Moab Canyonlands Half Marathon Report

At 5:30 on Friday night, I still wasn't sure whether or not we'd be going to Moab to run the race. We'd had a busy week, and Bryce was still skiing, and Eddie was still at work, and I didn't know if it would be worth it to drive all the way out to Moab and then turn right around and drive back home. But everyone got home, we got on the road by six, and got the kids safely dropped off with their cousins an hour later, and drove in the dark, through the snow and past the police cars, down to Moab.

On Saturday morning we got up bright and early and dressed in all of our warmest layers to hop on the bus and wait for the race to start. I was staying with my running friend Marie, and a few of her other running friends, and we debated about what we should wear. I decided to dress warmly, with a sweatshirt and a vest to go in my sweat bag (you pick that up at the end), and a t-shirt, my favorite sweatshirt, a headband, tights and gloves to wear for the race itself.

We drove up the canyon (so pretty!) and waited a LONG time for the race to start. Most races start at 7 or 8am, but this one starts at 10, which is nice because we didn't have to wake up at 4am or stand around in the dark, but it makes it harder to gauge eating and drinking, and we ended up standing around and freezing our butts of for quite a while. It was COLD up there. I've now lived in Utah about nine months, and I was surprised at the number of people I ran into who I knew. There was Marie of course, but also my awesome running friend Julie (who came in 3rd woman overall!) and Maren's preschool teacher and Bryce's Primary teacher, and the husband of one of my blogging friends, and lots of other faces that looked familiar from other races I've done this year.

The race itself went well. I always want someone to talk to, and this time I couldn't find anyone. I thought I was going to run with two other guys, but we'd lost track of each other before the end of the first mile. I really needed to go to the bathroom by mile 3, so I found a campsite with a toilet and made a beeline for it. That mile was a little over 8-1/2 minutes, so I figure that my others averaged just under 7, since my overall pace was 7:04. And while I'd bundled up well, it got hot too, so I sadly bade goodbye to my favorite turquoise outer layer (I miss you!), and my cool reflective gloves, and the only headband that keeps my dang short hair out of my eyes.

Overall, I felt really strong during the race, especially during the uphills, which gives me some hope for Wasatch Back this year. It was a pretty course, which helped a lot, because I had no one to keep me going and Taylor Swift was just irritating me with all of her complaining about stupid boys.

I felt strong coming into the last two miles. I'd heard that they were tough because the terrain switched from canyon to city road, but I think my friends had adequately prepared me for the switch, so it wasn't too bad. I was focused. By the time the finish line came into view, I was ready to be done (it's funny how we mentally prepare for just that race and no more-- I run more than 13 miles almost every Saturday, but I felt like I couldn't go another step once I finished). I almost missed seeing Eddie because I was trying really hard to pass one more girl before I crossed the line. I ended up finishing in 1:33:02. My PR for a half is 1:32:39, but that was at Provo Canyon, which has a serious downhill, and I didn't take a bathroom break during that race. So I'm pleased. I came in 4th in my age group, and the 19th woman overall.

The only bummer of the weekend was that I couldn't shower after the race because the sewers in our condo were backed up. So I scrubbed myself down with a washcloth, threw on some clothes, and Eddie and I headed out to Arches and hiked to Delicate Arch. We were back in Springville with our kids in time to watch BYU lose to Kansas State, which was a rather sad ending to what was otherwise a great weekend.