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Monday, August 25, 2008

Hobble Creek Half Marathon

Saturday was my very first Half Marathon. You may think I'm a little odd, and backwards, to run 2 full marathons before I ran my first half, but what can I say? I don't always like doing things the right way. :0) My friend, Leslie, is related to the race organizers/directors of the Hobble Creek Half Marathon. She convinced me to run it with her this year. And I now fully agree with her: this is the best half marathon to run!

The course starts about 12 miles up Hobble Creek Canyon. And then you get to wind down the canyon. There are just a few, very short uphill sections, and all the rest down to the finish line are downhill--elevation loss of about 1200 feet! It was fantastic! Since we started up the canyon, my handy GPS watch had a hard time keeping up with the satellite signal. By the end I was off by about 1.5 miles! But I kept track of my time and used the mile markers along the way to figure out my pace. I can't believe how fast the first half flew by! I was cranking out 9-9:15 min miles for most of that! I was very delighted! I started having stomach cramps after about 8 miles, and had to push myself more and rest just a bit towards the end. But I finished in fairly good time, especially all things considered!

The final results were that I ran through the finish line in 2:03:55 (according to my watch)! I was optimistically hoping for 2 hours, but my goal was under 2:05, so I was right where I wanted to be. My overall average pace was 9:28 min/mile for those 13.1 miles.

Now after completing 2 full and 1 half marathons, the only question on my mind is...What's next?

11 comments:

Mama M said...

The Iron Man Triathlon? The entire and original pioneer trek from Nauvoo Illinois to Salt Lake City? Rowing alone across the pacific from Bora Bora to Juneau Alaska?

So little time, so many mountains to climb.

Yo'Mama is proud of you honey!

Nurse Heidi said...

Hee hee. I like your mom's suggestions!! I was thinking of something along the lines of Everest, which is a logical next step ; ). Sure wish I woulda come and run that with you ladies...next year for sure!!

Sarah Coyne said...

My goodness!!! You are quick! You could always see if you could fly to the moon next! Well done on a great run!!!

Joanna said...

There's always the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley, 135 miles, in July. The guy from Jake's home ward finished in a little over 47 hours. Crazy! (badwater.com)

Jim and Brooke said...

Great Job Becky! You are amazing!
Love,
Brooke

Leslie said...

"what's next?"

A triathlon silly! Come on, you know you want too..... :-)

Awesome job Becky! You should be really happy with your time considering you haven't been training as strictly as you did with your marathons, and anyway, you were just enjoying the scenery, right?

Ann said...

GREAT JOB! That's an awesome time!

Sheri Willardson said...

good job Becks!

So, what IS next?

Palomita said...

Wow - great job, Becks! Did you watch the Olympic marathoners? Holy Cow, I had no idea it would be so exciting to watch people run for 2 hours. That was what was amazing - the men gold medalist finished in 2:06! He ran the first 13 miles in 55 minutes! I just remember thinking that I couldn't even sprint as fast as they were running for 26 miles. Pretty amazing.

Montana Mom Marjorie said...

Great Job Becky, you are amazing!

Megan said...

Awesome job Becky! You are a runner extraordinaire!