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Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween Half Recap

Last October, I had considered running the Halloween Half marathon while in marathon training. After mulling it over a bit, I decided against it because with a 2000 ft drop in elevation over the course of 13.1 miles, most of that being in the first 5 miles (see below), I was just too scared I'd injure myself.  The marathon training was more important.  However, I did get a chance to spectate the race and it looked like SO much fun.  The costumes were hilarious. Everyone just looked like they were having fun. Because, well, they were! 

This year I was determined to run it myself.  I'm not in marathon training at the moment and, let's face it, I really needed something to help me work off all the candy I've been eating.  I trained, I finally decided on a costume and I arrived at the buses on Saturday morning ready to go for it.
I'm a baker!

I rode the bus that morning next to a young mom named Wendy. We talked about our training, our goals for the race that day, our kids, our husbands, etc. We had plenty of time to chat while making our way up the Provo Canyon.  After riding up with her, I was feeling a little better about being at the race on my own. I've gotten so used to racing alongside my husband that being alone at a race pushes me a little out of my comfort zone. Luckily, runners are the nicest people so there was always someone to talk to.  After arriving at the start, I watched the costume contest (the Forrest Gump costume was awesome!), got in a last trip to the portapotty and chatted with a cute bee named Jana and also with Mike, a friendly guy with a Yoda backpack.  

Finally, it was time to start!  I lined up with the 1:55 pacer in hopes of beating my 1:55:29 from the Shamrock Half this past March. I heard the gun and we slowly made our way down to the starting line.  There were 3000 people at this race so it was packed.  After the first mile I realized that I was going to be going a bit faster than I expected. I passed up the 1:55 pace group and then quickly passed the 1:50 pace group.  It looked like a good day for a PR! 

Miles 1-5:  8:53, 7:45, 7:26, 7:31, 8:00

At about mile 5, I could feel a blister forming on my left foot. "Dang!" I was nervous it would slow me down.  I've never had a blister during a race so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I was just praying it wouldn't get too bad.  Luckily, even though I felt it the whole way, it never got bad enough that I had to stop. Phew!

Miles 6-10:  8:55, 9:05, 9:15, 8:36, 8:46

After the first 5 miles, we turned onto the Provo River Parkway Trail, which was beautiful.  There was a part of the trail that was coated with fall leaves. It immediately put a smile on my face. Out of the major downhill, my pace slowed considerably and at mile 8 (my slowest) I walked for a minute in order to get my jacket off from under my apron. That was tricky.

Miles 10-13.1:  9:10, 9:13, ? (forgot to stop the Garmin)

The last couple of miles I was tapped. I remember thinking to myself, "I am definitely leaving it all out on the course today. I hardly have anything left." That was at about mile 11.  From that point on, it was all mental.  I was definitely getting excited to see my husband and boys waiting for me at the finish line. Here's a little video of me in the final stretch. 


I love how my face changes when I see my family. I obviously needed the boost.

FINAL TIME: 1:50:46.6

I did it! I PRed in a baker's cap, apron, and holding a mixing spoon for 13.1 miles! Haha! And not only did I PR but by almost 5 minutes. Awesome! I almost couldn't believe it when I finished.  Of course, the course was supa fast.  All that downhill surely helped my time but I'll take it. I covered the distance so it counts, right?!

Great race, great day, great fun! And happy to be done! Hope everyone's Halloween was as spooktacular as mine!

20 comments:

  1. woohooo! super speedy, congrats!

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  2. Awesome time! Congrats on the PR! Amazing costume. I can't believe you carried a mixing spoon for 13.1 miles!!

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  3. Wow! What a memorable way to PR! You'll likely never forget this one.

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  4. Aw- congrats! I ran this last year! I have since moved to TX so I wasn't able to do it again this year. That was seriously one of my favorite races. It was so freezing last year- but it was so much fun! I'm jealous :-) Seriously though, great job!

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  5. Awesome PR! I thought about running that, but never got around to registering. I LOVE that picture of you and your boys!

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  6. Wow! Congrats on the PR! Love the costume too.

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  7. Awesome - congrats! Love the elevation chart for that race! :)

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  8. Well, I guess a post about a 5-min PR makes up for 5 months of no blog posts! Congrats.

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  9. She is alive!!! I had been wondering where you disappeared too! Congrats on the HUGE PR!!! Woot!!!

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  10. AWESOME!! Congrats on the super fast PR! Next year I hope to run that race.

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  11. Hey again! Wow, what a small, crazy world we live in! We've lived in St. Albans for about seven years now, my daughter has 4-H in Winfield. Nice to meet you!

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  12. Impressive! You seriously crushed your PR!! That drop off in elevation is crazy. Congrats on a great race!

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  13. WOW, you did awesome Alicia. It sure would be nice to run a race with a downward elevation like that. A little different than your other half you did with the crazy hill in the first half. So nice to hear from you again! Great costume too.

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  14. Great Halloween costume! I love that you ran a half-marathon with a mixing spoon! Awesome job on the PR too!

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  15. Congrats on a great PR. Race looks like it was a lot of fun.

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  16. Fun costume, but I don't know if I could run a half carrying a spoon the whole way! Big PR! Congrats!

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  17. Yay for the PR!!! They always count!!!

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  18. WOW, you did awesome Alicia. It sure would be nice to run a race with a downward elevation like that. A little different than your other half you did with the crazy hill in the first half. So nice to hear from you again! Great costume too.

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  19. Well, I guess a post about a 5-min PR makes up for 5 months of no blog posts! Congrats.

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  20. Aw- congrats! I ran this last year! I have since moved to TX so I wasn't able to do it again this year. That was seriously one of my favorite races. It was so freezing last year- but it was so much fun! I'm jealous :-) Seriously though, great job!

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