Hobble Creek report

We did it! This morning Jared, myself, and two of my friends did the Hobble Creek 1/2 marathon. I have been so apprehensive the past few days but I am so glad it's done! I have to admit I couldn't wait to write this post because I want to have something positive and happy to say on my blog!!



BEFORE


I can't believe we actually woke up at 4 am and got ourselves out the door. I refused to set my alarm any earlier, I just couldn't do it. The only reason we wanted to leave at 4:30 in the first place is b/c we were told via email we had to ride the 5:15 bus. However, once I woke up I realized that this was ridiculous and they weren't going to stop us from getting on the later buses just because we were among the later registrants. We made it there by 5:15 - 5:30 and all was fine. We boarded the bus and headed up the canyon only to find after 20 minutes we went up the wrong fork! Our bus driver didn't know where he was going, had to turn around, and drive us all the way up the other fork in the road, past all the campgrounds! Luckily, it was cold and dark outside so we didn't really mind being on the bus longer. We got off about 6:45 or so and waited for the 7:30 start.

The course is a steady downhill descent most of the way. There are a few flat parts and after the 2nd half some hills, but overall it was great. Jared ran ahead of us, but us 3 girls stayed together. I was so glad we've been doing our training runs and hills every Wednesday b/c we felt so good. The scenery was just beautiful. The road that high up the canyon is very narrow so you almost feel like you are on a trail and you are surrounded by trees. We chatted most of the way, which passed the time quickly. Before we knew it, we were passing the golf course at mile 9. Again, the views are so beautiful, especially at that time of morning. I think it was about that point that we left the road and ran down the trail a couple miles. It was nice to have a change of scenery and road conditions since the other road was all patched up and kind of uneven. About mile 11, the course turns left off the main road and we start running through houses, etc. One of my friends decided to slow down a bit at that point, so the other two of us kept going. We were feeling fabulous, ready to finish and celebrate. We went through the last water station with 1.5 miles to go. Then, as we turned onto the main road we could see a straight line to the finish. I don't know what our pace was at that point, but we kicked it up a bit. I had "We are the Champions" in my head (no iPods allowed, remember) to motivate me. As we ran into the finish, Jared and Heather's brother (who finished in 1:25, 3rd in his age group) were there to cheer us on. Our time on the Garmin showed 1:56 as we crossed the finish line. (We checked the results online and our time shows 1:58, due to the fact that we didn't wear time chips it's a little off) It felt great to finish and NOT feel like I wanted to pass out! When I ran the SLC 1/2 in April, I was setting a PR for distance and was really feeling it by the end. A few minutes later, our friend crossed the finish line. We were so proud of her since she was a novice runner just a few months ago and this is her only race other than one 5K. She is doing the marathon with us next month too. We got our tshirts, drinks, and stretched. It felt good to accomplish a goal I set. In the past couple weeks I started to doubt whether or not I could do it, due to this infection. But I didn't let it beat me- I won!


AFTER

Here's our photo after the race with our official "Finisher" tshirts. I think our smiles are bigger than before, don't you? Ok, maybe I was just more awake for this photo versus the earlier one.

Just a little side note, Jared finished the race under 1:45, which is a good time, for someone who trains. But this man hardly ever runs! He has some freakish genetics which allow him to do just about nothing, but yet be able to do races like this without much effort. He has run maybe 2x/week over the past month (if that). Before that, he wasn't running much at all, maybe 2x/month. He might try and argue with me here, but I don't think I am far off. And besides, I am telling everyone how GOOD you are Jared, so why argue? I just wish I had more of that type of gene in my body. I have to work much harder to get to this point. Anyway, I am glad we both like to run and maybe one day I will be able to run a 1/2 marathon in 1:45.