My Final Race

So last weekend was my final race of the year. I ran the Winter Sun 10K in Moab with my friend Ginger, and her friend Jess. There was absolutely NO sun like promised, and the temperature was somewhere in the teens. Not good when you have to wait at the starting line for a half hour plus. By the time the race started, I was numb all over. My legs seemed to be functioning on their own, and it took a good two miles before I could feel my feet again. I had taken a couple of weeks off from training, and only resumed the week of the race, so I wasn't sure how the outcome would be, but I'm always hoping for a PR. For the first little bit, I tried to take the whole experience in, knowing it was the final race of the year, and enjoyed the scenery despite the bitter cold. It didn't take long before I focused in on my running and trying to maintain as fast of a pace I could. I ended up crossing the finish line at 44:09, which is a new PR. I beat my old time by 1:07. I was pleased with that, and the only thing that would have made the year complete was a medal to go with it. Unfortunately I took 4th in my division, 20 seconds behind the 3rd place runner. That was hard to swallow. All in all, I've learned from each race, whether it be about myself, my capabilities, and tips for next time, it's been a great year and I look forward to making new goals and keep improving for next year.

After the race, we did a little bit of sight seeing, since it was our first trip to Moab. Above I'm climbing up a ladder that goes up through the rocks.

The night of the race, they have a light parade on main street. I felt like I was in "A Christmas Story". You can see Santa in the background.

The next day before we headed back home, Ginger and I took a trip into Arches National Park and did a little bit of hiking. Pictured above we are standing in front of Delicate Arch.

On the hike back down from Delicate Arch, I could resist having a little bit of fun on the trail and jumping over the rock cairns. What a great weekend.