Roz's Doubts

My friend Roz was feeling the "mental" pressure of enduring her upcoming Timp Half Marathon. (Which by the way, I am jealous that she gets to run it!)   I too am still working on the "mental" part of running.  There are times when I just think that I am not strong enough to push myself to go faster.  I am always a little hesitant, afraid of injury. And funny thing is, I have never had a real injury!

Running your long runs, solo, in the heat of July is not fun.  Lucky for Roz, we got her back! A group of us came to her rescue, and in the blink of an eye, a plan developed.  An 11 miler down Blacksmith Fork Canyon would be her long run, and we (me, Stephanie, Karrie, Lindsey, Charlotte, Lisa, Rob, Tori, Joy, & Jill) would all be there for her support!

We met at 5:30 am, yes, you heard me right, A!M! Boy this was stinkin  early, but by the time we got up the canyon, it would be after 6, and it gets warm pretty fast.

The canyon was cool and peaceful this morning.  I saw 7 deer and a mother wild turkey w/her little ones. And the crazy rooster on Hollow Road scared Roz this morning!

8 little ones, looking for their Mom

I kind of was in my own zone this morning, so I was running out in front with Karrie and Roz behind me.  As I come around a corner, I see this dark blob in the middle of the road ahead of me, moving slow. I drove up the canyon, and I didn't remember seeing any dead animals on the road.  Great!!  Fresh Road Kill!  I  figured it was a skunk pulling a dead animal across the road. When I came to that area I slowed down and carefully and quietly looked off the side of the road into the weeds.  To my surprise it was just a wild turkey. Big Girl Relief!  Karrie was behind me, thinking that she was glad that I was figuring out what it was!

Each person kind of did their own thing. Some did 4 miles, 9 miles, 10 miles,  and Roz did her 11!  That was our goal today!  It was nice having someone else in the canyon near me. Felt like it kind of pushed me to go just a little faster, even though I did not have a runner right to the side of me, I knew they were there.

I feel pretty lucky to have fallen into this group of friends!

And by the way, Roz KILLED those 11 miles today!!

10 miles today took me 1.52, which averages out to be an 11 minute mile, which is my usual.  I'm not sure about the rest of the group, but I always seem to struggle on Hollow Road. Better start putting that road on my schedule!

The best way to become a mentally tough runner is to believe that you're a mentally tough runner. ---Ryan Hall