catherine's running efforts

Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon

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Location:

Provo,UT,USA

Member Since:

May 06, 2009

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

5K: 21:01, 9/11/2010

10K: 43:49, 7/24/2010

15K: 1:21:00, 5/22/2010

Half-marathon: 1:41:41, 8/28/2010

Short-Term Running Goals:

Now that I'm (almost for sure) done having all the babies, I'm working on building consistency and seeing how fast I can get in my old age. ;)

Long-Term Running Goals:

I'd like to be a healthy and relatively injury-free runner for the rest of my life.  

Personal:

I'm married to Eric (Faceless Ghost on the blog) and we have very active daughters and one dog. I have a PhD in sociology and demography, and I'm incredibly grateful to have work that is meaningful and that builds on my academic experience. I run because it makes me feel strong and it helps to keep the crazy away (there is a long history of abuse and mental illness in my extended family).

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Brooks Cascadia Lifetime Miles: 73.39
Saucony Kinvara Lifetime Miles: 372.79
Girly Altra Lifetime Miles: 366.08
Kinvara 3 Lifetime Miles: 175.92
NB Orange Lifetime Miles: 13.50
Race: Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon (12.98 Miles) 01:50:41, Place overall: 75, Place in age division: 21
Total Distance
22.06

Last night I found out one of my neighbors was planning on running 9 miles out of the canyon after the half today, and I thought about doing that with her. But then I found out that RAD et al. were doing 5 before and 4 after, and I thought, "Self, you know you're not going to go run 9 miles after you finish." So I decided to go with them. Because I wanted the miles and because I knew that I wasn't going to PR anyway.

I met RAD, Toby, Smooth, and two other people who were very nice but whose names I can't remember right now at around the starting point, and we went out and about for awhile before the race started. I was worried about finding a potty and meeting up with Eric (see how I put "finding a potty" first so that it wouldn't sound like I was meeting up with Eric in the potty?) so I just got 4.42 miles then (9:24, 9:14, 8:51, 9:05, ~10:00 for .42).

Zero and Drop were at the start! I hung around them for the first mile (until they dropped back to spread the love) because they're kind of a big deal and because Zero was doing his accent for a bit. I was hoping that we could pretend that the whole race was some sort of wildlife hunt, but I know that's a lot to ask. They did tell Eric that they loved him. He appreciated that.

I felt really good for the first few miles. I had had one of my yummy Triaminic-flavored gels at the start and one again after 5 miles, and after each I'd take water at the next aid station. After the first downhill I dropped into a potty to make sure the tank was empty, but really I could have gone the whole run without (yay yay yay probiotics for fixing the 2010 battle with the trots). When we were halfway done I started regretting the earlier miles just a bit, but when there were 5 miles left I had my third gel and felt good to go again (the gels have 50mg of caffeine each - how much is too much? Should I alternate caffeine/no caffeine?). The area was pretty, but the course was a little distracting with the ups and downs and twists and turns and I didn't ever really feel like I could just think about what was around me. I had read that the pacers ("pacers") would be banking time early on toward the golf course and so I was a little nervous about what the golf course stretch would be like. At the time it wasn't my favorite, but in retrospect I guess it wasn't that bad and maybe I'd do it again sometime. I was also a little bummed a few times through the race because I knew I wasn't being fast, but I kept thinking about a quote I had read on someone's FRB yesterday (I can't remember whose it was) about how comparison is the enemy or keeps us from our goals or something and I tried to just run Catherine's pace. At the end I wasn't unhappy with my time given the day and my training ("training"), and I felt ready to do at least a few more miles as long as there weren't any hills (7:57, 8:33, 8:01, 9:03 (potty stop), 8:39, 8:51, 8:51, 8:33, 8:35, 8:23, 8:53, 8:39, 8:35). 

I lollygagged around at the end with Eric, Elliott, my parents, and others before a couple more miles with the peeps from earlier (11:05, 10:27, something for .46 but I forgot to stop my watch) until I wanted to go back to see our FRBers win their prizes (I knew Melody and Lily were first and second in the 5k) and meet up with Eric again. It was fun seeing Melody - I don't think I've seen her for about a year and a half? and I was *so* impressed with how full-on legit athlete she looked. We read on her blog about how hard she's worked, but seeing her really kind of drove it home. And of course she and all the FRBers I saw today were so sweet. I love our FRB community and am grateful it has space for fast and slow alike. :)

Later in the evening Eric and Elliott and I went out for another couple of miles to round things up (9:30, 9:17, 9:38 for .2). I'm glad that I get to be married to my favorite person to run with.  

Girly Altra Miles: 22.06
Weight: 0.00
Comments
From RAD on Sat, Apr 28, 2012 at 19:06:09 from 98.202.23.178

The quote is Kelli's blog title: COMPARISON is the THIEF of JOY

As far as gu - I usually only take one in the half (I only took one the whole run(s) today), so I'm useless with advice there. Except that I'd think you'd just want to prevent the caffeine crash, which I think is about 60-90 min after taking one, so in a half I think you'd be okay the way you did it.

All that said, CONGRATS on getting a good BIG mileage day in. I was SO excited when I saw your name on my phone this morning. You did a great job getting them done and getting some good pace miles in the middle. I love the FRB community too! I really regret not starting out with you and AltraManiacs, should've just done it and stopped my doubting and whining!

Thanks for hanging out with me and listening to my ramblings...I needed a little vent :) but, then again I think you know with me you should always expect an ear full!

From jun on Sat, Apr 28, 2012 at 19:16:55 from 65.130.137.173

Wow, what a great day. It was awesome to see both you and Eric (and Elliot, of course). Congrats on a successful race and lots of miles.

From runningafterbabies on Sat, Apr 28, 2012 at 19:29:05 from 71.195.219.247

Fantastic job, Catherine. For the record, that was a tough course! You did great. My opinion of caffeine is that it has magical powers, but must be used with care. I've always stuck to the rule, once you take some, keep taking it every 45 min or so or you could crash. And thanks for the compliment, but can I echo that to you. You look so amazing. I looked for you later but didn't see you. I didn't get to talk to you long enough!

From Carina on Sat, Apr 28, 2012 at 21:07:37 from 204.15.86.83

What a great running day for you, you got some

awesome miles today!!! I'm do sad I didn't get to meet you in person, hopefully soon :)

From Toby on Sat, Apr 28, 2012 at 21:15:09 from 199.101.229.6

It was so wonderful to meet you this morning! You ran such a wonderful race and you are so ready for a marathon! We will need to get together soon and go for a run. I won't be the least bit offended if you drop me !!!!!!

From Lily on Sat, Apr 28, 2012 at 21:45:12 from 67.199.178.210

I love that quote and your baby is so cute! You did great today. Seeing you guys was really a treat.

I love this blog too. Slow or fast, it doesn't matter. Were a tight knit community!

Anytime you want to do a Saturday run, let me know. I am up for it anytime! :)

From catherine on Sun, Apr 29, 2012 at 10:42:01 from 98.202.112.38

RAD - Thanks! It was fun running with you. And usually I think I probably would have 0 or 1 gu in a half because I've never been able to eat more than gatorade or something without getting sick, but I'm experimenting with different things to see what works. I'm really glad that what I've been trying seems to be working. I hadn't thought about the crash factor, so i'm glad you (and RAB) pointed that out.

Thanks Jun!

Thanks Melody. It'll be fun to talk to you more at races this summer. We might see you next week - we're going to cheer for Eric's sister at the full.

Carina - I'll send you a message and maybe we can run together this week?

Toby - We really should. I'll send you a message. And I don't want to run faster than you do.

Thanks Lily! It was good to see you too! And we should do a Saturday run sometime.

From Dorsimus on Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 09:36:31 from 209.23.248.163

Nice job out there!! Way to rack up the miles!! That course is a lot of fun, but certainly not your traditional half course! It was great to see you guys, as always.

From Lily on Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 21:14:58 from 67.199.178.210

I was just noticing your miles for the half... was it a little short then?

From catherine on Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 21:22:42 from 98.202.112.38

Thanks Dorsimus!

Lily - That's what showed up on my Garmin at the end. I'd bet that with all of the turns there's some variation.

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