Salt Lake City Half-Marathon

45 Replies

I’m not that great at giving a race recap, so if you want the full 4-11 (do people still say that?), you might want to check out Jamesy’s blog for his race recap later in the week.  In the meantime, I’ll give a brief summary of the weekend from my perspective.

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If you caught my pre-race freak-out post, you’ll know that we had an extremely bumpy flight thanks to a snow storm.  This is us on Thursday not long after that incident… celebrating being alive.

 

 

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You might have also caught the part where I met up with some family on Friday where we toured Temple Square.  A bit of history: My father graduated from Bountiful High School around 1947, so my family “base” is in Utah.  I hadn’t been to Temple Square since before my grandmother died in 1981, and it was great to be there.  When I was a kid, my sister and I would spend most summers with her in Bountiful.  Utah was as much home to me as Arizona was.

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The above was the morning of the race.  The bright lights in the middle represent the start line. And it was cold.  Luckily, James and I had brought a couple of space blankets from a previous Rock ‘n’ Roll event, so we didn’t freeze too much.  Starting temperature was 38 degrees F.

screenshot_2016-04-17-07-34-26.pngThe elevation of the course looked like this.  While, yes, there is a huge downhill section, there were very painful uphill parts as well.  Four of the most notable hills were two in mile 1 (not nice), the one from mile 5 to mile 6 (total energy suck), and a complete ass kicker in mile 7 that was comparable to my Mo-Fo Hill across the street.  The marathon and half-marathon runners split up at mile 9, and when James made his turnoff, he went straight uphill yet again; thankfully, I went down.  Not only that, we train at sea level, and I’m seeing that this course was between 4300 to 4800 feet.  It took a little bit of breathing effort to go up those hills.  By the 12th mile, I was knackered.  I wasn’t hurt in any shape or form and my feet were fine, no blisters (yay Brooks!), but I was indeed tired.  The finish line was such a sweet sight!

Post-race festivities were fabulous.  Pancakes with boysenberry syrup.  Creamsicles.  Yogurt. Beer.  Music.  They did not, however, have chocolate milk, so we headed to the nearest coffee shop afterwards to get some hot chocolate.  It was still cold, but I was thankful for not getting overheated. 20160416_164338.jpg

 

  • Total miles logged for the weekend:  27.59
  • Total steps:  63,288
  • Total number of toenails lost:  One (literally… it came off while I was slipping on my shoes after the race)
  • Number of celebratory drinks post race:  4
  • Post-race dinner:  Mexican food.

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It was a fabulous weekend and a fabulous race.  I’m not hurt, so training begins right away for our next adventure… Rock ‘N’ Roll Seattle in just a mere 60 days!  And we are completely primed for that lovely hilly course!  I have a beautiful set of rolling hills I’ll be training on to get my quads in shape for it, not to mention I’m going to attempt Mo-Fo Hill a couple more times.

Meanwhile, the karaoke celebratory night is this coming Saturday.  Maybe I’ll set up the GoPro and get some random video…. hahahaha, not!  Have a great week!

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45 thoughts on “Salt Lake City Half-Marathon”

  1. mawil1

    I love your race reports! Just enough detail about the race (not so much that it’s boring) and some other interesting stuff thrown in . I’m so impressed that you are achieving your 50 in 50 quest, just ticking off those states! Nice and steady. Respect to you! Well done😀

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  5. Chocolaterunsjudy

    At least you got the hills out of the way mostly in the first half! I hate when they throw in a monster at the end. Sorry about that toenail — I’ve yet to lose one due to running (and I want to keep it that way!).

    That sounds like a tremendous spread afterwards.

    Great job — congrats!

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. watermark17

    WOW! Congratulations Paula!!! I am SO impressed that you ran an event in Utah not to mention a half-marathon!!!! Running, walking, breathing, and just existing is so much more work because of the elevation. I always thought it would be cool to train in Utah then run an event here in Washington, but you did the opposite! That is a HUGE accomplishment. You are a true inspiration!!! ❤

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    1. neveradullbling Post author

      Awe, you are so sweet Alana, thank you so much!! I was kind of thinking over the weekend what a significant breathing advantage people from Denver have over us who live at sea level, haha! Again, thank you for all your support!! Xoxo

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      1. neveradullbling Post author

        Thank you!! I do have to say the temps were great for the race! I know you always tough it out in the heat and humidity… when was the last time you ran a race that was on the cooler side? I can’t even imagine what your times would be!! (But at the same time, I know you don’t let the heat bother you).

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  14. The Happy Healthy Kiwi

    Sounds like a good race overall, well done you! I have to ask about the toenail thing. Does it hurt? It freaks me out to think about and of course I read this while eating lunch haha

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    1. neveradullbling Post author

      Thank you so much Katie!!! Hahaha, sorry about the lunch thing! Actually, no, the toenail didn’t hurt, nor is it tender. I was putting my shoe on, and I felt a tug on my toe. I looked, and there was my toenail in my shoe. (Hehe, I tried to keep that as non-icky as possible). This is the 2nd toenail I’ve lost from running, and it’s never hurt. 😀

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  18. breidengale

    Such a great read of a race! You did great. No knee acting up, no blisters, and really you still have 9 toenails left so you are golden!! And yes to Mexican food and after race drinks!! Ugh. Not a fan of hills. Good luck with the extra mo fo hill training this month. ❤ I think GoPro at the party is a splendid idea! ❤

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    1. neveradullbling Post author

      Awe, thanks Renée!! I was truly amazed that the only ouchie I got was the loss of the toenail. I’ll take it! Thank you so much dear one, for all your support!! ❤ (No GoPro at the celebration last night, hehe, :D)

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  19. Pingback: Day 1 Training for Tulsa | Never A Dull Bling

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