Utah Valley Marathon!!

My day started at 2AM when my alarm went off. I jumped out of bed, got dressed, double checked all my gear, and went to get my mom and pop for the race. I picked them up and we got to the drop off spot at 3:15 where all the buses were waiting to take us up to the starting lines. They had the half and the whole marathoners going up on different buses, so I had to wish my mom luck and get going. I was able to be on the first bus up there.

On the way up I met a lady around my age who ran Boston this year and was excited for me to be running my first one. She gave me some tips and told me about her marathons. It felt like forever to get to the start of the race. There was a point where the bus driver stopped to call someone to make sure he was going the right way cause it was taking us so long to get there. We eventually got there around 4:15 and they had music going and fire pits to keep us warm. It was really cool seeing all the different people out there getting ready to do the same thing I was about to do. There were a couple of guys that shaved the top of their heads so they looked like they were balding. I heard them talking and I think they said it was a dare or something, but they looked pretty funny. :) There was a kid that had to be around 12 running the marathon. I was really impressed with him, he totally looked like he knew what he was doing. There was a guy in a kilt and an old guy who looked like he'd been doing this for years. I LOVED seeing all the great people.

The weather was nice driving up to the start. There wasn't even a drizzle, but you can tell it rained all night and it was about to pick up again any time soon. After standing around the fire pits for about an hour the rain started coming, it was a light rain, so much so that you couldn't really tell unless you were looking at a light and saw it falling. My toes were wet from standing in the wet grass, but I figured they'd dry after a little while. That was until about 15 minutes before the race started and it the rain came POURING down. I wish I would have thought about it, but the smart people brought ponchos and trash bags to keep them warm and dry. I had my Nike Jacket that was supposed to be water proof, but it failed miserably. I was soaked! The race started around 5:45 and the rain had stopped. It was nice, not an ounce of wind, it wasn't too cold, and the fresh mountain air was awesome.

Mile 1-5 were pretty uneventful. I felt good, it wasn't raining, and there were lots of cows and horses cheering us on. The only thing bothering me were my toes. They were completely numb from being cold and wet for so long, but around mile 4.5 it went away. Adam (my little bro) called around mile 3 to see where I was and the runners around me looked at me like I was nuts, thinking I was talking to myself. Haha! I saw a poor little snake that got trampled by all the runners and a few things of road kill. My goal started out at keeping my pace under 12 minutes. I was doing good. I thought about ditching my coat and camelbak, but I didn't. (In hind sight I probably should have.)

Mile 6-8 were good, I was feeling great even though the rain started coming down again. It was just POURING. My feet were completely drenched. My hair started out straight, but by that time (even with a hood on) my hair became curly. Adam called around mile 8 to see how I was doing, I felt great I was going around an 11 min pace when I got 3-4 little rocks in my shoe. I stopped for a minute, squatted down, emptied my shoe, tied them back up, and stood....UGH....my legs said, "No!! I want to stay down there, no more running!" That's when my legs started hurting. I ignored them and kept going.

Mile 9-10 were a little rough, but I was able to keep my pace under 12.

Mile 11-13 were when my legs started burning. I just kept telling myself, "You're almost half way there! You've done a half marathon before, you can do this! Just till the half way mark...you've got this..." Adam called again around mile 12 to tell me I was doing great and to keep going. It really helped. The crazy thing was, when he would talk to me I was able to go faster and I didn't feel any pain. I got to mile 13, went to the potty and felt good for having taken a little 5 minute break. I was able to pick the pace back up for that mile.

Mile 14-18 were rough... There was a lot of "walk....walk....walk....run.....walk....run..." going on. My legs burned and  my feet hurt from slipping around in wet socks and shoes. My feet felt better when I ran, but my thighs felt better when I walked. My pace was horrible...15-16 minute miles....sad, sad.

At Mile 19 we were out of the canyon. I knew it was a straight shot to the finish line from there. Only 7 more miles to go. "I've done 7 miles before....I can do this..." I picked my pace up to about 13 minute miles. I felt better about that then I did 15-16 minute miles. It was going to take me FOREVER going at that pace.

Mile 20-23 my thighs were just BURNING. They hurt! I just kept telling myself, "Hey, this is nothing compared to having straight Pitocin. Your thighs hurt worse then and you made it though. You can do this! The pain will be over soon." Adam called a couple times during these miles to see where I was. My pace had dropped to around a 14 min mile cause I was still going back and forth with running. Dad called around mile 23 to tell me he was waiting at the bottom of the hill right before the finish line and would be there to run the last little bit with me. That got me pumped and I knew that if I just kept moving (even though it was a pathetic little trot) I would get there and could run with him. I started getting all emotional thinking about it. I just kept telling myself that I needed to concentrate now and when I saw him I could start bawling.

Mile 24-25 I passed the 25 mile sign and saw the hill. It was a pretty short hill, but it was tall. I couldn't figure out which "bottom of the hill" dad would be at, so when I found out he was at the end of the hill it motivated me to move even faster to get over that hill to get to him. I saw him there at the bottom waiting for me, taking pictures. I was excited. The tears didn't come when I met up with him, my mind was determined to finish this thing. My thighs burned, my feet ached, my shoulders were sore...but I kept going.

Mile 26-26.2 I was able to pick up the pace again. Dad ran with me for about a half a mile and then he cut through a parking lot to get a picture of me rounding the corner to the finish line. Mom was waiting at mile 26 and ran with me for a couple hundred yards. Surprisingly I had some energy left and picked up the pace to the finish. Jason, the kids, Gma T, and my parents were all there waiting to see my finish. :)

I crossed the line, got my medal, hugged family, and then started feeling the pain in my feet and legs...OOOH...I was SORE!! The crazy thing was, other than sore legs and feet, I felt 100%. I wasn't huffing and puffing the whole race. Everything besides my legs felt great.

My official time was 5:55:29.7! Yeah, I was slooooow...but I did it. I look at it this way...my next marathon will be an automatic PR. :)

Plus, I'm sure it didn't help that I'm around 6 weeks prego. I knew I was going to get lead legs....Hahaha! That's a good excuse, right? :)

I DID IT!!!! 26.2 Miles!!

This is going to be a short one just cause I'm waiting for some pictures and I'm typing out a full recap. But, I wanted to let everyone know that I DID IT!! I ran 26.2 miles and I finished my first MARATHON!! My momma did awesome and completed her 13.1 miles as well! Go ma!!

I know you all want to know who won the awesome prizes in the Marathon Giveaway! What an awesome outcome, 279 entries!! Thanks for all of the support from all of you guys!

The winner of the Runningskirts skirt is.....
Crystal over at Watch C Go! Congrats, Crystal! Email me at runmommatwitchrun (at) gmail (dot) com and send me your mailing info and we'll get your skirt out to ya!

The winner of the Stuffitts is......
Katie over at Blessed with Full Hands! Congrats, Katie!! Email your mailing info to me at runmommatwitchrun (at) gmail (dot) com and we'll get some Stuffitts out to ya!

Stay tuned, tomorrow I'll post a whole recap about the marathon. :)

Finish Chelsea's Run Virtual Race

This morning I thought it would be best to use my last training run to do my Finish Chelsea's Run Race. I started by going around the inside of the lake by my house.

I tied the ribbons Kayte gave me around my wrist while I ran. They had fun blowing in the crazy wind that comes when you run around here.

After running about a mile I saw a tree that had blue and orange flowers around it. Orange and blue were Chelsea's favorite colors, so I thought it was fitting. I didn't see another tree like that for the rest of my run, so I'm glad I stopped when I did and put them on there.

I finished my 2 miles in 24.30 and had a nice time doing it. I took my time and enjoyed the run. I'm glad I could be a part of such a great race.

I have a picture of me at the end of the run, but I look like I'm not fully awake and I look bad, so I'll spare you. Haha!

Go sign up!

Run with Kayte, me, and all the other virtual racers. :)

Crack of Dawn 8k!

This morning I got up at 3:45 and headed over to pick up my mom and dad for the Crack of Dawn 8k.

We got their before the sun was coming up over the mountain and drove up to the start in the Mill Creek Canyon. We were the first ones up there and we waited for a good 30 minutes before the buses came up with all the other runners.

It was a little chilly up there, I think it was around 45, but we figured that once we started moving we'd warm up. The weather was perfect, it had rained the night before and the roads were all drying and it had that really yummy rain smell up in the canyon. I love that smell.

The race was about to start at 6:00 and we were standing in the potty line. It's a good thing we had timing chips for this race cause we were about 1.06 late crossing the start line. We started out and the down hill started killing my IT band. I don't think I was warmed up enough, so I told my mom to go ahead of me and that I'd catch up to her when it leveled off, if it did. I walked/ran the first mile and ended up doing the first 2 miles at a 12:45 pace. After that my leg warmed up and I started rocking it. My next mile was in the 10s, the next was in the 9s, and the last mile (or .94) was in the 8s!!

Here's my attempt at taking a picture with my iPhone while running. :) I think it looks cool! My leg felt awesome the last 3 miles. At the end there was a little itty bitty hill and after running almost 5 all down hills your legs say, "Oh wait...I just ran 4+...I think I'm tired now." I pushed through and my last mile was at a 8.33 pace.

I crossed the line around 55.20, but my watch said 54.14. Not bad, not bad!

This is us right after finishing. I really love running races with my momma.

Running is a family thing!

Run to Walk Family 5k

Today's race was FUN! I'm telling ya, it's such a great thing running as a family. Sure, everyone finished at different times, but it was fun to talk about it when we were all done.

Hayley and Adam were amazing. She did it in 26 and Adam did it in 19. I could only dream to do it that fast. I can't believe this was the only picture I got of Adam today. Lame...

Mom and pop before the race. :)

Mom was 2nd in her age group and did it in 34 (I think.). Dad did it in 36, but I'm not sure. All I know is he finished WAY before we did. He kept saying, "I had to do this every day for 34 years and now I'm paying to run!?" Hahaha. The joys of being in the Army. :) At least he's retired now and doesn't have to do PT if he doesn't want to. I think he enjoyed it.

Here's Mr. J before the race started. He was all ready. He screwed up his back a couple weeks ago and his PT told him he couldn't run, so he walked... He's such a tall guy that his walk is my jog. So, while pushing 3 little kiddos in a stroller and putting up with one of them getting in and out of the basket in the back while he was still going.  B got in and out of the basket and ran about a mile of it.

Poor guy, he's not used to going that fast for so long. The last time he did a 5k was a year ago with me. He just laid there on the ground for about 15 minutes. It wore him out!

It's all good. I still love him! :) We walked it in 44.02, not bad considering he was pushing over 100 lbs in a non-jogging stroller. He puts up with so much. I'm glad I have such a great man!

Before the race I ran 4 miles around the riverwalk and then did the 3 miles with the race. Good times!

Provo City Half Marathon

Sore, sore, sore...my legs are sore!

I did it! My 2nd half marathon is under my belt! I saw my friend Sue at the start. It's so cool that we're running all these races together. The next one we're going to do is the Utah Valley Marathon. She runs the 5ks and I do the longer ones. She's an awesome lady! I'm glad I was able to meet her through the blog.:)

I was able to run the whole thing and it wasn't until about mile 11.5 that my knee REALLY started hurting and that was only because there were these little hills that took us under bridges on the river trail. Each time I went down the hill it was painful. I pretty much had to hop down the hills. The crazy thing though, was when I went back up the hill there was no pain and I felt fine. I was able to run it in 2.33.38, not bad considering it was snowing, hailing, and raining the whole time and I had a bum knee. I was drenched when I finished. J missed the finish again, but it's all good. I tried my best to not give him a hard time. I know he tried. It was really nuts out there today.

Right now I feel good other than being sore. I can't wait to see how I do with the full marathon. :)

Well, I tried...

I tried to walk, really I did. But, something in me wouldn't let me. I took about 10 steps past the start and had to jog/run/trot, whatever you want to call it.

(Here I am at the start. There were so many people for the 5k that it took them more than 10 minutes to get everyone out of the shoot.)

I woke up this morning with pain in my knee. I was thinking that it was just sore from using the foam roller for the first time at the PT office and from all the stretches & exercises I have been doing. I was nervous that I wouldn't even be able to walk the 5k. Last night was a rough night, I just kept thinking negative thoughts and I wanted to quit. I wanted to quit everything, the training, the marathon, the 5k.  But, when I was getting ready this morning I told myself I would do as much as I can do....and that's what I did. I ran. I ran without pain for the first half and then I started to feel it coming on after a little while, but I found that if I landed a certain way or if I didn't bend my knee as much as I usually do than it didn't hurt. I did take a couple of walking steps here and there, but I listened to my body and did what it wanted to do. If it said to keep running, I kept running. If it said to slow down and walk, I walked.

(Almost at the finish...I wonder if I could say I was walking in this picture...I'm not sure the PT would believe me. lol)

I made it across the finish line in 38.04, not bad for having a bum knee, huh? The funny thing is, last year at this time my average 5k time was 47 minutes. Even with a bum knee I'm faster than I was a year ago. J even said this was the most excited/happy looking he's seen me at the finish. He said it looked like I was really enjoying myself. :)

Right now, about 6 hours after my race, I have NO pain at all. My muscles are sore, but that's to be expected. I feel like I'm 100%. I am being careful though. There is no way I'm going to jump back into running 8 or 10 or 15 miles any time soon. I'm still going to walk and cross train and strength train next week and I may throw in a minute or two of jogging every once in a while during a walk, but I'm being careful. I want to heal and I want to be 100% for my marathon. :)

Oooh, I also went and weighed in today and guess who's down 2 pounds!! It pays off when you track your food. I'm only 5.6 pounds from my goal weight. Go me!

The Riverton Half Marathon

So...... I ran my first Half Marathon in 2.21.38!! Not too bad for my first official half! :)

Ok, so here's how it went:

It was a little chilly at the start. The car said it was 31º and the wind wasn't blowing much, it was a little cloudy though. But, when we were getting ready to start the sun came out and the weather was GREAT!

Miles 1-2: I started out pretty good. I wasn't TOTALLY warmed up, even after running a 1 mile warm up. It takes me about 2.5 miles to get in my groove when it comes to running long distances. I started out with my warm up jacket on, but I knew that I would ditch it at the first water stop. When I was getting close to mile 3 we were running down hill and I was sweating bullets. I don't know why, but I had sweat in my eyes and everything. Everything was flat until mile 2.5 and then we started going down hill.

Mile 3-5: I hit my groove, I ditched my jacket and I even did it while running. J got me a camelbak to run with since I HATE having things around my waist while I run. So, when I ditched my jacket I had to take off the camelbak, my jacket, and my watch all while running. Why you may ask? Cause I'm weird like that. I can't say "I ran 13.1 miles" if I stopped. SOOOO...I did all that and put the camelbak and watch back on threw my jacket at the water stop and kept going. We went down hill for a little while, went up a couple little hills, and ran flat for a while.

Mile 6-7: This is when it got fun. Mile 6 was nice and flat and then I see the mile 7 sign and look up.....HOLY CRAP! You want me to run up that?! It was a pretty steep hill. I kept on and figured that if I didn't look at the hill it wouldn't be so bad. So, I kept my head down and took it one step at a time. I reached the top of the hill and it was flat for a little while and then a little down hill.

Mile 8: Yay! The mile 8 sign and what's that? ANOTHER MASSIVE HILL! This one was even bigger than the last. Head down, one step at a time, made it up without stopping. Things leveled out and went down hill a little.

Mile 9-10: MORE FREAKIN HILLS! Up a BIG hill, leveled out, down a hill, then another BIG hill, leveled out again, and then down another hill.

Mile 11: There's a water stop, I grab a water and run with it. It's not easy to drink and run at the same time. I hear a guy tell his girl "One more hill and then it's pretty level from there." A little past the water stop and you see the hill. There's a sign that says something like "Welcome to the "S" hill! The "S" hill can stands for more than one thing. It's the "Oh, Sh....Hill" "Satan's Hill" "Stupid Hill". It was a hill that was "S" shaped and VERY steep! I had to keep my head down on this one. There was no way I could look at the hill and keep going. I made it up without stopping. When I reached the top it was level for a second and then went up a little bit more and then leveled out again.

Mile 12-13: I felt GOOD! I kept a great pace the whole time. There was a lady who used me as a pacer. She came up to me at the end and said thanks for the help. the last mile was flat and easy.

The last .13: I picked up the pace and finished at 2.21.38! While I was approaching the finish line I look around and J's NOT there. So....no finishing picture. I don't know if there was anyone taking pictures at the finish I couldn't find anything online.

I looked around for J, called my mom to tell her how I did, and then saw J waiting at the finish line looking for me.

He snapped a picture and this is my "I'm trying to fake a smile while I tear up on the phone cause J missed me crossing the finish line" photo.

This is my "FINE! I'll fake another smile, I don't care" picture.

Hey, it's REALLY emotional running that far for that long without stopping and then finishing and having no one there to see you finish. I was wanting an awesome "CHECK ME OUT!" photo for the finish. I was going to take Mel's advice and ham it up for the photo. I thought about it the whole time I was running. It ended up that he missed me crossing the finish by about 5 minutes. Oh, well.

Anyway, after a massage at the massage tables and getting some food in me and talking to my mom some more I forgave J for being late and missing out on a special moment.

They gave us a cool little towel and a nice metal. My first! :) I can't wait to collect more!

It's heavy too!

All in all it was a great race, I felt great, my muscles aren't too sore, just my thighs from those hills. I'm glad I did it. I can't wait to run the 10 mile race with my mom next Saturday, it's going to be fun. :)

Run for Red 5k!

(Here I am at the start feeling all optimistic.)

My goal was to run it in under 30 minutes....Did I do it? Did I?

I ran it in.....

28.50!!!

YAY!! I was am so excited to have beat my old PR. The crazy thing....I was 10 minutes faster this year than last year. Isn't that nuts? There was this chick Kara who stuck with me for the first 2 miles and then had to slow down towards the end. Her goal was to do it in under 30, I think she finished in 34 or something. It was kinda nice having someone running next to me. She was cheering people on the whole time, it was pretty cool.

When I turned the corner towards the finish, I picked it up and finished strong. I felt like I was going to puke, hence the not so pretty picture. lol!

I am so glad to have met my goal! My next few goals are to run the 5ks 1 min faster each time. That would be cool. :)

Oh, I weighed in today at WW and gained 3.4 lbs. I'm not surprised. The TOM plus, lots of salty pistachios and a BIG Cafe Rio salad for dinner last night...yeah, I could have figured. It just means next week I'll lose 3+.

The Wild Goose Chase!

Here's Delta, UT. It's a nice little town, it makes me think of my gma Cook's town in Montana. The trip out there was a little crazy, it wasn't snowing until we hit a little mountain pass and then it was so bad with snow and fog that we couldn't see 6 feet in front of us. But, then when we got through the mountain it was all sunny with some clouds. You could tell that it snowed the night before on the race route cause there was lots of mud and snow that was still melting.

I met a new friend today. :) I was going to the port-a-potty before the race and I heard "Hey! Are you Cathy Twitchell?" This really cool woman named Sue Peterson got an email from one of her friends telling her about my blog and that I was going to be racing in the Wild Goose Chase. I didn't think there were very many people out there that even read my blog so I thought it was awesome that I was spotted at one of my races. The other cool thing, we both ran in 5 of the same races last year and didn't even know it. Cool, huh?! She won first place in the 5k and when I crossed the finish she was there to see if I reached my goal of running the 10k in under an hour.

(Warning! I don't take good race pictures! LOL!)

Well....I ran 6 of the miles in under an hour. LOL! But, the 10k I  ran it in 1.02.04. I almost had it. I didn't place, but I wasn't really expecting to. I'm more concerned with beating myself each time.

I tried out some new socks today. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my drymax socks! They are SOO comfy. You know how when you run in some socks you can totally feel them the whole time you're running, these ones are so awesome you can't even feel them. I can't wait to use them on my long run next Saturday.

The picture doesn't do it much justice, but holy cow, it was muddy! The back of my legs had splatters all over them. It was a fun race. I kept it under 10 the whole time. Go me! When I turned the corner to start the 2nd half of the 10k there was a field of cows mooing and it totally sounded like they were mooing "Go, Go, Go!" Then at the end of the race there was this one chick who totally helped me out, if it wasn't for her I would have dropped my pace that last mile, but I wanted to stick with her and that's what I did. So, thanks chick for helping me out that last mile! :) I was going to tell her thanks for letting me stick with her, but I couldn't find her after I finished.

After our two hour drive home I came home to 3 packages! I got my marathon shirts, my bondibands, and my Nike rain coat! I had to try on the coat and a bondiband so, I thought why not go finish out my last 2 miles for the day. :) The coat is nice and light and the bondiband felt really good and stayed in place.

Today was a fun day! I enjoy going out to Delta every year for this race. :)

Hale Freezes Over Comparison

Check out the difference!

Hale Freezes Over 2009 Hale Freezes Over 2010

Wow! It's amazing what a years worth of exercise can do for ya. I'm pretty proud. :)

At last years race I remember running the 5k and it being the hardest thing EVER. I pushed my hardest and did it without stopping and it took me 45 minutes to run it.

This year I ran the 10k, pushed hard, did it without stopping, but I didn't feel like it was THAT hard. It took my 1.03 to run it. Crazy, huh?

Life is good!

Hale Freezes Over 10k

What a crazy night.

I was woken up from a dead sleep but Dusty barking her head off at 2:30 am. Yeah, I wasn't too happy. About an hour later Annabelle woke up all fussy. Then some one's car alarm went off and honked for about 5 minutes before they shut it off. Then 30 minutes later it went off again. Then Dusty decided she wanted to bark again....and then Jason and I couldn't get back to sleep cause the heater was on and our room was too hot.

I finally fell asleep after about an hour and then woke up to the alarm at 6:30.

Sounds like fun, huh?


We got to the race in time for me to do a mile warm up and head to the start.

It was a good race. I felt really good the first half. I did the first 3 miles in 29 min and the once I hit the hill at the last leg of the race, urgh...that was TOUGH! I ended up running the 10k in 1.03.49! Almost under an hour. I'm thinking next month's 10k will be under. It's a flat course, unlike this one.

I ended up being 5th in my age group and 15th place over all in the women's category! :)

I feel good. I'm a little tired and I have a bit of a headache, but nothing to complain about. It was totally worth it. It's amazing how different I look from last year's race. I've come a looooong way. :)
I did a mile cool down at the playgound while the kids were playing.
Today was a good day!