Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon race report

Spoiler alert - this post could also be titled "It just wasn't my day"

carrying on the saying/team name from the flying pig 2 weeks ago.  It brought me some motivation and a lot of comments during this race.

Alright settle in this takes awhile...

Sunday I lined up to run the 34th Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon for my 3rd year in a row.  For the 2nd year  Mr. H lined up to pace me and my friend Sarah ran her 3rd Cleveland half marathon.  They have both run one of the races (10K, half, marathon) for the last 5 years.

Mr. H was with me once again because during one night of drinking while home for the holiday in Dec 2009 I asked the speedster to get me to a sub-4 hour marathon.  I struggle with the Cleveland course each year but I keep signing up because I'm a masochist always one for a challenge.  At this point my friend is as determined as I am for me to break the 4 hour barrier.  Though after being injured and coming out of the boot only 13 weeks ago, having a lackluster training because I spent much of my time building my base back up again, not having the time to commit due to my crazy travel schedule, and general lack of motivation I wasn't feeling overly confident this year.  

I was up and at 'em at 4:30 am Sunday morning.  Sarah, Chris and her parents (my 2nd mom and dad) were picking me up from my dad's house around 5-5:15 a.m. to make the drive to Cleveland.  It was a foggy and cool though humid morning with on and off rain showers.  We arrived almost an hour before race start so we killed time making several bathroom trips.  Luckily we had access to the Brown's Stadium and every bathroom was open and there was cover! So many people didn't realize that if you walked 10 additional steps the opposite direction there was one with no bathroom line.  We made the extra effort and had no waiting each time.  

About 20 minutes before the start time we headed to the start line.  It was chaotic!  This was the first year for the race starting by the stadium and there was limited space.  Cleveland also doesn't use corrals or very many barricades so spectators were standing with the runners in the shoot.  We weaved our way through to the 4 hour marathon pacers and found a spot on the sidelines until the races started instead of smashing our way into the line.  We had just enough time for a quick pic before the start.

The half marathoners and marathoners started together.  Since Sarah was attempting to break the 2 hour half marathon bar she started with us!  Around the end of mile 1 I turned to her and asked "In high school did you ever see us running a marathon and half marathon together ever?"  We both had a good laugh.  While we both played sports in high school we were much larger and not runners at all.  In fact Sarah threw the shot put and discus!  How times have changed!

We started out slow and kept the 4 hour pacer group in sight.  The first few miles went by quickly and I mostly just buckled down to a pace that felt right and fell in behind Mr. H.  Around mile 6 Sarah decided to back off from us and finish on her own.  We wished her luck and kept on.  We saw Mr. and Mrs. Dobney in Tremont (one of the best areas of the course) around mile 8.  Always a boost seeing people you know.

At the point of the course where marathoners turned right and half marathoners went straight to finish I took a turn for the worse.  My stomach felt off and everything felt heavy.  I felt like my week of travel and being stressed was catching up to me in the worst way.  I asked Mr. H if we could just finish the half and call it a day.  He said he would do whatever I wanted but I was determined to at least finish another marathon so I turned.  I have never felt this bad this soon in a race and it really got to me mentally.  I was still only about 2 minutes off my pace and gaining time but it felt like such a struggle to maintain.  When we turned onto Euclid Avenue before mile 13 were were greeted with dropping temperatures and wind.  Oh and a open bus lane and cars trying to maneuver around the runners.  Yeah, that was a bit scary.  Around this point I lost the 4 hour pace group and honestly I couldn't have cared less.

By mile 15 I was trying not to get sick and started dry heaving.  Everything felt off and I couldn't recall any positive affirmations only a very negative "this is a little early for the death march to start".  I made mini goals of just get to the next mile marker or to the next water station.  I let myself walk through every water station.  My stomach was off and I was struggling to fuel properly.  Chris was being great and if he hadn't been there I probably would have walked off the course and called it a day.  Not one to let anyone down I kept on trucking slowly.

Around 19 I grabbed a jet blackberry GU and walked to take about 3/4 of it in.  We were leaving the University Village/Metropark area which was pretty but absolutely dead!  The water stations had wonderful volunteers but few spectators showed up on the back half of the marathon (like usual).  This year there were even less because of the weather.  I'm not sure more support would have mattered because I was not noticing or registering much at this point.  As we turned left onto the bike path we had the wind at our back and I had a short reprieve from my stomach pain.  I found some energy, started belting out some random rap song that had come on my ipod and nailed a sub-9 minute mile for mile 20.   I thought maybe I was finding some random 2nd (or 3rd, 4th) wind.  

Then I officially crashed hard.  By mile 23 I wanted nothing to do with this stupid course, I kept apologizing to Chris, and generally felt like s*%^.  My usual "you can do anything for a 5K!" was having no effect and I was walking every chance I could. By mile 24/25 I had an 10:50 minute mile.  I'm surprised I could even muster that!

I didn't talk much and Chris tried to push me (as I had instructed him to!) to pick it up and take it home.  I let out a small "it's not happening today Chris" and he understood.  I told him I knew I would make it even if I had to walk and I would get there eventually.  Just before mile 26 marker we saw Sarah and her parents and turned right onto a downhill which actually felt okay on my legs.  The rain started to pick up but I didn't care I just wanted to see the finish line banner.  Over the last mile we had to dodge and weave all the 10K and half marathon walkers who were walking 2-5 across as well as spectators who had edged onto the course because there were no barricades keeping them on the sidewalks.  Something I hope the race officials acknowledge and fix.

We crossed the finish line officially in 4:10:33 for a 9:33 pace.  Not my worst but not my best.  I wasn't all the happy with myself but I was happy I finished my 6th marathon.  

Sarah ended up with a 2:02 half marathon!  A new personal best for her!  Yea Sar!!!

Maggie asked to try on my medal ;)  

I swore I would never run another marathon after this death march.  Of course I'm checking out marathonguide.com today while laying in bed still unable to walk.  I think my next step is to re-focus on half marathon and shorter distances.  I want to get some of my speed back.  I also like that there is a much shorter recovery time for the half.  I think my next challenge will be back to back half marathons and see how I handle that before jumping back into a full.

Flying Pig Relay Race Report

This weekend I made the drive to Cincinnati to visit with friends and run the Flying Pig.  I had planned on running the half marathon but my friend switched to a different relay team so I could run with Mr. H, her sister, and sister's boyfriend on the Four Loco relay team.  It was my first time running on a marathon relay team.

I arrived on Friday and was up early to see Mr. H run the 10K.   I was his personal photographer for the morning ;)  After we hit up the expo, lunch, and errands.

Sunday morning started entirely way too early.  We were all up before 5 am (which really felt like 3:45 am to me thanks to the time change) and out the door before 5:30am.  We had to drop off Mr. H at the start, and the others at the 2nd and 4th relay buses.  Then Sarah and I were off to sleep in the Kroger parking lot until our race started.  It was very strange being up so early and waiting, not heading to the start line.  After an hour and half of not much sleeping and a trip to the Kroger bathroom, the eventual shirtless winner ran by, then Mr. H called saying he had passed off to the 2nd leg after a stellar 51 minutes 6+ miles. I made my way to the exchange point a little after 8 to wait for H.

I was on the ball and heard our number as H entered the long shoot.  He quickly handed me the very sweaty leg chip and I was off in the mass of sub-4 hour marathoners.  Quite a different experience running with the serious folk ;).  The miles ticked off quickly but it felt weird to be running with the faster crowd and not be running the full.  When people cheered for me I didn't like it because I felt like it wasn't deserved!  I was only running 7.6 measly miles of this pig monster.  The third leg started around mile 12 and went until just after mile 19.  The hills of the pig had gotten to nearly everyone around me. To see firsthand everyone gutting it out and I was on fresh legs made me feel bad.  I knew what they were feeling but couldn't do anything but stick to my race plan and cheer on those marathoners who were struggling around me.  It's a difficult course and I give mad props to those who tackle and conquer the full.

1 hour and 8 minutes later I was at exchange point 4 to trade the sweaty chip with my "sister".  I felt good and would have liked to have continued on but I had to take her bag to the finish line.  Collectively we finished in 3:49!  My best marathon finish ever ;)

Team Four Loco - Hell Yeah!

My Goofy Challenge Race Reports (finally!)

Work has been ridiculously stressful since returning from vacation. I do not recommend taking a vacation almost immediately upon returning to work after the holidays. NUTS! Enough of that let's get to the good stuff... GOOFY challenge!!! It's finally the weekend and I have time to bore entertain you with my experience and pictures. If you are facebook friends with me you've already seen the pictures.

Settle in this takes awhile. Or just skim and look at the pictures ;)

My husband and I arrived in Orlando with no travel issues on Friday afternoon. I had signed us up for the Disney Magical Express bus to take us to our hotel. There wasn't anything too magical or express like about the bus. Much like anything in Disney it took FOREVER. We finally arrived at the hotel to find that about half the team in training teams were in our lobby! Excitement was in the air but I was stressing out about making it to the expo and finding dinner. Luckily, we made it to the expo and picking up my bibs was relatively painless. Heading to pick up my shirts/remainder of the packet was a mess. After buying much needed Gu chomps and shot bloks we were on our way to dinner at the hotel.

DAY 1: 13.1 miles

The Saturday morning wake-up call came early but I woke up before the 3 am alarm and was out the door and on the bus by 3:30 am. As the busy pulled into the Epcot parking lot I remember thinking to myself I have never seen so many people awake at that time for a non-drinking event! Everyone spilled out and made their way to bag check. I popped a squat and ate my breakfast before heading to holding area #1. Around 4:30 race officials released all 27,000 of the half marathoners to make the 1/2 mile walk to the starting corrals. We all needed to be lined up and ready to go by 5 am for a 5:35 am wave start. Temps were in the 50's but with no sun felt very cold. Nothing like last year I know where temps were in the 20's and it was sleeting! It was the theme of the weekend :) The cool thing happening this year for the half was we would be starting at the same time as about 500 servicemen stationed in Iraq. A husband stationed overseas and his wife usually run this half together but since he wasn't home they set up a dual race so they could still run together!!! Plus the wonderful thing was she and her daughter could see/talk to him via the satellite feed. So awesome.

Around 5:40 a.m. my corral made it to the start line to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald see us off and a firework display with every wave!

We started out along the dark service roads towards the Magic Kingdom. I had my camera in hand and took it easy. No need to rush out with 39.3 miles looming over my head. The weather was perfect for running even if I struggled to see where I was actually running in parts. The course was crowded and once we got into the parks there was a lot of trying not to trip over people. I ran with my camera in hand and enjoyed myself. The service roads were dull but it was incredible hitting the Magic Kingdom before the sun came up!

Magic Kingdom Christmas tree early in the morning. It made me smile as I ran into the park.

yep, this is my new profile pic

before going through the castle

I love cinderelli!!!

on the way out of the kingdom and onto Epcot via some more service road in which we ran by the parade floats

these guys were awesome. I also may have a little thing for this jack sparrow - swoon

By mile 7 we were out of the Magic Kingdom and on our way to Epcot. I was taking it easy having fun and taking in the morning. By this point the sun had come up and I was blinded. I forgot my much needed visor in my luggage. Oh well. Along the golf course I ran into Mickey and Minnie, passed them, realized who they were, and turned around to stand in the long line. After 3 trips to DW I finally got my picture with the bosses!

By the time mile 10 rolled around I honestly was ready to be done. I wasn't tired but just a little bored. This was my longest running 1/2 marathon by myself. I picked up the pace ever so slightly and started trying to make my way around the masses.

almost there!

While I didn't talk to anyone during the race I stopped and took pictures with the different characters, took my time at the mile 5 pit stop, and walked if I wanted/needed to. I actually didn't walk too and would instead slow my pace. Much most of my time was eaten up by standing in line waiting for a picture. Starting and stopping is no joke; that ate up my quads the most.

Overall I finished 2:31 and some change. That works out to 11:25 pace. A personal worst BUT one of my most fun races by myself!

back at the hotel showing off round 1 of bling to the husband. he slept, I ran.

Post race my husband and I got breakfast then headed to the Magic Kingdom. Not the best idea to walk around most of the day post half marathon but we had limited days to work with and I didn't feel much like sitting in the hotel when it was so beautiful outside! I got off my feet when I could, drank a ton of water, and re-fueled pretty well.

DAY 2: 26.2 miles

Sunday morning 3 am was a lot less easy than Saturday. I woke up in a daze of wondering where I was and what in the h*ll I was doing. I was not feeling very confident about my abilities but I had paid my money, told people I was running, so I got dressed and was on my way a lot less chipper than the day before. The start was the same as the day before but on Sunday I made a friend on the 1/2 mile walk to the corral and another one in the corral. The morning was much colder and I didn't have any throwaway clothes other than my space blanket from the day before. Honestly, I was kind of miserable those first 2 1/2 hours before the start and really questioning my ability to run a full marathon.

The start went down the same way as the day before only I was 2 corrals further back. As we took off everyone started flying by me. It made me slightly anxious through the first mile but I settled in and found a happy relaxed pace in between 10:30 - 11:30 minute miles. My plan once again was to take it easy, have fun, and finish strong with a smile on my face!

It took me about 3 miles until I finally warmed up. While I was freezing I stopped to say high to Tink and her friend...

then it was time for Epcot in the early morning.

I thought mile 10 was a good place to take a picture. On our way to the Magic Kingdom and feeling good.

Magic Kingdom in the morning. I didn't take a ton of pictures through here since it was much the same as the day before only light outside.

on the fly down main street

it's hard to see but there were trumpeters welcoming the runners

After the Magic Kingdom we headed through some more service roads to the Animal Kingdom. I stopped by the same golf course as the day before to hang with Goofy and Donald.

Around this point (mile 14 - 15) I started to find some new energy even though I was STARVING. I decided I would pick it up a bit on the back roads to get to the next park sooner. While Disney had something (music, characters, a band, etc) every mile these parts weren't too exciting. The parks are where everyone found their energy. I entertained myself by taking portraits and passing the walkers...

Mile 16 tends to be my mental block of all training runs and marathons. Have to take a picture! This is right before heading into the Animal Kingdom. And it smelled like a zoo.

they are standing kind of far away from me. I think Chip and Dale could smell me and not in a good way. At this point the bride and groom passed me and I had to hear bad marathon of life jokes from all the dj's the remainder of the run. Yes, these 2 got married Saturday night and ran and marathon Sunday very early. Props to them! I wish I had gotten a picture but I forgot to snap one when I was behind them and she was showing off her ring.

Animal Kingdom fun!

a nice spectator with her son offered to take my picture. he liked my ears - too cute! Right after this a very nice spectator had some very yummy pretzels. I was hungry!

look! I'm on the big screen at mile 21.6

almost to 22 and feeling the pain. here I'm thinking I can do anything for 4 miles! At this point I definitely allowed myself to start walking more

squirrel! love the UP dog!

Finally, around mile 22-23 we were in Hollywood Studios. My favorite park! Though I was seriously hurting. My left foot was off since mile 15 and my quads were on fire. My mantra was "Fast or slow it all hurts the same... get it done!" Again the park and the crowds gave me the lift I so needed.

the girl in the middle was hamming it up for me

down the main street in Hollywood Studios less than 3 miles left

After Hollywood Studios we headed through the Disney Boardwalk (by several hotels and over a wood bridge). A very pretty part of the course before finally heading back to Epcot. I walked more than I should have here but who the heck cares!

just before 25 and trying to figure out how much longer because I have absolutely no kick

mile 25 in France

In Epcot before mile 26 my husband found me and took a series of pictures. I was so happy to see him! It gave me the boost I needed because I wasn't sure if I would see him at all.

After passing Jacob I put away the camera and headphones to take in the last three-quarters of a mile of Goofy! I couldn't believe I was going to do it! The path narrowed but there was no jockeying for position on my end. I stayed the course. I tried to pick it up but all I had energy for was to put my arms in the air and allow my eyes to swell up as I neared the finish line. Well that, and to high five Mickey and Minnie ;)

The hubs who is a master at finding me in a race crowd found me as I headed toward the meet up tents and grabbed a final picture...

Finally, the bling that has since been added to my display. Love the bling!

Another overall personal worst but who the heck cares. For the record 4:51 and change. My last half marathon was my fastest out of both days. Which is exactly what I wanted to do! Yea a race plan worked. But seriously - what a freaking experience!!! I went into the race with a cold and not the best training because of a multitude of excuses. I came out 39.3 miles later with a pride I haven't felt since crossing the finish line of my first marathon.

After walking around Epcot after the race and seeing everyone with their medals and shirts at the park I felt like I joined a new club. There were head nods, there were congratulations, there were smiles all around. It. was. awesome.

Overall race thoughts:

Disney knows how to put on a race. Everything was incredibly organized to the minute detail and the volunteers were unlike anywhere. My only complaint - the lack of food at the end of both races. They totally want you to spend your money at the resort. Though because I was expecting more at the end it really hurt me come day 2 and I had some problems. But had I known that going in I would have been better prepared. While there are a lot of first timers there are also a lot of seasoned runners and those running with friends. Everyone there is for a fun time and it's not so serious (at least where I was in the crowd). It was an incredibly fun weekend away feeling like a kid again in some nice weather away from the snow. I recommend it to anyone and will be back in the future for sure!

Akron 1/2 Marathon Race Report

The husband and I arrived at my sister and brother-in-laws house over 7 hours after leaving Chicago. The drive should really take no more than 6 hours but a section of the Indiana toll road was closed for awhile. Parked on a tollway with no information for about an hour = no fun at all. We made it, unpacked the car and then my sister and I headed to the expo so I could make a quick pick-up. Only it wasn't so quick because we arrived when everyone else did! Right when the pasta party was starting and everyone was getting off of work/arriving in town. It was a bit crowded to say the least. After making our way through (and 1 super cute shirt purchase) we all were on our way for dinner with my dad and stepmom.

Race morning started early! I couldn't sleep of course and when the alarm went off at 5:40 am it felt much earlier because of the short 1 hour time change for me. My sister the rock star of the weekend woke up a bit later and drove me to the race start. She dropped me off as close as she could get and I walked in the darkness with all the other runners arriving to find the bag drop vans. It took me a bit because they only had 2 vans and the huge sign wasn't exactly by where the vans were parked. I did see they had a support tent for everyone to use that had water, powerade, and a place to stay warm. Very nice touch that not every race has.

The morning temps were in the upper 50's but I was totally comfortable standing at the start line in my tank top and shorts. About 20 minutes later we were off!

Mile 1 (9:37): Ended up being my slowest mile. I didn't want to take off like a bat outta hell like I normally do bobbing and weaving. I hung back with the 3:50 pacer, tried to calm my nerves and find my happy race pace. I knew I was slower than I wanted then there was a bottleneck going over a bridge that slowed me even more. I'm happy I didn't waste too much energy this first mile but wish it could have been slightly faster.

Miles 2-5 (8:51,8:42, 8:39, 8:37): Even with a couple significant uphills these miles flew by! Everything was feeling good and I was enjoying the morning.

Mile 6 - 7 (8:40, 8:59): I took my first GU chomps because I forgot earlier. When I runs sans waterbelt I sometimes get thrown off and forget about my fuel. Bad! They were all stuck together and a little stale. I was disappointed since I have never had this problem before so I threw most of the bag to the side. Mile 7 was the part of the course I started to recognize since I run part of it with my sister when I'm visiting. I only forgot about the steady incline from 7 - 7.5... oh mama I was happy when that ended. Just after 7.5 I came running up to this courtesy of my awesome sister...

The first sign is a classic :)

My favorite picture! Ready to high five Lindsey Loo!

Helping myself to the oranges and water. My sister had a baggie ready for me to go but forgot to hand off. It's all good and wasn't needed after all.

Mile 8 - 9 (8:52, 8:34): Still feeling really good! This is usually when I start to lose it mentally in a half but not this time. The weather was fantastic and my family gave me a huge boost. I was pushing myself but still had a lot left in the tank. I decided at mile 10 through the end I would start pushing it more even though I knew a huge hill was coming. I just didn't realize how bad it would be.

Mile 10 - 12(8:53, 8:26, 8:53): As soon as I tried to push at mile 10 my legs started to feel heavy as we wrapped through Akron University. The relay teams were fresh off an exchange and I felt surrounded by all the speedsters all of the sudden. Kind of deflating. As we turned down a huge hill I focused on form/leg turnover and I started to feel a bit better. Somehow, someway 10 ended up being my fastest mile of the entire race!

At 11.3 we split from the relay and marathoner runners and turned left to go up the biggest, longest (that's what she said) hill of my life. Seeing signs to caution people in regards to a steep 5% grade incline doesn't make a runner at mile 11 very happy. The freaking uphill lasted nearly 3/4 of the mile. I dropped some profanities.. loudly. On this hill I was reminded why I love runners. A girl younger than me all of the sudden stopped. It seemed she had given up on herself. An older male runner came up from behind taking the hill steady but strong and started motivating this girl to get going again. He basically told her to "come on" and "at least stay right in front of him" because "I am much older and you can't be having an old man pass you". Made me laugh and it got the girl up and running. She passed me and I didn't see her again. Guess it is exactly what she needed!

After the hill I was just done. I walked through the mile 12 water stop (I walk through all my water stops) and convinced myself to just finish. After making an internal deal to not look at the garmin I was off. Of course right after the stop there was yet another hill! I don't know how I didn't walk but I didn't! I stuck with it and kept it steady to the top. Once I reached the top I felt as if I was running in even slower motion but I kept moving.

Mile 13- 13.1 (8:53, 8:00) When I thought I had no more to give we turned down a short hill and into the Akron Aeros stadium. I saw how close the finish line was and I sprinted, passing a couple people. Felt so good! I shook the race directors hand (he shakes the hand of nearly every finisher!), passed by the stage where they were awarding the half marathon master division winners, grabbed a water and bag of food.

Finish time officially is 1:55:10! Not a PR but it is the fastest 1/2 I've done since entering my 30's! Considering my training wasn't exactly where I wanted it to be and I had minimal hill training I had a fantastic for me race. Also, for the first time ever no stomach issues! This time around I opted out of using my water belt of water and electrolyte drink and relyed on the course water only. I didn't drink any gatorade/powerade/nuun. Instead I took in oranges and chomps for my fuel. I think this is what made the difference for me Saturday as well.

This was definitely one of the most challenging, hilly courses I've run. I typically stick to flat courses ;) The course was well supported and volunteers were great! For a relatively new marathon (this was its 8th year) the organization was awesome. Even better than some bigger, older races I've done. I loved all the personal touches; though I did feel like marathoners and relay runners are given a bit more priority and swag. My only complaint was gear check pick-up. It took nearly 40 minutes to get my bag and I was one of the first ones there... Not enough volunteers and definitely the least organized item of the entire race. Still not enough to change my opinion that this is one fantastic race!