Maryland Half Marathon

Half Marathon #3 is now in the books!

Pretty much given up on making normal faces

So first, a bit of background. HM's #1 and 2 were slow. I was injured for both. During the Augusta Half I was dealing with some metatarsal tendonitis. It popped up out of nowhere 2 weeks before the race. In mile 3 of the race it started to seize up so I had to take my pace way down to prevent it from locking up. It kept doing it every few minutes but as long as I went slow I could keep running. Then I did the Wildwood Games half which was a trail run, and at the time my hamstring issues were really bad. Once again running slowly seemed to be maintainable, but anything too fast would have been painful. Both races were done in about 2:45. I knew I was capable of better.

This time - no injuries. Dealing with some knee pain lately but it's nothing I can't run through. It was time to redeem myself and actually try to get a decent time. My goal for today was 2:20 or better. 

Got up early this morning to make it to Fulton, still in HoCo (Howard County) about 15 minutes from my house. The race was in this planned type of community called Maple Lawn. Somehow I didn't have myself together this morning and rolled up to the parking lot at 7:50. Yikes. Porta potties conveniently located near my car so I could hit the bathroom, then ran to the start line. The weather called for 70's and cloudy, didn't say anything about any rain - yet we had some. It was a light rain at the start, and I was starting to wonder if leaving my hat at home was a good idea. But the rain eventually gave way to a light "misting" which was on and off during the race, kind of nice actually. It was a bit humid but every now and then you'd get a cool breeze. Between the mist, humidity, and sweating I was drenched to say the least. So anyway, the gun went off and I was ready to roll. Through the streets and traffic circles of this manicured little community of offices and townhomes, then turned onto a smaller road that took us away from all that. I have mixed feelings about living in this state, and although I do miss Georgia and await returning to *our* house, I do have to give it to Maryland because their countryside is beautiful. Everything is so lush and green. Fields with rolling hills, huge leafy green trees, and colorful flowers and bushes everywhere. Georgia is beautiful too but not quite as "green", must be all the pine trees and clay soil. Most of this race was in rural areas with some really beautiful scenery. Some nice houses out there too.

Ok, so my regret for this race - trying to stuff my phone, car key, and 3 gels into my belt. I guess I hadn't done a test run with quite this many items before. But it wasn't working at all, my poor little belt was flipping and sliding around all over the place. I had to keep fiddling with it and it messed up my music 3 times. Had to keep taking off my belt, turn my music back on, put the gels back in, and put the belt back on - while running. I'm sure this messed up my pace. But the problem was gone by mile 4 when I was back down to 2 gels. I guess 2 is fine but 3 is too damn much, lol.

This race was hilly. I wasn't expecting so many hills. No really steep climbs or anything, but very little of the course was completely flat. We were either uphill or downhill almost the entire time.

Thoughts -
Mile 2-3 - There were a few long hill climbs in here. I actually feel like this is where I was slowest, between all the hills and fiddling with my belt. The humidity was really bad and I could actually see a foggy haze in the distance. I was feeling ok at this point, but it seemed like I was tiring out faster than I should have been.
Mile 4-5 - Took my first gel, a Caramel Macchiato GU. I have preferred Honey Stingers over GU's but holy shit this flavor is so good. Plenty of water stations so far. We ended up near a school and turned a corner, beautiful fields beside us, and wound up on a neighborhood street with more hills.
Mile 6-7 - Feeling really good here. Picked up the pace and dipped down into the 9:00's when I could, there were some flat areas here. The volunteers were super encouraging, one even high fived me. Passed a house where a whole family was out there playing bongos! The spectators were few, but they were throughout the course and had lots of enthusiasm for us.
Mile 8-9 - Took my second gel at mile 8, should have been 7 but wanted to wait for an aid station so I could have water with it. Turned onto another neighborhood street, this one was kind of a long, gradual uphill that seemed to never end. I kept trucking along, was actually passing people at this point. A headache was setting in, but not surprising because I'm very prone to headaches on any run where I really push myself.
Mile 10 - Turned back towards the Maple Lawn area. Still feeling pretty good energy wise, going fast when possible. The headache is annoying but bearable. Took my last gel to stay on top of my blood sugar levels. Passed Grey Camo Shirt Man, who has been hovering in front of me for the entire race. Left him behind in the dust. Turned a corner and saw a sign that said "Mile 2" Ok I know it's from the 5k course but really? Not something you wanna see at mile 10 of a half marathon :)
Mile 11 - Entered the main area of Maple Lawn. Fuck, it's up hill. One long street of townhomes that's all uphill. Chugged along, maintained my speed despite my body screaming at me to slow down. Passed a bunch more people.
Mile 12 - Shit, more hills. Really? By this point I was ready to see the finish line and be done. I knew we had to turn back around in the other direction, kept on waiting to hit the turn around point but the course just kept on taking us in the wrong direction. After what felt like forever, finally turned around and headed back towards the finish line. Up a long hill. Fuuhhhk. But I'm still running strong, I know I don't have much distance left so it's time to burn the rest of the fuel in the tank. Approached the finish line, saw my husband who also gave me a high five.
Mile 13.1 - Done!


Ahh, victory is sweet!

So how did I do?

My time was 2:16. Average pace 10:22 or something. Not bad considering how freaking hilly it was. I beat goal so I'm happy with it! Oh yeah, and of course it's a PR!

Oh, and the shoe choice worked out great. Even saw a couple other women rockin some Kismets out there. All I do now is look at people's shoes.

Found my husband - so happy he came out! Basically I told him to show up at 10 because I figured I would finish somewhere in the 2:10-2:20 mark. Worked out perfect. And there was a pub right next to the finish line so that's where we headed next

Got me a big ass plate of nachos (nachos are one of my favorite things on the planet)
After leaving the race I promptly went to the store to get snacks. I have Lemon Milano cookies!
Already took my post half marathon nap which was amazing. Was gonna see Avengers tonight but it seems my husband got caught up in car/yard work and he's just now cleaning up. Oh well. It has been a glorious yet tiring day, so I guess I'll just relax tonight.

Wildwood Games Half Marathon

Some weeks ago I signed up for the Wildwood Games Half Marathon which was scheduled for today. A couple RWB friends signed up as well.

Over the past couple days I grappled with the decision of whether or not I should run it. I've been experiencing some hamstring tightness which made running difficult. However I had no issues during a short test run yesterday so I felt like I didn't really have an excuse to not at least TRY it.

The first annual Wildwood Games was put on by Columbia County, GA (the county I live in!) and it is named for the park it took place at - Wildwood Park, right along the lake in Appling. Saturday was a mountain bike race and today were the trail races of various distances. I wanted this to be my second half marathon and first ever trail half marathon.

So I got up at a ridiculous hour to make the 6am packet pick up and 645 am start time. My morning was rushed and hectic, but I made it to the start line all in one piece and met Jasmine and James - my RWB running buddies for the day. All 3 of us wanted to take it slow and easy for various reasons. 

We all had time for a picture. 3 of us ran, the rest volunteered

Jas at the finish line!

We started on a fairly wide gravel trail road for awhile before turning on to your typical single track wooded trail. The trails were very peaceful and relaxing. Jasmine drank way too much water this morning and she kept having to pee. I think she peed 3 times within the first few miles! So James and I would run ahead for a bit and then she'd catch up. This part of the trail was an out and back so there was alot of overlapping of runners on a very narrow trail. Shortly after we turned back James said he wanted to take a breather and Jasmine had to pee again, so they told me to go on ahead. That was the last I saw of them for a long time. It was at this point I knew I'd be fine. Wasn't having any issues with my leg, it felt a little tight but it wasn't causing me any discomfort or altering my form. I knew that as long as I took it easy and didn't run too fast up the hills I'd be ok. I ran at what I call my "forever pace", where I could just keep going forever and ever and not be fatigued. I passed through the central area of the park, ran on some more gravel road for a bit, then around mile 4 is where the 10k runners turned around and the half marathon runners forked off to the right. Back on the single track wooded trails again. 

James with the flag

Around mile 4.5 I suddenly felt a sharp sting under my right arm. It was so unexpected and painful I actually yelled out loud. Something obviously stung me, and shortly after I approached a road crossing with 2 volunteers stationed at it. They saw me rubbing my arm and asked if I was ok. I told them a bee stung me and they said "Oh yeah there's alot of yellowjackets back there!" Yes, I know! The sting hurt but it wasn't enough to really hinder me so I kept on moving. At mile 5 I ate some Honey Stingers - hmm, irony? The trails started to get slightly hillier here. There were no huge hills on this course but there were several smaller hills and dips. Around mile 7 I started to see people coming back, so I had figured the turn around point was somewhere around mile 8. A woman came up behind me and ran with me a bit, we chatted for awhile and she told me this was her first trail run ever. A half marathon, seriously? But she was doing great and was enjoying being out on the trails, so why the heck not! Sure enough around mile 8 I approached the Team RWB manned aid station. They were so kind enough to snap this picture of me

Mile 8

They had all kinds of food - I don't really like to eat a bunch of snacks when I run (and I don't run long enough distances for that) but I saw some orange slices and grabbed one of those. It was the most heavenly orange ever! I quickly got right back at it and turned back towards the park center. This whole time I had been wondering where Jasmine and James were, I passed Jasmine first and she was doing good. James was further back, he was running at a slower pace just taking it easy, still holding the flag high. I tripped over a root and nearly face planted pretty hard, but I practically used every muscle in my body to stop myself from falling forward. I'm sure it must have looked hilarious.

By mile 10 I was pretty tired. I noticed myself "shuffling" more as my legs got heavier and heavier. I started counting down the miles. When I got back to the 2 volunteers at the road I asked them if anyone else got stung by the bees. Apparently everyone got stung and they went in there and sprayed. Wow. At least I'm not that one special person who got stung while no one else did. I passed through bee hell one more time and came out unscathed. Reached the 10k turnaround point, back on the gravel road. About a mile to go. I ran a little faster knowing the finish line was near. I finished in 2:42 - not a glorious time, but all things considered I'm not too disappointed.

I waited for Jas and James to finish, they came in together about 20 minutes later. We all made it!

Finish line!

I was tired, drenched in sweat, and so happy to have run this race. The trails were beautiful. It was a great experience with friends and fellow runners in my community. I can't believe I almost didn't do it.

I love the shirt and the medal. You can't really tell in the picture but the medal is made of wood! This medal isn't like any other medal I have - very outdoorsy, reminds me of going camping or something. Fitting for a trail race. The 3 of us got some celebratory BBQ at Shane's Rib Shack, then we parted ways. Until next time...

Half Marathon - The Decision

So. It's the eve of what is to be my second half marathon.

I was training (not specifically for this half, but to be able to run that distance in general) for the past 3 months.

Then. Hamstring injury.

Today, in a last ditch effort to assess my ability to run without tightness, I went out for a quick run in this hot ass Georgia weather. And it went much much better than Monday's run. On Monday I got tight after 1 mile and my running form was affected by it. Today I took it slow and didn't really have any issues. There were times when I could definitely feel it, but it was very minor and my running form was not affected at all.

I have done some thinking and I am having a hard time justifying NOT running the race. I feel like this isn't really enough to hold me back. So to hell with it - I am going to TRY to run it. I'm gonna take it easy, and if things start getting bad I can always pull myself from the race. It's better than me not even trying. Time to Spartan the Fk. Up.

Wildwood Games - I'm coming for you

GRU Augusta Half Marathon

I did it.

I have completed my first half marathon!

Let me tell you the tale of the GRU Augusta Half Marathon..

Woke up early, literally couldn't breathe because I am still really congested. I'm glad I did get up so early though because we were running a little late. By the time we got down there and walked to the start line it was already 7:40, with an 8am race start time. I didn't have time to wait in line for the porta potties, but I knew there was a bathroom at the BBQ pit. It's a terrible bathroom - no lights, doors don't close, and no TP. But apparently... today the toilets were not flushing. It was possibly the worst toilet I've ever seen. Both of them were.. filled. Yep. But I squatted and peed none the less, it's better than waiting in line. My warm up was not as long as I wanted it to be, because it was time to get lined up to start!

The weather was perfect. 45 starting out and warmed up to about 60. Our race started after the 10k. I was at the back of the line because I knew this would be a slow one for me for a couple reasons - it's my first half marathon ever and I didn't want to burn out early, and I also wasn't sure how my foot was going to react.

During the first mile I ended up talking to a couple of ladies about the course compared to last year's 10k course. They were actually running the 10k and missed their start time so they had to catch up. Simply chatting with them really did a lot to relax my nerves. I was so much calmer after that, and was really just taking in the sights around me and appreciating the support of the spectators. I took a gel at mile 3.5 (and 7 and 10) I overdid it with the gels on purpose, I'm hypoglycemic and wanted to eat preemptively instead of get caught in a blood sugar crash. Looking back on it I probably could have survived with 2 gels.

Somewhere between miles 3 and 4.. I was not having any foot pain yet which was a great sign.. however I notice my foot began to tense up. It was like my toes wanted to curl involuntarily, and the top of my foot would just pulse and quiver for a few seconds. I tried my best to just relax my foot and not think about what could go wrong. Mile 5, along comes Walton Way. Long ass hill. I remember this well from my 10k last year. I made it with only a brief walk at the top. Enjoyed running through Augusta, seeing all the beautiful old southern homes and what not. My mentality for this race was just to take it all in, and think of it as just another long run. And it seems to have worked. I didn't have any music - they ask you not to wear headphones and I respected that - but the volunteers and spectators were amazing at cheering us on! It made such a huge difference for me. It's heartwarming to see so many supporters out there.

Beyond Walton Way I didn't really know what was up next. I had looked at the course map briefly about 2 weeks ago and didn't remember much. We turned onto this road called Berkmans road or something, runs right along side Augusta National. All of a sudden there's this big ass hill ahead of me. Oh god. I ran it slowly - but at this point most other people were walking. I started to feel some random knee pain that would come and go. My endurance was still strong. Around mile 10 is when my foot actually started to hurt, and the spasms were becoming more frequent. The bottoms of my feet hurt now too. The last mile was the worst. Everything started to hurt and I basically hit the wall. But I pushed it out and made myself keep running to the finish line, where I saw my husband screaming at me - ordering me to sprint. Yeah right! It took everything I had left, but I did it! I FINISHED!

My time was pretty bad. 2:42. First half marathon and a bum foot - I was being conservative. But nothing stopped me from finishing and that's what's important. I have laid the foundation. All that's left is for me to improve upon it.

I had a great time - once I got out there and started running I was super relaxed, I enjoyed being there with all those other runners and spectators cheering us on. I loved running through town and putting myself up to this challenge - and beating it! Plus I got to spend the whole morning with my husband, who once again was super supportive!

After the race I got some very tasty and satisfying lunch from Genghis Grill. I freaking love that place. Now I'm home, very tired and in pain. But that's alright. Pain is temporary. I can do awesome things!