My Rainy St. George Half Marathon and Weekend

Friday evening I had to teach piano until 5:00 pm and then when Mark and Cooper walked in the door at 5:05 pm, home from work, we headed out of town.  I had them pack their luggage the night before and I had all the food and luggage and other goods loaded in the car and ready to go earlier in the day.  I put a Costco pizza in the oven at 4:30 pm and we threw it back in the box and headed out the door.  We munched on that as we traveled down the freeway.  Our first stop was at the cute, little, red barn in Santaquin for some super delicious ice cream.  That's pretty much been a tradition of ours for a few years now.  Mark drove the whole way and Cooper sat up front and kept him company.  I sat in the back with my headlamp, since it was rapidly getting dark and read one of Dean Karnazes books.  I'm totally loving this one right now.

I'm thinking someday I want to run a marathon and so I'm reading books about them to hopefully work up the courage to maybe go forward with this thinking and actually do it.

We got to St. George pretty late and got to our Hotel, which my daughter Kali, her hubby Wade and little Miles had already checked into earlier.  We shared the family suite at the Coral Hills, Best Western.  I just got to say right now how awesome of a place that is to stay.  Totally love that Hotel and will stay here every time we come to St. George.  We hung out and played with my cute grandson, watched t.v. and then headed to bed.

Saturday Morning I got up at 6:45 a.m. and looked out the window to find RAIN.....Nooooo!!! I was so looking forward to a beautiful run in the lovely countryside of St. George.  Well, I just decided to make the best of it, tried to keep a positive attitude, and got ready. I had a light breakfast of banana, peanut butter and toast and headed off to the race. 

Wade and Kali

Me and Kali ready for racing!

Getting onto the street where the starting line was located was an absolute nightmare so Mark dropped Me and Kali off at a stoplight and we started bookin' it down the road so we could get there in time.  Good thing too because right as we got there Kali's 5K was getting lined up and ready to go.  I wouldn't get to see her until I finished my race.  Mark waited in the rain and got to see her coming in.  I'm so proud of her and the training she's doing in preparation for her first half marathon this Summer.  This was her first 5K and she ran the whole way in 30 minutes.  Way to go Kali!!

 

Ten minutes after the 5K race left it was time for the half marathoners to get lined up.  It was a very chilly morning and I'm so glad I packed a jacket.  I decided to wear it as I ran because I figured I could just tie it around my waist later if I needed to.  I was also grateful for the long sleeve tech shirt that the race organizers gave us.  I'm really digging this long sleeved shirt.

The race started out with a pretty light sprinkle but continued on raining for the whole time.  It really wasn't too bad and I actually had to take my jacket off because I was getting a little warm.  About the last half hour of my run though it really started coming down and I was getting drenched. At this point I was really wishing for a rain poncho or big trash bag like I saw many people wearing.

 

This St. George Half Marathon course was very beautiful despite the rain.  I loved how it wound us through beautiful neighborhoods, along the Virgin River, and down a paved biking and running path.  I will say though that it was a little more challenging than I had anticipated.  The race organizers said there were a couple of hills in the beginning but the rest of the course was relatively flat.  Ummmm......I really question their definition of relatively flat.  This course had so many hills, but of course going up means eventually coming back down  so that part was fun to me.  The rain also made for some wet feet.  With about 4 or 5 miles left to run I could feel some tender spots forming on my feet and tried to ignore them.  I'm thinking it's time for new shoes again.

I had no expectations for myself with this race.  I hadn't followed any specific training plan for this half but I had just run the New Year's Revolution run of 18 miles three weeks ago and I had continued putting in about 15 miles a week up to this point, so I wasn't sure what this body would do.  My first half marathon last June was 2:38:02.  My second half marathon was in August and was a nice downhill course and that was accomplished in 2:16:02.  So this third half marathon I was pretty pleased to finish in 2:22:37, especially since it was so hilly.  

Crossing the finish line and happy to be done! 2:22:37

I do love me some after race treats, and were they ever good ones too! Oranges, bananas, little mini macaroon sugar cookies, golden spoon ice cream, and chocolate milk.  At least my hubby could have told me to smile while I was shoveling in the goods!

Since we were getting soaked to the bone and we were seriously freezing we didn't hang around to watch the awards ceremony.  I also somehow missed getting my finisher's medal.  Lame-O.  I never saw anybody handing them out.  We headed back to the hotel and rested and napped.  Later that night we went on the town to play.  Kali found a place that has indoor mini golf with black lights.  Pretty awesome!

 Yes that's me with the bleached blond looking hairdo.  I was the official score keeper.

Don't you love it when your grown kids can still rough house and have a good time together?

I'm not sure who has the upper hand but Cooper usually comes away undefeated in these tangos.

 Yeah, pretty sure Cooper won this battle!!

 

Wade and Miles stayed out of the rough housing and played train games on the computer.  That is Miles new favorite thing.  And puzzles.  He's a whiz at them.

Then it was time for dinner and we headed to a Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal.  We came back to the hotel and relaxed and went to bed.  Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast and checked out of the hotel, after I chased Miles around the pool.  He was having a blast sticking his hands in the hot tub and playing with the foamy bubbles.  He also would scream and squeal every time someone would jump in the pool and splash all over. Then before heading home we headed over to visit some friends in Santa Clara before they had to go to church.  On our way out of town we grabbed lunch at Subway's and Wendy's.  The ride home was pretty uneventful.  The roads were clear and dry even though it had snowed up North while we were down South.  Once again my dear hubby drove all the way and I enjoyed some more reading in the back seat, and some lovely, much needed zzzzzzz's.  This was a fun trip but much too short and not warm enough.