"If we don't suffer enough we won't remember it."

Mesquite 1/2 Marathon

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Location:

Orem,UT,USA

Member Since:

Nov 10, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

19 Marathons!

2007 St. George Marathon 3:07

2009 Boston Marathon 3:11:17

2009 Bryce Canyon 1/2 Marathon 1:24:48

2009 Top of Utah Marathon 3:03

2009 Halloween 1/2 Marathon 1:22:38

2010 Bryce Canyon 1/2 Marathon 1:23:48

2010 Top of Utah Marathon 3:01:51

2011 Bryce Canyon 1/2 Marathon 1:22:16

2011 St. George Marathon 2:58:19

2012 Provo City Marathon 2:59:24

2012 Bryce Canyon 1/2 Marthon 1:22:08

2012 St. George Marathon 2:54:39

Long-Term Running Goals:

I love to run! I want to feel good and run for a very long time.

Personal:

My husband Brent and I live in Orem with our three kids ages 12, 10 & 7. Brent is a Marriage and Family Therapist and I'm at home with the kids. I used to be a CPA, but now I just do a little bookkeeping from home. For a lot of years running a marathon was something I did to get back in shape after having a baby. Just finishing was accomplishment enough, now I want to finish faster.

I ran the St. George Marathon in 3:18 when I was 18 and set a record for my age division 15-18. Now I train with the girl who broke my record. I love the marathon and half marathon. Long runs are what keep me from going crazy.

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Sat, Nov 21, 2009

Race: Mesquite 1/2 Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:28:41, Place overall: 3

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	13.00	0.00	0.00	13.00

I ran the Mesquite 1/2 marathon on Saturday, finishing 3rd behind Amber G and some lady from Colorado who totally smoked us both with a 1:19. I had a hard time getting going the first couple of miles because my ankles hurt really bad from the cold. Then I just pounded out the miles without really thinking much. I ran in 3rd place most of the way and could see Amber most of the time.

At about mile 5 I thought, "I run this hard in workouts sometimes, maybe I should speed up since this is a race," however I put it off too long and around mile 10 realized there was no way I was going to catch 2nd place. My thoughts were, "what's the point of pouring it on and exhausting myself for nothing." I know this is not the right attitude. I think my biggest mistake was not having a race plan. I was a little disappointed in myself because I realized afterward that I could have done better and didn't. Even if it wouldn't have made a difference in my place or prize I should have put forth my best effort.

I felt good and had a great workout though. It was fun to see the women finish the Marathon and my kids had a blast on the bounce house.

Splits: 6:33, 6:32, 6:19, 7:13, 7:16, 6:40, 6:41, 6:54, 6:32, 6:37, 6:47, 6:44, 6:34

Comments

From Kelli on Sun, Nov 22, 2009 at 16:57:25 from 71.219.71.229

VERY NICELY DONE!!!! I am sorry about your frustrations, but you did great and had an awesome race. Sometimes it is okay to not have a plan, really.

From JulieC on Sun, Nov 22, 2009 at 18:58:58 from 67.40.111.101

Great run Julie. Enjoy the rest day.

From josse on Sun, Nov 22, 2009 at 19:16:44 from 75.216.249.16

Great job Julie, I am glad you had a good race.

From JulieC on Sun, Nov 22, 2009 at 19:31:00 from 67.40.111.101

By chance was first place Paula Morrison? Melanie and I happen to sort of know her from Bryce 1/2. She gave us a ride after the race. She is from Colorado and a OQ.

From RAD on Sun, Nov 22, 2009 at 20:42:56 from 76.27.12.70

GREAT race Julie! I'm with Kelli, sometimes it's okay to just go with it. However, that said I know what you mean. I've never been anywhere near 'the money' but when you know you could've done better, it's hard to let it go and not beat yourself up. You did an AMAZING job and I'm glad you enjoyed the weekend!

From Walter on Sun, Nov 22, 2009 at 22:41:54 from 76.27.15.208

Julie, did you happen to notice the lady that won it was wearing short shorts and cowgirl boots afterwards. I cant believe the competition we had yesterday. sheesh You did another great race though. Keep up the good work.

From julieesplin on Sun, Nov 22, 2009 at 22:56:05 from 75.169.179.59

I don't know the name of the lady who won. I tried to look it up on race results, but can't find them yet. She was all muscle and as fast as can be. It only took a couple of miles before I knew there was no way I would catch her and since there was only money for 1st I watched the money run off in the distance too.

From Walter on Sun, Nov 22, 2009 at 23:10:54 from 76.27.15.208

The Kenyan that was smoking us in the marathon came all the way from Atlanta to run. I thought for sure He was going to win. He must feel horrible to spend all that money to come out here. I talked to him the first mile or so and then he took off from me. You did fine Julie. You came off a hard half marathon just 2 weeks ago. You should do the Ogden winter series or Salt lake track club winter series. They always get me through the winter. Keep up the good work

From Walter on Sun, Nov 22, 2009 at 23:18:54 from 76.27.15.208

Oh by the way, They did end up giving money to the 2nd and 3rd place runners in the Marathon. I know 2nd got 100 bucks. woo hoo huh? lol

From Burt on Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 17:44:23 from 12.231.112.98

Great job Julie. The woman's name was Michele Suszek. I wonder if Nan knows her.

From melanieb on Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 19:00:35 from 75.169.193.179

Great job Julie! I knew you would do well!

From julieesplin on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 23:21:37 from 75.169.162.184

So my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. The woman who took 1st place, Michele Syszek, really is all muscle. She's a body builder/fitness & figure model who also runs amazingly fast marathons.

You can check out her website at

http://americaneliterunner.com/Home/tabid/757/language/en-US/Default.aspx

and her modeling gallery with photos a lot like the ones you see in the Sports Illustrated swim suit addition, only with more muscles. There's even a few body paint shots!

From JulieC on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 23:38:20 from 67.40.111.101

probably shouldn't have eaten that bowl of ice cream if I want to look like that1!! Not in this world. Wow. Thanks for the link. Amazing. I am feeling kind of floppy in the middle even more so now. blah.

From Walter on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 23:43:24 from 76.27.15.208

Good lord Julie! I thought it was bad enough seeing her in her cowgirl boots and short shorts that barely covered her a**. My wife was wondering what website I was on when I looked that up! Sheesh! haha

From Kelli on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 10:39:42 from 71.219.71.229

I am not a guy, so I am probably wrong here, but that red swimming suit was AWFUL. Cover your butt!!! And everything else, you need to leave a LITTLE to the imagination!!

She is tough, though, that is for sure. I did not know such muscle women could run so fast, usually the fastest runners are twiglets (like you two Julies!!!)

From Burt on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 11:06:19 from 12.231.112.98

Yes Kelli, you are wrong. But it looks like there's not a lot to imagine about up top, if you know what I mean. What? Is it hot in here? I'm going to invite her to join the blog.

From Kelli on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 13:24:13 from 71.219.71.229

I would send the link to my husband to get his opinion, but I am afraid he would get fired. The suit just looks like the bottoms are about 8 sizes too small, that is all.

She is tough and I am very impressed with her running accomplishments! My body could not look like that without surgery, she must work very hard.

From Burt on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 14:14:50 from 12.231.112.98

Okay. I talked to her. She said she'd join if no one pokes fun at her. She's very sensitive about her image.

From Walter on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 14:27:29 from 68.171.234.224

I'm certain she's not worried about what anybody thinks of her from when she got her 1000 dollar check in damn near nothing Burt!

From Burt on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 14:59:11 from 12.231.112.98

LOL. So I didn't really talk to her. But maybe that's why she dresses like that. Because she wants acceptance and she has low self esteem.

Kelli - I think a cop could come up with a good reason for why he is viewing semi-nude women on the computer at work.

From Kelli on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 17:31:30 from 71.219.71.229

With his luck, he would get fired.

She has absolutely no reason to have low self esteem. She wins races, she wins big money, she looks like THAT, and she is fast. Not to mention, she knows how to use body paint very creatively.

From kellies on Wed, Dec 09, 2009 at 14:32:48 from 67.199.182.30

Dang!!! I am just now tuning in to read this race report, and all of the comments. First of all, JULIE, you did amazing at that half marathon. And, it was nice riding the bus up with you and having someone to talk to, thanks for that!! Now, I just tried pulling up that link for that Michele Syszek and it keeps giving me an error. Am I doing something wrong?? I gotta see these pics (now now, don't go forming an opinion anyone, I just want to see the body paint, nothing else :). Trying to get in tune with my creative side. Kidding, kidding! )

From Burt on Wed, Dec 09, 2009 at 14:57:30 from 12.231.112.98

You might try googling her. I know I did. But if you have an internet filter, you'll probably have to turn it off because of the "bathing suit" content.

From julieesplin on Wed, Dec 09, 2009 at 18:20:50 from 75.169.178.236

Kellie

I spelled her name wrong in my other e-mail. It's Michele Suszek. I just checked and the "American Elete Runner" site we were looking at isn't working. If you goodle her you will see some of the pictures from her site, but not the "good ones." You have to get onto the site to see the body paint shots and the ones where her hair is the only think covering her breasts etc. I don't know much about "porn," but this must not be "porn" if she's quoting scriptures on the site too right? Really, her muscles are amazing!

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