The Dam to Dam race takes place at 10:am in Hurricane, UT at Sand Hollow State Park. Yes, you have to pay $10 to get in if you don’t have a pass. And the Zion card doesn’t work either.  This is a Runner Series race. If you want a guaranteed entry to run the St George Marathon and don’t live in Washington County you need to run two Runner Series Races.

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect! Last year it rained and it was freezing when it was over. This year it was sunny, no wind and about 50* and maybe 60* after two hours. Last year was the first time I ran 5 miles, ever. This year I chose the 10 miler.

Like my socks??  I got lots of compliments on them.  It’s still valentine’s week.  I bought this top at the Nike Outlet store in Primm last weekend and it’s a size small.  Whenever I buy something in a small I just think they make size small bigger now.  The capri’s are a small too.  The target heart socks, I cut the feet off and wore them over my Pink compression socks.  The Target socks are not comfy on the skin, but my pink Running Skirt socks are.  And they’re not as tight as my black CEP socks, so it wasn’t too tight to wear two pairs. lol

So the quick stats: last year I ran with a pace of 9:36 and this year… drumroll…8:26 per my Garmin, but 8:28 per the race results. 1:24:45

I picked up my number at Classic Sports the night before. And instead of a goodie bag with papers that I would throw away, we got a pair of socks and arm warmers. Awesome! I thought it would be too cold for just the warmers and a tank, but it would have been perfect. Oh well.

10:am is pretty late for a race, but it was warmer for the kids, runners and volunteers. I’ve been running with 3 layers the past month. Tank sports bra, long sleeve fitted top and a lightweight zip up jacket. I took my jacket off before the start. And at mile 5 I was wishing I could take off my long sleeve top I was wearing. But I had my watch on the sleeve and just thought it would be a pain.

My hubby was actually home this weekend so we took the boys and headed to the lake. We brought their bikes to give them something to do while they waited for me. Well we unloaded their bikes and Connors’ seat was too high and you need tools to adjust it. Evan got on his bike and it had two flat tires. LOL. So after I started Mike went to Wal-Mart to get tubes and tools.  And a couple Oreos.

I went to the line and we started on time. (BTW, no chip) I was trying not to start to fast, but I think I did. I didn’t really have a plan. My first mile was 8:15. The first water stop I took off my gloves. Mile 2.5 was the turn-a-round for the 5 milers. There were four people right in front of me that I was trying to stay with, then they all turned. Darn. Now I’m all by myself. A couple of people past me and I swear I thought I was the last person doing the 10 miles. I never looked back though. Mile 4-5 felt like forever. There was water at the turn and a girl and guy stopped for water and I passed them.  She passed me back around mile 6. After the turn I could see all the other runners that we’re behind me. There were a lot more than I expected!  I liked seeing them all and cheering for them.

See the 14 year old on the far right? He won the 5 miler.

When I was at mile 4.15 the leader passed me heading back and then a girl at 4.35. I said good job to her, all out of breath and dying, and she said thanks, but sounded all fresh like she was doing a Sunday jog. lol.

Mile 7 was my slowest – 8:43. I think I took a short walk break here. Ate some Shot Bloks and then tried to keep that girl in my sights. Miles 4-7 were on a graded dirt road, the rest was paved. It’s funny, I don’t remember ever looking at the water. Maybe the bloks helped because my next mile was 8:18. I was excited when I had just a 5k left. BUT, the dam looked so dam far! (hehe) I tried to keep my head down. Then only two miles. I really wanted to take a walk break but thought less than 2 miles and I was catching the girl in front of me. I know I would regret it after the race if I walked. My last mile I tried to go fast. We were running along the dam to the finish in the parking lot. I was getting closer to the girl and she passed this guy in blue. I kept looking at my watch and sometimes even saw a 7, but my pace for the last mile was 8:03. I finished 4 seconds behind the girl. I thought if I would have tried to sprint harder I would have fallen on my face. lol  The dam is not paved either.

Mike took a pic of me just before the finish. Pepper came with her kids to watch too. So all four kids had fun climbing on rocks and playing together. We hung around so the kids could play. Mike asked where my medal was. I didn’t expect one- it’s just a 10 miler. I don’t know if I could have gone another 3 at that pace. We’ll see what happens next week at the Dogtown Half.

During the race I kept thinking: this is not fun, this is hard. I can’t breathe. There’s no way I could take pictures. I really don’t want to race the half next weekend. But then I’d have to run 19 my myself. There’s no way I’ll ever run a 1:45 half (8 min pace) (My goal for Disneyland 1/2 in Sept). Again, this is hard. Skinny Runner said for her PR marathon she just did was hard. So maybe it’s supposed to be hard. Why did my friend have to get her boobs done? I need someone to talk to. Don’t know that I could talk.  It’s almost over. No regrets. Turn the music up!  Finish strong. LOL When I run a half I have always wished it was 10 miles. 10 miles seemed way farther than a 10k. At 6.2 I was thinking I’d be done if this was a 10k. But then I should be going even faster! Why are my 400′s always the same pace as my 800′s? Maybe if I didn’t do 18 last week I could be faster?
What do you think about??

After the race I went I went up to the girl who finished four seconds before me and told her she’s the only reason I didn’t walk at the end. Her name is Jennie and she has quadruples- 12-yr old girls, a 14 yr-old girl and a 16 yr-old boy. Oh my! Her and her husband ran this to get into the St George Marathon. It will be her first marathon. I loved her shoes by the way!

Results. I finished 14th overall out of 28 women. 5th of 7 in my age group. There were 36 men who ran 10 miles and 55 who ran the 5 miler. And there were 63 women for the 5 miler. Which makes a total of 182 runners.  Last year there were 224 runners, in the rain. Maybe because there’s a big half next weekend a few people chose not to race?

I did have fun and I love that it’s so close to home.  Here’s the lake.  See the road around the outside of the park?  At the bottom is “that hill”, Nemesis that I’m always talking about.  It’s a mile long and I run it both ways in the marathon!  I was going to talk about Sand Hollow State Park- But there’s so much I could say, it needs its own post. =)

Thanks for reading!
Amber