Racing in Utah
The Utah Valley Marathon 2018
I have never been to Utah, and personally I never really had a reason to. That was until one of my best friends invited me to her wedding in Park City, Utah. After booking my flight for her wedding, which was taking place on June 9th in the evening, and I figured, why not see if there was a race that weekend. As luck would have it, the Utah Valley Marathon was taking place that morning in Provo, Utah which was just 45 minutes away! How perfect!! Of course, after asking the bride-to-be if it was okay with her that I raced that morning, I signed right up!
As the race got closer, I realized that my flight into Utah did not get in until 9:30pm, which was too late to go pick up my race bib ahead of time. I talked to the marathon staff and they said it was not a problem, but I would need to get to the marathon bus pick up location early to make sure I got my bib. Usually, that is no problem, and I was thankful for same day bib-pick up; however that meant I had to be at the pick up location in Provo by 3:15am.... Well, we had landed in Salt Lake City at 9:45pm, and by the time we made it to Marriott in Park City - which is where we were staying- it was already 11pm. That 45 minute drive to Provo was sounding less appealing at this point. After checking in, and a great 2 hour nap, we were on our way again just after 2am!
Race Day
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| It was so cold at 2am, but the fires kept us all warm. |
It was pitch dark when we got to the bus stop, and I was not the only runner who decided to get on the first bus. Thankfully it was a nice, coach-style bus so it was easy to catch a quick nap on the way to the starting line. When we got to the starting line, I was amazed to see about 30 bonfires set up to keep the runners warm as we waited for the race to start. Considering it was 50 degrees and only 4:00am (the race started at 6am), I did not waste anytime finding a warm fire to cozy up next to. Before every race, I always have an XL sweatshirt on because I am able to fit my arms, legs and entire body into the sweatshirt to stay warm. With the help of the fires and my trusty sweatshirt, I was fairly comfortable while race time approached.
As the starting time grew near, more runners showed up, and by 5:45am we were all standing behind the start. There were 884 marathon runners, and everyone was eager to get started. The start actually startled me, because unlike most races that have the singing of the National Anthem, this race just set off a very loud start gun. Pretty sure I even yelled in surprise, which made a few of my fellow runners chuckle.
The Race
The first 4 miles were out in the country, and we passed some beautiful farms along the way as we ran along the road in the morning sunrise. It was nice to see some of the locals sitting out on their porches waving and cheering as we ran by their properties. As I tried to get into my groove, and maintain a safe pace, careful not to go out too fast, the pacer for 3:15 group came up and started running next to me. I gave her a quick smile, acknowledging she was running next to me. The pacer was very friendly, and began to strike up a conversation with me. Not one to shy away from a conversation, I took my headphones out so I could hear what she was saying. This was her 4th Utah Marathon, but her first time pacing it. She had paced before, and was going to maintain a 7:30 min/mile pace. At first I told myself, "just stay with this pacer", but fairly soon my lungs reminded me I was in no shape to maintain her pace, especially while trying to chat.
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| Not sure if I see the finish, or I am hallucinating! |
I tried again to find my rhythm as the miles continued on, making sure not to go too fast down this 'downhill course'. I now say 'downhill' skeptically, because to my surprise, by the 3rd mile I was beginning to run uphill.... I had read that this course was supposed to be mainly a downhill race, so this early in the race I figured a hill won't hurt - after all, what goes up must come down, right? And we did run down, until mile 5.7... and then another uphill; and another at mile 8; and another at mile 12; and ANOTHER one at mile 16.4!! At this point my legs were done. Its not like I was in a lot of pain, or my legs were cramping, they were just tired! I had mentally prepared them for a downhill course and I swear I was running uphill for longer periods of time than I was running downhill.
Thankfully from mile 18 on, it was mostly down hill, however there was a slight uphill grade from 19.5 to 22 miles - that was brutal! At this point I honestly started calculating how slow my pace could go without risking not qualifying for Boston. 4 miles to go and I had 45 minutes to still make it to the finish line by 3:30 ... yup, a 8:30 pace was looking pretty awesome to me at that point. From mile 24 on, it simply became a mind game as I used every trick in the book to keep myself from walking. I kept thinking:
- "Just one step in front of the other"
- "Just lift the knees up and your momentum will carry you"
And my favorite:
- "Your husband is up there with the camera, don't you dare let him catch you walking!"
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| My husband catching the perfect angle as I crosse the finish line. |
At mile 25, you could see the finish line! At first I thought "no way that is the finish already, it seems so close". And then my NikePlus app sounded for mile 26 and I knew I was almost done. My legs were toasted, my breathing was harsh, and I was really, really thirsty!! As I crossed the finish line, I used all the energy I had to thrust my hands in the air - for that classic finish line photo of course. As I crossed the line, I heard one of the volunteers yell, "Good job Run.It.Off!!" I knew one of my friends from Instagram was going to be working the race, and they were at the line right as I crossed it. It was so exciting being able to finally meet a fellow Instagram runner, it gave me the extra burst of energy I need to keep myself from collapsing. He even snapped some cool pics of me crossing the finish line!
Needless to say, this was not one of my best races, and while I still was able to pull of a BQ, I know my body is ready for a break; and so are my toenails!!
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| Marathon #10 in the book! That means 8 states down, 42 to go! |
Time to recover... at a wedding!
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| Playing dress up! |
Even though after the race I just wanted to go to bed, I had a wedding to get ready for. We rushed back to Park City, took a quick nap and began getting ready. The wedding was so much fun, and my friends could not believe I had ran a marathon that morning - but hey, I heard the cake was going to be really good (and it was!!). While my legs and feet were very sore, I was still able to squeeze them into heals, and managed to dance the night away! The heels may not have lasted the entire night, but we did :)
As midnight rolled around, I was exhausted, and had never been so happy to crawl into bed. Pretty sure I was asleep before I even made it into bed. This was my first Saturday race and definitely my first race when I had an activity planned for that same evening. At first, I was not excited for the race to be on a Saturday. I work Fridays so flying in ahead of time is not an option for me. Plus, running a marathon on 2 hours of sleep obviously is not a smart idea - as my legs informed me earlier that day. However, as Sunday rolled around, and after we finally got some sleep, we had the entire day to explore Utah - and did we ever!!
Exploring Utah
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| The Great Salt Lake |
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| Park "Silly" Market Place. |
Our first stop of the day was to explored the idyllic town of Park City. While searching for a brunch spot, we came across a street
After the lake, we returned to Salt Lake City and drove around to all the top tourist attractions. We saw the Capitol Building (beautiful!), the Clark Planetarium and the Hall of Breakfast. For the Hall of Breakfast, think Museum of Ice Cream but with breakfast food - aka Boomerang heaven!
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| Too much fun at the Hall of Breakfast! |
I never really thought of visiting Utah before this past weekend, but I was definitely impressed! While I will most likely never be running the Utah Valley Marathon again - after all I am trying to only run one race in every state - I could be convinced to spend another weekend in Salt Lake City and Park City.
Now, I am going to be taking it easy for the next few months, as I have finished state #8 in my quest to join the 50 State Club. My next marathon is the San Francisco Marathon in July, but that one I have no time goals for, and will be live-streaming on Instagram to be able to share all the iconic views that are along the race path. Until then, I will keep exploring, keep eating, and I will always continue to Run It Off :)
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