Kick Like a Girl: Freedom Half Marathon 2011

Salt Lake City Freedom Half Marathon—July 4th 2011
2:01:30

I was really excited about this race because the website boasted it as being a “SUPER FAST” race. Another plus side was that I couldn’t go overboard on my 4^th of July celebrations because I had to run a half marathon. Justy and I reserved a room at the Radisson in downtown SLC, which was where packet pick up was also. I wasn’t feeling the Expo, mostly because it was the holiday and I just wanted to get in and out. Give me my bib and get me outta here! The Radisson was beautiful and we got a pretty decent runner’s rate. The race started early and we had to be at the State Capitol building early to get a ride on the bus. Traffic on all of the one-way streets was kind of crazy, but luckily there wasn’t a ton of traffic. I wished that since the hotel was a sponsor, that they would have given us a ride to the buses. Mostly because I felt bad getting my husband up at 5am on a Monday morning that he had off of work & school. But, nonetheless he was a great sport (as always!). He sat in the parking lot and waited for me until I was done. Ah, true love. They bussed us up the canyon and I was getting excited – thinking “heck yes this IS going to be all downhill”. We got to the top and despite there being a few hundred runners there were only 4 porta-potties. Luckily they got us up there really early so we could stand in line forever. Downside? I usually have to go twice…once to get the morning business taken care of before running….and a second time for my nervous pee. Lots of people were dressed all crazy-like for the 4^th of July holiday. I felt honored to have sat next to an Air Force pilot who was running his first Half Marathon. I felt a sense of pride for my country, and a TON of gratitude for those who serve & fight for our freedoms. It’s all I could think about on Independence Day. The gun went off and we went storming down the caynon. I was doing 8 min/miles for the first 6 miles of this race. All downhill & smooth roads. I was so excited. We hit mile 8 and then we started to go uphill towards University of Utah (which sits on the side of a mountain). I started to feel it in my body that this race was not going to be easy. Uphill + Hot = Miserable. We got to this one point and I was looking around me at the beautiful foothills when I noticed some crazy people running on some hiking trail on the side of the mountain. I simply thought they were crazy, and kept forging ahead.

All of a sudden I noticed that I was apparently going to be crazy also and run on that ridiculous 1-man-wide trail. I couldn’t even run it was so steep. I was walking, everyone was walking. I was shaking my head, and people laughed when I said “YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME” in a very very loud voice. Hoping that someone would come over and say “Hey, dorkus, you’re on the wrong course!” But, nope-no such luck. I couldn’t even look ahead to see how far I had left because I was so worried that I was going to trip over a rock. I tried really hard to think of positives: Hey Look! I can see the finish line from here! (Still far…dangit). Hey! That stupid guy with his video camera trying to catch every single step his wife is taking can’t follow us up here! Sweeeet! (Although it was a sweet gesture to show his support for his wife, it was annoying as could be. I wanted to slap him.)

Once we finally got off the hiking trail on the mountain we were on a steady straight course to the end. I could see the Capitol building from a few miles away—when the realization hit me—the Capitol is on a hill-no wonder I can see it so clearly! I was a bit frustrated with the aid stations by this point as they were handing out about a TABLESPOON of water in the mini cups they were handing out, every 4 miles. I was ticked off. By this point I was so warm and dehydrated that I was willing to pay the police officer $50 for his water bottle. He thought I was crazy. I was dead serious. My mouth felt so dry that I debated licking the sweat off my arms. Finally I reached the last mile and I can’t remember the last time I ran so hard knowing that at the end of the race I could finally have some water. In fact, I was sprinting so fast that I almost took out this large lady who decided to stand in the street on the corner where we were turning towards the finish line. People were yelling at her to get out of the road, but I just gave her the elbow and kept on my way toward the finish line. Water. Water. Water. That is the one word going through my head. Ok, I’ll admit by this point I was also thinking I could magically get to the finish in under 2 hours. No such luck. I pulled out with a 2:01…but not bad considering I climbed a few mountains in the process. J Overall it was a great patriotic way to spend my Fourth of July. I was even more grateful for the volunteers because I knew they were doing this on a holiday. Finishing at the capitol building made my day. The technical t-shirts were great and patriotic, but not too flashy. Probably one of my favorites to wear.