Handcart Days

One week ago McKayla and I ran the Handcart Days races in Bountiful. She ran the half marathon and I ran the 5K. They were really great races for both of us! I had what I like to call my "old lady PR" meaning it was the fastest 5K I've run in years. (I have never been fast but I keep slowing down with age.) McKayla was slower than she would have liked (she ran a 1:44) but was happy with her time considering (a) she has not run hardly at all due to her injury, (b) it was still faster than the only other half marathon she's run 5 years ago, (c) she actually ran pain-free (a first since April) and (d) she was still fast enough to be the 8th overall woman and 1st in her age group. She is awesome like that! The most exciting thing was the pain-free part. I had rubbed her out hard enough to bruise her the night before. I don't know if it was the massage or just that she has finally healed, but it worked! She had tried to run just 6 miles on 2 previous days during the week and was unable to because of pain. Now she seems to have turned a corner. She has run pain-free since the half-marathon. Now she is just working on building back up her mileage and getting back in shape. She did win a belt buckle for her 1st place age division win. Here is the two of us after our races: