Hobble Creek Half Marathon

Ok, soooo I can't believe I am going to post about this because honestly, it is not something that I was super proud of it, until several days later when a comment that my friend Lisa's mom said to me and honestly I am very grateful she said it. So, Let me back up...So I had just come off a really hard week with Conrads tonsils coming off 5 days before.  When things like this happen, I hold my emotions in until I know everything is in the clear.  I hadn't slept all week, and I was just starting to get sick.  I know I shouldn't make excuses, so I will stop.  

We got up early, rode to Mapleton, jumped on the buses, rode up the canyon, jumped in the lines for the bathrooms and then went and lined up for the race and waited for the "GO."  I could tell the 1st mile that this was not going to be an easy run!  I had to use the bathroom at mile 3 so that killed 5 minutes of my time, but whatever, that's life.  I hoped back on the road and started off...Man that was hard to get back on the road again.  The first 5 miles seemed like an eternity.  I stayed with a lot of the same people for a long time and talked with them a few times and became friends with 2 old guys that were really nice. 

About mile 8 things started getting a little harder when the hills started and it began going up and down a bit.  Mile 9, I stared getting a little tired and just thought ok keep trucking on..Through mile 10 I was about 4 minutes ahead of my goal.  I was frustrated, but though alright well I can still do this.

That's when things went bad...I mean really bad!  I was following a lady who we had pretty much been together most of the race.  We had been playing leap frog most of the race...well at this point she was a head of me so I just followed her...the wrong direction...down a hill!   Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!  I seriously just ran the wrong direction, down a hill.  Somebody had to come running after me and turn me around to go back up the hill and point me in the right direction.  

At this point I think I mentally checked out...which was really bad, I mean not a good thing to do in the middle of a race.  By the time I came out of the canyon it was really hot, I was water logged, tired, beyond exhausted.  You would think that the last 3 miles you can just truck through...well ya that's what I did...I literally felt like I was crawling.  I was running through peoples yards into their sprinklers, through all the shade I could find.  It. was. mentally. exhausting. Pushing through those last 3 miles The last 2 miles alone took me 16 minutes each.  By the end it was embarrassing coming to the end watching other runners who had been done for a long time getting in their cars and and leaving.  I felt like a loser.  I felt bad because I knew my friends had been waiting for me for a long time.  I feel like I failed myself...Which is a huge fear of mine.  It really was great to see my friends and especially my Husband and kids at the finish line.  It REALLY does mean a lot to know they were there to support me.

Ok, back to the reason I changed my perspective.  After the race my friends kept telling me to go get my official race time, and I just kept telling them no I really don't want it...I was really disappointed with myself..I was angry with myself.  That's when Lisa's mom looked at me and said "you should go get it...I really wish I could have done something like this but I can't."  That really touched me, because there are a lot of people out there that have things taken away from them that don't deserve it.  So thank you Suzanne for doing something for me that you didn't even realize you did.