Bryce Canyon 1/2

Marcus came with me at the last minute...and to be honest I really had no idea what i was getting myself into. He has the tendency to get the grumpies...and I was worried that I would have to drag him along the whole time. To my pleasant suprise, he didn't complain once and he even had to wait for me a few times. I loved it and had a total blast. One of my favorite things about it all, is that after it is all over, I get flashbacks of the race in my mind, and I can see it all over again with out the pain in my legs this time. The downhill was much more than I had bargained for. During the race I was fine, but I haven't been able to walk for 2 days. I love running, it is my happy place, even when it hurts. Now I am going to focus on losing 10+ more lbs so it is a little easier on my legs and joints, and cut out the long runs until I get rid of all that extra booty.
5:00 AM Alarm goes off. 5:30 AM I wen't outside to see if we could find a ride so we didn't have to wake up the kids. 6:00 AM Starting Gun fires
Mile 1: 9.03/mile Flat taking it easy
Mile 2 7.10/mile 8% grade downhill....I could have run faster, but I didn't want to over do it
Mile 3 8.44/mile Not as steep, still plugging along. Only 10 more miles. People passing us left and right, there are some serious runners out here.
Mile 4 8.16/mile It is becoming a blur, I am just enjoying the scenery. The sun was rising over the Bryce Canyon cliffs and you could see the silouettes of the trees along the ridge of the mountain.
Mile 5 7.44/mile Finding our pace. Too bad we can't keep this up for long.
Mile 6 7.46/mile I really don't remember too much about this point...loving it!
Mile 7 8.54/mile This is more like it. I keep stopping at the water stations too long. I need to stretch my hip
Mile 8 8.35/mile. Mile 8 is my favorite mile. You have a good chunk of the race done, and you can start looking forward to the finish line. It's kind of like being 30 weeks pregnant.
Mile 9 9.13/mile This must have been when we started going uphill and Marcus had to take a potty break
Mile 10 8.37/mile Only 3 more miles left
Mile 11 9.07/mile Hi Julianne...again! How fun to find friends on the trail. Just past the rock castle on the right, we can see the end
Mile 12 9.20/mile I am dying...
Mile 13 7.39/mile Marcus tried to stop and walk...yea right, I told him he can't walk and he sprinted off and beat me by about 30 secs.
I only had stomach cramps for about 30 minutes instead of all day. We went back to the hotel, swam, and drove home.