#From Sep 9 2018. I still think he's neat.

[fountainpenguin]

I just wanted to remind you all that whoever designed Invisibill’s personality in “WordGirl” did an amazing job. He probably has the most useful power of anyone in the evil villain training class, but his ego is through the roof. He thinks all the bills in the mail are addressed to him and will leap around in excitement because of it. He has the power to turn invisible and he doesn’t use it like he should because his pride refuses to let him lie low.

Also he once insisted on being handcuffed to his best friend after their arrest because “Yay, friendship bracelets!” 

He’s so great. A+ character.

[phatjosh180]

RACE RECAP: Revel Big Cottonwood Half Marathon

Four months ago this was my goal race for 2019. I was registered to do the full marathon and was planning to train throughout the summer with the sole purpose and focus on doing another marathon. It’s been since February 2017 that I have tackled anything longer than a half marathon. I won’t rehash all of the reasons why — there were a lot of issues … ankle, back, health, etc., etc. You know, things that happen when you age.

It’s been a frustrating past couple of years to say the least. I’ve still accomplished a lot and had NUMEROUS awesome experiences during that time frame — but, it’s been hard accepting many of the changes and realities. I still feel like I should or need to be that same runner that is PRing a half marathon at 2:09 and tackling ultras. But, reality is teaching me something entirely different.

Anyways — in June I came down with a pretty nasty bout of bronchitis and walking pneumonia that just killed my marathon training. It wiped a solid three weeks of running from me. It set me back quite a bit and I knew a marathon was just not going to happen. So I decided to take my lumps and downgrade down to the half marathon.

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A post shared by Josher (@josherwalla) on Sep 14, 2019 at 5:26pm PDT

With my year of running pretty much a mess for me — physically, mentally and emotionally — I’ve really been focusing on just enjoying the run, the community and moment. I’ve let go of the pursuit of improvement, speed training and longer distances — for the moment. I need to really work on giving myself a good base of fitness going into 2020. You can read more about that here. I really don’t want to take much more space of my race report to cover all of that.

Honestly, if this was any other race I probably would have deferred or sold my bib because my half marathon base is weak. But, I needed to do this race — I love Revel. I love this course. And, I am a Legacy Runner (meaning I’ve done each race since it’s inaugural race in 2012) who really, really, really wants to also make it into their Ten Year Club in 2021. So, while I might not PR on the course (my fastest course time was 2:12 in 2013) I had to at least show up and finish.

So that was really the goal — to finish. But, not to just finish, but have a ridiculous amount of fun. Because, that was really needed more than anything my body could give me physically. I needed to have some fun and get some joy from my running — something that’s been hard to comeby lately.

Jill and her husband Mark came down from Boise to run the race as well. Mark registered for the marathon while Jill decided to run with me. Even though her pace is much faster than mine at the moment she’s been craving and needing a social run more than a PR as well. Especially since she doesn’t have the same supporting cast in Boise like she did when they lived here in Utah. So the race plan was simple — to run with Jill and have a ridiculous amount of fun. Easy enough race goal to follow, right?

The morning of the race was somewhat uneventful and routine of any canyon race. I did scare this kid who somehow got stuck in traffic that lead him to the runners’ parking lot. He thought it was a 4am sobriety check. I don’t think he was high or drunk — but, from his reaction I’m sure he had weed on his person. It sure gave me a laugh.

After catching one of the last buses up the canyon we had about 40-45 minutes until gun time — which I’m grateful because it was a tad bit nippy in the canyon. Once the gun sounded it took us about 12 minutes to finally cross the start line and we were off. It took me a couple miles to get the legs working because of a combination of the cold and lack of downhill training.

But, once Jill and I got to around mile three I was feeling pretty good. But, of course that’s subjective. Luckily we weren’t focused much on physical aspect of the race, because we were just having a blast. We ran into a number of friends as well, including our friend McKenzie from SUU. It was just a lot of fun.

Around miles 6-8 I was started to feel the hurt — which wasn’t surprising because my training has been mostly for 10Ks this year. I brought some applesauce and electrolytes with me to help me through the last half of the race because I knew it was going to be rough. Unfortunately, I lost my electrolytes at some point so I had to rely on Jill’s good graces who shared some of her pills with me. And, they dang well saved my life (half joking here).

But, as tough as that last half of the race was for me — I did my best to have fun. And, Jill and I did just that. We posed for pictures. And, we got some doozies. We tried doing the YCMA in a couple of them — to no avail. Our coordination was just of a bit. And, we were planning an epic finish line picture, but that didn’t end up happening because we got separated at Mile 11.

And, as much as I wanted to run the whole 13.1 miles with Jill, I was grateful for those last couple of miles I ran by myself. Since I didn’t have my music with me it was just me running to the sounds of the race, traffic and surrounding area. It was pretty therapeutic, because I couldn’t lose myself in a soundtrack, I just had my thoughts.

I thought a lot about this past couple of years and the struggles I’ve had with my health. I thought a lot about the struggles with my ankle, my back, my anxiety and my thyroid — all that have seemed to convolute to now. But, among that all, it wasn’t frustration or sadness that I felt — it was gratitude. I may not have been running my best or fastest race, but that didn’t matter — I was here. I was among friends and among a community that I love a lot.

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INTERESTING FACT: You’ll be disqualified from the race if they catch you peeing in the woods, but they won’t for flashing.

A post shared by Josher (@josherwalla) on Sep 15, 2019 at 1:07pm PDT

It was hard to not think about my journey and the people that have come with that — especially my friend Robert Merriman. He always comes to mind during each race. It was really a neat and touching moment to have these emotions run through my thoughts. It helped me process through everything I’ve been going through and put into perspective.

By mile 12.5 I just felt a peace of knowing that I’d be fine in the long run. That this time next year — as long as I did what I know I need to do — that I’d be back here at this race doing the full marathon. It was hard not to visualize that feeling and scene as I saw the finish line for this race. Even though I was a about 20 minutes slower than last year I was also grateful that I didn’t throw up all over the finish line like 2018. That alone was a win over last year.

I have three more planned races for 2019 — a 5K, 10K and half marathon. That might change? I am still not 100% on tackling another half marathon this year. It really depends on how I feel with my training and recovery this next month. I might also add another 5K or two because those are always fun.

There’s no pressure for overachieve or push myself too hard, because the focus for at least the next 3-4 months is simply to heal, recover and renew. But, as long as I can still surround myself with the amazing running community and great friends — I’ll be fine.

But, with that said — September 12, 2020 … marathon #12 is happening.

Previous Revel Big Cottonwood Half Marathon Times

2013 – September 14, 2013 (2:12:37) 2017 – September 9, 2017 (3:10:21) 2018 – September 8, 2018 (2:56:46) 2019 – September 14, 2019 (3:19:12)

My Next Five Races

The Haunted Half: SLC; October 19

The Haunted 5K: Provo; October 26

Turkey 10K; November 28

Revolution Run; January 1

Sweethearts 5K; February 8

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A post shared by Trails & Pavement (@trailsandpavement) on Jan 21, 2019 at 7:46pm PST

RACE RECAP: Revel Big Cottonwood Half Marathon was originally published on Life In The Slow Lane.