Snow Canyon Half Marathon

My 13th and final half marathon was the Snow Canyon Half Marathon in St. George, UT. I lucked out, and was paired up with my friend Becky, one of my favorite running buddies! She's the type of gal who can make 13 miles feel like 5. Seriously, every time I run with her, I catch myself thinking, "How are we already 8 miles in? Didn't we just start?"

This race went smooth as can be, and we earned ourselves a 1:54:59 finish for the 1:55 group. Only one second to spare!

Haunted Half Marathon Results

What a fun time we had at the 2nd annual Haunted Half! One of my pacing buddies, Jorge, started his own pacing team last year so when Halloween weekend rolled around, I had a choice of pacing either the Haunted Half down Emigration Canyon or the Provo Halloween Half. I've rocked the Provo race twice so far so I jumped on with the Run Your Race pace team. This was also my first time with team--now my fourth pace team I'm running with!

I had slight technology mishap at the start (a pacer's WORST NIGHTMARE!), but some quick thinking got me back on track by mile 2, and the 2:00 group coasted across the finish line in 1:59:58!

The Other Half Results

The Other Half is my favorite of the Moab half marathons. I was lined up to lead the 2:10 crew for this event, but a last-minute change up by the race officials landed me with the 3:00 spot. It's funny the only other time I've ever paced 3:00 was at this race last year because of yet another change up.

This course is one of the most beautiful courses I've ever had the privilege to run, and this year I had the chance to lead an extraordinary runner to a PR. I met a man at the start line who took up running around his 70th birthday, and after three previous attempts, he was aiming to finally break the 3:00 mark at this race. I was impressed, to say the least. During the race he told me how he struggled to run more than a minute at a time when he first began, but after a year of continuous practice, he had finally finished his first half marathon.

Though he hit a few hard spots, this man stuck close to my shoulder during the whole race. In the last quarter mile, he forged ahead and earned himself a major PR and a sub-3:00 finish! I was so happy! I came in a bit early with my pacing time (2:58:10), but that's ok.

I hope to make it to Moab again this year for this fall race!

Pink Series 5K Results

Christie and I post race

This was a fun 5K. I didn't have it on my 2013 race schedule until Christie offered me an entry fee I couldn't resist. :) We started in Kimball Junction in Park City and did an out-and-back on the trail. After pacing Top Of Utah, I took two full weeks off running, and I certainly felt it at this race. My legs were heavy, and holding what is normally an easy 8:00 min/mile pace was quite hard.

I finished in 24:40--good enough for first place in my age group.

Come back soon for some more race reports, and details about our trip to Australia!

Top Of Utah Marathon Results

A week after Big Cottonwood, I paced the beautiful Top Of Utah Marathon in Logan, Utah. This was my first time in the full marathon (I've ran the half before), and it really helped to snap me out of my funk over my Big Cottonwood results.

The race went perfectly--I successfully got a handful of marathon newbies and seasoned runners looking for a sub 5:00 across the finish line in 4:59:24.

BIg Cottonwood Marathon Results

Ugh, this is the blog post I've been dreading. I was so looking forward to this race. I ran sections of the course every other Sunday all summer long. I trained hard, and this I feel was my biggest race upset to date. I know my original goal of BQing was lofty, but every training run indicated I should have easily been sub 4:00 on this race.

I don't want to go into too much detail, but I got sick on the course. I got hit with some wicked nausea, which I initially figured was due to nerves and intensity, but at mile 21 it turned out to be more than just nerves. I spent most of the last 5 miles sticking close to a trash can. Let's leave it at that. ;) 

I ended up finishing in 4:27. It's still a PR, but it's incredibly frustrating knowing how well my training runs went, and after all the time I put into this specific race. I won't lie--I was really depressed after this race. I actually thought about giving up running all together, but I snapped out of that pretty quickly. :) It has inspired me to train even harder this winter, and hit it harder in 2014. I won't let one bad experience stop me so here's to learning from the experience and a successful upcoming race season!

Pocatello Half Marathon Results

In July, I had the honor of being asked to pace with the national marathon pacing group. Woohoo! I quickly jumped on the Pocatello Half Marathon so I could get a race with them under my belt, and it's a great excuse to visit my sister in Idaho.

I had an easy pacing assignment (2:10) so I had no worries going into this race. I was spot on with my mile splits, and earned a chip time of 2:10:00! I was invited back to pace with this team in the future. Now I just need to convince the hubby we need to take some more race-inspired trips. :)

Elevated Half Marathon Results

The inaugural Elevated Half Marathon was a total blast! It's the first race to run down beautiful Little Cottonwood Canyon. When they say this course is fast, they're not kidding!

Miles 1-7:

6:58
6:56
7:03
6:57
6:55
6:51
6:59

The first half of this race flew by. I stuck with my typical fueling plan (a bite of GU every 10-15 minutes), and grabbed some water at each aid station.

Miles 8-13:

6:52
6:53
8:13
8:32
8:26
8:33

At the base of the canyon, runners hit a few small rollers. My pace obviously slowed here, but I was still ahead of my goal time. I crossed the finish at 1:38:50! My first sub-1:40 half!

Porter's Half Marathon Results

Porter's is a small, fun half marathon held in Draper. I had absolutely no goal going into this race. Truth be told, I only signed up for this cheap race as a way to knock out my long Saturday run. :)

I stuck with the pace my coach assigned, and came across the finish line at 2:06:12.

She Runs 5K Results

A week after the Timpanogos Half, I ran the women's-only She Run 5K in Midway. The runners lined up a block below Memorial Hill (pictured above), and ran just over a mile to the top of hill. Once there, we flipped back around and coasted down to the park.

After the gun fired, I quickly found myself in the fourth overall place. I stuck close to the third place gal as we knocked out the first two miles. As we were closing in on the last quarter mile, I pulled ahead to snag myself a third place overall spot!