Blacksmith Fork Freedom Run

On Saturday I ran my first 15k. 9.3 miles! It was in Blacksmith Fork Canyon, near Hyrum. I have to say, at every one of these running events I sign up for, I'm ALWAYS surprised at how many people actually show up! It's good, it's just funny. I guess I don't expect anyone else to get up that early, or to sign up for a crazy long run to begin with.

During my 10k (6 miles) several weeks ago I kept counting down the miles and constantly thought about how long it was. Plus I had a side ache the whole time. This run went really well. I learned how to breathe so I would have side pains, and I ran strong and consistent, at a good pace. It also felt great having the race be downhill most of the way. It was a beautiful run, and I felt good. And I wasn't counting down TOO bad so I was actually surprised that I wasn't "suffering" with the distance like before. It was either flat or downhill the whole time until the 7th mile, which was a huge incline for at least a quarter mile. But I was strong! I didn't have to walk (although I walked for a second since the water station was there–no drinking while running!) and passed some people, and I stayed ahead of this one lady I was trying to beat and/or run with for the last few miles. So after that we were in Hyrum, running down to the park. I had no idea where the finish line was, but I saw the 8 mile marker, so I started speeding up. I felt pretty good so just kept with a strong pace and passed lots of people. That one lady was on my tail, but I had a good lead. I was feelin pretty confident.

I'm trying to see the finish line past all the runners and trees, when I noticed the 9 mile marker. Yes! .3 miles to go! I'm awesome! Then someone shot me in the ribs. Okay, not really, but seriously, out of no where I had the sharpest side pain ever and I had to stop running completely. Oh, and NOW I can see the finish line, GREAT! It was SOOO horrible!!! So all the people I had passed are now passing me and saying "you can do it! Don't give up! Almost there!" I seriously couldn't move. Finally I could barely walk, and I managed to slowly jog through the finish line, but I felt so defeated. It was awful. And AJ was there for me at the finish thank goodness because I needed to cry for .7 seconds about the whole thing. He just kept telling me how I did it and finished...I was so mad though. Still am. 9 freaking miles with no pain, and then BAM!

Then I got on AJ's motorcycle (I was wearing shorts and his big jacket so basically it looked like I had no pants on) and he drove me back to my car at the starting line. That was a long drive! I couldn't believe I ran that far. So anyway, overall I did well. My time was 1 hour 23 minutes, which is better than I thought I'd do time-wise.

So that's the latest on my running progress. My next run is the half-marathon! AHHH!!! 13.1 miles at a super high elevation in Denver. I'm pretty darn excited. August 8th! And even though the side-pain thing is really frustrating, I'm starting to feel like 13 miles is definitely doable now!