Provo City Half Marathon

Yesterday I ran the Provo City Half Marathon. I was really excited about this race, because up to this point, I've always felt like I trained one way, but then when it came to the race, I wasn't mentally tough enough to push myself as hard as I knew I could go. So finally, this race, I trained at the same pace that I actually ran. There are still, obviously, things that I can do better in the future-but this was a big step in the right direction. I feel reenergized! 

 I enjoyed the course. (It helps when most of it was downhill or flat.) We mostly ran down the Provo River trail, and it was really pretty. The only bugger was that the last 3 or 4 miles was a straightaway down University Avenue staring at the finish line for what seemed like FOREVER! 

 This is about .1 mile from the finish line. It's crazy how you can be so dead and suddenly get a burst of energy that lets you sprint to the finish line. Just shows you how powerful your mind is!

 My mom said that she tried so hard to get me crossing the finish line, but some guy got in the way! It's the thought that counts right? My official time was 1:53:43. So that's an average of 8.41 per mile. I cut 17 minutes off of my previous half marathon! 


Josh is expecting me to cut another 17 minutes off my next one-in a month. Someone please explain to him that it doesn't typically work that way.

 My parents were nice enough to come support me at the finish line. Josh's nephew got baptized the same day, so he wasn't able to come (seeing as how the baptism is a once-in-a-lifetime event.)

Also, thank you to my sister and her family who let me stay at their house. Even staying in Spanish Fork, I had to wake up at 3:45, and I don't even want to think about how much earlier that would have been had I driven from home. I didn't sleep much the night before (no fault of Bethany's). I think optimistically, I may have slept for 15 minutes... total...all night. I don't know if it was nerves, the wind, or just the fact that I kept thinking to myself "Go to sleep...now. Okay...now...for real...now..." But it all worked out in the end.


I'm so grateful to everyone who helps and supports me in my running. Sometimes I feel like it's a full-time job for everyone involved. 

Everyone wish me luck in the next couple months of my training! I'm gonna need it!