Victory!

I did it! I survived a 13.1 mile run in Moab, UT. And I'm proud to be able to say that I didn't walk a step of it. Of course I did slow down at the water stands every two miles and I stopped once at mile 6 to use the porta-potty, but I'm not counting those as stopping :)

I really had my doubts going into the run that I was going to be able to complete it without killing myself. On Saturday, I was almost dreading the thought of running that far as unprepared as I was. But when Rosey and I got up on Sunday morning and got out to the start line surrounded by a thousand other runners amidst some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet, I knew that I was going to be able to pull it off. There's something about being surround by so many other motivated people that enhances your own motivation.

My strategy was to take it slow and steady for the whole run. I knew that if I ran too fast in the beginning that I was going to jeopardize my ability to finish. So, I set a slow and even pace. I finished the first mile in a little over 12 minutes (12:10 if I remember correctly). That's not a fast pace by any stretch of the imagination, but it was working for me.

Rosey, originally said that she wanted to run with me so that I would help pace her and so that we could enjoy the run together. We only got to about half a mile before she couldn't stand running at such a slow pace and took off on her own. I was actually glad that she did, because I would have felt bad for slowing her down all day. Rosey is a considerably faster runner than I am. She did, however, meet back up with me at mile 8 and we ran the last five miles of the race together.

Dean Karnazes (author of Ultra-Marathon Man) says that the first half of any run is in your legs and the second half is in your head. Fortunately for me, my legs carried me a little further than half-way. But from about mile 8 on, it was sheer will power that propelled me forward. I was having aches and pains that on any other day probably would have convinced me to stop running. But yesterday, I was motivated to finish no matter what the cost. I was prepared to crawl across the finish line if it came down to that :)

Fortunately, it didn't come down to that. My calves and shins were throbbing with pain by the time that we entered the last half-mile stretch into the finish line at the Sorrel River Ranch, but I was still maintaining a steady jogging pace and Rosey was right there at my side. We crossed the finish line hand-in-hand 2 hours and 47 minutes after starting. To give a little perspective, the winner of the race finished in an hour and 16 minutes (roughly).

So, there were a whole lot of people that finished ahead of us, but there were also a whole lot of people that finished behind us. Mostly, I was just proud that I finished at all. It's hard to imagine me completing a run like this even a year ago, and impossible to imagine 2 years ago. It amazes me sometimes how far I've come and yet I still feel like I have further that I could go. Maybe next year I'll be able to finish in under two hours.

Although my lack of training over the last couple of weeks didn't prevent me from finishing, it did carry it's own price. My body is so sore right now I can hardly walk. I don't think that there is a single muscle in the entire lower half of my body that doesn't scream in pain every time that I move. Oh well, it's a small price to pay :)