Saguaro National Monument 8-mile race Report

It has been quite the busy week (I worked 40 hours in 4 days), so I haven't had a chance to get my race report done!
Well, I got a PR (personal record) for the course! This was the 4th year I have run this race and I beat my time for the last 3 years! I was aiming for 1:12 total time (9:00min/mile avg.) and I came in just under that! I had an exceptionally good energy day. I believe I have fixed my iron deficiency, which was really contributing to how tired I was, by taking iron supplements, eating red meat, raisin bran and spinach). I was also feeling fairly well rested from my trip (being away from work!), even with the trail run/hike miles I accumulated when I was in Silverton last week. I was worried that the Body Pump class I took there was going to affect my race (I was still sore on Saturday from that dang class!) and I also skidded on some scree coming down slope on our short hike in Silverton on Friday, which tweated my left quad. Nevertheless, I was feeling great by race day and was raring to go.

It is a hard race - see the elevation profile below:

I started off pretty fast (for me on hills), running 8:15 min/mile average for the first 3 miles. The big hill hits at mile 3.5 and goes on for a mile and a half, at which my speed dropped a bit. Then, I was a little slower the 6th and 7th mile (still more hills), but picked it up for the last mile to bring it home. Here are my total times for the last 4 years:

2008 - 1:11:56 (8:59.5 pace) I made my goal! Yeah!

2007 - 1:13:11 (9:09 pace)
2006 - 1:15:50 (9:28 pace)
2005 - 1:17:27 (9:41 pace)

The first year I ran it I was sick, but ran it anyway. Last year was smoking hot and I just didn't feel good or have as much fun during the race. This year, the air was a little cool in the beginning and I really enjoyed myself. I leap frogged with my friend Steve H. for a while, until he finally pulled away. Here we are at the start of the race in the picture on the left (I am being silly and Steve has a mouth full of some sort of energy food).

And, here we are at the end of the race at the awards ceremony (my friend Martinho snapped the pics - I think that guy to the far right in the first picture is checking me out):

I saw my new friend Julie, who did great (she is super fast!) I spent a little time with my good friends Lynn, Steve F., and Sheryl (Lynn is back in town again!):

I also saw my friend Fireman Richard, who was there with the fire department to lend a hand to any problems that arose from the race. Always great to see him.

I had the same number this year as last year, 440. How strange. Must have been good luck! I certainly was happy with my time. I was 7th place out of 29 women in my age group (40-44) and I was 227th out of 552 overall.

It was definitely a bittersweet day, though, as I had to euthanize my very sick bunny rabbit shortly after the race. It was the same thing he had 4 times previously, he was getting old and we didn't think he was really living. So, I spent the rest of Labor Day taking care of that. Blackjack joined our current pet cemetary in our side yard with our previous dogs Buster, Taylor, and Buddy and our previous rabbits Mr. Bunny and Little Rabbit.

It is all evidence that I have and will continue to keep on loving. I would never want to miss out on the opportunity to love others because I'm going to lose them one day. But I sure cried a bucketful of tears today.

I liked what my Yogi tea bag saying was tonight, "Empty yourself and let the universe fill you." Reminds me of another saying, which is apropos, "The more that sorrow carves out of your heart, the more joy it can hold."

I'm proud of my accomplishment today, and proud to be a woman who is willing to continue to grow through what life brings. :)