I signed up for this race nearly two months ago, right after not getting into St George Marathon via the lottery, in an attempt to win a spot at St George. I had a fresh injury, but thought it would go away much faster than it has. By the time the race rolled around, I was one of only 2 people in the lottery for the marathon spot and honestly hoping I wouldn't get it, as early Fall is just seeming too early to run a good marathon at this point. I am in horrendous shape right now after 2 months of having an injured hip that is finally coming around, but saw that the times last year were slow, so I figured I'd just try to run as competitively as possible without setting my injury back.  (slightly net downhill, but a good bit of climb along the way for a 5k, so slower than just a basic flat course)
Jogged over to the start of the Gravity Hill 5k. Stomach was feeling messed up this morning (probably should've woken up early enough to eat beforehand), so I went to the bathroom a couple times beforehand. Started out and fell right in behind Susannah Hurst (U of U XC/Track runner with 16:34 PR, same as mine). We stayed pretty close at a modest pace for the hilly first 2 miles, never getting more than 1 or 2 seconds apart. My stomach was bugging me and my rhythm was off, not to mention that I'm never confident about my hip anymore, so I was content to just let her do the work. I tested the waters a little bit with a non-commital pass at about 1 mile, but she reacted immediately, so I just sat back. 1.5 miles in, my stomach suddenly started to bug me like crazy and I threw up slightly, which is never fun halfway through a race. Fortunately, it didn't slow me down and that was enough to settle my stomach, so I stayed right behind her. We crossed 2 miles around 12:15 or 12:20, so while the course was really hilly up to that point, it wasn't all that quick. Realizing that a) my hip was still feeling good and b) that she could probably outkick me if I waited too long, I started to throw it into overdrive at about 2.25 miles. I passed her and, after 6:10-ish pace for the first 2 miles, I closed the last 1.1 at 5:20 pace, which was enough to hold off her finishing sprint by about 5 seconds. I thought I had run a few seconds faster than I did (watch and finish line confirmed this), but official result is 18:21. I guess it doesn't matter since the time is so slow. I ran a few miles of cool down with Susannah to get up to 7 total for the day without any hip pain!!! Winning and not getting chicked was good, but not having my hip explode on me was a lot better. I'm feeling encouraged going forward that I'll be able to train for real pretty shortly.  (Big overstride while running fast, one of the things I'm supposed to fix, according to the PT... Oops...)
Went for a 6 mile hike to and from Dog Lake with Holly and her sister Nala afterwards. Hip was a little tender on the downhill, but I iced when I got home and it has been fine since then. 
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