Monday, January 18, 2010

My Battle At Soldier Hollow


The 2010 race season is officially underway. My goal for this year is to run at least one race each month, hitting every distance from a 5K to a full marathon. For months, I've been looking forward to this little spin on the 5K adventure. A SNOWSHOE 5K! This past weekend, I ran the Battle At Soldier Hollow (BASH) Snowshoe 5K. It was my first snowshoe race, and it was a BLAST! Since it was the inaugural BASH snowshoe 5K, so there wasn't too big of a turnout, possibly 50 or so racers.


I did better than I thought I would, most likely due to the snow being so packed down. Nonetheless, it was still a killer workout. I love the beginning of races, once the nerves get flushed out. It's when I catch myself smiling and enjoying the scenery around me. This race did not fail. As soon as the gun went off, I immediately cracked a smile as I adjusted my running pattern to accommodate for the very large contraptions strapped to my winter boots. It didn't take long to get into a rhythm, and at one point thought to myself... "I got this. This isn't bad at all!" That was when I thought I was at the halfway point, but I was, in fact, NOT. I was probably a quarter to a half mile from the turnaround point. Once I hit the ACTUAL turnaround point, I was then thinking... "Okay, this is pretty hard." I kept pushing through, but my mind got the best of me the last half mile, when I had to stop and walk a few of times, but not to worry... it was never more than a minute combined, and I KNEW no other female was going to catch up to me. Unfortunately, I also knew the female ahead of me was going to extend her lead. Oh well... I decided I'd battle it out for second. I finished strong with a time of 28:35, and even though I was the number one loser, I DID get comments on how stylish I looked. Second place overall female isn't bad for my first time out, and hey... I lost with STYLE. Just wait until next year. I plan on smashing it.


As for the rest of the year, here are my racing plans. I dare you all to join me! :)

February - Sweethearts 5K (Bountiful)
March - Shamrock 5K (with AJ & Emily Ty) & L.A. Marathon
April - La Jolla Half Marathon
May - Smithfield Days 5K/10K (not sure which distance I'll run)
June - Utah Valley 5K & Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back
July - Freedom Run 15K (Blacksmith Fork Canyon) & Provo 10K
August - Top Of Utah Half Marathon
September - Top Of Utah 5K or Pocatello 5K
October - I'll find something... possibly Ragnar Relay Las Vegas
November - Malibu Half Marathon & Turkey Trot 5K
December - Moab 10K

Whew... that's a lot of miles. I'm looking forward to making more memories and PRs.

"Consistency requires discipline. Force yourself out the door."
-Bob Glover & Shelly-Lynn Florence Glover

4 comments:

Melissa said...

Tony will do the Vegas Ragnar with you. No commitments from me though. Porter and I just finished watching all the movies you made for us last year and we have enjoyed every minute of it! Thanks for the memories!

Melissa said...

And now we just finished all of those on your blog. Porter's favorite: "Sly's jumping one".

DottieLou said...

we are doing the sweetheart race also and great job

Sonja Larsen said...

Way to go Sly! You impress me.