DreamBig 2015 - #41 Utah

STATE #41 - Provo, Utah
Utah Valley Marathon
Finishers: 1,658

June 12, 2015

This Friday morning started like most of my pre-race travel morning - I woke up, whined about how I didn't want to pack, got my act together, walked to Marta and got my #8 at the ChickFilA airport. I then boarded the plane and found a couple sitting in my seat. Confused, I approached them and before I could say anything, the man said "Is this your seat?" I nodded to which he replied "Well would you like to sit in First Class". What do you even say to that? DUHHHHHHH. But instead I reconfirmed if he was sure and then sauntered up to my fancy new seat promising him not to drink to much. I was curious who this mystery seat trader was so like all normal people, I googled the name on his boarding pass he had given me. Turns out the mystery man was Beau Turner, son of Ted Turner the Atlanta Media mogul who Turner Field is adoringly named after. Small world, right? I made sure to write Beau and thank you letter and send it back to him in coach via a flight attendant. I watched some movies and did a little work on the plane before landing in SLC where I was to meet my dad who was flying in from Santa Fe. Dad's flight was delayed so I made myself at home at a table and did some more work while I waited for him to arrive.

Here we go! In coach....

Fake Out - Thank you Turner Communications =)

Flying in to SLC

I met dad at his gate and we grabbed a rental car and head down south to Provo, Utah. I forget how gorgeous these mountain cities are in the summer! When we arrived in Provo, home of BYU, we made a stop at the convention center to pick up my race packet and then decided to drive the course so I would know what to expect. The race was all along ONE road - 7.5 were down through the Utah Canyon and the other 5.5 were through town ending in downtown Provo. The 7.5 miles in the canyon was like nothing I had ever seen. Mountains on both sides and just straight up beauty. I had my GoPro hanging out the window the whole time so one day or another I will get that footage put up here.

BYU Football Stadium

Convention Center for Packet PickUp

Driving the Course

After our course tour, we went to a fancy establishment called Macaroni Grill (dad loves his chain restaurants) before checking into the hotel. It was pretty early (9:30pm or so) but we had to meet the buses that would take us to the top of the canyon at 3:30am so I figured I should call it a night. Learned my lesson the hard way with staying up late before Iowa. I laid out all of my race gear and hit the hay before 10pm.

Night night...

June 13, 2015
3AM wake up call - gross. I didn't really have any time to be nervous. I got ready in the bathroom so I wouldn't wake up dad any earlier than need be and then around 3:40AM he drove me over to the buses nearby to catch a bus at 3:55AM up to the canyon. On the bus ride, a lady sat down next to me and we struck up conversation about how it was her first race and she felt like such a rookie and asked me if I had raced before. She had to repeat what I said when I told her this was my 41st half and she was so excited to have a "veteran" of the distance to grill with questions. Loretta, my new friend, was a single mom of four and we got to know each other pretty well that morning and I did everything I could to just ease her nerves and remind her that at the end of the day, she was accomplishing a goal and just out there to have fun! She seemed a lot calmer once we got off the bus and we said our good lucks and went on our way. I had signed up to do a BYU race study so I went and took care of that and then headed down the hill to the start line.

Bus at 3:55AM 

Start Line - not much action at 4:30am

Waiting around for the sun to come up

Panorama of Starting Area

It was an eerie feeling and I was really confused on where I was. It was pitch black and a bunch of sporadically placed tin drums had been lit with fires down the left side of the road that people were huddling around while others were grouped together with blankets against the concrete wall. I walked down as close to the start line as I could where it was more well lit. I has scooped a Delta blanket from my flight to Utah so I had something to keep me warm as an alternative to the tank top I had on. I decided to stretch against the wall and eat my Quest bar and just people watch. I noticed a tall skinny dude with crazy blonde hair standing near the start and overhead someone say "I think that's Ryan Hall". I did a quick google stalk and confirmed it indeed was Ryan Hall - the US record holder for fastest half marathon time - something crazy under 1 hour. I figured I would never see him again so I went up and got a quick selfie with him before he started having to deal with the masses who would quick realize who he was. I sat around a little bit longer as it slowly started getting lighter. I took a little walk back to where all the bonfires had been lit just to look and then went to just stand around for a while. My friend, Loretta, stumbled upon me again and I continued to try and calm her nerves and just have casual chit chat. She was with me until right at 6AM when the crowd started moving and we were off!

Me and Ryan Hall! I later tweeted this picture (below) to which he replied #Badhairday

Getting my feet all ready to roll

Race is about to start - here comes the 5:55am sunrise

Me and my new friend Loretta - so happy I met her and could help out with her jitters

This race was similar to Idaho that it was so gorgeous, I had to hold myself back from taking off like a crazy person. The race had a very encouraging downhill which would usually be wonderful but with my recent knee problems, I made sure to try and not go to crazy and stay controlled. It was cool enough to run in a tank top but be comfortable once I ditched the Delta blanker I had been wearing. The first mile or so was downhill and I was just enjoying the views, mile 2.5 approached and you could see the uphill but it was one of the view uphills on the course so I just had to attack it and appreciate the break for my knees and shins. The miles continued to tick by and I was still feeling good - obviously no clue or care about my pace. At Mile 5, signs started appearing at the side of the road saying "Best Rest Stop Ever - 1 Mile Ahead". The signs continued to talk about how they had water, energy gel, Gatorade, fresh fruit, etc. Then the signs started getting weird talking about cast iron chicken and stuffing and peach cobbler. At one point they even claimed to have caviar but then retracted that statement a few signs down the road. I was so entertained and promised I would stop to eat whatever weird thing they actually did have. Turns out the water stop was manned by the boy scout troop and after getting my essentials like energy gu and water I was thrilled to see a couple panning out small servings of Peach Cobbler so I obviously grabbed some and ate it on the run.

Mile 2ish

Hideous day for a run...not

Mile 7 right after peach cobbler

With only a few more miles left in the Canyons, I continued to take in the views and made my SnapStory at Mile 7. Around Mile 7.5 or 8 we stayed on the same road but bent to the left to head the second stretch of the race down into the town of Provo. At Mile 8 the 10K runners started to merge into our race so the race got a little more crowded which is always encouraging. There was a random guy playing the saxophone so I snapped a picture of him as I ran by. Dad had said he'd be waiting around Mile 8.5 but I didn't run across him until nearly Mile 9.5. Silly dad. I was still keeping a good pace and noticed on my phone that by Mile 10 it was around 7:36am which meant if I really wanted to I may be able to break 2 hours. I didn't stress out about it and continued to just enjoy the race.

Mr. Saxophone - he gave me a good pose but I missed it

Mile 9 - getting closer!!

At the Mile 10 water stop, they were giving out flavored ice pops which probably aren't the best idea while you are running but I just couldn't pass it up. So from Mile 10 to 11 I basically ran with a red freeze pop in my mouth -- makes for some tricky breathing as well but we ran past BYU and their stadium during this stretch into Provo. Once I ditched the freeze pop wrapped I was ready to finish the race. At Mile 11.5 I had a rock stuck in the molding of the bottom of my shoe that I was unable to release even with all of my awkward kicking. Another half mile down the road at Mile 12 my shoe came untied and I had to stop and fix that as well - rookie mistake. With one mile left to go, I could already see the finish line due to the straight road and downhill slope. I knew it was a messed up optical illusion and forced myself not to push myself too much before I was sure I was close enough to the finish. Once the crowds started picking up and I could see completed runners walking back the other way, I knew to engage the finish fuel and start that final kick to the end. Flying through the finishing chute I hear a "War Eagle" in the crowd from dad and smile as I passed under the Finish Line with a clock time around 2:02. I knew I hadn't started near the front of the pack so I had a chance but it turned out I was just shy of 2 hours with a time of 2:00:13. I know the peach cobbler and Popsicle may have easily slowed me down a generous 13 seconds but I would not trade them for anything in the world.

Nicest people ever taking race photos with my phone instead of their required camera

Snap Chat Check In - All done!

Special Guest - David Ahner aka Dad

Official Race Pic - 41 states down ,9 more to go! #DREAMBIG

Beach Bod.

Medal - Bib - #41 check!

I gathered my finish line treats from by FAR the nicest finish line volunteers ever and then met dad outside the finishing area. No joke, every stranger I made eye contact with told me congrats and asked me about my race. It was like an alternative universe where everyone is actually nice - all the time. Dad and I sat near the courthouse and ate my snacks and then we drove to find a good place with mountains in the background to take my photo. Since the race was so early, we made it back to the hotel in plenty of time for the free breakfast so I made a huge waffle with chocolate and peanut butter chips on top and coated the whole thing in butter and honey. So basically it took me all of 5 minutes to eat back the calories I had just burned over the past 2 hours. Once we cleaned up, we got in the car and headed back up into the Canyon stopping at Bridal Falls trail for a little hike. I had already had my fair share of the canyons but dad hadn't gotten to see a lot yet so I obliged and took this as a good chance to try out my new GoPro. We walked a good 2.5 mile up the trail and then back down taking pictures along the way. We then continued on to Park City where we grabbed lunch at Bandits BBQ and then got icecream and walked the downtown.

Heading out of Provo

On our hike - love the Go pro

Hey Dad!

Bridal Veil Falls

Following the River

Lunch in Park City

At one point I saw a truck with an Auburn AU on the back and wanted to write a note to put on the windshield but ended up not needing to because we ran into the couple and their dog soon after! They were both teachers from Coleman, AL who were driving across the country just stopping and exploring along the way. We chatted with them for a while and then continued on to the Park City ski basin to remember about when we used to come out as a family skiing. We checked into our hotel at the Canyons and I took a little tiger snooze before dinner back downtown. I was exhausted so it was a fairly quiet dinner followed by an early trip to bed.

Park City without snow!

The Canyons - night night

June 14, 2015
As always, I was up before I should have been but I just didn't feel like sleeping. I made some coffee and then we went to brunch at the bottom of one of the Park City chairlifts at a place called Silver Star Cafe and had some crazy good brunch. I was in no mode to hike (old people knees) so I suggested we drive up to Deer Valley so dad could try and stalk the Mitt Romney tour who had been there a few days before. We failed. On our way back down the mountain, I saw a statue of a deer and I told dad to stop because I was pretty sure I had a picture next to it when I had come out skiing in Deer Valley in March 2012. As we were stopped, dad thought we were creeping out a man in his driveway. When I took a look, it turned out to be the same Auburn man and his dog from the day before at the house they had rented from an Atlanta friend. We chatted with them for a while before continuing down the mountain and over to the outlet malls for some shopping treats before heading to the airport and back home to ATL. It was a wonderful pre-Father's Day weekend with my dad and I'm super excited he was able to tag along.

Coffee and  the Slopes

Deer Valley

41 states down , 9 more to go!
#DREAMBIG