American Fork Canyon Half Marathon

Training started in April and ended this past weekend with a fantastic run. Back in March, I signed up for the American Fork Half Marathon. I hadn’t run it before but I had heard great things about it so I signed up.

In years past I have only signed up for races that occur at the end of the summer. That way I have all summer to train in the warmer weather. However, I wanted to run this race bad enough that I decided to sign up anyway. Training went well with very little injury. The worst part was training alone. The gal I normally run with was expecting and so I ran alone. However, when I got to my 9 and 10 mile training runs I decided to call and old friend who was also running the race.

That is when the running went from a chore to a lot of fun. So for the past month I have been training with Janie and her friend Sheila. By the end of the month we had run all parts of the course and I felt fairly comfortable with it.

Saturday morning Janie picked me up at 3:50 am (yes, really AM!). We got up to the start by about 4:45. Start time was 6:00. I felt pretty good and was thrilled to finally run the race. I had been stressing it all week so I wanted to get it done. My goal was to find the pacer holding the 1:50 sign and get a couple minutes ahead of him in the canyon so I could keep that pace even during the flat part. For the most part I accomplished my goal. I had a bad mile 11 which probably increased my time by a minute. I ended up finishing at 1:52 (8:32/mile). I was hoping to stay under 1:50 but that will give me a good goal for next year. I finished the last 1/4 mile strong and passed several people in the end.

Sheila and I a couple miles into the race.

My sweet husband and artistic young girls left the house at 10:30 pm the evening before the race (just after I went to bed) and went out along the route and drew signs of encouragement along the trail. They wrote “mighty” because that is part of our family cheer and they knew I would know what it meant. I had drawings at mile 2, mile 7 and mile 9. It was just what I needed to stay motivated when things got tough. It even brought tears to my eyes at mile 7. I sure am lucky to have such a great cheering squad.

Headlamps and all…the girls out in the dark with Seth making ME signs. So sweet!

Overall, I was very pleased with myself and I loved the race. It was the best run race I have ever participated in. Plus, all the proceeds go to cancer patients. There were quotes and stories posted along the way from cancer survivors and those who lost their battle as well. I ran with our old friend, Uncle Z (Zenon), in mind. He lost his fight with cancer a couple years ago. I am grateful for a run to help us honor the lives of our friends and family who have fought the fight. I don’t like cancer, not one bit. As a matter fact, CANCER SUCKS!

Here I am pointing to my signature on the “Cancer Sucks” sign.