Drop 13 Race Recap and What's Next For Running

It's been almost a month since I ran Drop 13, and so I wanted to get the details out on the blog today so that I don't forget anymore of the details than I already have, and to let you know what's next for me with my current health, fitness, and running goals.

Drop 13 was probably the earliest morning wakeup call that I've ever had for a race. I had to wake up at 3:30 am, and then my friend Jen got to my house shortly after for us to head down to Salt Lake together for the race.

When we got there, we were supposed to be on the "late bus" heading up the canyon to get to the start, but the late bus was later than it was supposed to be, and so we were out waiting in the cold a lot longer than we had expected.

Once we finally got on the bus and started heading up the canyon, I started to feel pretty sick to my stomach. I knew I was in for a long morning if I couldn't get myself to go #2 when we got to the race start, and sure enough that's what it turned out to be.

We got to the top of the canyon with only a few minutes to spare before the race started. We used the honey buckets as fast as we could, threw our drop bags in the trailer, and then headed to the start line with 30 seconds to spare.

As we started heading down the mountain, I started off fast since I knew I was trying to get my sub two half marathon PR, but my body did not like that. I think there was something with the combination of my race nerves, and my already bad GI system, but I had to pull off course around mile 3 to poop behind a dumpster and then make my way back on course. The same thing happened again at around mile 6, and then again around mile 9. By the third time I pulled off I thought that there was no way I would ever get my PR, but I just kept going and pushing.

By the time we made our way out of the canyon at around mile 11, I looked at my watch and noticed that if I walked the rest of the race I would actually still get my PR. This was a huge motivating moment for me, and I decided to capitalize on the time that I had and just kept pushing.

Those last two miles were so hard. My body was exhausted from all of the bathroom stops, and fast running that I'd done the last 11 miles, and all the pounding of the steep downhill, that running those last two flat miles felt like a very slow and painful death.

Right when I saw the finish line in the distance, I kicked it up to a sprint and finished strong, and finally got my sub 2 hour PR... except I completely blew it out of the water! My official time was 1:53:42! The finish line was probably my favorite part of the day. I shared so many happy moments and tears with so many other friends who were rejoicing in their new PRs and it was just the best thing ever!

Moving forward, our family life is changing quite a bit in the fall, which won't allow for as much half marathon training, so I'm shortening the distance quite a bit. I'll be working on a sub 25 minute 5k PR. My current PR for the 5k is 25:30, which I set my senior year of high school after I had graduated. So it's a long standing PR, but the incentive to work hard and finally hit a new mark for that distance is really exciting for me! I also started the Fitness Carli meal plan and am on week 3 and am amazed by the results that I've seen so far! If you want to stay up to date on all of my latest running adventures and healthy meal inspiration, feel free to follow my new instagram account @paigecassandra26.2.