Running

A little history....The summer before I started college, during senior grad night, my friend Mindy Johnson asked me if I wanted to run with her that summer. I really was worried because she was a good runner. Everyone knew she was a fast cross country and track runner, and I was sure there was no way I could keep up. She assured me because of an injury she was getting back into running so we would be good partners. Well I am sure glad I said yes! That summer we started off with pretty short distances and worked our way up to running six miles. It was so fun to run and talk with her in the evenings, and she introduced me to a lot of great running places near my home in Washington. As any runner knows, you develop a special bond with your running buddy. For the next few years when we would both come home from college in the summer we would run together.

When I came to BYU, I still wasn't much of a runner, but I ran to stay in shape. I really thought if I just ran 3-4 miles a day I would be in such great shape, so that's about all I did. Then my friend Stacey started talking about half marathons! I thought running 13 miles seemed like an awesome accomplishment, but that it wasn't for me. Well, eventually she convinced me and I ended up training three times for a half marathon before I actually ran one.  The first half marathon I ran was the

1. Anacortes Art Dash Half Marathon, July of 2008

Little story: at the start of the race I realized I hadn't yet turned on my iPod. As I was looking down at it to turn on the music, I failed to notice the uneven sidewalk (at least two inches) and I tripped and fell! This kind man was right behind me and helped me up. I looked down at my knee to brush off the dirt and found it covered in blood! I kept running, and found a bathroom up ahead. So I ran in there, tried to wash it quickly and wipe off the blood with a paper towel, but it was useless. I had scraped a lot of skin off my knee cap. So...I just kept running. At the first mile there was an aid station where I was able to get some bandaids, but they didn't stick so I ended up running with a bloody leg! I think I finished in 1:52 or 1:54.

After that I had the running bug. I continued training for a marathon. When I was doing my last long run (22 miles) I noticed I was running about the same pace as another girl. We both stopped at a gas station to go to the bathroom and so we started talking. It turned out we were training for the same marathon, we were both attending BYU to become health teachers,  and were going to be in the same class. Crazy! Our friendship was meant to be! Since then McKenzie and I have run hundreds of miles together and have run 4 marathons together!

2. Top of Utah Marathon, September 2008
 I really enjoyed running the Top of Utah. My goal was just to finish but I actually got my 2nd fastest time, 4:13 (723rd place). Dennis, my mom, and Grandma Hart were all there the cheer me on!
 

   McKenzie and her parents, Lynette and Cory Borup

3. Famous Idaho Potato Marathon in Boise, ID, May 2010

I didn't run another race until McKenzie convinced me to run this one. The run started off well, we were on pace for a good time, but at mile 20 my IT band started bothering me. McKenzie kept going and finished pretty well, but I ended up walking a good share of those last six miles. And this was not a fun marathon. There was hardly any support for the last 13 miles...and I just kept wondering when I would ever see an aid station - I was really thirsty. I finally finished in 4:28.

Once my IT band felt alright I kept training and again ran my favorite marathon that fall.

4. Top of Utah Marathon, September 2010

I was disappointed that I finished slower than my first time though...I just am not a fast runner. My time was 4:14 (868th place). Determined to break 4 hours I signed up for another marathon.

5. Ogden Marathon, May, 2011

   

Well, McKenzie met her goal she finished in 3:55! I fell short of mine. I still got a PR though, finishing in 4:05. I just wasn't feeling it, and there was a half marathon. All I could think when I got the the half marathon start was - I could be finished now! Why didn't I just run the half?! 

 6. St. George Marathon, October 2011

So my mom, a blogging guru, already blogged all about this race here so I am just stealing some pictures from her blog. There were a few awesome things about this race. 1. I was sure I was going to beat four hours. 2. Dennis was going to run it! 3. McKenzie and her parents were doing it, and they had a house in St. George they very kindly let us stay in, and 4. My parents were coming! They came all the way down to watch us run and then Dennis and I were going to spend a few days in Vegas with them! Talk about awesome parents! So that is why there are so many pictures. 

The awesome signs my parents made!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately this is the result of the race, me in a wheel chair, and tired exhausted Dennis having to push me around Las Vegas. I was making great time for the first 16 miles, I was totally on track to beat four hours. But just after that my achilles started feeling really tight. So bad that I had to walk. And I walked almost all of the last ten miles so my time was 5:30. Not my best. That night we drove to Vegas, and the next day I could put weight on my foot, but I couldn't push off it to walk. Well, since walking is somewhat an essential activity in Vegas, I had to get a wheel chair. Not the nice little break I planned on!

7. Timpanogos Half Marathon, July 2012
Brittney and I both signed up for this race and I loved it! A half marathon is a great distance to run, I
think that's the distance I am going to stick to for now on (especially when it's downhill!). Brittney did awesome for her first half, she finished in 2:01 - awesome for her first! I really wanted to beat 1:45 on this race, and I did a pretty good job of keeping up with that pace. But of course at mile 9 I had to use the bathroom. And then at mile 10.5 I needed to again, only I had to walk .7 miles to the next porta-potty, and then wait for the person in there to finish! So my chip time was 1:49, but if you don't count the stops I got 1:45, and if I didn't have to walk to the bathroom I would have been faster than that! So if anyone reads this and has advice on how to keep from getting runners trots, I would love to hear!

Thank you Dennis for coming to so many of these supporting me!

 

8. Haloween Half Marathon, October 2012

For a few years now I have wanted to run this race, and I finally did! Brittney and McKenzie and her family ran it too! It started at Sundance and finished near the Riverwoods, most of it was downhill. (Except for that lovely one mile uphill part they added in when they changed the course.) Here we are at the start.

 

I ended up finishing the race with a time of 1:45. McKenzie won the Athena division with a time of 1:41 and I got second! Yay for being over 145 pounds!

 

9. Snow Canyon Half Marathon, November 2012

The very next weekend McKenzie, her sister and her mom all headed down to St. George and ran another half marathon. This one really had a lot of downhill, some of it was pretty steep, so I feel a little like I'm cheating posting this time since I'm really not that fast of a runner. But I finished in 1:42 - a new PR, and that is with a bathroom stop! I really could have finished in 1:40, so now the goal is to get into the 1:30s. It was a fun race and I would totally do it again! Plus its nice to get away and have some warmer weather! Here is what Snow Canyon looks like...pretty cool!