Sugar House Park so I got to internally wave hi to my car. There was also a race photographer on the curve just past where I parked.

Couldn't find my ref jersey and decided to not attempt running in the inflatable dino ... but I can always manage some sort of '80s something.

As you can kind of tell, the photog was on a slight incline and there was a decent hill we were climbing after. I made it almost all the way up, but had to walk a bit. I was kind of dying this final stretch, but I was fighting as much as I could ... meaning I also somehow completely neg split this race - 9:39 for mile 3.

I walked for the last time a bit before the world's longest finish chute ... which not only included the pumpkin arch, but a giant long black inflatable tunnel to run through. 

(I watched quite a few people run around it after I finished, but I didn't even consider that possibility at the time).

My Garmin had things a bit short (3.07), but I finished. And kinda died.

Final Stats:
Time: 30:38.84
10/50 AG (F40-44)
76/436 gender
198/704 overall

... I don't know if all the fast people here do the half-marathons when there are these combined races, but dang. I was just outside the top-10 AG at April's 5K and 10th in this one? Obviously no awards for it, but I'll take it.

I will also take, somewhat reluctantly, the scariest race medal known to man. Thanks, Runtastic Events.

Random finishing tunnel behind said creepy-ass medal.

Race #1 of the Season: Salt Lake City 5K

... or maybe it's the Salt Lake City Marathon 5K. Not exactly sure. 

Regardless, I was supposed to run the half. Some Skirt sisters from out of town were coming in to run it and I thought it would be fun and a way to check out the local race scene ... and then I bruised my tailbone two weeks into training. And then messed up my thumb. And I didn't really run.

So, down to the 5K it was, and B decided to run it with me.

I found out the day before that Jessi and Kim also dropped down to the 10K from the half (and that they didn't realize I had actually signed up - oops), due to training fiascos of their own - I think time with Kim and an Achilles or calf flare with Jessi. In any case, we all decided we'd try to meet up beforehand for a photo (along with Anastasia, another Skirt sister who actually lives south of SLC).

Race morning comes and B and I drive down to the city. Since we were doing the 5K and not the half, we had a loop course as opposed to a point-to-point, so that made our lives easier. And we were thinking no gear check, but thankfully Anastasia cleared that up for us (which is good, because sweatshirts were very nice to put back on post-race).

We all figured out where we were and then met up for a photo.

From left: Kim, Jessi, me, Anastasia. Yes I'm tall.

After the photo, we split up since I needed to go to the bathroom and hit up gear check, but we got back in time for the start of the 10K (we went off 10 minutes later).

B and I decided we'd run together. He was maybe thinking sub-:10 per mile which I was realistically thinking was NOT going to happen (and it didn't). But still, we kept the walk breaks to a minimum and ran as best as we could.

A little over a mile in, we ran past Jessi and Kim who were walking the 10K (due to the aforementioned leg thing for Jessi) - I came up behind and hugged them and then ran off ... and Jessi got a picture in the process.

Oh B and his calves ...

A little after this point, the two race courses diverged and we did a little lollipop loop around a park before heading back from whence we came. We were getting passed by people who did the bike tour (cold morning for that), but it was going pretty well otherwise. I had to do one last walk break right before the finish, but I was also able to kick better than B at the end, beating him by a whole three seconds.

Final Stats:

Time: 32:28

11/40 AG (F35-39)

57/425 gender

202/749 overall

Not our best race, definitely not our worst ... and a fun way to spend the morning. 

Clearly after we got our sweats back.

Race #2 of the Season: Rock 'N' Roll Las Vegas Half-Marathon

... or how I can still manage a half poorly trained. Hooray?

I don't know what my initial INITIAL goal for this race was, but it ended up being to have fun (always) and to survive. Maybe do 2:30. Who knows.

I drove out the Wednesday prior and picked up B Thursday in Las Vegas. We tried the expo ... but got there too early, so went and got lunch and returned.

Also at a new casino on Strip - Resorts World!

B was also doing the 5K.

No, we have no idea who the Geists in between us are.

If you want more details on the non-running part of the weekend, visit the personal blog.

Saturday, B ran the 5K. He probably won't blog about it, but he did really well - particularly for not training for it much.

Gooooo husband goooo!

When we first decided to do this, he was hoping to PR the 5K, but that wasn't realistic. But he did get sub-30, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Since the half was the next day, our stop post-race was the Peppermill for delicious breakfast-for-dinner (pre-race tradition).

And pancakes the size of his head. Because of course.

Sunday was weird because, like the last time we did this race, back in 2014, the race start was at night. So it was weird - eat breakfast like usual, eat some sort of snack, hope the stomach isn't too unsettled (ha), walk a very long way to the start.

Unlike 2014, things were a LOT better labeled/marked. Which, duh, 8 years later you'd hope so.

Start line area! Like some guy commented, it was a half-marathon to get to the half-marathon. Still more walking to go, though (spoiler).

Chilling out for a minute post-porta potties.

They had a wall you could write on. Obviously I did.

Because it's us and we head to races like triathlons - GET THERE EARLY - we had a lot of time to sit around and hang out. We got there well before they were even starting to load corrals (by 5 different color groups and we were the middle group anyway) ... but eh. The masses of people made for terrible cell reception so I couldn't even hang out on the phone much. What, I have to dance around to keep relaxed? Sold.

Eventually, it was time to head to the start ... another very long walk.

In the alley part of the walk. There were more fun murals than this, but this is the only one I was able to snag a shot of.

A lot of the Vegas Golden Knights support staff (...?) was out there. Pre-start, we had the Knight Line. B was happy.

The start arch. So close and yet so far ...

We finally got to start and kept the first couple of miles easy. There were a few random pauses - there were the ... VGK ladies, I suppose? ... handing out towels and of course we had to grab some.

Also Chance. Who I had to get a selfie with. And he bit my head.

But other than that, we just clicked down the miles.

Chance did not bite B's head.

3.1 split: 33:20

Surprisingly enough, I don't think we walked for the first time until sometime around mile 4.5. That's weird for me, but I was super happy with how things were going. But, unsurprisingly, B was a little sore from the day before. Still, he was fighting well.

5.4 split: 57:54

6.2 split: 1:08:05

I don't actually remember what mile marker this was.

Remember way back near the beginning when I said most of the morning/early afternoon was to basically hope the stomach wasn't too unsettled? Yeah, well, about that ... it seemed to teeter on the edge of settled and unsettled and finally yelled at me to stop at a porta potty sometime around mile 7 or 8. I wasn't happy about having to stop, but hey - the colon rules all.

Selfie in front of the chapel where we did our 7 year anniversary vow renewal.

The miles where we got off the Strip and downtown (that is, where it got dark) were really rough. It didn't help that mile 8 (between the official markers) was like 1.3 on the Garmin. And it was for most people. The walk breaks ended up being more and more frequent, but we were still doing our best.

10 split: 1:57:56

Late race mood.

We stayed together until around the last mile, as B was just dying. We also wanted to get post-race In-N-Out and felt that splitting up so one of us could get in line (in case it was ridiculous) was a prudent idea. So I left.

12.3 split: 2:27:13

I wasn't able to do as much running as I maybe would have liked (the feet, they hurt), and 2:30 (or 2:35) wasn't happening, but I definitely got sub-2:40.

DONE.

Final Stats:
Time: 2:38:16

615/1211 AG (F35-39)

3379/7360 gender

7451/13355 overall

I busted my booty through the corral (if you know Vegas, you finished basically at the start of the Mirage on the north side and exited the corral between Caesar's and the Bellagio), found my way out of the masses, over the bridge, and straight to In-N-Out ... taking the stairs and not waiting for the escalators. I think I kept moving quickly enough to not let the leg pain seriously set in.

Thankfully, the In-N-Out line wasn't too terrible, and the food came not too long after B joined me (he had to get his remix medal for also running the 5K).

He's dead. And VERY happy for food.

Not one of our best races, but we did it. Would we run it again (for a fourth time)? The short answer ... maybe. If a friend wanted to. As much as we hate 10Ks in general, the 10K might actually be the way to go for this event as it's ONLY on the Strip and could be mentally easier (less boring). So who knows. It'll still hold a place in our hearts though as the first half we ever ran, back in 2010.