When I got home, Rick and I did a quick "shake out" run of 3 miles, and then got ready to meet our friends Josh and Katie out for a double date. Katie was chaperoning her high school's winter formal, so Josh, Rick and I hit up Pita Jungle for dinner and some beers, and then met Katie up at Laff's Comedy Cafe for a show. We had a great time, laughed, the boys drank.... fun evening.
The next morning, we were up early to go and cheer on our friend Kyle who was running a 5k at the U of A. He is new to the sport, and seems to enjoy it, and we wanted to support him. He did great, improved on his last time, and looked pretty steady running. Afterward, we hit up Beyond Bread for lunch, and a giant pretzel.
The rest of the day was spent Christmas shopping and attending the Fourth Avenue Street Fair. By the end of the day my legs and feet were exhausted! So much for resting these legs up the day before a half marathon! And I was angry because all of the fried food and junk food probably wasn't the best idea for a pre-race meal. I was salivating. Instead, we went out for our usual before-a-race meal, spaghetti and meatballs at Mama Louisa's. Yum! Date #4 was delicious and helped to calm my pre-race jitters. I went home, set out my gear, packed my bag, laid out my food for in the morning, and went to bed. I had to be up at 3:30 am to drive and catch a 5 am shuttle to the start.
{carbo-loading at its finest}
The morning of the race was a cold one! It was 40* when I caught the shuttle with my friend Alex. The shuttle took a long time, so I really had to pee by the time we got to the start. I hopped off the bus before they were even letting anyone off and sprinted to the top of the mountain, only to be met by a long line at the port-a-pottys. Boo. I waited in line, then met up with Alex again to huddle by some heaters for a few minutes before warming up. By that time we were ready to get moving to stay warm! Alex headed to the front of everyone, and Randy and I started out together. Randy's goal was a 7:45 pace, so he left me after a mile or so, and I just ran at my easy 8:30 pace for next 9 or so miles. My main goal was not to go out too fast, which I have done in the past. I slowed at stations for water, took my GU, and chugged along. I was amazed at how easily I ran this race. I pushed it, but was never in a full on sprint, as I expected with this race having a lot of downhill stretches (I had steeper down hills in the last half I did, where I was sprinting at times). The hills were more gradual, with some rolling up and downs. I had a blister I that had been troubling me make its triumphant return at mile 9, so from then on I was in a lot of pain, but not enough to walk or stop. I just kept going along, loving my new playlist I had created the day before, and excited to finish and see everyone.
The last two miles were through a neighborhood, with some sucky hills that definitely slowed me down by that time. I rounded to the end, feeling good, and saw Rick, Randy, Kyle, and Alex's husband Jesse cheering me on. Rick told me later I looked like I was just taking an easy jog, and Randy had yelled "Sprint, Sara!". Ha~ I guess I was just happy I wasn't a red-faced hunch-backed mess as I have been in the past.
I was so proud of everyone that day! I beat my former PR by 16 minutes {1:53:15; 8:38 pace} (although I was shooting for 1:50, next time), Randy had a PR with a 1:40:05, and Alex WON! She was the first woman with a 1:16:51 (that is a 5:52 pace... I know, bananas). She told me before the race she was hoping for under a 1:18, but did not think she could do it, her fastest half split in a marathon had been a 1:22. She is so amazing, and as I have said before, she is so encouraging, so humble, and never ever brags about her accomplishments. I guess that's what the rest of us are here for.
{I'm the short, slow turtle in the middle!}
After the race we all went for a celebration breakfast, and I went home and vegged out. Rick and I went to In-N-Out burger for our post race celebration dinner, it was a perfect Date Night #5.
{Yes, those are animal style fries. Oh yes, they are...}
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