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

[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, . 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!!!!

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

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

 

[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.

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. (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.

 

[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.

 

[FireDancer]

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

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! 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.

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

 

[AmyBeth68]

Steve!!!! 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!

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.

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.

We went to the expo Saturday and were impressed.

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.

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.

 

[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.

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.

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.

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.

 

[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!

 

[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!
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