My Big Finish

If anyone knows me, they know that waking up is not one of my strong points.  Believe it or not, I DID manage to wake up at 4:30 this morning to head down to Provo for my big 5K race.  I should get a medal just for that.  Moving on... I convinced my friend Becky to run with me, and met up with her at the park & ride in Salt Lake.  We managed to get to the site by 7:00 a.m. and breeze through check-in.  Well... I did anyway, Becky had a couple of issues going on there as they couldn't find her name on the registration list right off, then she had to switch her shirt size.  After all that and a couple of bathroom breaks (her, not me... I don't do porta-potties), we did our 30 second warmup/stretch, and waited 15 minutes, I swear, for the gun to go off.  

I was off to a pretty good start, some hotshot girl thought she would be cool and get a jump on me, but I was patient and she it wasn't long before I passed her back.  Right off the bat, I had the worst case of dry-throat, and wasn't too happy about that, and half way through, I started getting pain underneath my rib cage, similar to being on a very bouncy boat ride.  I kept pushing on, and on the last mile, when the course doubled back and overlapped the first mile, I passed a lady who yelled at me... "You're the FIRST girl!"  I was excited and stressed at the same time to hear that.  I didn't want to lose my status.  I finally peered over my shoulder and saw "Pinky" not too far back from me, maybe 20 seconds behind.  Pinky was super tall and was wearing a pink tank top, hence the name "Pinky".  I kept going as hard as I could, slowing down a couple of times just for a minute, but picking my pace back up.  I ended up finishing with a 20:53 chip time (PR), which is a 6:43 pace, and 10 seconds ahead of Pinky.  Not bad, not bad... AND... I was able to maintain my lead!  I admit I was definitely suffering for a few minutes afterward, but it was all worth it.

Becky finished 3rd overall female with a chip time of 21:34, so she was not far behind either, running a sub-seven as well.  It was awesome we both got trophies, and a neat little podium to stand on, ha ha.  See what I mean about Pinky though?  She's freaking tall. 

So not only did I get a trophy and Seven Peaks water resort pass, but the top finisher for men & women received a Citizen Eco-Drive watch.  I LOVE races that give out prizes.  I think I'll try and defend my title next year.

Next up is the Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back next weekend.  Logan to Park City?  I run 3 legs for a total of 18.4 miles.  My first leg is straight uphill...that's going to be interesting.