Race Reports/Encouragement/Kudos for May 31, June 1, & 1-7!

[cdn_gal_eeyore]

Wendy - That sounds like one intense racing experience! Congratulations on gutting it out. Food is fuel....good to remember!

 

[getnthinr]

Wendy - That sounds like one intense racing experience! Congratulations on gutting it out. Food is fuel....good to remember!

Just got around to reading your duo-report. Personally, anyone who is brave enough to ride a bike on the highway is a hero in my book! You did an AMAZING job -- Gosh, you're a total athlete! Enjoy your multisport lifestyle!

 

[postesf]

Great job Leana!!! Way to go!

 

[JustSmile]

Hey guys! Three of my boys and I did the St. Louis, Make Tracks for the Zoo. With the high cost of gas, we decided to pick up our packets the morning of the race instead of the day before. We got up bright and early to eat our power breakfasts and shake the kinks out. Ds14 and I were running the 5k and DS10 &DS8 were running the 1/2 mile loop (first "official" 5k for me!). We picked up our packets without a hitch with 2 of the boys and I very excited and 1 complaining of nerves, being tired, and "why did I ever sign up for this?" Everyone had their numbers pinned on, chips on our shoes, and we headed for the start line. I walked DS14 to the front of the pack, left DH, DS10, DS8, DS2 on the sidelines and made my way to the mid-back. At 6am it was cool, but by the start at 8am....well let's just say that St. Lou humidity was in full force. I looked around thinking I was right where I should be and then realized I was in with all the walkers. Starting horn went off and I moved with the herd. Once my foot hit the mat, I was ready to run. The great thing about having placed myself in with the walkers (not race walkers) was that I immediately started to pass people and for a first timer, like me, well it was exhilerating!!!!! I felt like this! Finally, I hit my stride and ran a pretty good race. It was an out and back so my DS14 passed me coming back and I was heading out---I yelled out that he rocks and he gave me a little smile and a nice man running next to me said, "That is one fast kid!" I just replied "Yep" because I was a little emotional realizing that I was actually doing this. It was a nice little race with sweet volunteers and plenty of water. I found a woman 25 feet in front of me running the same pace and stayed with her the whole time....I wanted to find her afterwards and tell her thank you, but never found her. I ran the whole thing and finished in 31:35 and felt good about it being my 1st race and now have a time to beat. My DS finished in 17 and some change, good enough to be first in his age division. My son met up with me near the end of the race and ran 100ft with me telling me how proud he is of me and that I could do it and finish strong. Have I said how much I love him? Needless to say, I finished with tears in my eyes. My DS8 and DS10 ran their 1/2 miles later on. They finished in 3:32 and 3:54 and we were so proud of them! And better than that....they were proud of themselves. My nervous one has now realized that he can do it and is hanging on to his ribbon like it's a gold medal. All in all, we had a FANTASTIC day! Thanks to all of you for being such an amazing, supportive group of people. I wouldn't have crossed that finish line without you!

 

[getnthinr]

Tracey, what a great time for you and your kids! Loved reading your report -- and hope someday I can do a 5K in the time you did your first!!!! Congratulations!

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Tracy, how exciting for all of you! Great job on your first 5k. I loved reading your report and enjoyed the excitement of your event!

Wendy, you're going to do it again next year!

 

[jmasgat]

Wendy Loved your race report and WTG for sticking it out. Isn't it funny the "amnesia" that takes over once the event is a few days in the past. "Never again" gives way to "well, maybe next time"

Tracey
Great job all the way around! Sounds like you have some speed demons in your house--they'll give you something to chase!

Leana That must have been one fast race because I know you are fast. Great job.

Maura

 

[deekaypee]

CONGRATULATIONS WISHERS!!!

Leana: What a great time you posted on your first duathon. It sounds like it was a great experience, well-organized and supported, and just the kind of challenge you're up to. It sounds like you're hooked!

Wendy: What a great RR. You're right, you are hilarious. No wonder why people were cheering for you--you're part of the experience! One of your many great lines:

I decided early on that I prefer my mountainous scenic overlooks from the window of my car.

Me, I think I'm a drunken fool.

Tracey: Yes, I'm making it a priority to read this before I goto bed. (No comments on my June goal of sleeping regularly.) I love how placing yourself with the walkers gave you the confidence you needed and helped you find your stride. That, and finding your pacer. You've got great race-day strategies. But my favorite thing about your RR is that you did the race with your DSs. You're setting the healthy example for your children, who should be as proud of you as they should be of themselves.

 

[CynthiaCindy]

A week late, but here it is - my race report. WARNING - it is long and rambling. I tried to edit it, but I was getting annoyed and felt like I was never going to finish it, so here it is in all its unedited glory. Hopefully, it makes some sense and is intelligible.

Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon – San Diego

My second marathon.

Friday May 30th

We flew to San Diego. We didn’t have a direct flight. I know having a connection saved some money. Not sure how much, but I’m going to pretend that it was A LOT so that I can think it was the right decision. Not fun. Delays in both airports and our flight got rerouted (to be longer) because of storms. 11 hours after we left our place to drive to the airport, we landed in San Diego.

DH Matt’s parents picked us up at the airport and we went straight to the expo. I’m really glad we got to go on Friday. It was sort of crowded, but not too bad. I’m sure it was packed on Saturday. As I expected, the expo was huge with tons of vendors. I tried more free samples than I can count, saw the picture of the special medal people get for doing both WDW and Disneyland, stood on some machine that vibrates you and is supposed to help get your fast twitch muscle fibers working faster, etc. Matt’s mom won a free loaf of bread. We registered for the Philly Distance Run for only $35 ($20 off) and I made a few purchases.

Although Matt’s parents live in San Diego, we had decided to stay at a hotel, mainly so that we could sleep in a bed instead of a futon and so that we wouldn’t have to deal with getting downtown on race morning (which I had read can be difficult). So, after spending over 2 hours at the expo we went to check in to the hotel and then went out to dinner in Little Italy.

Saturday May 31

We picked a hotel (the Doubletree) that was 1.1 miles from the start so that we could walk to the start instead of having to get a hotel shuttle (most of the hotels offered shuttles either included in room price or for a charge) (we liked the hotel, btw, it was one of the less expensive options and it had just been renovated). Anyway, we did our 2 mile run by running up to the start area so that we would know what we were doing on Sunday. The remainder of the day was spent doing far more walking than is recommend for those running a marathon the next day. My best friend from undergrad (who lives in LA) came down to San Diego for the day to have lunch and walk around town with us. We then went to Matt’s parents for an early dinner and were in bed by 8:30 (I could normally never go to bed that early – there are some advantages of flying to a different time zone and never letting your body adjust to the time).

Race Day

I thought the race was very well organized. The only real complaint I have about this race is that there were far too few port-o-potties at the start. The lines were crazy long. The race started at 6:30. We got to the start area around 5:30, got some water, and got in line right away. It took almost a half hour. After we walked around a bit to loosen up and checked our bags (bag check was easy), I really wanted to use the port-o-potty again, but I would have been in line until well past the start of the race, and I didn’t want to do that.

The race started a few minutes late, but nothing terrible. As I was running the first half of the race, I felt great and was enjoying the experience. Water stops were great. Volunteers were great. The bands were great. There were a ton of fans – way more than at the Marine Corps Marathon - my first. There was one neighborhood we ran through where every house was giving out orange slices. The course was less flat than I expected, but I wouldn’t call it hilly. A lot of people have complained that the highways that a significant portion of the race is run on are really slanted. They are, but it didn’t bother me that much when I was running (although I think it might have impacted the way my legs felt afterwards). The weather was great at the start, but when the sun came out around 10:00, it got really, really hot.

Actually, I do have one other complaint – Fruit Punch Accelerade is nasty, but I knew that beforehand and planned on not drinking any on the course (I did have a sip at the end, but it kind of made me want to vomit).

All of my comments above about the race really apply to the first 19 or so miles. After that, I was miserable and I don’t really have any idea of what was going on. I wasn’t paying attention to anything, just trying to understand why I felt so sick. I felt great until 15 or 16 miles in. I really thought I was going to make my goal of 4:30. In terms of what went wrong, my one thought is that it is likely that I was dehydrated. As I mentioned before, I didn’t drink that much water in the beginning because I didn’t want to have to wait in the port-o-potty lines.

It was hard seeing the 4:30 pace group pass me between miles 20 and 21, but I think I kept a pretty good attitude about it the whole time. During and after MCM, I was kind of disappointed in myself because I felt like I just gave in to the desire to stop running and walked when I didn’t really need to. This was different. I really felt like I was going to pass out or be sick if I didn’t slow down and walk for a bit. I really don’t think I actually walked that much of the race, but my running pace also slowed down significantly from mile 19 on that I went from being on pace to finish in 4:30 to ultimately finishing in 4:50:28. (At least it is a 6 and a half minute PR).

When I saw the finish line, I almost wanted to cry, I was that happy to be able to stop running. I have since seen the video of me finishing. It felt like I was running at the time, but looking at the video, it looks more like some sort of hobbling/limping combination. The finish area was great – tons of people were finishing with me, but it wasn’t congested. The first thing you got at the finish was an ice-cold towel – this was fabulous (I think Elite racing does this at all their events – we got one last year at VA Beach). I then got some water and and my medal (very nice, btw). There was plenty of food, but I was having a hard time eating anything, a few bites of a plain bagel were about all I could manage. At some point Matt and I found each other while still inside the finisher area. Then I started to get the chills really badly. I got a Mylar and we got our gear check bags and put some dry clothes on. We called Matt’s parents and started the search of trying to find them. This took awhile. After we found them, we sat and rested a bit before making the journey to their car.

The logistics of getting back to the car after the race were somewhat challenging. The race ends in the Marine Corps Depot. No parking. Everyone has to park in a lot near the airport and walk or take shuttles to the finish area. All the hotel shuttles were also picking people up at the entrance to this lot because they couldn’t drive on the base. When we decided it was time to leave, we went over to where the shuttles were to take people to the parking lot and hotel shuttles. The lines were massive. I couldn’t imagine standing in a line for that long, so I decided we should walk. Race organizers said that the lot was ¾ of a mile away. Not sure where they were measuring from, but we walked a little over a mile and a half to get to the car. I’m sure it was probably good for me to keep moving, but I was moving really, really slowly. It was as if my legs didn’t work properly anymore. My knees were so sore that the act of bending them and moving was a challenge. This didn’t happen after MCM so I can only guess that running on a lot of concrete and the slanted roads might have had something to do with it.

Matt’s parents dropped us off at our hotel and we went in the pool and the hot tub and relaxed a bit. When we felt better, we had Matt’s parents pick us up again and we went out for some great Mexican food and beer in Old Town. Pat Benatar was the headliner concert but we didn’t make it. The concert was kind of far away and would have required us walking to the trolley stop and using the trolley. I was still not able to walk in any way that would be called close to normal, so that didn’t seem like a good idea. Instead, we went to the convenience store, got a 6 pack of Miller Lite and drank it in our hotel bed.

The next morning I felt much better. I was sore, but able to walk more normally. We got a big breakfast and then headed to the airport for our flight.

Final thoughts.
Marathons are really hard.
I've only been running for 20 months and I've come a long way.
I'm obviously not happy about how the race turned out, but I'm not overly upset either.
I'm looking forward to my next marathon where I will try to break 4:30 again.

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

All I can think of right now is

Wow! I'd say you did great! Sorry about the reaction. I was concerned when I'm reading your shivering. Glad you recovered well.

Thanks for posting yor report.

 

[getnthinr]

CynthiaCindy -- Great race report. I read the whole thing! Like you, I have a hard time not walking the day before a marathon, but then I remember the story of Cliff Young, the 61-yr-old farmer who entered and won "the world's toughest race" -- a 543+ mile ultra across Australia. Here's a guy whose paradigm was herding sheep across 2000 acres during storms -- he didn't know what you "should" and "shouldn't" do -- so he did what he knew how to do, and won. Sounds like you followed some solid racing strategy, it just wasn't your day. I know a 4:29 is waiting for you out there though. Thanks for taking the time to post your adventure.

BTW, if you want to read about Cliff:

http://www.elitefeet.com/the-legend-of-cliff-young-the-61-year-old-farmer-that-won-the-worlds-toughest-race