Race Recap : Chicago Marathon (and long time no see!)

Alright, I think I am back to blogging now that I am done with marathon training. I will have a lot more time in my schedule!

Thought the best way to start back up here would be to talk about the CHICAGO MARATHON. What an amazing race. If you're thinking about doing a marathon, I highly recommend you try to get to that one. You will have an amazing first-marathon-experience. 

I drove up to Chicago on Saturday by myself, and met Alex and our friend there. We were able to stay in his condo, which is right in the heart of Chicago (and one convenient mile from the Start Line), and 2 more friends were flying in. 3 of us were running officially, and 2 were going to run alongside. I was lucky that I was going to have someone to meet up with halfway through to get me through the tough part.

First view of Chicago - I came right in on the lake!

Let's start at the Expo : We went on Saturday evening and it was AMAZING! Definitely the BEST Expo I've been to.

The 3 (registered) runners!

I got everything ready the night before. Laid out my outfit, made sure everything was charged, etc. I wrote myself a note for when the goings got tough.

Got some pics before the race

I started out FAST (sub-7 in the first 1/4 mile) but knew that I absolutely had to slow down because every second you over shoot in the beginning, you slow down significantly in the end). I kept thinking to myself "hold it," or "sit on this pace" because those are things we say in rowing. Usually a coxswain is saying it, but I thought of it in a coxswain voice and it was effective.

My Garmin lost satellite under a bridge before the first mile marker, but it quickly regained it. I was surprised to find that I'd started the first 5k slower than I wanted (usually adrenaline gets me right on pace at the beginning of a race!) and I actually finished the first 5k in about 25 minutes (8:19 pace). However, I realized at that point that I had to GO and I dropped down to my marathon pace, which was between 7:40 and 7:55 minute per mile pace (depending on whether you looked at my Garmin or the course clocks). I was right where I wanted to be. I took my first GU at mile 7 and was feeling great. Before I knew it, I was flying through my half marathon, and my friend met up with me at about mile 14, and I took another GU. By mile 18 I was still feeling strong and confident ("only 2 4 mile runs left!"). At mile 21, I was on pace to run a 3:26. At mile 22 I hit the wall. Ouch.

I made the conscious decision after hitting the wall to drop my mile splits by a minute per mile. Instead of running at 7:40-7:50 pace, I went to 8:30-8:50. I was totally aware of doing this, and I knew I had to do it or my body might quit. I knew I still was going to clear my goal by a long shot, and slowing down was not only fine by me, but necessary. At mile 23 we found our other friend. He had started in Wave 1,  and he was actually running the race and had a bib number, so I knew we could finish together. 

During the race I took GU at miles 7, 13, and 18. If I could change anything, I would also have taken my fourth GU at 22...but I kind of forgot. My thinking started to get fuzzy around 22. I took water at every aid station and Gatorade at almost every aid station. If you ever do a marathon, definitely do this too.

Miles 24, 25, and 26 (and the .2) were the most difficult thing I have ever done. I felt like death. I had hit the wall so hard, and I don't think it's a reflection on my training but was probably more due to nutrition and fueling prior to the race (I probably needed a bigger breakfast). The friend that I was running with single-handedly got me to the finish line. At a few moments, I was afraid he would have to support me across the finish. It was all I could do to keep my legs going, but I had to make the decision to pick up my legs for every step. My friend who jumped in at the half brought me water from the aid stations so I could keep running straight and not slow or stop. In the last mile, my calves started clenching and cramping so hard that my feet were forced downwards, causing me to trip every couple of steps. That was hard.

.1 of the final .2 was UP HILL. The whole course was flat except for that. Then there was a final .1, which was downhill. I heard them call my name, and I grabbed my friend's hand and we ran under the archway together. I finished with a time of 3:31:16, which allowed me to qualify for the Boston Marathon by almost 4 minutes. My buddy grabbed me when we stopped because I seemed a little wobbly but after a few moments I was totally fine (except the legs haha). 

We got as much water/Gatorade/bananas/nutrition/as we could hold and slowly made our way to our meet-up spot.

We couldn't find Alex for quite awhile but I did get interviewed by NBC News Chicago.

While we waited, my friends took amazing care of me. They were really excited that I'd qualified (and so was I!). They got me coffee, water, and foil blankets. 

Before we found Alex...

After we found him!

The girl that got me through!

We got lots of Bean pictures

Things that kept me going during this race:

-Looking down and seeing the note on my hand. There are so many reasons, people, and experiences that drove me to want to run this marathon. I dedicated this race to them.

-Seeing my shadow on the ground and feeling that my form looked strong; I tried to keep it up

-Thoughts of wearing fuzzy socks ASAP

-Remembering all the people that have done training runs with me or lent me marathon advice

-Hearing a spectator say "Now, she looks like she's a good runner" as I ran past at mile 8."

-Thinking of the friends and family that cheered me on from afar

-Thinking of all the work that I've put in; all the sacrifices I've made; and how bad I wanted to do this

-Thinking of all the people that will never have this opportunity, but might want it

Now Ryan as some deco hanging around him.

More on life and running and rowing later :) Now time to sleep!

I did it :)

I can officially say I've ridden in Pelatonia 14! The 50 miles went great and I'm really proud/pleased with how it went. 

The first thing I want to say is a HUGE thank you to my dad and my family. I could NOT have done this without you guys, especially my dad. Not only has he worked with me all summer to find the proper equipment and learn how to ride a road bike/train for this event, but he woke up at 3:30AM Saturday morning with me to drive me to Columbus so I could check in and be at the start line in time. We were having a family reunion of sorts this weekend, and on Friday night all my aunts/uncles/cousins wished me good luck and told me I could do it. My Aunt Pam gave me her bananas for fuel, since we didn't have any at home. I seriously have the most wonderful, loving family and you guys gave me the greatest boost :)

Back to the recap... 

Like I said, we had to get up at 3:30AM so we could get to Columbus in time and get my registration/riding credentials. Surprisingly, the 3:30 wakeup didn't feel TOO bad... I wonder if it's because I had some practice with crazy-early wake ups during our traveling adventures in Europe this past spring?

Check-in was easy and smooth. I got everything I needed in a snap. Whenever I've done morning-of check in for other events in the past, it's usually chaotic and takes awhile. So this experience was great. Before we knew it, I was ready to go!

I had a bike tag and this bracelet which was personally printed with my dad's contact info in case I crashed/got hurt, my birth date, and my rider ID.

My dad and I took a few selfies while we waited for them to call me up to the staging area to get going!

When they did call me, my dad went off on his own (free) bike ride near a reservoir where I rowed in MANY high school regattas! 

They staged us and then had us stand under this banner before they officially called us to go.

"Together we are unstoppable."

And we were off! The first 12 miles FLEW by and before I knew it there was a rest stop. There were too many people using the restrooms at the start line, so I took this opportunity for a potty break. I had my own snacks so I didn't stop for any. I quickly hopped back on the bike and the next 13 miles flew by, too! Another rest stop popped up at that point. That was also where the 25-mile riders stopped. I stopped for about 30 seconds to send my dad a text message, because my Road ID app had lost reception and I didn't want him to worry. Then I got going again!

I wasn't tearing it up pace-wise, but things felt VERY manageable until I got into my third hour of riding. That's when I felt tired and things started to hurt. I was drinking water and Gatorade the whole time, and I did eat a Lara bar around mile 25. I actually never stayed with a consistent group of people the whole time either - I typically lost groups if I pulled over at rest stops and people were constantly passing me and I was passing people sometimes too.

So, I had just passed 3 hours of riding and we were in the middle of endless cornfields when I saw someone that looked an awful lot like my dad riding towards us on the other side of the road. I realized it was him and started to yell "Heyy--" and he zoomed past, yelling back "I'll catch up to you!" He did turn around and catch me and said "We're only 5 miles from the finish line!" I was SHOCKED! I started to ride really hard and he even let me draft off of him. He rode all the way to the end with me and then we parted ways so I could go through the shoot and under the arch. 

I was absolutely floored when I looked at my watch and saw that I had finished in 3 hours and 35 minutes! That's about 15 ish mph. I had NOT expected that - it seemed from my training that I would finish in more like 4 hours! I was pleasantly surprised.

I stocked up on more bananas at the finish, refilled my water bottle with Powerade and got some yummy cookies ;)

I was a little upset at the finish though because I was supposed to be able to pick up my Pelatonia jersey and goodie bag. They didn't have it at the start and said it would be at the end. The volunteers there said they did NOT have them and that they were probably in the Pelatonia office which is closed on the weekends. They said I could call on Monday but that the jersey probably wouldn't be shipped. I was definitely angry and upset about this because I had paid a lot of money to be able to ride, use rest stops, eat food at the end, and get that jersey. So I'll have to call them - hopefully I can get them to send it.

As I've mentioned before, Pelatonia is a fundraising bike ride - not a race - that raises money for cancer research. I will be continuing to raise money towards my fundraising goal until October 10, and if you're interested in learning more or donating you can read my rider profile HERE. 

Today would normally be my long run day, but it's a cutback week still and I hadn't planned to run at all for a couple days after the bike ride. I actually don't feel sore or terribly fatigued, so I might go for a fun pressure-free run at some point if I still feel up to it. Or I might just take it easy :) Right now I have some serious business to attend to in the kitchen and that's all I'm thinking about at the moment (read: banana bread). 

Again, I want to say a big thank you to my dad. I could not have done this without you.

Race Recap : A Most Excellent Race :)

I am very happy with how today went! I wasn't sure if this would just be a "fun 5k" or a "5k where I tried hard to get a new PR" and after I got going, it turned out to be the latter.  I woke up in a competitive mood and put on my special outfit which I'd laid out the night before, true to form :)

I ate breakfast at 7 (pb and banana on toast w/ coffee of course) and at 0800h headed over to the race (about ~7-minute walk from my house) so I could register and stretch and then warm-up. My mom met me about 20 minutes before the start and I did a 0.5 mile warm-up.

My short-shorts help me runs extra speedy :)

I pretty much held my place throughout the race. I finished two miles with an official time of 13:15 and the last mile headed uphill, which didn't help my dying energy. I still finished with a Garmin time of 21:25  :) Yay for sub-7 minute mile-pace! I was the first girl in my age group and 3rd or 4th woman overall... we are waiting for official results.

I think I owe this PR to taking it easy the last few days, lots of stretching, and being sure to HYDRATE yesterday. That's always important. 

After the race I did a 1.5-mile cool down, which put me at a running total of about 5 miles today. At home I stretched for awhile and relaxed, and then went on an easy 7-mile bike ride with my dad. We just want to keep getting me used to the road bike. I only had one bad thing happen, when I fell in a pothole (and knocked off my chain... these bikes are very delicate!). Riding a road bike is really fun though; it makes you feel powerful and speedy like you are flying along. Kind of like rowing!

Later activities today included : eating ice cream, lying around reading, and lots of hydrating.

Relaxing and race photos!

Let's begin today's post with...(drumroll) a race photo!

Here's one of me cheesin' for the camera. 2 seconds before the picture I believe my words were "this sucks" but my race buddy (a veteran marathoner) reminded me that I should at least smile for the camera. Luckily I pulled it together for those few moments!

Started yesterday with a wintry outfit...I tried a new sweater dress and my "grandma sweater" (that's what Alex calls it). Wish the colors showed up here better but it's dark green!

Does anyone else still eat chocolate advent calendars? I hope my mom will still get them for me every December until I'm a million.

I was a bit under the weather yesterday, which wasn't fun but it was also fine because now I have nothing to do with myself for the next few weeks! I relaxed with a movie and lots of books.

Clearly not enough to choose from...I might need another bookshelf!

I ended up reading some library books on one of my favorite subjects...the Tudor family! Since I was about 10 or 11 years old, I have accumulated a wealth of (probably useless) knowledge on this particular part of the royal family and always welcome more literature on them. One is a novel and one is a biography - the perfect mash-up!

And another race-photo to end the day!

Here I'm pictured with the buddy who ran with me for 11 miles!

Race Re-Cap: Santa Hustle Half-Marathon!

My race re-cap for yesterday's Santa Hustle Half is long due... I was so exhausted yesterday that I just didn't get around to writing it!

Basically, it was a fun experience. Mentally and training-wise, I had been so ready to do a speedy PR, but yesterday it just was not going to happen. For a couple of reasons.

First of all, not sure if you got the memo but this is what it looks like here. At the half-marathon it was still coming down, combined with temps around the 20s and extremely high winds.

In case you didn't know (which I didn't really, until I actually had to do it!) it is EXTREMELY hard to run 13.1 miles in snow, ice, and a generally thick slush. Sometimes just pushing through the winds was a challenge in itself to keep going. After about 1.5 miles I fell off my desired pace. By mile 4, I realized that my attitude needed to change - this had to be for fun, not for competition. 

Throughout the race, I kept wishing that the race coordinators had been able to do a better job salting and clearing the snow. My calves and shins were killing me, and even my feet ached. My running stride was totally altered. In hindsight, I know that I really knew what I was signing up for by registering for a December half-marathon on Lake Erie - it was not going to be pretty! My knee (which has been worn out from overtraining and not doing my strengthening exercises - bad me!) began aching around mile 3 and "popped" at about mile 7. If I'd wanted to completely prevent further injury and drop the race, there were no medics or volunteers for sometimes a mile or so at a time. In hindsight, I'm actually glad because I did not really need to consider dropping the race. I know that I really wouldn't have, either - but during the race I felt sore and alone and wanted to see options. 

I'm glad I powered through and with a week or two completely off, my knee should be more than alright.  I ran with a friend until about mile 11, which made it fun, and when I just couldn't fight it any longer I let her speed up without me. I'm definitely very happy I finished the race - my fourth half.

I've never been so excited to finish a race. When I finally was done and took the pressure off my knee and stretched out, I felt much better, physically and mentally. This was the first time I did a half-marathon "with" Alex (he zoomed ahead with his other speedy buddy). We hung out with friends and got lunch afterwards. Getting warm was the best feeling ever! 

I didn't get any good pictures from the race - this was my first half-marathon without my mom - which was fine; I'm glad she was safe and warm at home instead!

However, I did get this photo of a...reindeer! He was at the race cheering us all on.

I did of course, LOVE the race package...

...Santa beard and all...

And the finisher's medal was a totally cool one!

My not-dying throughout the race was due largely in thanks to the Illuminite gloves and hat that I purchased the day before. My mom contributed to buying them and I am SO thankful to have had them. My hands almost always heat up during a race and I take my gloves off, and during the course of the race yesterday I did take these cozy gloves off a couple of times - only to replace them because of the biting cold. They even have reflective dots on the backs of them to help you be visible in the dark. These are by far the best gloves I've run in - not those cheap ones from the dollar store that get cold and wet!

Mostly I'm an ear-warmer girl because I always run in a bun or pony-tail, but I knew that the race weather would call for something a little more powerful. I got this men's hat with the gloves and loved the fleecy interior. The exterior is pretty much all-weather proof - though the man at the running store said that a driving rain would probably go through the seams. It worked perfectly for the snow and my ears were not cold one bit!

When I got home I warmed up and decorated our beautiful Christmas tree. One of my favorite traditions and it turned out so pretty, as always!

After the race I made sure to enjoy some of Trader Joe's yummy chocolate cookies...

Hopefully I find a few race pictures in the next few days and can share them later in the week! 

Home again and getting ready for another race...

Well, I've packed up my room in Oxford and made it back to Cleveland again! Somehow Thursday seems to recent yet the entirety of Friday seemed to last a week, between the packing, the loading, the driving, and then the unloading and unpacking.

I got home just in time for another race...one from the Santa Hustle series! I'm signed up for the half, we'll see how that goes with all the snow and ice and cold...

By far the most interesting race packet yet....

The day was spent running around, sending mail to my host mother abroad, getting groceries, buying exciting new running gloves/hat for the half-marathon, and cooking a big pasta dinner for a few runner friends! 

One of the most important stops was Trader Joe's. Check out their cute deco for the holidays!

We bought these new best things ever...

I made a classic pre-race dinner - spaghetti, salad, and brownies. I was especially proud of my giant salad.

And just for a side note, I just unpacked one of my favorite "race numbers." This one's a keeper!

Will have to report back on tomorrow...it'll be an experience!

Movie with friends and half-marathon in ONE WEEK?

Last night after about 4 hours of studying I watched one of my all time fave movies (Princess Bride) with friends. Since I'll be overseas next semester moments like these with my friends from my community are extra-special.

Our beautifully decorated common room!

Woke up to more snow this morning...

This morning  I also realized that I just have one week until my half-marathon...OMG. I feel more ready than I have in the past and also less ready. I didn't run much in the two weeks before my last half-marathon, but I wonder if that hurt me (though I can't complain...still PRed by 7 minutes). I had originally planned to just make this half-marathon a "fun race" but as it nears I find myself unable to do anything but think about it in my most competitive mindset. I'm very competitive with myself. I'm getting nervous, because I'm scared!

I've been taking good care of my IT-band and have been rolling (foam rolling!) everyday and doing my stretches. Tomorrow I think I'll do an easy run (just 3 miles or so) and I think I'll do the same on Wednesday or Thursday just to keep things working. I had plans of ellipticizing again today but I think that really seems to tire out my legs so I'm gonna skip it! I'll likely do 8-minute abs and my indoor workout later in the evening as a study break. 

Off to my last crew meeting for at least a year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Started off the day on a great note with the Cleveland Turkey Trot today! It was freezing and extremely slippery, and I had to tie my shoe half-way through but it was still really fun. I came in 17th out of 282 in my age group, and according to the chip-time I made my goal despite the elements! WOOHOO.

I was very bundled this morning…

It was TWENTY DEGREES and snowing. Kept my frets warm as long as possible.

I wrapped up the morning with a very easy 2-mile run, bringing my total to 7! Now it's potato time.