Each Day Is a Gift

St. George Half Marathon

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Location:

UT,

Member Since:

Oct 14, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

85 marathons, 5 times Utah Grand Slam finisher (division winner twice).

7 Bostons (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016).

Two 50Ks, one 50 miler (Pony Express).

A handful of AG wins in all distance races.

Marathon PR: 3:57:09 (Boston'08)

Half Marathon PR: 1:48:41 (Bryce Canyon '11)

10K PR: 47:50 (Spectrum 10K '09)

5K PR: 22:31 (Nestle 5K '08)

Short-Term Running Goals:

2017 Races:

June 10 - Utah Valley Marathon (5:13:43)

June 24 - Morgan Valley Marathon (5:49:01)

July 8 - Hobbler Half (2:19:37, 2nd AG)

July 24 - Temple to Temple 5K (27:43)

July 29 - Timp Half (2:08:01, 3rd AG)

Aug 26 - Mt. Nebo Marathon (5:16:16, 3rd AG)

Sep 16 - Huntsville Marathon (4:48:53)

Oct 7 - St. Geroge Marathon (4:57:11)

Nov 4 - Canyon City Marathon (5:30:07)

2018 Races:

Jan 13 - St. George Half (2:19:45, 3rd AG)

Mar 3 - The Woodlands Marathon (5:01:35)

Apr 6-7 - Ragnar So. California

June 1-2 - Ragnar Wasatch Back

June 9 - Utah Valley Marathon (5:19:22)

June 30 - Morgan Valley Half

Sep 1 - Pocatello Marathon (6:00:43)

Sep 15 - Huntsville Marathon (5:37:08)

Oct 6 - St. George Marathon (5:25:43)

Oct 20 - SoJo Marathon (5:29:23)

2019 Races:

June 1 - Utah Valley Marathon (5:44:24)

June 22 - Morgan Valley Marathon (6:15:13)

Aug 31 - Pocatello Marathon (5:38:47)

Sep 14 - Big Cottonwood Marathon (6:03:51)

Oct 5 - St. George Marathon (5:57:46)

Oct 12 - SoJo Marathon (5:55:45)

2020 Races:

Jan 18 - St. George Half (2:38:28)

Feb 15 - Sun Marathon (5:51:54)

May 5 - Conquer Covid-19 Virtual Marathon (5:49:07)

May 16 - Clear Creek Canyon Half Marathon (2:32:15)

May 25 - Utah Valley Virtual Marathon (5:33:110

June 9 - Independence Run Virtual Marathon (5:55:22)

Long-Term Running Goals:

Run happy and healthy all the days of my life. Be an example and inspiration to my family.

Personal:

I'm 64, retired RN, happily married, nana to 14 beautiful grandchildren, mother to 6 children (1 daughter, 5 sons) who are kind, hardworking, caring, wonderful people! Wish they live closer!!! :) :) :)

Picked up running in 2005 at age 50, to stay healthy so I can take care of my husband who had endocarditis resulting in AVR and MVR in 2004, end stage renal failure in 2014, kidney transplant on Dec 30, 2015. Six months after the kidney transplant, we discovered that he has a rare auto-immune disease that was probably triggered in 2004 with then the undiagnosed infective endocarditis. The doctors had to make up a name for this rare disease, Monoclono Gammopathy with Renal Significance (MGRS). It is not curable. After desperately trying different chemotherapies, the doctor finally found one immuno-therapy, Daratumamab, that works to treat the MGRS. It is a miracle!!!

Grateful for the gift of life, blessings, dear friends and loved ones!!! Thankful for the ability to move, walk, jog, and yes run!!!!

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00
Saucony Guide ISO Wide Lifetime Miles:						311.91
Saucony Guide ISO Lifetime Miles:						313.31
Sacony Guide ISO (2) Lifetime Miles:						225.26
Altra Torin (sz 7) Lifetime Miles:						44.49
Saucony Guide 10 (2020) Lifetime Miles:						60.91

Sat, Jan 19, 2013

Race: St. George Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 02:01:23, Place in age division: 4

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
13.10	0.00	0.00	0.00	13.10

So nice to sleep in at Karen's mom's house, with own bed and bathroom! Karen and I left the house just before 8am with a stop to fill up the car and got to the Dixie Center with 45 min to spare. I got a little sentimental realizing that this might be my last time running this Half Marathon. This is my 7th consecutive SG Half, as part of the Runner's Series to get into SGM. Next year I won't need to run the RS for my 10th SGM. This is one of my favorite halfs (Spanish Fork Half being the other one). It is an honest course, well organized, plus where else in Utah in the dead of winter can you run a half marathon with beautiful scenery and weather, not to mention seeing so many wonderful running friends and FBRers! :)

Toby and her neighbors found me and Karen and we went to take my overnight bag to Toby's car. (I have asked to hitch a ride home with her). The three of us started together about 90 seconds after the gun. Temp was probably 29 as Toby nearly slipped on some black ice going to the car. The weather was perfect with clear blue sunny sky, NO wind. We chatted away for 6 miles. I was talking up a storm about running form when the first hill came upon us. I demonstrated how pumping the arms helped lift the knees for uphill running and unintentionally ran ahead. Toby and Karen stayed close. I never looked at my Garmin as it was hidden under the sleeves of my two layers of long sleeve shirts. I just ran by feel and frankly didn't want to know how badly my fitness level has slipped. I am guessing that if my fitness level is back to when I was a newbie in 2007 where I ran my first Painter's Half, I would probably be running somewhere around 9:30 pace. Lo and behold at mile 9ish, I took off my top layer and saw our average pace right on at 9:30. It's encouraging to me that my breathing felt good, no tightness to speak of, stride was smooth and fluid. YES! my legs remember how to run on pavement! :)

With 5K left to go, I told Karen we ought to pick up the pace a little. With 1 mile to go, I said to Karen, "this is our daily run between your house and mine, one mile, we can do it, we'll finish with enough time for you to make your drive back to Vegas for Grace's 2nd soccer game!" How's that for pep talk! :) With probably half mile to go, almost at the exact same spot Kelli spotted me last year, there was Kelli running back on the course to look for her friend, Wendy. So Kelli ran with us to the mile 13 marker. It was so great to run a little with her. RAD and Misty, and Karen's sister, Julie, were at the finish to greet us. :)

After crossing the finish, we quickly grabbed some chocolate milk and goodies, said goodbye to Karen and went back to Toby's hotel. It was so wonderful to have Toby's company, I have missed her so much. The drive home with a stop at Cafe Rio was so fun and will remain one of my treasured memories! :)

For a side note, I seem to always take 4th place in my AG in this race no matter how slow or fast I run this thing. RAD called me and said that the unofficial posted result had me taking 3rd place and she would pick up my award for me. I reminded her how two years ago, I stayed for the award only to have them not call me up...not doing that again. Lo and behold, yep, I took 4th again! :)

Elixir 6 (black/pink) Sz 7 Miles: 13.10

Night Sleep Time: 7.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 7.00	Weight: 0.00

Comments

From timp on Sun, Jan 20, 2013 at 02:27:49 from 99.110.188.230

great job Smooth!!

From The Quiet Pirate on Sun, Jan 20, 2013 at 14:43:18 from 67.238.139.242

Smooth- You're one amazing woman. It's great that you were able to run with Wendy and not have any complications on your run. Congratulations on a wonderful run and for 4th place in your AG.

From flatlander on Sun, Jan 20, 2013 at 15:03:20 from 76.31.26.153

Good report and good race. I have had a couple of races lately where I have dropped in the age group standings because somebody comes up and shows a faster time on their Garmin, even though they have no chip time on the computer. Not important, but still kind of annoying, maybe even a little suspicious.

From Teena Marie on Sun, Jan 20, 2013 at 18:05:06 from 75.165.251.79

WOW!!!! :) :) :)

Sounds like you had an amazing time!!

Congrats on another excellent race, feeling fluid and having a remarkably strong finish. :)

Luvs!!! :)

From Bec on Sun, Jan 20, 2013 at 19:55:32 from 72.191.19.182

The 4th place curse!! Great job Smooth, glad to see you are running and enjoying yourself with two other lovely ladies. I really enjoyed reading your race report. SGhalf is a beautiful and honest course, glad you enjoyed yourself in some winter heat. It's 70 here. :)

From Andy on Mon, Jan 21, 2013 at 13:05:45 from 199.190.170.22

Wish I knew you were there and within a couple of minutes of my finishing time (I paced 2 hours). Sounds like you had a great run.

From Smooth on Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 22:44:22 from 71.35.231.124

Tim ~ thank you! :)

QP ~ thanks! it was a wonderful weekend in sunny St. George doing things I love!

Flat ~ I think this is the slowest or may be 2nd slowest of the 7 SG Halfs that I've run. They have changed the course a few times over the years and always a popular race drawing people from all over Utah and neighboring states. It is just weird that I've taken 4th in my AG every time. Two years ago, I stayed for the award ceremony when I saw the posted result but they didn't call my name. When I got home later I checked the website which reported the 1st place gal with chip time and no gun time. Even the overall winner had a one second gun time difference. So who knows!

Teena ~ I had a fun time. I did not race this thing. I'm in no shape to race anything right now. Just run for fun to fulfill my Runner Series requirement and enjoy the sunshine, fresh air and wonderful company. It is sad that my fitness level has fallen so much. Last year I ran 1:53 on a rainy day, same course and only 2 or 3 weeks after running a hilly Angel Marathon. Oh well, it is what it is! :)

Bec ~ Yep, 4th place curse...1st looser as RAD calls it, sigh! :) But not complaining as I was expecting to not make top five being so slow this year. And yes, SG Half is beautiful and running with Toby and Karen was just heavenly! :)

Andy ~ I saw you standing around inside Dixie Center among all the pacers but I was standing in the potty line and then I had to look for Toby so I didn't get a chance to come over to say hello. Dang if I'd known you were the 2 hr pacer I would've run faster to catch your group. We did pass Becky's and Kim's 2:10 group around mile 5. It was so fun to see her. She was having a fun time as well. You guys are awesome pacers! :)

From Kelli on Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 16:08:57 from 67.172.235.55

Why cant they get the awards right? That is LAME!!

It was great to see you, it has been such a long time. I miss ya! I finally got my computer fixed so maybe I can get back to blogging and catch up with everybody! I was sad you and Toby were already gone!! Wendy was only about 3 minutes behind you so Io thought I would see you guys.

From Smooth on Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 16:20:37 from 71.35.231.124

Kel ~ I miss you too! It was so fun to be down in SG and saw you for just a bit and had you running a little with us. Wish it was longer! :)

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