The spirit of the race

This past Sunday, I ran a local 5k race. It was a spontaneous, late-week decision - while I was registering for my next half, I noticed that there was a 5k slated to start at my neighborhood grocery stored, sponsored by SweetFrog. Five minutes down the road AND sponsored by one of my favorite companies? I couldn't miss it! So, there I was, bright and early on a cold November morning, ready to run.

The race itself went off without a hitch. It wasn't my best run, nor was it my worst. I ran alone with my music, through a subdivision that looks mighty similar to my own, and was content with just considering it a normal training run. I finished in just under 30 minutes, which is my usual personal goal for a 5k. I didn't intend to hang around for the awards ceremony or anything, so I stopped by a tree in the parking lot to stretch for a few minutes before I headed home.

While I was doing so, a guy nearby turned to me and said, "Hey! Great race!" I didn't recognize him, so I said thank you, and continued to do my thing. He kept talking though, and he went on to tell me that he had been keeping pace with me for the length of the race, and that he was just behind me the whole time until the last quarter mile or so. That was when, in his words, I just "took off outta no where!" He said he was amazed to see me speed up so much towards the end and push myself through the finish line, and that he was inspired by me. I wasn't really sure why, until he said that the race we'd just run was his second race, ever. He went out of his way to let me know that he thought I'd been a good race "teammate," even though we were both running alone - and I knew what he meant!

That turned out to be the very best part of that race for me. No, the best part wasn't the SweetFrog coupon in my "goodie bag," or the free T-shirt (which has the SweetFrog mascot on it - new fave!). The best part was a random guy who, for me, embodied the spirit of racing. I will be the first to tell you that I don't love running. I really don't. I generally curse and moan the whole time I'm doing it. But I do love racing. I love the community that racing cultivates - the people who cheer for each other, who encourage each other, who push each other to go a little further or a little faster or both. I love hearing people cheer for me as I cross the finish line, people I don't know and will never meet, and then turning around to do the same for someone else. That guy, who stopped me to tell me that I'd run a great race, and that I'd encouraged him? He was the best part of my race, and I wish I'd thought to tell him that he made my day. I do know that, given the chance, I will do the same for someone at my next race, because a few positive words can have an amazing effect, and make a regular race into a great one. So thanks, anonymous runner man! And good luck at your next race. Because it's addicting, and there will be another.

Race Recap: Marine Corps Historic Half

I'm pretty sure that if I don't do this race recap TODAY, it'll never get done. Everything has been like that lately (cough :: I need to write a recap of the Tarheel 10-Miler :: cough) and I can't catch up! Anyway. Let’s start at the end of this story. It looks like this:

13.1 DONE

My sister and I have been talking about running a half marathon together for a while now, but our schedules just never really worked out to be able to do the same race at the same time. When I heard about the Marine Corps Historic Half a few months ago, I knew it would be perfect – not too expensive, good time of year, and right in my backyard. All boxes checked – so we signed up in February and didn’t think twice!

Fast forward to April and everything that has been going on with my family. Obviously, training (or running at all) has not been a priority. I’ve only even made it to the gym a handful of times. So, last weekend, I told my sister that I was going to see if we could defer, and, if not, I was just going to bail. I didn’t see how I was possibly up to the challenge of running a half marathon, especially knowing that I was going to have an emotionally exhausting week in California and get home late Friday night. I was going to just scrap it and I figured she would be on board with that idea.

Little did I know. That sweet baby sister of mine pretty much told me to man up and get out there. She told me that there was truly no BETTER time for her and I to run our first big race together – it didn’t matter how it went; it just mattered that we did it. I knew she was right… so there I was on Saturday afternoon at packet pick-up, gearing myself up for half marathon #4, and telling myself that I only get one life, might as well run while I can! (There may have been some curse words thrown in, but what can ya do?) We were doing it, ready or not.

Race morning was standard – ponytail, running shoes, Garmin, half a bagel, one cup of coffee. We jammed out to Nat’s “pump up music” for her lacrosse team while we drove to the start, and walked to our corral. Before we knew it, we were crossing the starting line, and there was no turning back.

Long story short, the Historic Half was a great race, but it was not great for us. It was well-organized and a good course. However, Nat battles an old knee injury from high school, and she told me early on that pushing it just wasn’t going to happen for her. We got through the first four miles or so at a good pace, but then the hills were starting to get to her, and I could see that she was struggling. We slowed down, and she told me multiple times to just go on and leave her to do it slow. I told her it wasn’t happening. This was our race to do together, and it didn’t matter how it went to me – I wasn’t racing myself this time, I was running with my sister. The only goal for me was the finish line.

It was a beautiful morning, and the course was packed with spectators. There were plenty of water / Gatorade stations, live music, and lots of Marines lining the road and yelling encouragement. I enjoyed seeing some parts of historic Fredericksburg that I haven’t gotten to venture to yet, and didn’t even really mind the hills. I actually felt great – I was totally having one of those sappy “I’m so happy to be here and be alive!” days. I stopped looking at my Garmin except to give Nat updates on where we were. I stopped thinking about time and pace, and I just enjoyed the run and the morning. It was like no race I’ve ever run – just running for the fun of it and enjoying the experience. It was rather nice!

I sprinted for the finish line when the time came, and Nat came in right behind me. It had been a long, slow trek, but we definitely earned those medals. I’m so happy that I listened to Nat when she told me that we needed to do this, because we really did. We needed to fight a battle we could win; we needed to do something strong and powerful and have that sense of accomplishment.

This one is crucial because I totally chicked that guy in the hat -
I came out of nowhere and passed him right before the finish line :)

Lately, I’ve been feeling so much like I am useless – like there is nothing I can do to help my family, and especially my mom, when they are struggling. This race was a kind of physical representation of my recent challenge, and it was so rewarding to come out on top, with my sister by my side.

Silly and cliché as it seems, I am feeling like my “worst” race was really one of my best.

As far as the race itself went, here are my pros and cons.

Pros

• Long expo / packet pick-up: two days offered (Fri and Sat), with lots of time (10-7 on Saturday) 
• Many water / Gatorade stations 
• Safe, well laid-out course: police and USMC guiding traffic away on busy roads, full road closures in many places
• Great finish line: first race ever to actually hand out a bag with a water bottle so you didn’t have to have your hands full of stuff! 

Cons 

• Disheveled water stations: at several stations, there were volunteers standing around not holding cups, too much Gatorade, not enough water
• Starting line volume: needed louder speaker at beginning – we couldn’t hear the National Anthem or the official gun start 
• Medal confusion: I crossed the finish line, and there were lots of Marines holding medals… but no one actually stepped forward to give me one. I finally had to ask for one directly! 

 

Race recap: OBX Half Marathon

This is a bit delayed, but..... Spoiler alert: I finished my third half-marathon!

HM#3 was the OBX Half in Outer Banks, North Carolina, over Veteran’s Day weekend. I prefaced the race with this post, in which I detailed how tough running has been for me since HM #2, and how my goal for this race was purely to have a good time and do the best I could. Butterflies and rainbows, right? Right.

My friend Lauren Lush (permanent nickname!) picked this race out for her birthday (race day was her actual birthday), and convinced a bunch of us girls to run it with her. Lush’s family has a beach house at OBX, so it was a nice perk to not have to pay for lodging and have somewhere nice and comfy to cook dinner the night before and all hang out together. We got down to the beach on Saturday afternoon, and went to the expo to pick up numbers and packets. It was there that I realized just how small this race was – only a few thousand participants between the half and the whole marathons, combined! Way different from the Rock & Roll race in Nashville.

I like smallish races, but they are also the ones that tend to be a little disorganized – and this was no exception. We figured that out on the morning of the race, when GPS took us to the address that was listed as the “start” of the race and it was an empty parking lot…. Fail. Luckily, it wasn’t too hard to figure out where we were supposed to be, and we ended up parked right by the starting line.

Birthday girl! And tired eyes.

The weather report for the race looked great – mid-50s and sunny – but let me tell you, when we first got out of the cars, it was cold & windy! Kind of hard to prepare that way… there was a lot of putting-on and then taking-off of layers while we tried to decide how to dress. I’m not sure why I forgot about the wind at the beach, but I definitely did – not a very nice surprise!

The whole group!

The race started at 7 AM (so early! not my fave), and we were a few corrals back. Slowly but surely, we moved toward the start as a bunch, and then we crossed the starting line & we were off! There were several of us doing the half together, but we were all kind of on our own – I think that by mile 2, I was running by myself, which was alright. The first few miles went by quickly. We were weaving in and out of the neighborhoods and side streets down the main stretch of OBX, and there were tons of people out cheering for the racers. There were also water & Gatorade stations almost constantly. I was very well hydrated!

Unfortunately, I decided wrong on what to wear – by mile 5, I had to stop and pull off my top layer and re-pin my bib. I tied my jacket around my waist, which was not ideal for running the next 8 miles. That is probably the only thing I would have changed about this race – I wish I would have skipped the pull-over and just braved the cold for the first few miles. I was comfortable in what I was wearing in the end, but the jacket at my waist was definitely awkward.

I paced myself pretty well for the middle miles with the people around me – I made several silent running friends, which I always like. Even if I don’t know the person and we’re not talking, it’s nice to have someone to be running beside. Always gives me that little extra push!

The worst part of this race was the bridge to Manteo. I thought I was prepared for it, but I was not, in any way, shape, or form. That thing it crazy! Not only is it a huge vertical climb (around mile 10, when legs are very tired!), but it is insanely windy – to the point that big warning signs are posted to warn drivers about the strong winds. Not ideal for running! I barely made my way up the bridge, stopping to walk several times, because my knees were just not having it. Luckily, the views were gorgeous – it had turned out to be a sunny, clear day, and you could see for miles in either direction while on the bridge (I was very glad I’d put on sunscreen before we left the house – I would have had a massive sunburn without it!!) It felt like it took an hour to finish that mile, though – the god-forsaken bridge was easily the hardest part of the race.

 I embraced the down-hill (which was MUCH shorter than the uphill!) and ran my way into Manteo. Around that time, my sister came driving by with Lush’s family, on their way to the finish line to cheer us on, and she leaned out the car window and yelled for me. It was just the push I needed right then – perfect timing for a pick-me-up! I found another one of the girls running the race right around that time, too, and it was nice to have a teammate, even though we didn’t really stay together. It was right when I needed some encouragement, and seeing people I knew did the trick.

My knees were starting to really hurt at that point, and I was checking my Garmin every few seconds, trying to calculate. I had just a few miles left, and I was thinking that if I really, really pushed it, I could get a PR. However, I might also miss the PR by just a few seconds, and I knew that would make me really unhappy. At mile 11 ½ or so, I had a serious pep talk with myself. I reminded myself about the goals for this race – not to PR, not to kill myself, not to injure myself, but rather, just to have a good race and a nice morning and to have FUN. Right then and there, I let go of the PR and the clock, and I focused more on enjoying what I was doing. I smiled and waved at the spectators, I encouraged the runners around me, and I pushed forward, slowly but surely.

Right when I felt like the finish line would never come into sight, there it was, right around the next bend. I did as I always do, and gathered every last ounce of strength, and broke into a sprint – every second I can shave off the end counts! Just as I was about to cross the finish line, though, the two girls in front of me SLOWED DOWN (why, oh why would you do that?!) and I almost ran straight into them. I couldn’t believe it! I had to zig-zag my way around them, and then finally crossed under the banner. A woman handed me my medal, and I bee-lined for the water. I actually felt great – my knees hurt, but this was the first half where I felt good at the end. I had a good idea of my finishing time from my Garmin, and I was pleased to see that it was almost smack in the middle of my previous two finishing times: a little slower than my PR, but a little faster than Nashville. Also, I was happy, I was dry, I was proud of myself – everything that was wrong with Nashville was gone from my mind. Mission: accomplished!

Done!

My personal cheerleader :)

Frendz.

Within a few minutes, all of us girls had finished and found each other, and my sister and Lush’s family found us, as well. It was quickly determined that showers and beers were in order, so we headed back to the beach house. Once everyone was cleaned up, we went for lunch at a Mexican restaurant nearby, and there was no shortage of chips, salsa, and enchiladas consumed… as well as a cerveza or two! Perfect post-race meal, in my opinion. I left the Outer Banks that afternoon feeling about as good as I possibly could – minus the ice on my knees and mighty tired legs!

This seems like the perfect time for some "outtakes" pictures... because racing makes everyone a little delirious!

Shivering!

Normal

Just a little post-race stretching...

 The end.

Race Recap: VA is for Lovers 14k

When my friend, Lauren, asked me if I wanted to run the VA is for Lovers 14k with her, I hesitated for a few – I knew that I was giving myself the month of December off from running after the half marathon, and I wasn’t sure how things would go in January. I finally just said what the hell and agreed – I loved the last J&A race that I did, and I wanted to get something on my calendar, knowing that my schedule is already pretty full until June (weddings and babies, oh my!). I’m so glad that I did – we had so much fun, and it was a great race! It was a pretty perfect way to kick off another year of running and racing, if I do say so myself.

One of the reasons that I felt comfortable with signing up for this race was the fact that it was in Virginia Beach. I knew that the course would be smooth and flat, and that’s exactly what it was. I was prepared for a nice, easy long run, and that’s just what I got. What I was not prepared for was the weather: IT WAS SO COLD. “Average” temps in the area are around 50’ that time of year… no such luck for us! What we got was low 30s and GUSTING wind – I’m talking blustery, cold-to-the-bone, hurts-your-lungs, strong winds, for pretty much the entire race. Not SO bad when they are tailwinds; really bad when they are pushing against you. Also, I forgot to pack long pants (bad move!!) so I was running in capris, and my lower legs and ankles were freezing!! Not my smartest choice. However, I had an ear warmer, a ColdGear shirt, and gloves, so I made the most of it. When the wind wasn’t gusting, I actually felt great. I like cold-weather runs, and the sun was shining, so it was just warm enough for me. 

Twins! Hanging out inside the field house to stay warm before the race!

The 14k distance was a little strange, but I actually liked it – it was just long enough that I had to push & challenge myself, but not so long that I felt like dying afterwards (great considering it was my longest run since the previous race). I cruised along with my half-marathon playlist playing, and monitored myself off a few of the runners around me. I kept a pretty even pace, and my legs felt good.  I passed people confidently and strongly, and even passed a guy right before the finish line (yeaaaah!). I tried to focus on my breathing (always hard for me) and my steps – this was a good race for checking in with my I love how J&A sets up their races – there is music playing, lots of water stops, and for this love-themed race, there were signs all over with cheesy pick-up lines and even a candy station! They have so many little tricks to keep everyone encouraged and cheerful. I was totally in the zone for this race, and definitely had one of those “I love running!” days.

I crossed the finish line with a power sprint, on a huge high, and couldn’t stop smiling! One of the things that J&A does is call out the names of runners as they finish, and it was awesome to hear, “HERE COMES LINDSAY!” over the loudspeakers. Volunteers were waiting to hand the runners everything from medals to water to pretzels and bananas, and my hands were full of goodies. My mom had come down to VB with me to be our cheerleader, and I had text messages from her letting me know that she'd found a table in the field house and was waiting for us there. I sent her a quick "DONE!" picture to prove it.

Finito!

Then, I maneuvered my way to a great spot to watch Lauren come through a few minutes later and cheered as loud and proud as I could. We found my mom and enjoyed our post-race bread bowls of soup and beers (have I mentioned that J&A is awesome??) while stretching and getting warmed back up. Lauren and I were both so pleased with how the race had gone – apart from that crazy wind, it was a great experience! J&A does it again. We’ll be back!

We deemed lunch necessary immediately, and Lauren took us to a great hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant where they make guacamole fresh at your table… I die. May or may not have consumed guacamole and chips for the majority of my lunch (and I’m not mad about it at all). It was just what we all needed. A few hours later, my mom and I headed back to Northern Virginia, with another successful race weekend in the books and an awesome medal to show for it. 

Thanks for having me, Luscious Lo! Love you, little runner :)

Not too shabby

 

Done! My first half-marathon (Blue & Grey Half)

Merry Christmas! My gift to you (or myself?) - this long-awaited recap of The Race. I figure that almost a month later is plenty of time to have gotten myself situated and found the right words for this one. You be the judge.

-----

I still can't exactly believe that I ran a half-marathon.

New hot pink laces, because, duh, pink makes everything better.

That seems like such a huge deal, yet, at the same time, not a huge deal at all. My brain is thinking “SERIOUSLY?!” but simultaneously, “no big!” 13.1 miles – done.

When Suzann and I first started talking about doing a half before the end of 2012, in June or July-ish, we had a lot of contributing factors to finding the right race: it needed to be close(ish), it needed to be on a Sunday (she teaches on Saturday mornings), it needed to be early enough in December that it wasn’t -36 degrees. It seemed unlikely that we would find just the right race, and that was ok… I don’t think we were too convinced that we could do it yet (speaking for myself for sure, here – I was pretty sure there was no way I could run 13.1 miles in just a few months). Lo and behold, though, I stumbled across a link for the VA Runner Blue & Gray – a half-marathon, in Fredericksburg, VA (just down 95 from us), 2^nd weekend in December, on Sunday. It was meant to be. We started planning on doing it – running longer runs, talking about “our half,” but FYI, we never actually SIGNED UP for the race until… 5 weeks out? It wasn’t real yet, we weren’t committed… until one fateful afternoon as we sat eating lunch at Panera, and we got a burst of dedication and registered on the spot. On my phone. Fees paid, no reimbursement. We were running a half-marathon.

Keep in mind that this was in the midst of my injury saga – I wasn’t running fully yet; in fact, I wasn’t even cleared to resume exercise fully yet. The longest I’d run in weeks was 3 or 4 miles – my longest training (11 miles) had been done in September (and stayed my longest training; the most I did up till race day was 7 ½). Nonetheless, I was in. I knew I could do it.

Suz and I decided to stay in a hotel in Fredericksburg the night before the race – it just seemed easier to give ourselves a relaxing night than try to fight our way down 95 at 4 AM and pray we didn’t hit any traffic or anything. Instead, we spent Saturday evening having dinner, wandering the mall, and eating Sweet Frog (our fave!) before getting into bed early. I couldn’t have asked for a better pre-race experience – we were relaxed, happy, and just 5 minutes from the race start. It was perfect!

We woke up on Sunday and we were both wide-awake, energetic, ready to go. We were completely unsure about the weather. We’d both packed for just about anything: rain, cold, warm, whatever. The forecast was for drizzle all day, 100% chance, but the temperature was supposed to be in the 50s. Granted, at 6:30 AM, it was only in the 30s, but when we got out there, it wasn’t raining, just overcast. Perfect! We dressed in our layers, ate hard boiled eggs and drank coffee, and danced around the hotel room. I’d requested late checkout, so we didn’t have to pack anything up, and we got ourselves to the VA Runner parking lot, where the race was starting, at about 7:20. We had ten minutes till kickoff. That wasn’t exactly the way we planned it (time flew while we were getting ready!) but it turned out for the best – we didn’t leave ourselves much time to get nervous or anxious. We were just heading out for a regular long run. Normal.

Blooper - but I kind of love it.

Pre-race nerves. We can do this!

The gun sounded and off we went – I’d like to give a major shout-out to the “Shuffle” feature on my iPhone for knowing that I needed to start the race with a little Britney Spears. I am unashamed and very vocal about my love of Miss Spears, and no less that 1/3 of my race-day playlist was comprised of her music. I started off my first half marathon listening to some great tunes, and I knew it was going to be a good day.

Miles 1-6 were relatively uneventful. Suz and I puttered along, chatting and occasionally checking our Garmins. As it turned out, we both felt that we dressed perfectly for the weather – just enough clothing, the right layers, etc. I ate some Sports Beans around mile 3.5 and 6, aiming for every 3 miles as I’d planned, purely because I wanted to maintain my sugar levels, not because I was feeling off or anything. I didn’t want to risk having my sugar drop and blowing the whole thing, so I just went with a few beans every few miles. We walked through the water stations, having a few sips and taking it easy, which I felt was really helpful for me. I felt totally ON – I don’t know how to describe it, but everything about the race just felt right.

Miles 7-8 was where I started thinking “OK, I’m ready to be done.” Too bad we still had 5 miles to go… There wasn’t really anything wrong, I just started to get bored. Is that weird? My mind was wandering and I was thinking about all the things I needed to do to get ready for Christmas and such. I had a little mental battle about how much longer I still had to run, but got it together after a few minutes. I started feeling a little pain in the arch of my right foot – not sure what that was about, but it continued for the rest of the race, then immediately ended and I haven’t felt it since. It was a nagging irritation, though.

Suz decided to slow down just a tad, and I was feeling a fresh burst of energy, so she encouraged me to go on ahead. I picked up the pace by just a bit, and ran the rest of the race alone. Miles 9-10, I tried to really concentrate on my breathing, speed, overall status - I knew I'd push too hard if I wasn't careful. In hindsight, perhaps I should have just stayed at her pace, because I really could have used the company and support during those second-half miles. What’s done is done, though.

Special shout-out now to Mike, the guy that I accidentally paced myself with exactly for Mile 11, who chatted with me for a good ten minutes about a variety of things. He was a savior, because I really needed a friend right about then. He was running his first race in 15+ years, and getting ready for a St. Patrick’s Day marathon. He was awesome! His friendliness could not have come at a better time. (Side note – I ran into him after the race, and thanked him profusely for letting me run with him and chat with him. That felt good!)

Mile 12 was some sort of sick joke: it was uphill. No, really, uphill. And it was hard. The race course info on the website had mentioned this tiny factoid, but I was seriously not ready for the 90-degree vertical incline of this mile (slight exaggeration, perhaps, but trust me) (but really - the description on the race website says, "Mile 12 goes back up from 50 to 250 feet on what is known as hospitalization hill. This is the same hill as part of the USMC Historic Half where the runner in 2009 had the heart attack." Oh, OKAY. Sure.). Anyway. I tried to very, very gently jog it, but it just wasn’t happening. I ended up doing a walk/jog alternate thing, and probably walked ½ a mile. Not my proudest moment, but it had to happen. My knees were starting to ache, and I just had to give myself a few moments of rest. The last mile and a half were pretty torturous – everything hurt, but I was SO CLOSE. iPhone Shuffle to the rescue AGAIN – the last song that I listened to, as I pushed my way through Mile 13, was Britney Spears. Seriously, how did it know?! I started mentally repeating my go-to mantra: “I can do anything for five more minutes. I can do anything for one more mile. I can do anything for half a mile.” And I did.

Crossing the finish line was the most amazing moment. As I came around the final corner and heard people cheering and clapping, I decided that this was it, and I pulled all my energy from I-don’t-know-where and sprinted the last .2 of a mile. I pushed myself so hard in those final few seconds (and pretty much felt like throwing up immediately after) but it felt so good to cross that line. It was over. I’d run my first half marathon. I expected to have lots of *~*EMOTIONS!~*~ but really, I was exhausted, and all I wanted was water (which took me an obnoxiously long amount of time to find). Not so much in the way of feelings – I was just done, and that was that.

Suz was just a few minutes behind me, and we found each other and hugged and laughed and collapsed onto the sidewalk before asking a nice man to take our picture. Necessary.

Finishers! So thrilled.

Best. Beer. Ever.

We did a little shopping at VA Runner (hello new hot pink compression sleeves and Brooks running jacket, happy birthday to me!), and got our 13.1 magnets, which you better believe were immediately applied to our cars.  

The moment where we remembered that we had late check-out at the hotel and could therefore shower before driving home was amazing. Such good planners!

When Suz finally dropped me off at home later that afternoon, I proceeded to inhale a Five Guys burger provided by my sister and take a three-hour nap. Both very, very well deserved.

Nap partner.

Originally, way back when, I set my personal goal to run this race in under two hours. Then I got injured, and couldn't run, and blah blah blah. My goal shifted its way to "just finish the race!" but I held onto a glimmer of hope that I could do it in under 2 hours and 10 minutes, which would be a pace of 10:00 minutes/mile(ish). That seemed doable. Well, ladies and gents, I am pleased to present my official time:

2:09:56.

Boo-ya.

Obviously, I have my goal for the next half - I'm determined to shave at least a few minutes off of that. I'm pretty sure that, had Mile 12 not been so ridiculously hard, I would have done a lot better. But I'm still pretty proud of that! 

I’m giving myself some time off from running – just until after the holidays, because I think that I need a mental break. This is a bit odd, given that I wasn’t running very much before the race due to my injury, but it just felt like I needed to take some time and say “enough for now.” I’ve literally run two miles since the race, and they were on the treadmill at Gold’s one day when I got there too late for the class I wanted to take. Come January, though, I’m raring to go – after all, have to put all the running-related gifts that I got for Christmas to good use!

Race Recap: Rothman Institute 8k

The weekend before Thanksgiving, C and I packed up the car, picked up my friend, Caity, and ventured north up to Philadelphia. The reason for the road trip? To see my sweet friend, Lizzy, and run the Rothman Institute 8k!

After running the May Day 5k together, the three of us decided we wanted to do another race together, and we used the opportunity to find one up near Lizzy so that we had a reason (not that we need one! Promise) to visit. We registered for the Rothman Institute 8k, which is part of the Philadelphia Marathon weekend, back in May, and I’ll admit, it kind of fell off my radar until November. It wasn’t that I forgot about it, there was just so much else going on that it slipped to the back of my mind! Caity and I threw together a carpool plan, though, and with C as our chauffeur, made the (relatively) easy drive up 95 to the City of Brotherly Love.

We got in late Friday night, and the race was set to start at 7:30 AM on Saturday (why so early, Rothman people?!) so we went to bed pretty soon after. C headed out with Lizzy’s fiance and some friends for a few drinks at a bar nearby, and us girls hit the hay. Other than some minor 2 AM excitement (C may or may not have gotten lost at a bar… he maintains that he knew where he was the whole time and was, therefore, not lost), we slept like rocks until our alarms went off on Saturday morning!



Ready to run!

Lizzy was the sweetest host, and had coffee, bagels, and bananas ready for our pre-race meal. Exactly what the doctor ordered! After dressing (in a LOT of layers – it was freezing! …literally), we headed for the starting line, which was a few blocks from Lizzy’s apartment. We got there with just enough spare time to shed our top layers, check our bag, and find a good spot in the middle of the crowd. Before we knew it, the gun went off and off we ran!
_____

Pros and Cons

Pro: The route was really nice. It was scenic – we ran along the river, past the Rocky steps, and around a number of other little landmarks. It was mostly flat, and the road was plenty wide.

Pro: This was my first race with my new Garmin Forerunner 10, and I LOVED it. It was so handy to see my distance and pace and keep myself on track. Plus, I felt like a “real runner” – except for when I realized I’d forgotten my sunglasses, and had to run glaring into the sun for half the race. Rookie mistake!

Pro: No back pain! I was a bit sore the next day, but it was more like “I haven’t used those muscles” sore, not “ow, that hurts” sore. Success!

Con: The race started so early, and there were no other events afterwards, so I’m not sure why. Could have had an 8 or even 8:30 AM start-time, and I think it would have been fine, plus a bit warmer. Meh. I’m not a race planner, I’ll leave that to the experts.

Con: This race was, like I mentioned, part of the Philadelphia Marathon weekend, and it was the day before the half and full marathons. My issue here was that it sort of felt like the 8k was an after-thought – things weren’t exactly fully set up, there was no medical tent (as far as I could find, and we searched), and it didn’t seem like it was quite a “big deal” since the “real” race was the next day. Perhaps I’m just being whiny, but I wanted to feel important, too!

Con: Everything after the finish line was completely disorganized. Water felt like it was a mile away, and the fruit, power bars, and other goodies were even farther away. I walked the whole way down and got my snacks, but Lizzy and Caity missed them, because they didn’t realize where they needed to go. There was no one directing traffic, and not even a sign or anything saying where to go. It was rather confusing, especially after the finish line at the Wicked 10k was so organized. Boo to that!
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Lizzy, Caity, and I ran together for the first 3.5 miles or so, and then Caity and I decided we wanted to push ourselves and see if we could get under 50 minutes. We got a nice burst of speed… and then I sped off even more. I felt really, really, good, and I really felt like I could push myself hard for that last mile. I crossed the finish line at around 52 minutes, and I was a little disappointed, until I looked at my Garmin. I’d forgotten about the lag time from the start – my watch said I was more like 49 minutes! When the official results came in, they were even better:

48:58!

My previous 8k time was over 30 seconds slower, and I had actually trained for that one (that was my first official race of this year/first time "being a runner" – training was necessary!). In this case, I hadn’t trained, I was just coming off an injury, and I’d generally been doing very little running or exercise at all. I’m pretty pleased that I was able to shave a few seconds off my previous time, even with all those barriers in my way! Plus, my back felt good, and I felt fantastic while I was running – a huge improvement over the terrible run I’d had the weekend before. For every bad run, there’s a good run waiting! Lucky for me, my good run came just in time for a race.

Horrible picture... but the Rocky steps are behind us! The sun was so bright. Fail.

HOORAY!

After us three girls all finished, we met up with C, Lizzy’s fiance, and their friends, and headed off to find breakfast. The Philly dwellers took us to an amazing bagel joint called Spread, where we got incredible bagel, egg, and bacon sandwiches – the PERFECT post-race meal! That and another cup of coffee, and I was a happy, happy camper.

The rest of our quick trip to Philly involved impromptu afternoon naps, followed by showers and a visit to Reading Terminal Market.

Lizzy, Caity, and me

We chowed down on delicious, legit Philly cheese steaks. So good, and worth every greasy, carb-loaded bite. Yum!

After lunch, we piled back into the car and hit the road. We were back home by about 6:30 that night, having spent under 24 hours on our whirlwind trip to Philadelphia. We had a blast, though, and are already talking about next year – I think we’re all on pace to do the half marathon, and then maybe we can participate in a “real” race! Ha.

Philadelphia skyline as we headed home

I’m officially two weeks out from my first half marathon. This 8k was my last race before The Big One, and I’m so happy that it went so well – it gave me just the push and motivation to feel ready for the half. The countdown is on: December 9 is right around the corner!

Race Recap: Wicked 10K

Yesterday, I had one of my worst runs ever. I was cleared by my chiropractor on Thursday to “jump back into it,” and I took his word for all it was worth – yesterday Suz & I decided to do seven miles, easily my longest run in months. We are officially signed up for our half-marathon on December 9, meaning we are just over a month away, and we (I) have got to get back into training mode and get back into shape. So, off we went. And it was awful. We were doing an out-and-back, and the out actually felt really good. Nothing was hurting too badly, my breathing was ok, the temperature was good. Once we turned around, though, it was all downhill from there (except it was mostly uphill… issues). My legs were tired, I couldn’t breathe, my back hurt. I actually slowed down to walk up a few hills because my body was just saying no. Suz was fantastic, as usual (you’re the best, friend!), pep-talking me and staying slow with me and encouraging me to lay down on the path and stretch like a maniac. We finished a little over seven miles in a little over an hour, and I proved to myself that my endurance is shoddy and my body is in desperate need of some conditioning before December 9. Eeeeek. Previous goal: half in under two hours. New goal: finish half. Blerg. My body feels awful today – everything is sore. Back to Square One.

So, since yesterday was so horrible, I figured that it was as good a time as any to write my Race Recap for the Wicked 10k! (Also, because the race was weeks ago, and as I have another race this weekend, I’m about to be miserably behind. But that is neither here nor there.) The best way to come off a horrible run is to remember a great one, right?...

Race Recap

I can easily say that the Wicked 10k was one of my favorite,  favorite, favorite races/runs to-date. It was my first J & A race, and I was blown away by how organized everything was, how simple it was, and how generous they were. I don’t think I have one single complaint about this race!

My sister and I headed to Virginia Beach on Friday night, amidst many warnings about the impending hurricane that was due to make landfall that weekend. Hurricane, schmurricane – we had a race to run! Nat & I signed up for the Wicked 10K in the early summer – we had been looking forward to it for months, and nothing was going to stand in our way! Key note: this race was sponsored by Blue Moon, and one of the incentives was free beer for all finishers. Done and done. Not even my old-woman back… my doctor had recommended that I take it very easy, listen to my body, and not push myself. As badly as I wanted to race this one, I knew that I couldn’t. I had to make the healthy choice. And so I headed into the weekend resigned to that fact.

Nat and I got to VB 15 minutes before the expo closed and raced in to pick up our packets. It was actually a breeze (insert hurricane jokes, starting immediately…), and we got our numbers, tech tees, and “I’m 21 so I can drink beer after the race” wristbands in just a few minutes. We met up with Nat’s OUR (better, Lush??) friend, Lauren, and chowed down on pizza (pre-race fuel! Or that’s how we justified it) before crashing for the night at our rather-sketchy hotel. 

Waking up on Saturday morning was actually easy – we all got ready pretty quick and were feeling good. The Wicked 10k is a Halloween-themed race, and costumes are encouraged. We had no idea how seriously people take this – we saw some AMAZING costumes… that must have been hell to run in. It’s a big deal, though, and we were wishing we’d been more prepared! Nat brought the mouse ears that she’d made for another costume, and we painted whiskers on our face, dressed in black and grey, and went as mice. It didn’t work out too well, though, because the gale-force winds (hurricane, remember?) kept knocking the ears off our heads, long before the race even started. So the ears went into the backpack, and we looked like normal runners… with whiskers. Don’t judge.

Pre-Race Mice

The start of the race was so smooth – corrals were released every 90 seconds, and it put a good distance between groups so that everyone wasn’t right on top of each other at the beginning. We actually ran over the starting line, and we felt good.

Lost the ears already... oh well. Ready to go!

BFFs

The original idea was to run two miles, walk two, and run the last two, and then alter the plan depending on how I/we felt. We ended up just running and slowing to walk whenever we needed a break, and I didn’t really keep track, but I think we probably ran 2/3 and walked 1/3, just not as specifically as we’d originally intended. We went at a nice, slow place, enjoying the live music along the race path, interacting with spectators (special shout-out to the people we got paper cups of Natty Light from… they were amazing), and not trying to push ourselves at all. Honestly, I don’t even think I got out of breath during this race. The course was completely flat (being at the beach will do that) and it was such an easy run. The only hard part was, again, the gale-force winds. The wind actually slowed up to a walk at some points, because it was blowing so strong against us! The really bad part was when we were actually on the boardwalk – the wind was blowing the sand around, and it was hitting our faces, legs, and arms. Any skin that wasn’t covered was being exfoliated – who knew there were spa benefits to this race? HA.

Angry ocean mid-run... hurricane on the way!

Still a beautiful backdrop for a run... even if the sand was scraping my skin off!

Action shot!

Gorgeous. Calm before the storm.

We picked up the pace a bit as we neared the finish line, and all three of us crossed together. Even the finish line was organized – there were so many volunteers, and they had everyone lined up handing out water, bananas, power bars, and medals. There was no mad rush for tents of food or anything – you just kept walking down the boardwalk, taking things as they were handed to you. SO EASY. Loved it.

I went straight to the medical tent to get iced and wrapped, and Nat and Lauren went and picked up our backpack. It took about five minutes to get taken care of in the med tent, and I’m really thankful for that – I know that being able to get ice on my back so quickly definitely helped with how good I felt afterwards. I was a little bit sore, but it was more about being sore from running than actual pain in my back. Hooray!

The three of us made our way back to the Convention Center, where the “After Party” was being held. Originally, it was supposed to be under big tents on the beach, but due to the impending hurricane, J & A made the decision to move the party indoors well in advance. I will say, that was another thing that I thought was fantastic about this race – the communication was excellent. There were regular emails before the race with information and emails the day before discussing how the weather was going to affect the race. I didn’t have to search for info or wonder what was going on – J & A was completely upfront and connected the whole time. So great! I'm looking into the other J & A races, because there is really something to be said for a well-organized race. It was such a nice event overall that I'd really love to do another of their races - my experience this time definitely bodes well for the future.
At the Convention Center, we cashed in our tickets for bread bowls of chili and those coveted Blue Moons… beers never tasted so good! 

Done! 10k Finishers

Feeling so good! Happy to be done & pain-free

Me and my big little sister <3

Little lush finished, too

We ate and enjoyed the warmth and the music for a bit before going back to the hotel for showers and cleaning up. Natalie and I were on the road home by about 12:30 PM, full, tired, and happy. A stop at Chipotle right before we got home was possibly the best decision of the entire weekend. We’d had an absolute blast, and couldn’t stop talking about how much fun we’d had and what a great race it was. 

We will definitely be signing up for the 2013 Wicked 10k, and we’re already brainstorming costume ideas. Now that we know how seriously people take that part of it, we are determined to do better! And, obviously, we are hoping for some better weather next year… We are very glad that Hurricane Sandy didn’t interfere with our fun at all (especially given what happened in the next few days).  I had so much fun with Nat and Lauren, I had a great (slow) race, I finished my first official 10k, and I got my first race medal! I loved doing this race with my sister, too. She is my original run buddy, my original racing partner; we have so much fun together when we do things like that, and I was glad that we got to experience this one together. As I said before… not sure I have one single complaint about that race. Can’t wait for 2013!

Pretty sweet, no? Love it!