AF Canyon Run Against Cancer RACE RECAP + NEW RUNNING SONGS!!

This race was by far the most well-organized 1/2 marathon I’ve done in Utah!  I felt like I was at one of the HUGE races I’ve run in the past with how smoothly it was organized but there were way less people.  It was perfect and Andrew agreed.

The starting line was at Tibble Fork, perfect for pre-race photos right?  Maybe this photo would have been better if I dared take off my space blanket.  I’m really hoping that every race I do from now on offers these because it really kept me warm at the start (or I guess I could start bringing my own too).   Andrew didn’t need one because his brain tells him it isn’t cold when it is;)

The alarm clock went off at 3:45 a.m. and we were out the door by 4:05 a.m. (Brooke stayed with my mom that night).  Andrew loves mornings as you can tell.  Whenever we are on our way to go running I always suggest going to breakfast instead together which I need to stop doing because it gets his hopes up… while that always sounds WAY better in the moment, I know I’ll be happier that I did the run once we get going.

Parking was super easy and we jumped on a bus by 4:45.  As soon as the bus started Andrew said, “Dang it, I just committed to the race.”  Hahaha, I guess he was still questioning the 13.1 miles on the walk to the bus.  We got to work on our bagels with jam and they took us up on the nice buses.  The seats were really comfortable and both of us fell asleep for a few minutes on the way up.

My bee sweatshirt came with me (I got it when I was in Minnesota a few years ago).  I really like having certain things that I do each race and the bee sweatshirt is one of them.  It will be a sad day if I ever lose it at a race.  Also, I don’t take anything except food and water now before a race but if you want to read my usual pre-race supplements when I’m not pregnant… they are HERE!  I’ve used and loved Beta-Alanine and Sports Legs for YEARS before a race!

The bus dropped us off right at the gear bag bus so we were able to drop off everything, jump in a porta potty line (they were so short) and then we had about 20 minutes to hang out before the race started.

I was so happy to see a friend of mine from college!  We hadn’t seen each other in 10 years!  She just rocked Boston this last April and it was so fun to catch up for a few minutes.

The race had two waves… if your predicted race time was under 2:05 you started at 5:55 and then the second wave started at 6 a.m.  Everything started right on time and I loved how they had the different paces out and organized for everyone to easily know where to go.

The gloves that they gave to us in our gear bags were perfect.  I wore them for about 5 miles even though I wish I kept them the entire time… they were perfect to run with!

I captured one picture of us running and clearly it is a really great picture.

The first 7ish miles are down the canyon and they are FAST (downhill).  I felt really good and it’s hard to not get carried away with all of the race adrenaline and a really fast pace but for me, pregnant running = being smart about my running/heart rate/what’s best for the baby.  So I kept my Garmin on heart rate mode so I could stay under 150 bpm.  Something I love about running while pregnant is that I get a completely different type of enjoyment from races.  Sure I really enjoy (not sure that is the right word;) races that I’m racing but I can barely remember a thing from them… by the end it just feels like a blur because I was too busy convincing myself to somehow hold onto my pace to take in the details along the way.  With the race Saturday I loved being able to just notice everything about the course like the mile markers on the ground at each mile.

This race is about cancer awareness and running for others.  It is amazing.  They have quotes from different cancer survivors or family members of people with cancer that are so inspiring along the course.  They started the race by talking about how amazing it is to be able to BE THERE at the race that morning with health and strength.  It is always an amazing reminder to be grateful for the opportunity to even be there.  A lot of the racers had names of different people in their lives with cancer and a little bit about their story pinned to the back of their shirts.

100% of the race fees and donations go towards the fight against cancer.  It really is such an amazing race and Andrew and I will be back every year for this.

I loved that over the miles they let you know when the next aid station and restroom was.  Some races I wonder and wonder when my next water will come so this was nice!  We stopped for the restroom once (my bladder is the size of a grape at this point ha…) and we waited in line for about 2 minutes but it wasn’t bad.

After the canyon you run on a running trail for the majority of the rest of the miles.  For a few miles the course is rolling and then it flattens out and for the last .2 miles it is DOWN.  What a perfect way to end a race, with a downhill!  Have you ever finished a race with an uphill at the end?  I think the RnR Seattle used to end on an uphill and that was a little cruel;)

For pretty much 10.5 of the miles (maybe even more) we were in complete shade, it was awesome!  The last little bit did get hot but they had plenty of ice towels for us which felt awesome!

We finished in 1:53:43 (the race had the results up on their website SO fast.. like within an hour).  Andrew was hoping for right under 2 so he was really stoked about our time too!  I’m really glad that we have this to do together … maybe someday I will try mountain biking again but probably on a flat dirt road only.  I’m a wuss.  PS Andrew and a bunch of his friends that were in town went mountain biking after the race?!  Yeah, my quads after those downhill miles in the beginning wanted nothing to do with movement for some time afterwards.

I was so excited to see Alyssa!  She had a 6 minute PR on the 10k and she came in 2nd in her age group!  GO GIRL!

I was also so excited to meet Dana after the race too!  She rocked her morning 1/2 too!

They also had ice towels and really cold water bottles at the finish.  Then Andrew and I went STRAIGHT for the french toast (from Kneaders).  Andrew wasn’t hungry but I had been looking forward to this 3 inch tall piece of french toast for the previous 3 hours.  It was SO good.  I definitely think you all should come out next year for these french toast… I mean for this race and we will eat french toast together after.

And then we were off!  Something else I loved about this race was that the parking was RIGHT next to the finish line (can you see the little blue archway)?  It took one second to grab our bags and walk to our car.  I will say I felt really great during the race BUT I was extremely tired the rest of the day (even with a nap) so it’s time to take it back a few notches for a few days and I’m happy to do that.

We went to pick up Brooke from her sleepover at Grandma’s house!

She was just kind of excited to see us… she was pretty busy organizing all of her zoo animals.

PS post-race shower was quite painful… chafing is the name of the game for me right now.  I need to roll around in bodyglide before each run that I do right now.

And two pictures from yesterday:

For some really strange reason, spaghettios sounded really good.  My body wants what it wants right now.

We had dinner at my sister’s house and this is what happened when they were given the hose to water the tree;)

See you this afternoon!

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Andrew and I talked for the first 7 miles and then we listened to music and here are my favorites right now:

WHATEVER IT TAKES by Imagine Dragon… this song is PERFECT for running (“Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins”—> me too).

Young by The Chainsmokers

Pierre by Run Weaver

You Be Killing Em by Fabulous (edited:)

Perfect Places by Lorde

Perm by Bruno Mars (yep, still a favorite)

Still Got Time by ZAYN

 Despacito by Louis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee

There’s Nothing Holding’ Me Back by Shawn Mendes

Such Great Heights by Postal Service (an oldie but always one of my favorite running songs)

I Don’t Know Why by Imagine Dragons

Supercut by Lorde

 It Ain’t Me by Kygo & Selena Gomez

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What was the best part of your weekend?

What race(s) have you done that you felt were EXTREMELY organized?

What time of morning is your ideal race start time?  Has anyone ever done a race at night… I want to hear about what time!!!

What fuel have you been taking during races or long runs lately?