“Don’t Let That Smile Deceive You”

Boston Marathon 2011: 3:48.46.

Easily a PW. But, hey, it was bound to happen at some point, right?

And according to baa.org

	5k	10k	15k	20k	Half	25k	30k	35k	40k
	0:24:34	0:48:44	1:13:35	1:39:25	1:45:00	2:05:52	2:35:15	3:04:51	3:35:52
Finish:		Start Offset	Pace	Proj. Time	Offl. Time	Overall	Gender	Division
		–	0:08:44		3:48:46	13033	4077	2711

I mean, I’m alive and all buttttt as a precaution remember I packed my id, money and *insurance card* into my sports bra because I felt that it would be a bad race.  And, while I didn’t use anything of that yesterday (but ended up in the medical tent), I will on Thursday as I fork over a co-pay to see the doctor (annoyingly the first appointment available)

Race day started out decent, I was awake wayyyy earlier than my alarm because of anxiety but  I was actually excited for a race before race day for once after the dailies dinner! This feeling faded on Sunday but Saturday night I was pumped.

Dear friends who have given me more support than I probs deserve!

I got to the start around 0730, actually got to use a porta potty that hadn’t been used yet (!!) and hung out for  a bit chatting with some of my RW friends. (Kevin and Nick). Kevin’s first words to me? “You don’t look happy to be here”.  Which was true by the time Monday morning rolled around and we chit chatted about lots of things. I looked for another friend, Sarah, but never found her before the start despite us texting to find each other.  Nick and I walked to the start where he so graciously let me wear his throwaway sweatshirt! We found our corral, talked strategy, wished each other luck and we were off.

The race started out well for me.  The first two miles were probably a little faster than I should have run them (7:45, 7:30) but that’s roughly the goal pace I set for myself (I was targeting a 3:20 remember) and they felt good.  After mile two, my knee started hurting.  Not that much so I settled around 8 minute pace and readjusted my goals.  All the while, wearing the tiara and trying to feed off the energy of the crowd.  Everyone loved my tiara.  I had my first initial permanent marker’d on my leg so I got a lot of “Go Princess K!” cheers.  The little kids loved the crown too. One older gentleman told me “You keep up with those big boys Miss America”.

I don’t really remember much of the middle miles except trying to feed off that energy.  Because I was in pain.  The crowds at Boston are SO AWESOME. (And Caroline I looked for you at that DD by BC in the late miles! Couldn’t find you though) So I slapped every single hand that was outstretched and did enjoy myself in that respect.

But I cannot tell you the number of times I thought about dropping out (because I stopped counting) and when a train flew by in Natick? Yeah I thought about that $20 in my bra. By mile 16 the pain was lingering up my hip and down into my feet and continued on for the rest of the race.  I really wish that I had seen one of my friends who was on heartbreak because I needed to have someone tell me to htfu.

Im in the all black and tiara. Taken by a friend (runningsnake) around the mile 19 water station

And then around mile 21/22/23 (I can’t really remember) I felt something pop and then radiate pain up and down my leg.  This is also soon before the moment where I accepted beer from the BC boys (who among all the people on the course loved my tiara the most)

My pace dropped off SO MUCH during the last half and especially post-heartbreak and I know I looked like death in the late miles.  It was such a struggle. I wanted to stop and cry so many times.  I knew that I couldn’t stop (although you all will be proud to know I did for water THREE TIMES!) because if I did that then I wouldn’t start up again. I feel bad for my family because they didn’t know if they were going to keep getting the next 5k split text. They were all in Boston waiting for the call “heyyyyy I’m not going to be there”

As I rounded the corner of Hereford and Boylston I saw my family this year (last year they missed me) with my sister blasting her vuvuzela and that gave me the kick to push hard at the end.  After crossing the finish line I meandered over to the medical tent where they had no ice (wtf?) and got seen by a doctor because I couldn’t bear weight on my leg.

With the above said, I finished the race not meeting my hopes but doing MUCH better than my expectations. Despite the real pain of my leg (and not just the pain that comes with hauling your body over 26.2 miles) I can’t say that I’m really pissed off about it or angry.  That doesn’t mean I’m overjoyed with the actual race itself (or my foolish pride in sticking out the whole thing) as I know I did lots of things wrong leading up to the race. But my expectations heading into Athlete’s Village were not the greatest and therefore not being in surgery right now is a plus (because that was my fear going into the race)

This is the second year I’ve run Boston and the second year I’ve run the race overtrained and injured and the second year Boston knocked me on my ass (because despite PR-ing last year at Boston it still wasn’t all it could be).  Good thing I’m moving to a new hometown and can have a new hometown race 😉

"I F$#%ing Hate This Course" <-- one fleeting thought that passed through my head in the late miles.

I met up with Lindsay (and I have to apologize to her because I was really irritated with my family and cranky because I couldn’t find her and they all wanted to leave the city.  And I’m pretty sure she witnessed it! But once I saw her I instantly relaxed. So thanks girl!) and we wandered a bit and got lost trying to find the T because streets were shut down. Stupidly I didn’t get a picture so you’ll just have to trust it happened.

Again, thanks to all who tracked and texted and commented on my last post and fb’d. And read this whole damn thing (I swear someday I’ll learn to be concise with my words). Also to note: other than the blistering sunburn I have and my knee, I feel good. I kind of hate my fast recovery time after a marathon because it makes me want to go out there NOW and run rather than bask and recover, because like I’ve said to a few of you, I have to be happy with my performance given how I was feeling this weekend (I really downplayed how bad it was. Silly pride)

Fingers crossed I get something resembling good news at the doctor on Thursday.  I’m just trying to relax. I took today off of work too and I’m glad I did, although relaxing is hard to do with a sunburn! Ouch! And trust me: there will be no running until I get the go-ahead from my doctor. Not that I really could anyway. I really can’t in good conscience. The medic at the tent told me he thought it was a tear in my flexor tendon. Because when he placed his hand on my calf and told me to push down I couldn’t.  We’ll see in a few days though. In the meantime I have some jokes to read. Holler.

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Remember The Name. I’m a Racer!

When in doubt, DON’T

Benji Franklin

Well if I’ve learned anything this fall it’s to not doubt myself.

 

I'm so glad that I have ppl who tell me that I'm (and I may be paraphrasing a bit) HOT SH!T 😉

 

Aaaaaaaaaaand I’ve also learned that partying with your childhood friends the night before a race might be a good idea.  Because that’s what I did the night before the Tufts 10k.  In all fairness we were celebrating my bestie’s birthday.  I tried to cut out early.  I always think that this is possible buttttt it never is.  Darn.  At the very least I tried to tame my inner Ke$ha 😉

While I’ve always maintained that my best runs come after a late night I don’t think I’d EVER think about applying it as part of a race strategy.  Live and learn right?  Or not because, as you’ll see, things turned out most excellent.

I drove back to my hometown on Sunday afternoon.  I was meeting up with Lacey beforehand and we were heading into the race together and my mom’s house is closer to the spot we were meeting than my apartment.  So I figured I’d get more sleep this way.  Well, I ended up getting WAY less sleep than if I had stayed put because of said party.  But it was fun. And I got to see peeps I hadn’t seen in awhile.  If anything it was a good way to take my mind of off the stuff that’s been making me mopey lately. No regrets.

Anyway. I met up with Lacey and we headed into Boston together. It was our one year anniversary as we met for the first time at this race last year.

 

Picture from last year's Tufts 10k. AKA the first time we ever met 🙂

 

I feel like I’ve known her forever though!

Pre-Race

We actually got there pretty early (if you’ve been reading for awhile you’ll know that last year I had to hop a fence to make it to the start on time!). It was a noon start and we hopped off the T around 1030 in time to pick up our bibs and goodies.  There was SO MUCH FREE STUFF.  We didn’t hit up the expo until afterward (and literally loaded up our bags) but there was tons to see.  We, of course, sat down and tried to relax/get amped up.

I also put a ribbon in my hair, which Lacey tied the bow for and then said “Now you’re a real girl”.  Gee thanks 😉  I also wore my black spandex booty shorts and a black tank.  Because I truly believe that (in ANYTHING in life) how you dress is how you’ll preform and affect how you feel.  So that outfit = bamf.  And I had a pink bracelet on and the ribbon to soften it.  I may or may not overthink these things.  Oopsies.

The announcer started calling everyone up to the start and we headed to the very beginning of the 7:00 pace group.  I’ve never actually seeded myself that fast before.  It was all Lacey’s doing 🙂

But it was cool to actually be able to see the elites (because this was a national championship for the 10k) in front of us as there weren’t many women in front of us in the 6:00 and 5:00 pace groups.  Someone sang the national anthem and BOOM we were off.

Race:

Mile 1: 6:36 (6:36)

“Ummmm this is fast.  Can I hold on?” and then “ummmm this is close to my 5k pace. Holy #$%@” I was just trying to keep up with Lacey early on.  My lungs felt like they were on fire.  I developed, what I call, “smokers lung” and my lungs stayed COLD for the rest of the race. (in fact, as I sit here Monday night typing this my lungs still haven’t felt back to normal.  Boo.) And I lost my headband which threw me off for a second.  Oh well. 

Mile 2: 6:35 (13:11)

I tried to pull ahead of some of the women in front of me, as they looked fast and I wanted to pass them.  It was really tough but I wanted to keep trying to hold onto this pace because I wasn’t quite sure how long it would last. I just kept chugging along and I do remember thinking to myself that “after the first mile my body will adapt to this pace”.  Hey, I can dream right?

Mile 3: 6:51 (20:02)

Suspiciously close to my 5k pr time.  I definitely remember being SCARED of this thought as it meant that I could really DOMINATE this race.  Or I could crash and burn.  It wasn’t even half over at the 3 mile mark! Especially since I really felt the slow and the fatigue creep in.  Hence the almost 7:00 minute mile.

Mile 4: 6:55 (26:57)

Another bit of a slow mile. But I should say that my strategy going into this was a fast first 2, hold for 2, kick for 2.  So I can’t be too upset with this mile.  And it was still sub-7.

Around mile 4 we had to do a hairpin turn and then run the opposite way of where we just ran (on the other side of the yellow lines of the road.  If that makes sense)  As I turned and passed the 4 mile mark Lacey was headed the other way on the road and as we passed each other we slapped hands and said something to each other.  Likely this was along the lines of “keep it up” or “push it” and it lifted me immensely.

Mile 5 : 6:35 (33:32)

Another thing that lifted me immensely was picking off people.  I’ve also learned this fall that I’m WICKED competitive.  So picking off the women in front of me was a BOO-freaking-YA.  It made me feel really good to be going so fast.  Of course my legs hurt a bit but I’m truly a long distance gal and the longer I was out there the less my legs hurt.

And as I passed the 5 mile marker there was a little boy, maybe kindergarten age who was yelling personalized things to the runners.  Mine was: “nice ponytail”! Which made me chuckle and I turned to give him a big thumbs up!  I was also running down same area as Boston Marathon, and at the Comm Ave / Hereford intersection I remembered pushing hard there.  And it gave me some kick to fight home.

Mile 6: 6:37 (40:05)

I rounded the corner to the finish at mile 6 and I got maybe halfway down this stretch and was KICKING the heck out of the course.  I was probably close to a full out sprint (or at least as close as I could be after the effort) and Joan Benoit Samuelson was being announced as crossing the finish line (she ran a 40:30 I think).  Which was cool because she is FAST and I wasn’t too far behind.  Of course, she had just smashed some marathon record the day before in Chicago (2:47:50!!) and was not running her “A” game here.  But it was cool nonetheless.  As soon as she crossed the line she turned around to high five all the runners coming in, like she always does at this race.

But during this final stretch I was determined to not let any of the women pass me.  And I actually passed one or two myself.  Which is exciting. And made me push through the fact that my legs didn’t want to run any faster.  But I made them dammit.

Total: 41:27 (clock)

41:23 (watch)

41:20 (chip) 6:40 pace

This is a 3:49 minute PR

Age Group: 41/1594= top 2.6%

Overall (and women because it’s a all women race): 72/6690 = top 1.1%

OH SNAP.

Post-Race:

So I’m VERY proud of myself for this race.  I really wasn’t feeling it mentally.  Like I’ve said (and it’s probably come across in the tone of my posting lately) I’ve got a lot on my mind lately and being able to focus on one thing RACING is hard.  Concentrating on one thing PERIOD is hard. Granted this worked out for me in my 5k where I really let my mind wander but I’m happy that for 6.2 miles my mind was on racing.

And I’m happy with how I executed it too.  Like I said above, my strategy was go out strong and fast for the first two miles, then hold on for the next two, then kick it to the end.  And my splits reflected that.  The next step is obviously holding a strong pace for the WHOLE 6.2 miles 😉

I will say that, as happy and on cloud nine as I am, my pace (6:40) is not that much faster than my 5k PR pace (6:26). Hmmmm.  I don’t really know what that says.  And my legs didn’t feel drained and completely done-zo at the end.  Another hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Especially since I met up with a high school running buddy for some “easy miles” which *felt* easy but were at 8:00 pace.  And since I had a big mileage weekend beforehand (silly weather being so tempting!)

Oh well.

I’m extraordinarily happy with how my fall “racing season” (if you want to call it my three — untrained for and not really planned — races) went.  I smashed records (my own of course 😉 ) left and right.  I may have a Jingle Bell 5k that I’m thinking of doing in December but all my “serious” races are done and over (as the December one would be a costume-y one. YAY).

But seriously.  I learned another thing this fall: I am a racer. I live for this. Granted every single time I step to the starting line I want to back out.  But I don’t because I love the thrill of pushing myself.  And the feeling of wanting to vomit because apparently I want to do it every time I cross the finish line.

Therefore I want y’all to

Remember. My. Name.

This is 10% luck,
20% skill,
15% concentrated power of will,
5% pleasure,
50% pain,
And 100% reason to remember the name!

I Made It

First of all: thanks to all the heartfelt congrats and wicked nice thing y’all said yesterday.  Maybe it was the endorphins but I smiled and laughed on all of them and teared up on some as well!  You guys are so supportive and nice!  You totally know how to make a girl feel good too 🙂

And now what you’ve been waiting for!

I really wish this song had gotten bigger than it did.  Because I am still a fan.  A huge fan. Like I’m smiling big watching this and listened to it the entire time I wrote this post.  Or I could still be on a high from the race  😀

So by now you’ve probably already seen my quickie update from yesterday where I said my watch time was 20:01.94. Which, don’t get me wrong, is a fantastic time.  But I just had my eyes on something bigger — or faster as the case may be.

Which according to my

19:59

official time I did hit it. Thank you very much 🙂

I was 206/5977 and 23/1974 in my division (Women’s Open 34 and under)

For those of you who are not as mathematically inclined as I that is top 3.4% overall and top 1.2% division.

Yes I’ve been smiling ever since they posted it.

Now let’s back up.

Pre-Race (I always take forever to set up the actual race hahah!)

The morning started by me waking up on my own and to a really pleasant morning: the temp at the start was probably mid-to-upper 60s and the sun was SHINING bright.  1115 start time + living in a small city = no early wake up calls.  I got to eat a leisurely breakfast and do some work.  Since I had been so scared (not totally terrified but more than a little nervous) I set about the apartment doing some research stuff for some things that I’m planning in the future (which — tangent — might just be the BEST thing about not being in school).  I basically was trying to make the day as “normal” as possible.

If only because I had two schools of thought on how the race was going to go.  Despite anxiety dreams on both Friday and Saturday night, in which people were telling me that I’d fail, that I couldn’t run well etc., I did think I had a shot at doing really well.  Some of you had thrown around the sub-20.  I’m not going to lie and say that it wasn’t something that I disregarded as out of this world.  But, like most races, I thought it was either going to go REALLY well or REALLY poorly.

I warmed up for about 3.5 miles.  Maybe a bit much but I really didn’t feel my legs “click” until I started doing my strides around mile 2.5.  After a mile of that, which was on the last mile of the course, I made my way to the starting line.  I was happy I chose to run on the course but it definitely brought back memories of how hilly Providence is.  AKA the final quarter mile was uphill.  And not just a gentle uphill: like UPHILL.  But at least now the fact that it was there was fresh in my mind.

Since I registered the day before and NOT online I was a really high bib number.  And since this is such a large race they put people in corrals according to said bib number.   I remembered from last year that bib numbers correlated to the approximate time you say you’ll finish when you fill out the online application.  Since I was shooting for a fast race I headed toward the front of the pack.  One good thing about this being a big race is that, the closer it got to gun time, the less people were checking bib numbers.  So I did get up closer to the front.

After about 5 minutes of a wait (while an announcer introduced famous runners that were there — like Joan Benoit Samuelson, Sarah Hall and Molly Huddle who is a local and the 2010 winner and I think the announcer said the current 5k American record holder? I guess this race is a big deal?!) the gun went off.

The bad thing about big races is that the start always is awful.  I felt stifled and ended up running on the outside of the pack which, when you take turns into account, probably added some distance to my race. But here’s the splittage breakdown (according to my watch) and some commentary from what I can remember during the race

Race:

Mile 1: 6:33

Not bad at all when you consider all the weaving I had to do.  I never found a rhythm because there were too many runners around! Normally this wouldn’t annoy me (because I’m a longer distance gal and there’s plenty of time to make up that stuff there) but in a 5k I need all the advantages I can get.  I do remember thinking, as I passed the mile marker, gahhh there’s still 2 more?! And then a few moments later holy #$%@! It’s really 2.1 miles more!

Mile 2: 6:25

This was probably the most painful mile.  It was the fastest but I think it was tough because from about mile 1.5 to 2.5 I was picking it up then slowing it down then picking it up.  My mind wandered A LOT during this mile too.  I was thinking about anything and everything.  Some race related but mostly not. Which is weird that it ended up being my fastest split.

Mile 3: 6:31

I got to see some cute middle/high school girls dressed in bumblebee costumes somewhere during this mile.  It lifted me a little (especially since I had passed them during my warmup and they cheered for me then!) From mile 2 to 3 I kept thinking about how I had run this portion of the race during the warm-up and kept thinking that the end had to be near. But in a 5k, and at this point in a 5k, it’s not.

My legs definitely threatened to shut down but the thought of passing other runners (another perk to a big race!) kept me going.  I could actually feel my legs being sore.  I guess this is a good sign that I was running fast because I’ve never gotten this feeling in a race before.

last .1: 0:33 (5:30 pace?!)

I hit mile 3 with my watch saying 19:29.  I freaking took off.  I wanted that sub-20 sooooooooooooo badly at this point.  The harder I pushed the more I thought my legs were going to collapse and I honestly thought I was in danger of vomiting right there on the race course!  I didn’t of course but I’m not going to lie: it could have happened.

CVS Caremark Downtown 5k: 20:01.94 (according to my watch) which is a 6:27 pace. And according to official results I ran a 19:59 which is a 6:26 pace

Post Race:

After the race I remember wanting to puke.  Like I know I joke about it but I think this is the first time it was actually in danger of happening.  I walked and got some water and then somehow I ended at the end of the racing area.  I’m not going to say I blacked out (because I never have and I think if I had I would have ended up in the medical tent. Another good thing about big races is that there are tons of medical people around so I’m sure if anything serious had gone down I’d have been in good hands) but I don’t really have a recollection of the 10-15 minutes after I crossed the finish line. I do know that I ate a banana and a package of trail mix as evidenced by the trash I held in my hand.

Then I headed home and waited in agony for official race results to be posted.  Agony.

Overall Thoughts

My plan to go out hard and hold it (which actually I stole from Lacey who is my coach and running partner in crime here!) worked.  I went out hard and didn’t falter (although I really don’t run 5k races so to me the paces being all within an 8 second range seems good. Yes?).  Yes I wish I had gone out harder or at least not felt like I was doing the whole slow-down-speed-up routine in the middle.  Especially since I was able to kick that last .1 miles at such a blistering pace! And considering the speed session I had been doing were around that pace.

As far as my official time is concerned I spent the large majority of Sunday trying to convince myself that running a 20:01.94 was good and okay.  Once I saw my official time I was literally screaming and jumping all around my lovely apartment.  Crazy? Maybe.  But it just felt SO GOOD!

Whew.  That was long and since I ran it by myself I don’t have any pictures.  And by now I’ve probably posted all my racing pictures in the past! Whoops.  I know I love pictures in posts so I feel bad.  Hopefully my racing made up for it?! 😛

But this is a picture of the area where the course is.  Which was really nice, despite being uphill at the end.

Thanks google images

And, I think that I should say that this race is incredibly well organized and if you’re ever in the area next fall you should check out this race.  I ran this race last year as my debut 5k and if I made it my second 5k ever then you know if must be good. Plus, since CVS is the sponsor, the stuff they give in the race packet bags is really nice — and actually useful.  I got a toothbrush, face wash, almonds and trail mix, allergy tablets, sunscreen and air foam inserts just to name a few. And a hideous orange technical shirt.  It’s actually more burnt-sienna, but hey, I shouldn’t have gotten a technical t-shirt as I registered race day (those were reserved for the first 5,000 racers).  The non-tech ones were a nice red.  Oh well.

Moral of this post (because I got sidetracked in the last paragraph):

Clearly I am a faster runner than I give myself credit for. And it might still take a while to get used to changing my mindset.  Butttttt This is exciting. The Tufts 10k is MINE 😀

Quickie Update on the 5k

[POST RACE UPDATE]

Because I’m too tired and exhausted to write up a full recap right now and this original post only went up 2 hours ago.  So I figure Sunday = most people not checking in right away and I can catch y’all and update you.

The long and short of it all is this: I PR’d.  By about 90 seconds.  Or, if you go by what my official time was last year and compare it to my watch time this year (official results aren’t up yet) I pr’d by exactly 90 seconds.  And I ran decently consistent splits (the huge crowd in the beginning made the first mile the slowest).  Not what I’d want (Negative all the way!) but at least they weren’t positive all the way.

Thus my watch says 20:01.94. SOOOOOOOOOOO close and I’m pretty sure it actually hurts to be so close.  Both physically and emotionally because my legs are still jello-y and sore.  Going to hurt a lot tomorrow.

And I felt like I was going to puke.  So mission accomplished. I did not, however, but I think I may have blacked out for a second.  Things definitely got fuzzy after literally sprinting uphill for the last .2 miles.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t though because otherwise I’d have ended up in the medical tent.

I’ll stop here so that I can go eat and shower and lounge a bit.  I do have some work to do which is nice to take my mind off of the agony of being so close.  But fun work, as in I’m doing it for ME and not anyone else.  I’ll be back tomorrow to post a full recap 🙂

I’ve Got The Magic In Me

aka Elijah’s Race aka the Swanzey Covered Bridges Half Marathon

2010 Edition

Thanks for all the kind words on my quick recap after the race.  Y’all are great and I’m glad you had faith that I’d run well.  Be still my heart! 🙂

So I guess by now you guys know that I spent the long weekend up in NH with Lacey doing fun things like racing.  So I’ll just jump into the race report?

Since we were staying really close to the race I got to get up at 0715 on race day! It felt really good to be able to sleep.  Because A) I’ve been a bit sleep deprived lately and B) race day.  I ate a light pre-race meal and then we were off to register and race. We listened to this, which was in my head all 13.1 miles.  It was fantastic.  And no, that’s not sarcasm.

Annoyingly I can’t get the official video.  Oops.  But the song is still awesome regardless!

We wandered about the start / registration area a bit and while Lacey did some dynamic stretching in the gym (at the school where the start was) I contemplated what my race strategy would be.  It’s obviously not a secret that I wasn’t “trained” for this race.  Sure I have a bunch of miles under my belt butttt does that mean I was ready? I certainly had hoped so.

(Sidenote: I think the fact that I hadn’t trained for this race made it so that I could run it well.  I definitely have shown up to…I want to say all…my races overtrained.  Not the case here.  It was just my body)

The weather was really amazing for running that morning too.  Hurricane Earl didn’t hit us, like, at all.  But the rain left FALL weather.  The temp at the start was probably 55*.  Ah-maz-ing.

My MO for races is to start out slowish and then progressively get faster.  Lacey’s MO is to go out HARD and then hold on.  I opted to go with her strategy today.  I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to hold a really quick pace from the get-go but it was worth a shot.

I mean, as of last Wednesday of last week I wasn’t sure if I was going to even be racing this race or not.

The gun went off and we took off FAST.  Like way fast.

Yay first bridge 🙂

Here are the splits with a little commentary:

Mile 1- 6:56 (whoa there!)

Mile 2- 7:29 (on a dirt path — definitely the best part of the race. Part of me wishes that we could run the race backward and END with the path).

Mile 3- 7:23 (just trying to keep up with Lacey — my thought process was keep to her because it’s easier to keep up a hard pace than try to make up ground)

Mile 4- 7:07 (off the dirt path and onto the scary highway)

Mile 5- 7:14 (the hills start here, and continue through mile 11. Pretty basically a really mentally hard stretch!).

Mile 6- 7:05 (this is where Lacey and I split up.  Major props to her for pacing me SO WELL and getting me started to just go! And check out how the rest of her race went HERE.  Not a spoiler per se but she did pretty effing awesome too.  A real bamf!)

Mile 7- Unknown but likely somewhere between 7:00 and 7:30 (I tagged along with some guys that were running fast and clearly were good runners.  We all pretty much took turns leading and lagging over the course of now until the end.)

Mile 8- 7:13

Mile 9- 7:24

Mile 10- 7:00 (Really thinking a PR was possible and a great one at that.  Before this point I still was doubting.)

Mile 11- 7:08 (Ouch my quads really hurt.  Like a lot.  Tomorrow is going to suck)

Mile 12- 7:12 (ummmmm hello major hill.  But I managed to power up it.)

Mile 13.1-6:55 (I’ve got the magic in me. I TOOK OFF)

Hello finish line! And despite looking pretty good, if I do say so myself, my first words when I crossed the finish line were "OMG I want to puke"

A PR by 7 minutes and 59 seconds.  If I had known I would have hauled a little more ass to get an even 8 minute PR!

• 4th Woman overall (out of an unknown amount)
• 3rd Just re-checked online and FIRST in my age group (out of 15)
• 32nd place overall (out of 201)

(stats according to what was posted when we left the race) Apparently I found out after later that night that I WON.  But Lacey and I left after thinking neither of us placed or won anything.  Oops.  I feel like such an ass hahah. And an result reading loser because apparently double dipping does NOT occur with races and therefore the women who placed top 3 in the overall category do not place in the AG ones.

I guess if I really did win then I get a prize. I like prizes 🙂

Lacey awarded me one instead (edit: and we both emailed the race director who is WICKED nice and we’ll both be receiving our prizes shortly.  Courtesy of pick up by Lacey’s mom. Thanks so much!)

I guess I won one round of mini-golf at TwinkleTown!

But race thoughts:

So my splits were kind of all over the place.  But the course is really hilly so I’m not worried about it / didn’t worry about it. Of course the average like I said yesterday was 7:10 for the whole 13.1 miles 😀

We had driven the course the night before which was both good and bad.  Bad because I realized just how long 13.1 miles is.  And that hill at mile 12? Definitely is not present when driving because neither Lacey nor myself felt that it was there despite remembering it from years past. But good because I was mentally prepared for that looooooooooong rolling hill stretch from miles 5 to 11.  It really was tough and hard to stay “on”

As far as my racing strategy went I’m very pleased with it.  I’ve always been a self-doubter to some degree despite y’all and others trying to tell me otherwise.  So I race that way I guess. I go out slower because I don’t want to crash and burn and I want to get faster over the course of the whole course.

Apparently no matter what pace I start at I go faster throughout.  Something for me to think about.

I also think that I might have been able to go harder.  Sure I wanted to vomit when I stopped but I think I could have held that pace for another couple miles.  Maybe that’s just me being on cloud nice post-race though hahah.  But my legs don’t actually really hurt either.  I still consider myself a racing newbie so I’m not sure if that’s good or not.  But no real soreness.  I did ice down my shins after the race because they were bothering me a little from the hard effort (when was the last time I raced that hard?!) but nothing really says to me that I ran an 8 minute PR. Go figure.

After the race we chatted a bit with some of the other runners, congratulated those that we “knew” (Lacey actually knew them but I just did from tagging along with them this race) and then jumped into the local pond.  It wasn’t really that cold but it felt good regardless and then we headed back to Lacey’s parent place (where we were staying over the weekend) to eat lots of pancakes, go apple picking, mini-golfing, drinking champagne while icing our legs then celebrating at a bar.

Whew. Here are the highlights in pictures.

On the wagon out to the field.

Reeeeeeeeeeeeach! And yes those are the socks I wore.  Clearly I wasn’t thinking when I headed up to NH and didn’t bring pants.

Yay apples 🙂

FYI: I am a terrible mini-golfer. I think I’m too impatient for it.

I love us. And celebrating.

A very full and fun weekend!

Boston Marathon 2010: Race Report

Warning: Very long. Like beyond normal long.  Haha.  But I’m trying to type a lot of this up Monday night.  My eyes are bleary (so sorry for any typing / grammatical stuff — although correct it as it’s going as a race report link!), 24 is almost on but I want to get lots of this out while it’s still fresh.  And clearly I have a lot to say. Like always 🙂

BUT thanks for all your support.  I really feel like you guys have my back, have felt my pain and felt my good times too. Y’all are awesome! It was so amazing reading your comments here, FB messages, RWOL comments and emails.  Granted I read all of them post race but I felt so loved and cared for!

So many emotions going through me right now.

And somewhat surprisingly disappointment isn’t the first.

Sheer happiness and exuberance is. I don’t think I’ve smiled or had as much fun as I did today. Seriously.  I was smiling the whole damn 26.2 miles. No joke.

But let me back up and make you read my report before you see how I did.  Although I know many of you from other networking sites so you likely already know. Especially since there were many who decided to let it out how I did before me. Jerks.  Can’t be too mad though because it just means everyone was excited 😉

And sorry for the lack of pictures.  I think I set the bar too high after my expo post.

Last night was pure hell.  Mentally I was playing games with myself.  Not that I didn’t train hard enough (obviously that wasn’t the case given my monster monthS) but that I trained too hard.  My doctor and I have concluded that I am WAY overtrained and that along with the culmination of my shin splints (an obvious overuse thing given how late they cropped up) made me worry.  And I’m not going to lie, as I was packing my stuff and laying out my race outfit I was thinking that I really shouldn’t even run. For real.  Those thoughts crossed my mind.

But they were just fears and there was no way I was NOT going to run. So I set my alarm for 0514, ate some saltines, hopped into a hot shower to shave then hopped into bed at 2200.  Later than I would have liked (I wanted time off my feet), but even then I had to read for 45 minutes or so before I was anywhere near ready to nod off.

The 6 or so hours that I was asleep passed uneventfully.  A good thing unlike a week ago when I had a dream that the ax was coming down from my doctor and I had to pull out.

I pretty much jumped out of bed and set about getting stuff 100% ready to leave. And I also committed a racing sin: I tried something new on race day.  Actually a few things food-wise but this was number one: I ate a *slightly* different breakfast.  I wasn’t worried though because, although my stomach is finicky, it’s mostly annoyed with timing rather than the type of food.  So as long as I finished eating ~2 hours before the start I knew I was good.  Plus my bowels have been wicked regular lately thanks to a hefty dose of antibiotics.  Oops if TMI there.

Unlike many runners I was lucky to get mi madre to drive me to Hopkington. I live ~40 minutes away from it so it made more sense than traveling into the city only to travel out of it. We needed to leave by 0615 in order to make sure she got out of the town before the roads got shut down.

Oh and I made a pre-Boston mix.  I made it a bit on the long side but these are the songs that I listened to on the drive:

• Walk This Way. Aerosmith
• I Got A Feeling. Black Eyed Peas
• Mr. Policeman. Brad Paisely
• Crazy Bitch. Buckeye Cherry
• Crazy Dreams. Carrie Underwood
• Rocky Road to Dublin. Dropkick Murphys
• Crazy Town. Jason Aldean
• Tik Tok. Ke$ha
• Bad Romance. Lady Gaga
• Electric Feel. MGMT

And as I left the comfort of my mom’s car I was signing that last one.  Which I am obsessed with at the moment so it was a good thing.

I didn’t bring my camera with me (too paranoid about me losing it) so I don’t have any pictures of the Athlete’s village.  Nor did I think to bring any magazines seeing as how I got there so early.  But it was okay.  Time actually passed pretty quickly.  Surprising given how cold I was.  I was very happy I layered up! Note on the weather: ~42* at the start.  ~58* at the finish. Slight tail-wind.  Partly cloudy.  Couldn’t have asked for better weather.

Around 0930 Alison and Donna, whom I know from RW, showed up and we hung out (mostly in the bathroom lines ha!) until race time.  It was awesome to meet them after so much chatting on RW!

Around 1015 we headed to the start (I was in wave 2 with the 1030 start).  I decided to jump back a corral to hang with Alison.  It’s chip timing so I wasn’t worried about my time and both of us were nursing injuries and planned to start out conservatively. And I remember joking around how the elite women were likely halfway by then HA.

The first mile was 8:45 which is faster than I went out last year in Providence.  But no pain from the shins and I was feeling good.  Mile 2 was about 8:10 which felt good but I knew that it was downhill.  At this point Alison and I parted ways and I tried to soak up the experience. I still wasn’t sure what I could expect from myself but I knew that I needed to actually race like I wrote yesterday.

Miles 1-10 were about the same.  Just trying to lock in a solid pace that would put me in a good position to stay strong throughout.  There were the typical early mile doubts of whether I could do it.  Nothing to make me seriously consider pulling out or anything.  But knowing you have so much left isn’t comforting.  At all. I don’t have the splits but I did check my watch after every mile which isn’t something I normally do.  I know I passed mile 10 in 1:23.xx.  Right on tap to BQ again. Which was a pleasant thought.

Around the halfway point I passed through Wellesley.  And man, everything they say about those girls is right.  It was AWESOME to have them SCREAMING at you.  And to read some of their signs was hilarious.  All variations on the same theme “Kiss Me I’m…” My favorite? “Kiss me I’m not going to tell your wife”

So they gave me a boost.  And knowing you’re halfway there is a boost in and of itself.  My split at the half? Roughly 1:48.  Slightly under BQ pace.  Excellent.

Post-Wellesley I don’t remember much until Newton. Until mile 17. And the only reason that sticks out is because Powerbar was giving out gels. I don’t do gels but it was a reminder to take a small Larabar for fuel.  I wasn’t sure if I needed it but it was late in the game and figured an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  The flavor I had was Lemon Zest.  And it tasted pretty good.

And yes, this was food mistake two.  I trained pretty improperly but never taking in fuel or water during any of my training runs.  But granola-like substances have always been good to my stomach so when I packed them I wasn’t worried.

Then came Newton.  Apparently there are 4 of them that start at mile 18 and culminate with Heartbreak at mile 21.  I honestly didn’t notice the first one until the guy next to me said “One down 3 to go”.  The next one wasn’t really a hill in my eyes, at least the uphill.  The downhill was rough.  I blame it on the lack of hills in my area and relying on the TM for ’em.  No downhills on that sucker.  The third was a bit tougher but it was the Comm Ave hill that I ran with Lacey back in January. Which was cool that I’d already done it.  Even Heartbreak wasn’t that bad.  There was a guy with a mike up at the top celebrating all of us for getting to the top which was cool.  (And Lacey: bummer you missed me! And that I missed you! I was so looking forward from miles 15-20 to seeing you and having you help pace me.)

And he telling us that the rest (~5.2) was all downhill from there.  Lies.  Because any slight incline was agony to me.  Not any type of sharp pain but the aches that come with running 21 miles and running them hard.  I don’t have mile splits for these guys but glancing at the mile clocks was telling me that I was around 8:00-8:30 pace.   And I know that at mile 20 my time was 2:45.xx.  Which made me happy.  Sure I pretty much knew that my “A” goal was unattainable but I was fairly confident that if I could hold pace or slightly increase then a PR was possible.

But those last 5.2 miles were agony.  I took a Peanut Butter Cookie LaraBar around mile 23 and just gutted it out.  I have no idea if I slowed down / by how much but the effort to keep going was so great.  My hips were starting to get really sore and it became a mental game of “just get to the next mile” and “only X left. You’ve done this before and it was only a fraction of a typical run”.

I don’t really know what mile you see the Citgo sign but anyone who tells you that it’s a sign from God is lying.  Maybe it’s because I’m not familiar with the Boston course but it was like it was taunting me. But the crowd support in Boston rocks (for the entire course too) and that was a boost.  I definitely received a bunch of high-5s.  And I could tell that the party had definitely been going on for awhile with some of those college students ha!

Eventually there was a marker that said one mile left and I tried to turn up the heat.  Although I didn’t increase my speed much (if at all) I definitely didn’t lose any.  I just went for it.  At this point a PR was a legit possibility even though 3:29.59 was out of the question.

As I turned onto Boylston Street (and could actually see the finish at this point!!)  my dad (whom I hadn’t seen) starts BELLOWING my name.  LOVE IT.  Although I didn’t love the fact I almost took a spill trying to turn my head and wave.  But it was awesome to see him and have that lift to gut out the last few hundred meters.

Because my friends (the 3 out of a billion who said they were going to show up) and my mom and sibs missed me.  They were all standing on Boylston near the end and MISSED me.  Haha.  My mom was really worried that my shins were acting up and when I called them after getting my bag my sister was like “uhhhhh you’re done?” hahaha.

But the finish!  I pushed so. freaking. hard.  I didn’t look at my watch.  Just focused on the crossing that line and throwing my hands up for the camera.  Hopefully a good ass picture comes out of it because my mom sure as heck didn’t get one 😉

I knew based on the clock time that I BQ’d again.  And according to my watch I PR’d.  But I didn’t know by how much until I got home.  And the result is

3:35.53

Holler atcha girl 🙂

And from the website here are the 5k splits if you’re into that

• 5k        26.17
  
• 10k     52.21
  
• 15k    1:17.53
  
• 20k   1:43.40
  
• Half   1:49.11
  
• 25k    2:08.45
  
• 30k    2:34.20
  
• 35k    2:59.52
  
• 40k    3:24.48
  
• DONE 3:35.53

Pace: 8:14

Overall place: 8512 (no idea out of how many)
Gender: 1957
AG:  1459

I haven’t run the 5k splits all the way but it looks like negative splits.  My MO.  And I like it 🙂

Post race my legs were shaky.  I found the medic tent and got both shins wrapped in ice.  Down a full water bottle (food/fuel mistake 3: no water all 26.2 miles.  Going to have a WICKED dehydration hangover tomorrow!).  Got wrapped in a mylar blanket.  Grabbed my post-race goodies.  And headed to the buses to get my checked back.

I so needed to keep moving.  Standing still was not an option as much as it sounded to attractive.  Unfortunately I had to stand still in the bus line.  And I started to get woozy.  Luckily I was able to avoid hitting the pavement but I was seeing starts for a minute.  Totally rectified after I got some carbs into me.

I found my mom and sibs and chowed down a bit.  We needed to catch a train back home so we couldn’t stay long and I almost missed seeing some of my friends who were looking for me.  They were troopers and walked us to the T so we could chat and they made me a wicked cool picture:

We made it back to the house really easily although I did NOT want to sit down on the train.  But the conductor made me.  Blah.  Once we got home my mom made my favorite meal and then we all went out for ice cream.  When I walked into the house though I saw this:

Plus I decided to skip my 0830 class tomorrow so I could sleep in Tuesday / not have to drive back to school Monday night.  I emailed both the TA (who teaches Tuesdays) and she was cool with it as long as I checked with my professor who was also cool with it saying it was a “special exception”.  So yay 🙂

AND I’m getting a short blurb in my local newspaper 🙂

So a pretty freaking awesome day.  And as I type this it’s late Monday night and I have yet to take off my medal OR the jacket.

And I’ll leave you with the one picture that my mom did take post race

Eastern States 20 Miler: Operation Get It Done

So I’ve been hemming and hawing sitting down to draft this race report. [Warning: it’s on the long side even for me]

Race report? You might ask yourself

Yes race report because yesterday was the Eastern State 20 miler that I ran with Lacey. You’ll notice I said “ran” instead of “raced”.  Ummmm that’s because this was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. You can read Lacey’s report here.  I loved reading it because it totally captures the essence of what went down.

In short this race went according to NONE of our expectations.  I didn’t really hype up the race too much because it was a part of the larger picture: Boston.  I figured it would be a good confidence booster as a last run before tapering (as Boston is 3 weeks from today!?!).  Lacey and I had talked a bit about what our goals were and we had two:

• Finish stronger than we started
• Maintain a good GMP (~8:00) throughout

As I’m sure you can tell by my tone so far neither of those happened.

To start with, the race conditions were much worse than the weather forecast had led me to believe.  According to weather.com it was suppose to be cloudy but with some sun, temps of upper 30s at the start to low 40s throughout.  Well okay, I suppose both of those are true.  BUT the forecast neglected to mention that since we were running along the Eastern sea coast (Kittery ME to Hampton Beach, NH) it was going to be a cold 40* and WINDY.

Luckily both of us had packed tights and gloves so we were okay. And as you can see all smiles and hardcoreness at the start:

Note: All pictures stolen from Lacey!

BAMFs

And despite looking ready to go we actually missed the start! We ended up being, literally, at the back of the pack. Since it was such a small race (no chips or mile markers on the course) it wasn’t the biggest deal but when they say the race starts at 1100 they really mean it!

Wait, was that the horn?!

We eased into the pack and I know Lacey was chomping at the bit to GO! We had talked about race strategy and since one of our goals was to finish strong we held back a little bit.

Full Disclosure Time: I entered the race on Sunday not feeling 100%.  Lacey and I had emailed back and forth and I was considering dropping out of the race and, if this had been a training run and not a race I had already paid for and committed to, I wouldn’t have done it.  I think.  My left shin (the one that I don’t have the PT ‘script for) was bugging me and I wasn’t sure I could do it. Now before you guys start hating on me and bashing me know that I went into the race knowing it wasn’t the best move for me.

The first couple of miles were around 8:45-9:00. Therefore I kept telling Lacey that I knew I was holding her back and that I wasn’t going to be able to hit the GMP and that I was taking this as a training run and going to shoot for 9:00 pace (roughly a 3 hour finish).  I knew that she was trying to encourage me but I just didn’t have it in me.  In addition to my shin throbbing, I was soooo sleep deprived that my body just didn’t want to do it.

Around mile 5 or 6 we saw Elliot, Lacey’s boyfriend, and Kyle, their friend from high school.  They were on picture duty and following in a car and I have never wanted to climb into a vehicle so badly in my life! I told myself that if I felt like shit at the halfway mark I could drop out.  At this point Lacey asked me how I was doing and I had to be honest “I’m just looking to finish on two legs”.  I again told her to go ahead but, bless her soul, she told me that finishing together was more important.  I seriously almost cried.

I can’t tell you how much Lacey being there with me helped. I was in agony every step.  I don’t think I had a pain free step the whole time.  I was nauseous, shin throbbing, groin screaming because it was compensating.  And those were the physical symptoms. I was also worried about slowing Lacey down despite her protests of us being in this together.

Miles 7-16 were kind of a blur to me.  It’s really too bad because I’m sure the NH coastline was beautiful.  But the wind and my body were all I could think about.  My nausea was getting worse.  I don’t know if it was the awkward start time & time I ate breakfast (ie low blood sugar), dehydration (despite the cold I was sweating whenever the sun came out) or pain.

Around mile 14 we saw Elliot and Kyle again and I (successfully) hid behind Lacey when the camera came out because I was NOT feeling it.  It was at this point I knew that I didn’t want to see them again because I for sure would hop in their car.  Which is SO not like me.  I usually take the attitude that I can handle anything.  It’s a point I pride myself on.  Lacey told me that we can walk at any time and I knew that if we did I wouldn’t likely find the motivation to keep going.

But I had to stop a water stop at mile 16 or so and I drank down 4 water cups! And Lacey offered me a gu chomp in order to fight my nausea.  I don’t think it helped much physically but mentally it gave me a little boost.

Which at this point, with 4 miles to go, I kept telling myself that I do this all the time and I can do it again.  Which were the words that Lacey told me at mile 8 when she said “Only 12 miles to go. You can bang this out no problem”

Around this point Lacey was sidelined with a terrible cramp in her abs.  It was awful to see her in pain and we stopped a bit for her to stretch.  She kept telling me to go on without her but I couldn’t.  At one point I didn’t notice that she stopped to walk and I promptly stopped (despite Kyle telling me not too haha) and waited for her to catch up to me. This was around mile 18 and from this point on we faced a tremendous headwind.  Our pace drastically slowed and it felt like I wasn’t moving.  Those last 2 miles felt as long as the first 18.

Ughhhh wind

I really like the way Lacey summed up the race so I’m copying and pasting:

It is kind of encouraging to have someone run with you, see you at your very worst, and not think badly of you. Talk about a tough run. And talk about an emotional ending. The last two miles were right along the beach boardwalk and the wind was PUSHING us back. I mean, it had been windy pretty much the entire run. But the last two miles were something else entirely. It was a wind tunnel and all I could think of was JUST KEEP GOING.

It was a very emotional ending for me.  As soon as we crossed (arm in arm and we told the people recording the times and numbers that we finished TOGETHER) I started crying.  It took so much to NOT cry during the race that I let it all out as soon as we were out of the shoot. It was part pain, part happiness of being over and part pride of actually finishing.

The final stats?

• Official: 3 hours 10 minutes (taking into account all the walking)
• Unofficial: 3 hours 6 minutes

Obviously the numbers (while all in all aren’t that bad) don’t tell the whole story.  Like I said, it was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done.  It was awesome to have a partner to share this experience with regardless of the outcome.  So thanks Lacey 🙂 And Elliot 🙂 And Kyle 🙂

At some point during the race I told Lacey “I need to say this aloud. No running tomorrow!”.  And it actually happened.  Although I really don’t think that I could have physically run even if I wanted to.  Again, please no bashing here. You can’t possible say anything about how stupid I treated my legs that I haven’t said to myself already. Butttt it’s over. I can’t change what I did.

It’s also taper time.  Thank god.

Whew that was longer than I intended this to be and I wasn’t sure I wanted to post anything on this at all.  But as Lacey wrote, They can’t all be good runs or good races. And when they’re not. Just let it go. That’s what I’m doing. Letting it go. Writing this out was a good step in that process 🙂

Tufts 10k

Perfect fall day for a race! It was wicked chilly when I got up this morning but it warmed up pretty quickly and I think the temp when the horn went off at 1200 was 55*.  Wonderful. I wore my “cute outfit” but it wasn’t warm enough to actually feel comfy in a tank so I wore my Tufts 10k shirt from last year.  I still looked cute heh.

I got another great night sleep last night, 9ish hours.  I can’t remember the last time I got so many solid nights of sleep in a row.  Definitely making me feel not ill at all, I think I’ve finally kicked the virus.

In any case I hit the road to meet up with Lacey, her sister Amy and Elliot before the race and head into Boston together.  I am so glad that she offered to do this because it was sooooo stress free. We took public transportation in and got to the Commons about an hour or so before start time.  I had to get my race number, shirt and goodie-bag and the line was sooooooooooo long.  It seriously took me 40 minutes to get my number.  Sheesh! At this point I lost Lacey but I was hoping that I would catch her at the start.

By the time I checked my bag, used the porta-potty and actually headed to the start it was almost go-time! I didn’t have time to warm-up or even line up with the correct starting line (7 min/mi pace).  I think I was wayy back with the people aiming for 10 pace. Oh well. And as a little aside to how much I LOVE the running community, in order to get to the start on time me and another women had to hop a fence rather than wait in the bottleneck at the gate.  Seriously this fence was high and had spikes on it.  But we helped each other over.  Camaraderie right there.

So with all that chaos, it’s needless to say the first mile was a little slow to go.  I knew immediately that it wasn’t going to be my day to PR and I just set out to “run the best race I can”. Seriously, I am a dork and actually said that to myself. Heh.  It was also hard because there were SO. MANY. WOMEN.  Someone said 10,000 but I think about 7,000 actually ran it. Still a huge number of women.  Even some men.  I was happy that I painted my nails hot pink last night because I was so proud to be female.  Totally dorky but hey whatever.

Each mile after that first one felt great.  The ab cramps that I was feeling (stitch-in-side but on BOTH sides) disappeared as my body warmed up.  I was passing people left and right and it felt *good*.  I wish I could give you a play-by-play for each mile but the more time that passes, the fuzzier the details.  I do remember telling myself to enjoy it: great weather, great atmosphere and great people! I was also totally beasted by a girl running barefoot. She was moving sooooo fast.

I ended up with pretty good negative splits:

• 8:16
• 7:32 (15:48)
• 7:52 (23:40)
• 6:58 (30:38)
• 7:00 (37:38)
• 7:02 (44:40)
• 45:55

The first 3 miles were tough and I needed to get into a rhythm.  Not quite sure why mile 3 was so slow, but oh well.  I’m extremely happy with how the last 5k went.  I finally was able to kick it into high gear.  Mentally there was a lift too.  I’ve said this in the past but running is so mental and I think there was too much “junk” going on in my head during the first 5k and I was able to buckle down and focus. At this point I started trucking and feeling really good.  I think, upon reflection, that I’m a looooong distance person since once I get warmed up I feel like I can go on foreverrrr.  Or maybe it’s just indicative of me actually needing to warm up for quite a bit before jumping into it.

Around mile 5 I found Lacey and Amy running hard and fast! I recognized them as I was coming up because of their cute shirts.  Major props to both of them, especially Amy as it was her very first race. Whoo-hoo!

So the overall time was :25 off my PR! I’m kind of upset because I know that if I was at the correct place at the start I could have beat that.  But I wasn’t and I ran the best race I could with what I had.  I’m also extremely proud because of how sick I was at the end of last week. However, this is the first race ever that I haven’t PR’d so that kind of stings.  But the hanging out with cool people and a cool race makes up for it.

Final numbers:

• Time: 45:55
• Avg Pace: 7:24
• Place in AG: 105/1473 (Top 7.13%)
• Place overall: 232/6020 (Top 3.85%)

After the race the three of us hit up and stuffed our bags with the freebies and all the food.  We made out like bandits! Sadly I was unable to go out to lunch with them so we parted ways.  But I was so happy that I got to chill with them.  Hopefully since we don’t live far away at all, and we’re even closer when I’m in my hometown, we can meet up at some other race or whatnot.  Unfortunately we’re entering winter and in NE there isn’t much in the way of winter races.  I’m sure there are some more fall ones but with Lacey running her first marathon next week I’m not sure how into racing she’ll be after that haha.

But we will definitely run this race again next year.  It’s such a great race and experience and I can’t wait for it.  Plus I want to really race Lacey 🙂

P.S. I didn’t take any pics, like usual, but she took a bunch and will prolly put them up on her blog later tonight or tmrw.

P.P.S. What a surprise I had when I walked back into my room and my school decided to turn the heat on today.  I think it was literally 90* in my room. Sheesh!