How to Gain Weight While Running 13.1 Miles

Just run in the pouring rain! I crossed the finish line of the Provo City Half Marathon about ten pounds heavier than I started because my clothes were so drenched! A few seconds later I saw Scott walk up to me holding a discontent Boston inside his coat. They both had rain dripping down their faces so I sent them straight home before I could even tell them how my race went. Boston has had a runny nose for awhile, so all I could think about was how fast I wanted him to get back in the car and out of the rain.

My friends Sherstin and Trevor came to see me finish as well. Talk about good friends! Not only did they come out in the pouring rain, but they were so thoughtful to bring me some dry sweats to change in to! I was so grateful for those dry sweats!! It rained the entire race, and there was even a little hale, so I was soaked to the bone and freezing when I finished. I wanted to stay for the raffle after the race because they were giving away a treadmill!!! I thought that was worth freezing a little longer for, but I wouldn't have been able to do it if it weren't for the sweats Trevor and Sherstin brought me! One lucky person went home from that race with a brand new treadmill. It wasn't me, and I'm jealous of whoever it was. I did, however, win two tickets to the Covey Center for Arts. We get to go see a play or a symphony there! We love plays, so that was definitely worth waiting around in the rain for!

I was a little disappointed with my time at first because I ran 4-5 minutes slower than I was hoping to, but considering the circumstances I realize that I shouldn't really be disappointed at all. I don't think my legs were all the way recovered from the race I did last Saturday. I feel like my heart and lungs could have handled to go the same pace the second half of the race as I went the first half, but my right hamstring was tightening up and I had to stop and stretch it about 5 different times so it would keep moving for me. I kept up an average of a 7:27 pace for the first half of the race, and then it dropped to an 8:30 average for the second half. My overall time was 1:44, so it ended up being a 7:58 average overall. I decided I was happy with that, and I was especially happy that my overall average was under an 8:00 pace.

Now I'm going to take it easy on the training for the next two weeks and hope that I'm fully recovered and ready to run a good marathon on May 15th! Please let it be lucky #7! I have put in lots of hard work the past 3-4 months. Now all I can do is hope for the best! (I'm not usually so worried about my marathon performance because I'm usually happy just to finish, but this marathon is more important to me for a few different reasons. I'll explain them after the race.)


Kind of a bummer that we have zero pictures from this race due to the rain, but maybe I'll just take a picture of me holding my number later so I have something for my running scrapbook.