On Saturday, I ran the Ogden Half Marathon. I was super excited for this race for a number of reasons. This would be my first time running this race, it was supposed to be beautiful, and I was excited to test my last two months of training with my coach. The history of this race the last few years has not been good. It is well known for rain and horrid conditions. I was hopeful that wouldn't happen again, but the weather wasn't looking very promising. There was a good chance of rain and wind. One or the other would be fine, but I wasn't sure about both!

Since Ogden is about an hour from my house, and the buses loaded at 5:00 a.m., I stayed in Ogden. My friend and I stayed together, and we went to the expo, which was fun.

We went and got some pasta, and then headed back to the hotel to sleep! With my alarm set for 3:15 a.m., I got probably seven hours of restless sleep. The night before race day it is always hard to get great sleep, too many jitters. My alarm went off, and I got up and got myself ready. I normally eat toast for breakfast, but the hotel had a bag breakfast, so I ended up with two chewy chocolate chip granola bars, and a Diet Mountain Dew. I hope my coach isn't reading this... (Insert smiley face!) The hotel was offering shuttles to the start line, so I figured I might as well take advantage of being dropped off, and picked up. (Wait for that part!)

I couldn't believe the people at the loading zone. I found a seat on the bus, and at that point it had started sprinkling a little bit. I thought well, if that is all it does, it will be a good race. As we started the ascent up the canyon, it started to rain a bit more. When we arrived at the start line, it started raining cats and dogs! I did bring an umbrella and an emergency blanket, so I thought it would be ok. Thankfully, there was a picnic area that was covered. Nothing like a bunch of runners crammed together under one picnic area. Good thing it was the start of the race and not the end! :)

I waited until the very last moment to head to the start line so I wouldn't be super wet, and I kept my emergency blanket over my head through the start to stay as dry as possible. I dressed well, I had three layers on the top, including a wind breaker jacket. I was a bit worried about my head, as I didn't bring a hood or anything to cover it. I had a hat on, but otherwise that was it.

As I started down the canyon, the wind went crazy, and the rain came down sideways. It almost felt like hail pelting my face. When I rounded one corner, the wind became so bad I had to hold onto my hat, and I couldn't even hear the music in my ear. When I rounded that corner, you don't even want to know what came out of my mouth! Let's just say the swear words were flying left and right. It might have been comical to have a recording of my voice at that point in time.

I was trying to dodge all of the puddles to try and save my feet, but it became pointless to even try. I realized my feet were wet, and I could feel my socks sloshing around with each step. It was at this point, about mile seven, I was trying to figure out how I could get out of the race. I wanted to quit, I was done. My only thought was that I could fake an injury, or I could suck it up and finish. I mean what else could I do? I was stuck in a canyon at least six miles from the finish. The road was closed to traffic, so it isn't like I could call anyone to come and get me, nor could I magically be transported to the finish line! I knew my body could handle it, as my legs didn't feel too bad, but my hands were numb and swollen. I didn't have any gloves, because who needs gloves in May?! Anyway, I figured, I'd made it this far and I was already soaked, so I might as well push on.

Push on is what I did. At about mile eleven, I could feel myself getting tired, and my legs were starting to feel a bit cramped. I knew at this point I'd be run walking my way in to the finish, which I was fine with. My dreams of really testing my pacing and training were well gone by this point, and I was afraid to look at my watch too much, as I didn't want it to die from water log! Thankfully I remembered to take a ziplock baggie for my phone, or that would of been toast too. By the grace of god my headphones survived. Jaybird, you did good!

It was finally time to make that final turn towards the finish line, but oh lord it looked so far away! My pace slowed considerably the last couple miles, and I just wanted it to be over. Finally, the finish line was in sight, and when I crossed I cannot tell you how happy I was it was finally over! I ended up finishing in 2:37. Not a PR by any means, but given the conditions, I will take it. Half number fourteen is in the books, and it will go down as the hardest craziest race of my life to date!

There were volunteers handing out emergency blankets, which I gladly took. I got my medal, and then tried to take stock of how I was. All three top layers were soaked. Let's face, everything I had on was soaked. I told my friend I felt like I was wearing a wet diaper. Yes, I know, TMI. I just can't explain to you how crazy nuts this race was.

Due to the weather, the finish line festivities were pretty dismal. I got my drop bag, and my friend and I decided we should figure out how to get the shuttle back to the hotel so we could get some dry clothes and head home! Here is the best part, we call the hotel, and were informed that the hotel was not shuttling people back from the race! WTH!!! Who does that, and doesn't inform the shuttle rider that they can't even get back to their car! We sat in the massage tent, soaking wet, freezing cold, and I actually said, we are going to die here. I am thankful my friend was there at that point, as I might of sat in that tent and started to cry in denial. She got me up, and said lets go find somewhere we can get a cab. We had now not been running for at least 10 to 15 minutes, so of course we were really starting to feel cold. We ended up at a nearby hotel, and they called us a cab. Thank you to the nice front desk person for letting us take shelter in your hotel! We finally got a cab, and ended up making it back to the hotel. Dry clothes never felt so good!

I have never run in such conditions in my life, and honestly, never want to again. A big thank you to all the volunteers who braved the elements on purpose to help us out. Also, a big thank you to our emergency responders and police men and women who were there to help out as well. And finally, to my fellow runners who ran this brutal race, congratulations for getting out there. You all deserve a pat on the back no matter what distance you ran. You are all rock stars, and I am happy to call you all friends!

Until next time, keep moving my friends!

http://runspirationsbymelissa.com/2016/05/22/half-crazy-in-ogden