Moab 1/2 Marathon

YEA!!!!! My Half Marathon is DONE!!!!

Last Friday.... my dad, Autumn and I headed down to Moab for the big race. It was so busy down there.... 5000 people ran the race, so the town was packed. Once we got down there we checked into our hotel, got our race packets and then went and drove the route. There was so much up and down that it was hard to tell if it was going to be mostly up hill or down hill. I was getting so stressed just thinking how long it seemed. We then went for our last meal and then to bed at 8:30. Autumn said that it was the earliest that she has ever gone to bed.

The morning of the race we had to meet at the park to be bused up the canyon at 8:15 am. It was nice that it wasn't too early. The only bad part was that we got to the top at around 8:45 and the race didn't start until 10....... we still had over an hour and it was freezing cold!!! I think that they do it on purpose so that you are excited to start running.

I thought that it was both easier and harder than I thought that it was going to be. The first 10 miles went by really fast and I didn't even feel very tired. The last 2 1/2 were the worst. The first 10 1/2 were in the canyon, so pretty much once we got into the city I wanted to die.

When we got to about mile 11 people started cheering "you are almost there". Later when we were driving by that spot I wanted to yell to the people still running "you still have so far to go... give up now!!!!" The worst was when we rounded the last corner and I could see the finish. Instead of feeling relief that we were almost done... I wanted to die because I really didn't think that I could go any further.

But somehow I just pushed through and finished. I was so scared that if I stopped running I would not be able to start again so I never got a drink or used the bathroom.... probably not the smarted thing ever, but it worked for me.

Autumn was able to run the whole thing too!!! Which just made me mad because that meant that all of her whining, all those months of training, was on purpose. She of course just laughed about it. After running the half marathon my dad is certain that he can run a full marathon, no problem. He seriously wants to run a race very weekend. I am not sure that I can handle that, but I would like to run 1 or 2 more this summer. Overall.... it was a fun experience!

Me and Autumn showing off our awesome race clothes

the morning of the race...

my dad forgot his running shorts..... anyone else would just go buy some, but he said there was no need since he had a swim suit!!!