Race Reports/Encouragement/Kudos - October 18th and 19th

[Big Vic]

Saturday, October 18th

18 - amykab (Amy) Palm Harbor Octoberfest 5K, Palm Harbor, FL
18 – laxdef69 (Mike) Indianapolis Marathon, Indianapolis, IN
18 - MomofCKJ (Allyson) Diabetes 5 Miler, N.Brookfield, MA
18 - Steffwalks (Connie) Palo Duro Canyon Trail 20K; TX
18 - thndermatt (Matt) Blackwater Heritage Century, Milton, FL

Sunday, October 19th

19 – airtime247 (Steve) Humboldt Redwoods Half-Marathon, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, CA
19 - bunnyfoo (Vicky) Toronto Marathon 5K, Toronto
19 - Cindylou (Cindy) Baystate Marathon, Lowell, MA
19 – cohoe, funwalker (Margie) The Detroit Free Press 1/2 Marathon; Detroit, MI
19 - FatElvis (Kayci) Des Moines 1/2 Marathon, Des Moines, IA
19 – goofyinohio (Chris) Columbus Half Marathon, Columbus, OH
19 – Monte (Monica) Denver Half Marathon, Denver, CO
19 – Mooshu () Nike Women’s 1/2 Marathon, San Francisco, CA
19 – tracyz (Tracy) Nike Women's Marathon, San Francisco CA
19 - Pungodingy (Angie) Making Strides 5 mile, Concord, NH
19 – wtpclc (Carrie) and DH (Scott) Grand Rapids Half Marathon, Grand Rapids, MI


:jumping1: GO! WISH Team GO! :jumping1:

[Maherae]

Wow!!! North, South, East and West, WISHers have them all covered!!
:cheer2: YAY, TEAM!!! :cheer2:

[Tiger Lily 03]

Go WISH Team!

Have fun WISH Team! I'll bee looking forward to your reports.

[princessrunner]

GO WISH TEAM GO!!!

Cindylou, I will be thinking of you and cheering for you!!!! Best of luck! :cheer2: :cheer2:

[jmasgat]

:cheer2: Go WISH team! :cheer2:


And especially cohoe, funwalker (Margie) at the Freep! It should be a beautiful morning for it.

Maura

[Kristi1357]

:cheer2: Go WISHers!:cheer2:

[postesf]

GO WISH TEAM!!!

[Honeibee]

Go WISH team! Go WISH team! Go WISH team!
:yay: :woohoo: :banana: :cheer2: :cool1: :woohoo: :cheer2: :yay: :cool1: :banana: :cheer2: :banana: :cool1: :woohoo: :yay:

[FireDancer]

Add me to the Columbus Half Marathon on the 19th. I am trying to finally hit my 90:00 half goal. See you there Chris.

[joan4mickey]

Well I've raced and am home. I have been training to do the Lungstrong 15K in Cornelius, NC. I told myself I would do it if the weather was nice. I registered on Thursday as the weather was was looking good. It was 50 degrees this morning and the clouds were clearing. I headed to the race and had to pick up my chip there. For me 50 is what I consider cold so after getting my chip I got back in my car (no I didn't leave, I just wanted to stay warm). Let me say that I had tried to find out where water stops were and if times would be available on course, but got no solid answers.

About 10 min. before our 7:45 start I got out of my car and walked to the start line. There was no orderly way to get started, just every man for himself. I had a brief chat with a couple girls and one looked down at my shoe and said, "OH, we forget to get our chips!" This was 5 min. before the race start. I encouraged them to run get them as even if the race started, their race time would start when the chip crossed the mat. They ran off, hope they made it back.

My DH and I had driven the course last week to get an idea of the layout. It was basically an out and back with a spur through a park. It was also some what rolling, but not at all bad. All paved and traffic blocked. I used my Nike+. I set it on the time mode for one and a half hours. So every five minutes I would get a time update. All miles were marked on the course. As a new runner ( this is my first year running and my second 15K) I struggle with pace and I set a very attainable goal of a 10 min. mile. With time prompts I know if I am going to fast or slow.

Let race...As I said they didn't ask us to line up by expected mile times so I got what I thought was about in the middle (they said there was about 1000 runners, but I think less). The first mile was dodge and find a space to move through so I wasn't expecting any great time. I got past mile one and my ipod hadn't given me the 10 min. prompt so the first mile was good. Now it thins out a little and I think to myself "get through this next mile and why am I doing this." At mile three there is a course clock and I'm on a 9 min. mile pace. At this point I think to myself "one mile at a time, maybe you can do this pace," but another voice inside me says, "you're going to bonk near the end, this pace is too fast." I get to mile 5 and there is another timer, oh good, still the same pace. I get water some where around here, just a couple of sips. Next timer comes at mile 7 and I can't believe it, I'm still on pace. That was the last timer. I get water after mile 8 (I think), I actually slowed a bit to get a couple of good slugs knowing this would be the last water I would take. So, somewhere around mile 9 it I hear my ipod, "15 minutes left in your run" (remember I set it for one and a half hour). There is one last little hill and the wind picks up a little and yes, it is a head wind, so I walk about 10 yards and then start to run again. THE FINISH, YEAH I MAKE IT! Time 1:22:52 average pace 8:56. Simple unbelievable. :yay:

After the race there was plenty of sports drink, a coffee booth (very good coffee), a beer booth, someone serving small cups of BBQ and beans, and some other promotional booths. They also had bananas and chips.

There were plenty of people on the course to tell you where to go-the far part of the out actually looped through a neighborhood. The first water stop around mile 3 was packed, but I knew that I would skip that as I wouldn't need water until 45min. into the race. There was a total of four water stops.

Now home, I have showed and am drinking my coffee.

Hope everyone else is having a wonderful Saturday!

[Maherae]

What a fantastic pace, Joan!!! Congratulations!!!:cool1:

[MomofCKJ]

It was my first 5 mile race, my longest run ever. Before today I had only done 4.4. It was cold and windy when we arrived. Warmed up, stretched and waited. The walkers went out at 9:30 for a 3 mile course, maybe 25 of them.
At 10am the runners went out. There were 21 of us. It was in our town, very rural, and a pretty route, especially this time of year. Lots of hills though!

As soon as we started I was in the back of the pack but no suprise there. I usually do a 3R/2W but decided to just run till I felt I needed a break. My DH was up ahead and I was running for a few minutes with this woman who was doing her first race ever. As we came to the first mile marker I checked my watch and had done a 10:20 mile, my fastest ever by far!

From this point on that woman and 2 others were behind me. I eventually caught up to DH and we pretty much stayed together. We would run, stop and walk a couple minutes, and run some more. Checking the watch at the mile markers we were doing well for us.

At the finish he was ahead of me and beat me by 12 seconds. He finished in 59:12, I finished in 59:24. I was 18th out of 21 runners. Since there were only 2 of us in my age division I ended up winning that and got a nice blanket to go along with the T-shirt.

We had hoped to finish in about an hour so we were very pleased. I think mostly I was just so happy that I did it and felt good at the end. A great confident boost as January gets closer!

One other cool thing was Dick Hoyt ran this race too. He is the man who pushes his son in the wheelchair every Boston Marathon. I have watched him on TV for years and they have such an inspiring story. He is 68 and man can he run. It was cool to have him there running too, though I only saw him at the start and finish because he was soooo far ahead of me! :)


Allyson

[Maherae]

Allyson, :dance3: :yay: :cheer2: What a wonderful showing for your first 5 miler event!!!
Keep up the great work, cause January will be here before we know it!! :goodvibes

[AmyBeth68]

Allyson...Congrats on a great race! :thumbsup2

Joan....SMOKIN FAST TIME! Nicely done. Congrats! :worship:

To everyone else who ran this weekend...I hope you had a wonderful time and are feeling healthy!!!

Hot Chili Challenge 8 Mile Trail Race:

So last night I decided that I might want to run this crazy tough course today. It is run about 90% on single track mountain bike trail in dense woods here in northern NJ. The race itself is considered challenging, with very steep climbs and various technical challenges throughout the course. We had to scale a wall, run with about a foot clearance or else find yourself in the lake, Scale logs, run down steep hills riddled with pointy rocks (rock gardens as they are called), scale slag hidden by leaf litter. So it's a small race, not surprisingly LOL, and most who run it are super fast. Despite all this, I decided early this morning to hop in my car, donning my winter cap, gloves and warm running tights. I signed up and sat in my car wondering what the heck I got myself into! :rotfl:

At the start the small crazy group lined up in the woods and waited, not for fan fare, fireworks or even the National Anthem, just a simple "on your mark, get set, GO". We were off and I just kept my head down trying like heck not to fall and hurt myself as I'm technically in training for a Half Marathon in early December. As the race proceeded, I found myself in a small group of people who I clung on to for dear life. We didn't speak, but I grew to love them as we wound our way through the woods. I'm not a directional genius so the fear of going the wrong way was weighing heavy on my mind, having some fellow runners with me was a big relief. Unfortunately, I turned my ankle over pretty badly about 3 times during the first 3 miles :(. It started to ache but wasn't horribly painful so I carried on. The pack separated out quickly and the three of us scrambled up and down hills alone in the quiet of the room. There were 3 aid stations in the woods, and it was great to see the local cross country teams handing out water and cheering us on :). As we hit the last mile I realized I had plenty left in the tank and ended up leaving my little security group behind as I tried to make up some time.

In the end I finished in 1:13:20 which is not bad for me in this distance and on this type of course. I'm simply proud of myself for getting out there and doing something that totally scared the heck out of me. Thanks for all your support! :grouphug: I thought about my running partner Scott and the wish crew as I stumbled alone there today. :)

[Maherae]

YOU DID IT, AMY, YOU DID IT!!! :banana: :banana:

Turning the ankle and all..you showed yourself that you are made of stronger stuff than even you thought you were!! What an awesome job!!! :thumbsup2

[MouseDogMom]

Way to go Amy! :banana: :cool1: :cheer2:

I'm so proud of you for getting out there alone and hanging in there and finishing! Your time rocks too! We knew you could do it all along - you just needed your WISH team behind you.

Jackie

[smileyk8]

Joan average pace 8.56 is brilliant. You did so so well.

Allyson yay for your first 5miler and under an hour too. Sounds like a very sweet little event.

Amy so sorry bout your ankle, but you shouwed true WISH spirit pushing on and even speedin up at the end! Blimey that's impressive.

Hope everyone else has had fantastic events this weekend :goodvibes

[joan4mickey]

TO AMY
:worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:
One for each mile!

[Kristi1357]

TO AMY
:worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:
One for each mile!I second that!
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[thndrmatt]

Let's see here, another week, yet another race report from Matt... :surfweb:

Yesterday I dragged myself out of bed to do the Blackwater Heritage Century. You probably recall my intelligence about 2 months ago when I headed out in Tropical Storm Fay to attempt my first 100 miler on my bike, which although succesful was not the prettiest thing. Well this being my first organized century I was hoping for a bit easier time.

As it turns out, 100 miles is still a long way on a bike. The numbers up front:

Finish: 5:25:48, 18.4mph

This is a bit deceiving though for a couple reasons. I don't include stops, so my total running time was just under 6 hours. Also when it comes to rides that start out as a group of this nature, you can really zoom right along if you're in a paceline letting other people do the work, so it really isn't comparable to a solo effort where you fight the wind the whole time by yourself. I ended up 5 minutes faster than my previous effort but that one was entirely by myself in the wind and rain. That's why I don't really keep track of personal bests for bike rides, because depending on the number of stops I make and how long I'm just hanging out on someone else's wheel can really affect the overall time.

Enough excuses though, the main reason I had such a tough time of it today was just lack of training. I was waffling between trying the metric or the full century, and sadly the decision point was at mile 30 when I was still feeling great. I rode with a group for the first 20 miles before they took off on some of the first hills and dropped me with ease. That whole section was headed north into the wind so I knew I'd get some help on the way back from it. At 30 I decided I'd give the full a whirl and turned east. Although the wind became a crosswind for the majority of the middle of the ride, the hills took over as being the challenge. Up and down all day, my gears really got a workout. Definitely could have used a few more larger ones (I ride a double crank) on some of the steep stuff. Definitely looked down and saw single digit mph on multiple occasions.

Stuck with my usual every 15 minute nutrition, powerade for the first two then water + gel or whatever they had at the food stops if I happened to be close to one. Tried those new "gel blasts" from powergel, didn't like them as much as the standard gels. Also tried lavabars which I had gotten for free from races the past few weekends, and those didn't digest that well on the bike, and were pretty tough to open also. Was using this ride as sort of a nurtition taste/digestion test obviously. :) I really load myself down on these rides with bottles which probably makes the hills more difficult. I have my bike set up to carry count em, FIVE 24 ounce bottles, one on the seat tube, one on the downtube, and three on a behind the seat hydration holder. By my count that's 120oz or another 7.5 pounds of weight I have to lug up the hills. I go with 4 power/gatorade which each last me an hour, and 1 water to wash down the nutrition. This tends to get me through a century with only a water refill at some point and basically no stopping if I really needed to, so that's what I practice with since I do plan on doing the full ironman distance nonstop at some point. I certainly enjoy taking a break and getting off the bike to chow down on homemade cookies and things they have at the stops for these types of rides though.

Anyway, by 65 or so I finally turned downwind but by then my legs were pretty much done. I did the 56 mile half ironman leg a couple weeks ago but other than that hadn't done anything over an hour in several weeks, and I proved the seemingly obvious point that you can't really do a century (or a marathon run for that matter) without several long rides leading up to it, or you're going to hurt. Actually got almost a cramp at about mile 99 which had never happened before on the bike, normally only late in a long run. Probably lost about 6 pounds overall while riding based on my weight when I got home even though I already had pounded down the post race food of Olive Garden breadsticks and pasta with meat sauce as well as banana, apple, and pumpkin bread. Given how much I also took in while riding I was definitely getting down to nothing left to burn which explains why I felt so thrashed towards the end.

Hmmm this one was supposed to be short since I just went out and rode my bike all day, but look what happened. Alas this is the last fun I'll have this time around, turns out I will in fact be deploying prior to ToT (barely) and won't be able to partake in any fun next weekend. Next up is marathon training for me for the few months I'm gone, then the Houston Marathon in January, with the possibility of a sneak trip to Disney to scream team the week before. We shall see!

Smokin times those who have already posted reports, and lets hear from the rest! :cheer2: Posting will be sparse for the next few months but I'll be reading when able!

[dsnyfan21]

Matt: Great race report.

Deploying already??? Please be safe and keep in touch and let us know how you are doing!!!

Take care of yourself!!

Tracy

[amykab]

Sounds like everyone had some awesome races this weekend!! Way to go!!

Amy, :worship: :worship:. I about die when I have to run an overpass.

I ran another local 5K that benefited the local animal shelter. It was the first year and a little disorganized, but overall it was fine. I think there were about 120 runners in the race. This is the smallest race I have done so far. I was running with someone who was just a little bit faster than me, which I think was a good thing because I set another 5K PR!!! 33:45 (10:45 average miles), 3 minutes off my time from RfTC 2 weeks ago!!! No negative splits, we started off way too fast. I was hoping for maybe a minute off, but 3 was awesome!!! There were alot of sub-20 people running this race, so my time put me WAY towards the back, but that's ok. It was definitely a 100% effort. I had nothing left at the end. I have never ever ever run this fast even just for one mile! I had new shoes which completely seemed to help with the shin pain I had been having for the last couple weeks. So, needless to stay I was super happy with the results of this one.

This week I have a few easy runs planned in preparation for TOT this weekend!

Amy

[AmyBeth68]

Way to go on the PR Amy!!!! :cool1:

Matt...be safe on your deployment and great effort out there in your Century! :goodvibes

Thanks for the kind words everyone, it means a LOT!!!! :grouphug:

[bunnyfoo]

Congrats on the races this weekend everyone!!

Amy - Congrats on your PR!! WTG :)

Matt - Great race report! Stay safe during your deployment.

Amy Beth - Sorry to hear about your ankle! But I'm glad you made it through the race. Awesome time too!!

My 5K was on Friday. It was my first time running a 5K and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I was still fighting off my cold and felt really congested. I thought about taking some cold medicine but decided against it since I wasn't sure how I would react to it while running.

It was a super chilly morning - I think my thermometer said 2C (or 35F - I think that's the correct conversion). DF and I had to jog to the start to keep warm. I was very glad that my sister had given me a pair of running gloves for my birthday a few weeks ago.

We arrived at the start and I thought it was pretty disorganized! DF and I put ourselves in the middle but closer to the back but I noticed there were lots of walkers mixed in with the runners. I read on another board that the 1/2 marathon had the same kind of start. Anyway, I think they were just casual walkers since a lot of them were carrying totes and knapsacks. The start was a little chaotic since all the runners had to weave around the walkers who were 4-5 wide at some points. I was following some of the runners and ended up jogging with them along a thin ledge above the sidewalk. I didn't realize until I got up there. Definitely not safe. About 5 minutes after we started I noticed that one of the walkers stopped, knelt down (in the middle of the road) and tried taking a picture of his team! I hope he didn't get trampled. :eek:

The first part of the course was downhill through the downtown core of Toronto. It was pretty easy but I had trouble once we looped around and went back uphill. It wasn't the hills but I had a lot of trouble getting in enough air. I had to stop a couple of times so that I could catch my breath. I still managed to finish with a chip time of 33:02!

Before the race I asked DF what time he was hoping for and he said he wanted to finish no less than 5 minutes after I did. His chip time was 38.02! I thought it was funny how it was exactly 5 minutes :)

Our next race will be the half at WDW in January and we're definitely looking forward to that! I'm not sure if I can brave the cold again to run another race before then!

[goofyinohio]

We'll I just did the Columbus half and had a great time. I PR'd and finished the 1/2 in 2:19:24. I realize that to most people that's slow, but man I felt like I was flying. I ran the whole time again so I was proud of that (Since I had dead legs and pictures to take at Disneyland I didn't run the whole way in September.) It was also the first time my parents had seen me run although they changed the course on us and only got to see me once and I got to see my wife and kids a couple times so that always helps boost your run.

It's funny I've lived around here my whole life and saw a few place in Bexley that just made me go wow. The houses were amazing. Franklin Park Conservatory? was also nice to look at and we will now check it out. Most of the rest of it is scenary I've seen enough so I got to focus on my run.

I was very impressed with the crowd support. I didn't think it would be very good, but at least for the half anyway there seemed to be a good crowd. Especially in that cold. Brrrr.

Now I did get a little depressed because only like 40-50 males actually finished behind me that were running which made me feel even slower than I already knew I was. :rolleyes1 (EDIT - I guess the results were incomplete because now there are over 380 males behind me.)

Since I'll be doing Goofy I know I won't be PR'ing at Disney World so this one may be my final PR. We'll see. :goofy: :goofy:

[goofyinohio]

Add me to the Columbus Half Marathon on the 19th. I am trying to finally hit my 90:00 half goal. See you there Chris.

Hey man sorry I missed this we could have met up. I couldn't have caught up, but met up before hand. :lmao:

[FireDancer]

Hey man sorry I missed this we could have met up. I couldn't have caught up, but met up before hand. :lmao:

That would have been nice. I may do the race again though so maybe next time.

Great job on the run, regardless of pace just finishing is good. Congratulations everyone on your races, at least here in OH it was great running weather.

I just missed my goal. I PRed at 90:23 but still haven’t beat the 90:00 mark. Maybe next time.

[airtime247]

Congratulations and great job to all the racers this weekend! :woohoo: Very inspiring race reports!

I'm now officially a member of the 13.1 club! I ran my first 1/2 marathon yesterday. It was a beautiful out and back through the redwoods. Typing is about the only thing I'm not too sore to do today! I've run in two 10K's and one 7-mile race so this length is new territory for me.

I ran the Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon in the beautiful Avenue of the Giants. It was in the low-50's and overcast during the race which was perfect for me as I overheat easily. You could tell the folks from out of town as they were the ones bundled up. :cold:

I ran 11 miles in training recently on the local high school track. I ran an 11:20 pace and set my goal for an 11:00 minute mile for this race.

By mile 3 I was still running ~8:30 pace which is incredible for me. I was still going strong by the turnaround and was a little over 9:00. I realized by mile 8 that I think 10K's are my race of choice. The rest of the race was brutal for me and I slowed down a lot. I was starting to get passed a bit by miles 11 and 12 and was just running on autopilot by now.

Apparently my pace didn't slow as much as I thought as I finished in 2:07:29, a 9:44 pace! I was so thrilled and proud of myself. It was my third-fastest pace in a race, and a faster pace than I ran in 9 out of 10 of my 5K's and 2-mile races.

There were two (selfish) things that happened during the race that really inspired me to keep going. One is that there is a guy I see at all of our local races. He always finishes a few minutes ahead of me in every race. Somewhere between miles 6 and 7, I passed him which had me do a double-take to see that it was really him.

Another is a couple minutes after I rounded the turnaround, I saw a girl I remembered from a local 5K in August. In that race, we were both sprinting toward the finish line and she passed me just before the line, giving me the only DLF I've had. As I slowed down the last few miles, every time someone would pass me, I'd look over to see if it was her thinking to myself, "Not again!" Fortunately, she never did catch up.

It was a good learning experience for me in that I can see that my speed is picking up but I really need to work on my endurance.

-steve

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/airtime247/Ave.jpg

[AmyBeth68]

Steve!!!! :cool1: GREAT race wtg and awesome, awesome pace. I'd love to hit that time/pace in a Half Marathon one of these days! You have to be just beaming with pride after that showing. Great effort!

[airtime247]

Thanks a lot Amy. The pride will set in around Wednesday or Thursday. Right now I'm still beaming with pain! :sick:

Great job with your race. I'm so glad you decided to compete in it, and you still finished with a great time despite your ankle. You are a real inspiration. It's a huge victory to overcome that uncertainty and leave your comfort zone. As someone with a recent DLF, I can honestly say it's infinitely better than a Did Not Start which I did for 34 years. Keep up the awesome work Amy!

-steve

[dsnyfan21]

Way to go Steve!!!! AWESOME job. Sorry to hear your sore, Try to keep moving!!

GREAT JOB!!!

[jmasgat]

Amy I would never doubt that you would finish your race and do well. You just need to remember that all of us WISH'ers ae behind you giving you a little boost (sorta like Angels in the Outfield--maybe Disney can make one about runners?)

Steve Even though I haven't yet run my 1/2, I felt like reading your report sounded familiar. Great job on the 1/2 and your time. I ran a 5k a few weeks back and had the same weird experience of running one mile in 8:30. Ended up slowing down (out of fear?) but still finished faster than expected. Towards the end I started to slow some--so I perfectly understand about building up endurance. Keep up the great work. I'm sure it will come with time.

thndrmatt Hey, a century is still a century--Great job! It still amazes me when my DH goes out to ride one on the weekends. And to think, some organized biking vacations only cover that in a week! Take care of yourself while deployed (Don't recall where)

Vicky Great first 5k! You should be proud of your PR (Doesn't it feel good to say "Yeah, I just PR'ed that race")

Chris Awesome job on your PR! I think that's a great time, and would be thrilled to run that in January.

firedancer 90 minutes? 9-0 minutes? 5400 seconds? Wow! Great race. We bow before you.:worship:

My training plan calls for a 5k next weekend. Not sure what I'll be able to find, but we'll see.

Maura

[wtpclc]

Late and wordy, as always, but I had to do a real report fro this one.

Well for a race that’s only in its 5th year, has 3,000 entrants and is on the same day as many other big races, the Grand Rapids Marathon goes into PR Big Time! As you can see, they had a very fun theme for this year.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/PoohsPal/GR%20Half%2008/IMG_1348.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/PoohsPal/GR%20Half%2008/IMG_1346.jpg

We went to the expo Saturday and were impressed.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/PoohsPal/GR%20Half%2008/IMG_1347.jpg

They had some great stuff from the vendors, and I picked up the cutes long sleeved tech shirt with an oval on it that said iRun 26.2. Our race packets were great and we got a ton of free stuff, including really nice socks with the race logo. We got a race poster too.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/PoohsPal/GR%20Half%2008/IMG_1364.jpg

They did their pace groups a little different. It was all by stars. There was a Penguin Brigade at 4:44. What do you know? That’s a 2:22 half. That’s would be my PR.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/PoohsPal/GR%20Half%2008/IMG_1365.jpg

[wtpclc]

We left, just as the kids were starting to get ready for their marathon. (They run 25 on their own and finish the last 1.2 at the race. They got medals like ours and even the bagels and fruit and stuff.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/PoohsPal/GR%20Half%2008/IMG_1349-1.jpg

They even lowered the start/finish line for them! Too cute!

I don’t know why, but we were both feeling like it was a big race. Maybe the expo or something. We were way too nervous for a local half, though. Sleep was just like at WDW. WTH?

So, finally it was time to go. It was a little chilly, but that's great for me. I told Scott about my dream pace of 10:45, which Craig had reinforced in my brain, but had been lingering in the back of my mind too. My current PR was 10:50.

We get there and it was a decent crowd.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/PoohsPal/GR%20Half%2008/IMG_1355.jpg

We lined up between the Penguin Brigade and Al Gores’ Unfortunate Pace Group (4:58)

We never heard the National Anthem or go or anything, but eventually, we started to move. It was crowded and we started slower then usual, but picked it up ok. Here’s the big city skyline, lol.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/PoohsPal/GR%20Half%2008/IMG_1356.jpg


Was feeling pretty good. At mile 4, I was a minute ahead, averaging 10:30. :O Scott asked if we were going to go for a 10:40 pace. I laughed. From 5 to 6, all downhill and pace was low 10s. :-O Scott needed a potty stop at 10 and kept apologizing. OMG. He wanted me to keep running and he'd give me a bottle and try to catch up. No way.

So, I did walk while he stopped. Adjusted clothing and such, stretched. Took some pix of the park. No biggie.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/PoohsPal/GR%20Half%2008/IMG_1357.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/PoohsPal/GR%20Half%2008/IMG_1359.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/PoohsPal/GR%20Half%2008/IMG_1362.jpg

[wtpclc]

He caught me and pace was bad (11:30ish), but that's life. Next mile I had to Gu (and that makes me slow) and we had a big uphill. So, better, but not great. ~10:45. Still, it's now mile 8 and we're ahead by 1:40. Ave pace about 10:35. :O Scott had set that as an evaluation point. We were doing awesome and on the prettiest part of the course. Bike path through the woods, next to the river.

Right about then a girl passed us. We chatted with her a bit and she moved on. Then, she was at the side of the road with a calf cramp. She said she was ok. Mile 9 was back to about 10:25. Woo hoo!!!! Just before 10 there was a spot in the path where roots had pushed up the asphalt. I saw it and thought I stepped over. Obviously, my legs and brain were no longer in sync, as I hit. Thought I'd caught myself but then just flew. Don't know how that happened but Scott saw it too. All I could think as I was going down was how I dreaded hitting and wondered how a WISH friend has taken a fall like this and finished a full. I landed with a whoosh as al the air left my lungs. I was telling Scott I'd be ok as soon as I could breathe again. The girl we had talked to made sure I was ok. Scott made me get up right away. Good thing, as I may have laid there and wallowed forever. A guy offered me Advil. Another woman asked if I was ok and what happened, as I was walking and trying to breathe again. I told her and she told me I have to pick my feet up. (Did I mention I thought I had? Thought that was a bit snotty.)

So, after I was almost back to breathing normal, I made myself run. I had a bad mile, obviously, and was really bummed. My left knee hurt and, the heels of my hand hurt. I just kept thinking how my WISH friend always gets back. Then, just after I start up again, there are some inspirational signs from the store where I bought my fun new shirt at the expo. Very cool.

So, I turn the corner and there’s an overpass we go under. They have huge speakers under it that just start booming. What? Rocky! OMG. I know that was put there for me. I start flying. The girl who sold me my shirt is high 5-ing me before the over pass. I was careful not to use my whole hand but that was too cool. We had an uphill I was dreading, but lots of fans. All I could think was that I was gonna' try to get back on track for my friends who don't give up.

So, I'm flying. Get up the hill and pace was coming back. Pass the guy who offered me Advil and he was so kind. Very happy to see that I was doing ok. Small downhill then up again and I was back to 10:15 for the half mile (10 to 10.5, I think). So, Scott looks at me and reminded me that we PR'd our 1st marathon when I fell. He's now telling me that next time I start running poorly, he's going to push me down. Nice. lol.

I just kept picking up steam from there, even though I was getting tired. I was back to low 10s for the last mile. About a block before the finish, the Penguin Brigade catches us. I was afraid that meant I was slow, but knew they had to be fast. Then a couple people pass and tell the others to come up (in front of us). She says they’ll slow down when the others get up there. Grrr… So, there’s now a line of 4 that have passed me and slowed down right before the finish. How rude!!!! So, I put on the gas. Don’ tick me off when I’ve been through what I have, but it hurts me to have an angry attitude towards Penguins, even though it was just a pace group and was not sanctioned by the Penguin or anything.

So, low 9s for the last 0.2. :O :O Forgive me for being vain, but I am so proud of myself for not using it as an excuse to give up. That would be my style. I think it's one of my biggest personal victories, as well as smashing the heck out of my PR.

Garmin: 2:19, 10:30 pace. OMG
Chip: 2:19:10, 10:35.5 pace. Not as good, but still blew away my PR pace by almost 15 sec and my “dream pace” by almost 10!!!

Monday was rough, as I was feeling the brunt of my fall, btu much better now. My knee only hurts to touch. It run fine! :D

[jmasgat]

Carrie Phenomenal race! Good thing you're doing the full at WDW because you would be racing right by me!

Maura

[Cindylou]

Carrie: Great race report. Way to get up after your fall it would have been very easy to use it as an excuse. Excellent job on your PR. Nearly spit my coffee out when I read that your DH will push you down on purpose next time. Too funny!!

Steve: Congrats on your first 1/2. Great time. It looks like a beautiful course.

Firedancer: Great job on the PR. Sorry you just missed your goal.

Chris: Congratulations on the PR. It's great when you feel like you're flying.

Matt: Nice job finishing the century despite your lack of training. Good luck to you on your deployment.

AmyBeth: Nice job getting out there for a tough race. Hope the ankle is better soon.

Vicky: Good job with your race.

Cindy

[joan4mickey]

WTG, Carrie!:thumbsup2
Looks like it was a beautiful day...the skies are so blue in your pixs. Cute theme too.

[bunnyfoo]

Carrie - Fantastic race report! I can't see the pictures at work so I'll have to check out the thread when I get home. I loved that you finished even after falling down and with a awesome time too! I could totally relate when you said your legs and brain were out of sync...

Maura - Yes it definitely feels good to say PR and race! I started running this year so every race has been a PR *lol* Next year, I'm going to work on beating all of those PRs :)