Haunted Half

I decided fairly recently to run the Provo Haunted Half Marathon. After running a few Halloween half marathons before (run by a different organization), I had sworn to never run one again. I hadn't had great experiences before in terms of race organization (or lack thereof), hurt my knee once with a steep decline, and it seemed like it was always freezing. When I found out my sister in law was running this race, and it wasn't the same one I had run in the past, I decided to hop on board. I didn't have a whole lot of time for training, but I had been running regularly and got in 3 longer runs before the race. 

I have some friends in my neighborhood I run with, and a few of them ran the race also (their first half!) It was nice having some company and I have really enjoyed running with them. 

My phone freaked out on me at the start of the race so the pictures with my sister in law are on her phone and I still need to get them! Thankfully I was able to get my music working just in time-- I think I would have died without it.

We lucked out with weather. It rained through the night but stopped before the race and it was pretty mild. The course was great (although the stretch between the Bridal Veil Falls parking lot and the mouth of the canyon isn't my favorite). I felt pretty good running. I hit a wall around mile 10, but was able to keep running and finished in 1:56. This is 5 minutes slower than my best time, but I knew going into it I wasn't going to get a new PR and I'm pleased with it.

One of the things I love most about running races is knowing my family is at the finish and ready to cheer me on for that final stretch. 

I made a goal to run a half marathon after having each baby, so this race was for Molly girl. Before the race I was actually 1 ahead, but it didn't count because I hadn't run one since she'd been born. I was planning on running the AF Canyon Half next summer (and likely still will), but I am happy and proud I have accomplished this goal.