SO COLD!! I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do this or not, but I put on LOTS of layers (I may have been overdressed), got to Jonathan Crampton's house at 7:15 and took off by 7:30 with Julie, who was kind enough to brave 4 below zero with me! The first 2.5+ miles are all a nice uphill, and boy did I feel it. When it is that cold, you just don't ever really warm up. I was going SO slow, but I thought I was trucking along at a good pace...HA! I'm glad I spared myself the guilt and didn't look at my garmin for a second until we finished. The race was a good course and the company was outstanding. Poor Julie didn't know just how SLOW I'd really be. After all the miles this week AND the cold, well my legs weren't in top condition. She was good to just chat along and put up with my "I want to go where it is warm and I'm going to scream if this isn't over in 5 minutes" grumpy attitude. I swear mile 6-9 felt like a marathon to me! I was SO done. Brain had checked out. Water was frozen. Out of energy and any semblance of spunk that I once had. The only good thing was it was gentle downhill and my legs got into a bit of a rhythm. By mile 9 I was ready to hit those last 4! I knew it was the shortest way back to the car anyway :) I really started thinking around this point that I was hanging onto a pretty good pace and that I might hit 1:50 or so for the half...HA! Delusional. THEN I saw 'temple hill' approaching the Mt Timpanogos Temple from the West. I will not admit/repeat the expletives that escaped my mouth. I'm just glad that by the time I was at the bottom of the hill it looked nothing like it did from a distance and it wasn't too bad. Perspective...always perspective. The last 1/2 mile of the race the leaders (that had started at 8:00) blew by us. 2 guys and Devra, I held off Allie, but I think it was only due to the fact that she was in shorts. Had her legs had half a chance to warm up she would've kicked by as well :) Julie took off to home shortly after a couple pictures so that she didn't get the chilled shakes before having to do a mile+ more to her home. AP: 9:11 splits: 10:05, 10:35, 9:39, 8:51, 9:20, 8:58, 8:55, 9:32, 8:29, 8:47, 8:36, 9:34, 8:09. I never stopped my garmin, so the couple times I stopped and tried to get some slush out of my water bottle or to pick up a dropped hand warmer the miles are a little slower. I'm glad that the times I finally felt like I was moving and getting into the run my miles were in the mid/low 8's. Makes me feel a little better about killing myself over a 2 hour half!
I showered, enjoyed about 15 minutes of visiting and warm food and then took off to set up and prepare a funeral luncheon for a wonderful lady! Wish I could've stayed for prizes, but my medal and knowing that I ran a half marathon in sub-zero temps is enough 'pat on the back' for me! Julie C and me frozen solid after the run! I got some cute frozen eyelashes. It was like tunnel vision for more than half the run, because I couldn't see through/past them!
Skip and me after the run. He was happy to be done :)
I honestly think I may have been overdressed for the run, because it was SO hard to run. My breathing was more labored than usual (for that pace!) and I was hot and thirsty. My legs were cold, but my torso and head were nice and warm...probably too warm. However, I'm a pansy and so my 10 layers I put on I thought would certainly barely keep me warm. Maybe I was just exhausted from the miles this week, maybe it was the cold air and my body trying to process the cold into warm and so it took more effort (my friend who is a nurse and was at the luncheon lectured me multiple times about how bad it is for your respiratory system to run in this COLD). I'm not sure, but it was hard...a lot harder than I would hope a half would fee. Maybe it was everything thrown together, I don't know. I'm just glad it is over and that I have a TM/track to run on until it gets back up to a blistering temp of at least 15 or 20!!!
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