The Other Half
On our anniversary the hubby and I ran "The Other Half" in Moab. This was Jaycob's first half marathon! Moab was gorgeous and I absolutely loved this course.
The run started 30 miles up the Colorado River at the Dewey Bridge. All race participants were shuttled from town to the starting line. It was a chilly morning and we huddled around the fires to warm up as the sun rose over the mountains. There were over 1,000 participants in the race, but it didn't seem that way as we were all gathered, sipping hot chocolate, eating last-minute snacks, and stretching before the race. The gun fired at 8:30 a.m. and we were off!
The race follows the river downstream through the scenic and picturesque canyon, including view of Castle Rock and the La Sal mountains in the distance. Jaycob ran with me for the first hour, and we stayed with the 2:10 pacer group in the beginning. The weather was absolutely perfect! It was a sunny morning -- though a little chilly -- with very minimal wind. The race is mostly downhill, but there were three main up-hill sections during the second half of the race, and even though my legs were extremely sore from mountain biking the previous day I was able to pass quite a few other racers on the climbs. The race ended at Sorrel River Ranch.
My goals after Nashville were to set a new personal record, keep my knees feeling strong and pain-free, and stay hydrated. I had a mild hamstring pull a few weeks ago and it was really bothering me the morning of the race, plus I was pretty sore from mountain biking the day before and found myself taking a much shorter stride than usual, but I didn't experience my knee pain at all. Whatever I did for core strengthening and tapering in the past fews weeks must have paid off! In general I felt really great during this run. I drank a ton of water before the race, after receiving some good advice from a patient last week who runs marathons, and kept drinking water throughout. I tried some Skratch powder instead of Powerade and it really made a difference for me.
The pre-race hydration was my savior during this race! I didn't struggle with any of my normal stomach issues or post-race need to curl up in fetal position for 6 hours. I was actually able to enjoy the after-party, sip on a few ounces of beer from the Moab Brewery, and visit Arches National Park after the race! I was 5 minutes slower than Nashville but overall really happy with my results and how I felt afterwards. I ended up finishing 54th out of 112 in my age group with a time of 2:18:56. Jaycob finished in about 2 hours. Not bad for his first 13.1 (considering he spent the first half of the race at my 10+ min/mile pace)!
I would love to do this race again in the future!
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| Getting prepped for the race |
The run started 30 miles up the Colorado River at the Dewey Bridge. All race participants were shuttled from town to the starting line. It was a chilly morning and we huddled around the fires to warm up as the sun rose over the mountains. There were over 1,000 participants in the race, but it didn't seem that way as we were all gathered, sipping hot chocolate, eating last-minute snacks, and stretching before the race. The gun fired at 8:30 a.m. and we were off!
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| Sunrise over the Dewey Bridge |
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| Getting ready to start |
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| Running in the canyon |
The race follows the river downstream through the scenic and picturesque canyon, including view of Castle Rock and the La Sal mountains in the distance. Jaycob ran with me for the first hour, and we stayed with the 2:10 pacer group in the beginning. The weather was absolutely perfect! It was a sunny morning -- though a little chilly -- with very minimal wind. The race is mostly downhill, but there were three main up-hill sections during the second half of the race, and even though my legs were extremely sore from mountain biking the previous day I was able to pass quite a few other racers on the climbs. The race ended at Sorrel River Ranch.
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| La Sal Mountains in the distance |
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| Just over the big hill |
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| Beautiful mountain views during the race |
My goals after Nashville were to set a new personal record, keep my knees feeling strong and pain-free, and stay hydrated. I had a mild hamstring pull a few weeks ago and it was really bothering me the morning of the race, plus I was pretty sore from mountain biking the day before and found myself taking a much shorter stride than usual, but I didn't experience my knee pain at all. Whatever I did for core strengthening and tapering in the past fews weeks must have paid off! In general I felt really great during this run. I drank a ton of water before the race, after receiving some good advice from a patient last week who runs marathons, and kept drinking water throughout. I tried some Skratch powder instead of Powerade and it really made a difference for me.
The pre-race hydration was my savior during this race! I didn't struggle with any of my normal stomach issues or post-race need to curl up in fetal position for 6 hours. I was actually able to enjoy the after-party, sip on a few ounces of beer from the Moab Brewery, and visit Arches National Park after the race! I was 5 minutes slower than Nashville but overall really happy with my results and how I felt afterwards. I ended up finishing 54th out of 112 in my age group with a time of 2:18:56. Jaycob finished in about 2 hours. Not bad for his first 13.1 (considering he spent the first half of the race at my 10+ min/mile pace)!
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| The medals are also bottle openers and magnets! |
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| Sorrel River Ranch |
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| Half Marathon finisher! |
I would love to do this race again in the future!
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