Triangle Run/Walk for Autism, Oct 10, 2009

Wow, what a busy week! I haven't had any time all week to do this race update on the Triangle Run/Walk for Autism until now (while multitasking watching my Thursday TV shows). So here it goes....

It was an unseasonably humid and warm day so I knew it may not be my best race. But truthfully before the day of the race I hadn't really thought much about the actual race and any time goals. I also wasn't training for a 5K since I am still focused on the NYC Marathon coming up on Nov 1st. But I decided that I'd try to run as many of the races in the Second Empire Series as I could as long as they didn't get in the way of marathon training. I skipped the first one, the Magnificent Mile, so I could do my long training run. But I did manage to run the second race in the series, Anna's Angels 10 miler. So this race was next on the list and raises money for a great cause. I registered for the race and created a fundraising web page, where some very generous friends donated money. So before the race even started, I felt pretty good that we had been able to do something good.

I arrived at the race pretty early since I hadn't had time to pick up the race package beforehand. I had time to wander around and relax before the race. I will get my infamous port-a-potty review over first...well planned, enough potties for everyone, well placed, great potty planning! ;-). So far I'd say this race is the winner for best "race potty of the year" if there were to be such an award. Ok, now onto other topics...

Before meeting up with any of my RTR friends, I saw Brad from NCRC before the race and met Ronnie, a friend of his. We chatted a bit about the upcoming ATT 10 Miler. I really wanted to run that one this year but decided in the end it was probably a bit too close to the marathon (the weekend before) and I shouldn't do it. Plus by now the race was closed. But Brad mentioned they were still looking for volunteers and I told him I'd been thinking about that since I had never volunteered at a race. Afterwards Sarah and I decided it would be fun and a great way to give back if we both volunteered for the race and brought Owen and Mia. So provided it's not pouring rain which wouldn't be good for the kiddies, we'll be there at the 4/6 mi water stop so maybe we'll see some of you there!

Shortly after that I met up with the RTR folks, Sarah, Rich, Herb, Linda, Dan, Tracy, and Jeff. I also spotted a few other familiar faces in the crowd. I did some warming up with the RTR folks since it seemed to help me in the 10 mile race a few weeks prior. It was then that someone asked what our goals were for the race. Sarah mentioned her goal was around a 7 min mile. I said mine was somewhere around or just under there as well but that secretly (which I guess then at that point became not so secret) I'd like to run a 6:45 pace in a 5K at some point soon. That would definitely be a PR but I wasn't initially thinking about aiming for that today, that is until someone brought it up and then I started considering it. By then it was time to head over to the starting line. Now not only was it humid and warm, but it was also getting sunny (uggh I hate sunny). At at least it was a short race!

As the race started, I took off pretty fast. I felt pretty good and for some reason was kind of delusional and started thinking I could keep up that pace or at least close to it. I could actually still see some of the women who I know are pretty fast (you know who you are!) and thought hey maybe I can try to keep up. It was "only" a 5K afterall, not a 10 mile race. Yeah, right! After all these years of running, you'd think I'd get it by now. Going out way too fast is not good no matter how long or short the race is.

My recent race strategy, which has worked pretty well, has been to do the first mile or two a bit faster than my average goal pace. This gets me moving, gets me out up front, and gives me a bit of a head start on my goal. If I run a bit faster than my ultimate goal pace for the first mile I can stress a bit less later in the race about hitting it. Key word I forgot in this race...a BIT faster. Not CRAZY faster. Well, there is a big difference between a bit faster and a crazy faster pace. And I went out in this one with a crazy fast pace for me...6:21 for the first mile! I have never run under 21 minutes for a 5K so there really wasn't any basis for me to think that pace was sustainable, which I really didn't think it was, but I didn't think that I'd slow down so significantly in the next 2 miles. On paper it doesn't seem that bad. The second mile was 6:59 so still pretty good but I was VERY tired in that second mile. My legs were tired, even more than they were running a 10 mile race. So lesson learned (or re-learned)...going out WAY too fast isn't something that you can recover from, particularly in a short fast race on a warm, humid day.

I was so tired that I felt the race was lasting forever. I couldn't wait to get to the end for it to be over. I wanted to speed things up in the last mile but it was really hard by that point to recover from that first mile and there wasn't really anyone that was within reach that I could use to help pace myself. I could still see Sarah in front of me but knew I didn't have enough left to try to catch up so I just did my best to give it as much as I had left. The second half of the race seemed much hillier than it probably was. But you can tell from the elevation profile (I know, Garmin geek!) the first half of the race was actually downhill and the second was uphill. Perhaps that would have been good to look into before I took off blazing fast and then ran out of steam! My pace for the last mile was 7:13. Again, not bad but definitely not close to the average pace of under 7 min miles I've run in the last few 5Ks.

In the end I came in 63 of 693 overall, 11 of 351 women, and 4 of 56 in my age group. My overall average pace was 6:49 according to my Garmin, and my final chip time was 21:12. A definite PR for the 5K (I wasn't sure at first so had to look it up), so I felt good about that. And as a bonus, since the first 6 overall male and female runners received awards instead of the usual top 3 or 5, I placed 3rd in my age group, instead of 4th, and got an award. It was not only the standard $10 gift card to a local running store but in addition a beautiful hand painted plate made by a young autistic artist. In fact I was going to leave right after the results were posted since Owen had a soccer game, but I decided to stick around for a few more minutes because I saw how unique the awards were for this race. The gift card, no doubt, will allow me to get a new pair of socks but the plate will always remind me of the race. Yes, I went out too fast and couldn't wait to finish. But I reminded myself of a valuable lesson that no doubt will help me in future races, I got to see my running friends, I ran a PR, and I helped raise money for a great cause.

I would still like to hit that 6:45 pace and a 5K under 21 minutes. I am sure I'll do it sometime soon. If not this year, then perhaps next year, once I have more time to train for speed rather than distance. No rush but it will be really great when it happens!

Next race, Run for Healthier Babies 5K in Morrisville on Oct 25th. Maybe I'll see some of you there!

Anna's Angels 10 Mi Run, September 27, 2009

I waited until pretty late to register for this race. I wasn't sure I was feeling up to a 10 mile race but figured it was probably good practice for the marathon and gave me a "break" from doing a longer run that weekend. The day started out a bit drizzly and fairly cool so that is perfect weather for a race. I drove over to meet Sarah and Mia at their house and we rode together from there. Right when we arrived at the race it began to rain a lot harder, so my one dry sweatshirt I brought for after the race was now soaked. Not the best planning I guess. We headed over to pick up our chips as it started to pour. We had picked up our race numbers and t-shirts, which were very cool ones by the way, the day before. And of course my first stop on the way over to get the timing chip was the port-a-potty. I noted nervously that there were very few of them which stressed me out because the lines would just get longer and I knew I'd have to visit them a few more times before the race started.

While near the potty line I spotted a young kid who I'd seen at the Run for the Oaks in March. It was pretty much rainy weather for that race too but much colder, so I teased him that every time I raced with him it rained! He said he remembered me from that race since I asked him how he had done while we waited for the results of that race. He had placed in his age group (he's 12 and placed 2nd I think) which was awesome. I was around his age when I started running so that brought back memories of my sister and I always winning medals or trophies in our age group. He mentioned that he was happy that the 15 yr old who had won that race in March had now turned 16! I told him I was looking forward to the same, to moving up an age group since the competition in mine was pretty strong.

I am not usually a big fan of warming up before the race. I always think I may be wasting some energy that I might need! But I did jog around a bit with Sarah and Tom, who we spotted in the parking lot and who I'd met once at a race earlier in the year (also an RTR member). And of course I used that warm up as an opportunity to scope out a more secluded area to use instead of the port-a-potty (gotta do what you gotta do) since the line was crazy long at that point.

As we got ready to line up for the start I spotted a few other running friends which was great. I remember last year I ran a few races and didn't know anyone at all. It was really cool to see probably at least 10 people at this race that I know from different groups or races or even Facebook! In fact I finally met Cindy for the first time who I only had known from her FB page Running Shoes Required, which was the first local FB running page I joined. It was great to finally meet her and her friend and running partner Bill. We spotted Jorge, another RTR member who decided to register for the race that weekend (first race in 20 yrs and he decided a 10 miler would be the one...very ambitious!). And Pauline and Pamela who I know from a women's running group Pauline leads spotted me and we got to wave good luck before the race start.

The start was late and everyone was getting anxious. It was kind of amusing to watch as they tried to inflate the starting/finish line banner, which kept falling over. But mostly we just wanted to get going. Then everyone started moving up in a jog and for a minute we thought we'd missed the gun go off so started running, only to realize it was just everyone moving up to the starting line. Whew! Then we heard right after the "ready, set, go".

So off we ran. Sarah and I talked a bit before the race about running together and what pace we'd run. I was aiming for 7:15 pace, but kind of hoped to run faster and at the very least hoped for 7:30 if I couldn't make 7:15. We started off pretty fast but it didn't feel all that fast. Tom of course took off and we lost sight of him pretty early on (came in 2nd in our age group for the men!). I set my Garmin to look at lap pace so I could see the current average pace and it would reset for each lap which is a good way to do it for a long race like this because average overall pace isn't as good to show you if you are starting to slip off your goal pace. We were doing under 6:30 initially but then slowed to 6:45 and got closer to 7:00 by the end of the first mile, which was good. We passed and waved to the 12 yo who I talked to before the race (who ended up coming in first in his age group!) and tried from there to keep a fairly steady pace around 7:15.

The course was pretty hilly, more than I'd expected though I'll admit I didn't spend much time looking into it since I'd registered later than I usually do. It was a lot of long up and down hills. So given that I was pretty happy with the pace we were able to maintain, since that was kind of the goal pace for a relatively flat course, not a hilly one. The slowest miles were 6 and 9, which were the hilliest, besides mile 1 which was also partly hilly. The course itself was a good one, not boring since it had some variety with all the hills. It went through parts of RTP that I was familiar with since I worked there for the first 2 yrs I lived in NC. However, the traffic was only partially blocked in most spots, so the space coned off for runners at most places was only able to allow for 2 runners side by side. So if someone wanted to pass, they'd often have to go outside the cones which felt a bit dangerous at times when traffic picked up which it did after the first few miles into the race.

I am always appreciative of volunteers at races and the ones at this race did a great job, were very supportive and very cheerful despite the wet weather. There was some confusion though at the water stops. It wasn't really clear who had water and who had HEED (which I hate to say tasted AWEFUL! but then again I have a weird aversion to orangey flavored drinks and this tasted a bit like St. Joseph's baby aspirin mixed with water...yucky). Of course that is the risk you take when you don't bring your own stuff and use something for the first time provided by the race. HEED was available at mile 4 and 6 (I had been told before the race it was going to be 6 and 8 so that caused some confusion at mile 4 when I got HEED expecting water) but I totally missed it at mile 6 because I couldn't figure out who had it and didn't want to completely stop to figure it out. I was really worried about that because my biggest problem in long runs has been not having enough Gatorade (replacing electrolytes) and I took the risk to use what was provided instead of wearing my annoying but useful fuel belt. I was glad that I brought a Hammer Gel but that doesn't have any electrolytes. Still it was good to have it since I did miss the HEED at mile 6 and they actually didn't have it at mile 8. I used the gel at mile 6 and I think it definitely helped.

I didn't really begin to feel tired until miles 8 and 9. Prior to that I felt like the race was taking forever but that was because I missed the 5 mile mark and somehow thought that we hadn't even reached the halfway point when in fact we were nearly at the 6 mile mark. That was a relief! Mile 8 and 9 were tough because I realized there was no HEED (not that I liked it but still though perhaps I could use it) and because I was starting to just feel sore and worried whether I could continue maintaining the pace.

Sarah and I ran the whole way through mile 9 together which I have never done in a race before. I am always impressed with how fast Sarah runs and always trying to keep up with her so it was good to run together for this race. By the time we reached mile 9, I was feeling ready to be done but felt pretty good for only one mile to go so was able to pick up the pace to 6:37 which is pretty fast for me even for mile 1 of a 5K. The finish was the same location as the start so this time we were going up hill, but for some reason it wasn't so bad because I could see the inflatable finish line in the distance. I also saw there were no other women in sight up ahead so there wasn't any pressure to catch anyone. I did give it as much as I could though, so it's no surprise that the pictures heading to the finish line (which I didn't even realize they would be taking) were horrible! I will certainly not be purchasing them....yikes!

I ended up beating my set goal of 7:15 pace with a official chip time of 1:11:44, 7:11 pace. Came in 57 of 379 overall, 12 of 200 women, and 3 of 49 in the 35 to 39 age group. It was a PR since it was my first 10 mile race but the pace was actually better than my 15K PR and was pretty close to my 10K PR pace of 7:07. Not bad, I was pretty pleased. Sarah also PR'd as did quite a few other folks from what I heard.

After the race I got to chat a bit with some more running friends and even met some new folks. Talked with Ryan (who's son goes to school with and plays soccer with my son Owen), Pauline and Pamela and met their husbands, and Cindy. Said hi to Laura who usually comes in first in our age group every race, she's way fast! I met up with Jorge, Tom, Sarah and Mia and we stayed for the awards ceremony which was later than originally planned. By that time the sun was shining. We also got to chat a bit with Pam, the first place masters woman, who was running nearly the entire race at the same pace as Sarah and I. We'll both be joining her in the Masters category next spring!

All in all, a great time with good friends and a good race to raise money for downs syndrome. I was glad I ran it and have now registered for the next race in the Second Empire Series, Triangle Run/Walk for Autism, on Oct 1oth. Maybe I'll see some of you there!

NYC Half Marathon, Aug 16, 2009

Leading up to this big race, I was getting really nervous and thinking maybe I shouldn't run. I'd been having knee issues for the last few weeks...first just stiffness/range of motion issues but more recently soreness that seemed to slow me down a bit, though I could still run. But how could I pass on running this race? We'd been planning this trip to NY since April. Got cheap tix on Southwest for the whole family. Our friends and family kindly agreed to put us up for the long weekend and we had plans for a kids day out in the city on Thurs, a parent's nite out on Friday and some more fun with family and friends on Sat and Sun. So I figured I really should at least try to run the race even though I had only run 3 miles on Tues and 3 on Friday and both days my knee was a bit sore.

So I went into this race with expectations a bit lowered (though secretly of course I would have loved to have had a miracle happen and run a PR but guess that is true for every race). I was put into the second corral (actually corral 1, since 0 is the first corral), for bib numbers 1000 to 1999. This placement was based on my predicted time for this race on my application and perhaps my recent half marathon race time (1:40 and 1:36:07 respectively). I was concerned about getting trampled when I heard this but in the end once I saw the crowd in the corral and how varied the field in there appeared I was glad I was in that group. Any farther back and I would have gotten stuck behind the crowds.

The day first began at 3:30 am in Raritan NJ. Yikes...certainly the earliest I've EVER gotten up for a race so far. I was worried about getting there on time since the PATH train from Hoboken NJ into NYC runs only every 30 minutes that early in the AM on a Sunday. And I had almost a 1 hr drive to get to Hoboken...in the dark, alone, while trying to use my iPhone to navigate and I've never driven there before, despite being a passenger driving into Hoboken a number of times. So I got up early, got ready, ate some oatmeal which I usually don't eat...I know, big no-no to eat something you don't usually. I drank some water and gatorade and packed up my stuff and got on the road. I drove pretty fast since I was so worried about getting there on time. I didn't get lost until I got to Hoboken and then got a bit confused on where the parking garage was but found it in time.

I was still nervous about making the train since it was almost 10 after 5am and I heard the train leaves every half hour a few minutes before the half or full hour. So I tried to quickly decide which things to bring. I was not comfortable checking a bag at the race and with no one else there to hold my stuff and no car in the city near the finish to keep it, I was in the unusual position of needing to determine what I should bring and would have to run with and what I would need to wait until I returned to Hoboken to get. While I had been thinking for days on what to bring, it really came down to a last minute decision. I decided I would bring my iphone for emergencies and of course needed some Gu, money for cab fare, ID and a credit card. So all that fit into my fuel belt pocket. Normally I wouldn't bring my fuel belt for a race since I am ok w. stopping at water stops and they had plenty of them on this course. But since I was needing to bring all this other stuff I figured I may as well wear the belt too and bring some Gatorade. I left the water in the car, since I knew there would be plenty of that. I figured bringing my blue Gatorade would be useful since I am not a fan of the lemon lime served at most races.

So with that, I headed to the PATH station, along with other runners heading in from NJ. So at least I knew I hadn't missed the train! I spoke to a few other runners to figure out how they planned to get to the race start. It's not a very convenient place to reach since it's on the East side of Central Park. So once I got off the PATH I just followed those folks who seemed like they probably knew where they were going. Turned out there were plenty of cabs, so rather than navigate the public transportation underground I figured it would be better to take a cab. I got there in plenty of time (1 hr ahead) so was glad for that. I could tell immediately the race was well organized. Plenty of volunteers, port a pottys (the ultimate sign of a good race!) and it was very clear where the corrals were and where to go. I walked to my corral and heard my name being called. Jeff, the only other RTR member running the race, was there with his wife Allison and we were able to chat for a bit and then we headed to our respective corrals. How surprising that in a sea of 10,000+ runners we'd be able to find each other. But I suppose that is because most runners weren't there that early, it got much more crowded after 6:30 am.

I ate my second breakfast that I brought along (Sugar Corn Pops and a banana) while stretching a bit and making a few trips to the porta pottys. The corrals allegedly closed at 6:35 am but I am not sure that actually occurred. Around 10 min before the race we were allowed to move forward towards the start. Several of the professional runners took the podium (which I couldn't see from where I was but could hear) to say a few words as did the deputy mayor and some NYRRC folks. It was a little after 7am now and I really just wanted to start running so I could see how my knee would feel and so I could be done faster!

While I was in the middle of talking to another runner about her prior races the horn sounded (didn't hear the ready, set...). But of course it took a while to get moving and to cross the start line anyway. By the time I got to the start and my official time started, I was at least jogging fairly quickly. Still I was surprised at the bit of congestion given how far up in the corral system I was. I highly suspect there are still folks who overestimate their predicted time to start farther up than they should! But I was able to move up fairly quickly with a little dodging in and out.

I was moving along at a pretty fast pace and was surprised that my knee wasn't hurting. I had taken some acetaminophen when I woke up and then again about 3o min before the start as well as used aspercreme before leaving the car, all as preventive measures. The most annoying thing in the early miles was realizing that my phone caused my fuel belt to bounce significantly. So I had to remove the pouch that had my phone and Gu in it from the belt and carry it. That was the whole reason I took the belt to begin with, to hold the phone and Gu. So now I was destined to wear the belt AND carry the phone for the rest of the race. Grrr! The first 2 miles were fast (7:10 and 7:12) but it was mile 3 that the hills I remembered came along. I had run the Manhattan Half Marathon in NYC back in 1999 and again in 2001. That race was 2 laps around the park, a very tough course. I had hoped that I was exaggerating how hard that was, or that running in hilly Umstead in Raleigh would make it seem easier. Not so much! I felt pretty tired after mile 3 and wondered if I was in over my head running that fast (mile 3 pace was 7:30, so definitely slower). But I was committed to continuing of course since my knee was still fine which had been my biggest concern originally. So I focused on taking in some Gatorade early on and also my first Gu at the next water station (mile 4.5 or so). Mile 4 was faster but mile 5 was hilly again so was slower. Mile 6 was even a few second slower than 5. I was just really tired of being in the park and wanted to be done with that.

I can't describe how happy I was to round the corner out of the park and onto 7th Avenue. The thought of continuing for another lap around the park like the Manhattan half, was unbearable so I was thankful that this race was only one lap with the rest on the streets. The crowds were amazing, lots of people, bands playing, and the sight of Times Square from about 20 blocks away was motivating enough to speed me up. I switched my watch to check the current pace instead of the average and caught myself at times running a crazy fast pace. The average time for mile 8 was 6:52 so obviously I was motivated! It was great to approach Times Square and see and hear the large karoke screen and band playing "Walking on the Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. I always like that song and found myself smiling and sort of singing the words. As I rounded the corner onto 42nd Street, I felt pretty good.

Miles 9, 10 and 11 were definitely slower despite being much flatter than Central Park. I was getting pretty tired by then and around mile 10 or so my quads were feeling sore. I kept taking as much Gatorade as I could hoping that would help. But I was really just plain tired and thought that a 15K would be a perfect distance for me, but unfortunately this was not a 15K! Running along the West Side highway was definitely tough. The sun was shining by that time and so I tried my best to avoid it using shadows of buildings and trees. I also found myself running along the middle of the white line down the road which was annoying but I couldn't stop myself from doing it, just kept gravitating towards it. It's definitely harder to run there than the exciting parts along 7th Ave and Times Square. There are spectators but fewer, and there were DJs playing music around miles 11 and 12. I recall hearing "Welcome to the Jungle" by GNR which was pretty motivating (they were pretty popular as I was entering college).

I decided I would just try my best to keep a decent pace but really felt I couldn't go much faster. I knew that I was close to, but wouldn't achieve, my prior PR of 1:36:07 by the time I reached mile 10 or so. So I thought I'd set a new goal of under 1:37. This is the time needed to qualify for the NYC Marathon next year. I really didn't need to meet this time though since I already met that time in the ZOOMA Annapolis race (and didn't even realize it at the time). And I probably won't run the NYC Marathon next year anyway since I am running it this year. But after mile 12 I figured that meeting 1:37 wasn't highly likely either and just tried my best to get under 1:38. I did run the last mile faster at 7:15. In the end my time was reported via the Athlete Tracker emails as 1:38:50 which seemed a bit slower than I thought. My splits also seemed slower. Of course that was because the Athlete Tracker (which is a great tool for spectators to get splits emailed to them real time to more easily locate their runners) uses gun time, not chip time, duh! So in the end my official results: 13.1 = 1:38:06, avg pace = 7:29, splits: 5K = 22:59, 10K = 46:34, 15K = 1:09:47, 20K = 1:33:12. Some other fun facts: overall place = 730 of 10,179, gender place = 127 of 5140, age place = 23 of 744.

Finishing felt great since I was really tired and my quads were pretty sore. My stomach was feeling a bit upset too, maybe from the heat or more Gatorade than I am used to. I looked for Jeff from RTR and was able to spot him easily since I knew his goal time and he was wearing a bright green shirt. After getting some really great cold wet towels (best idea ever!) and our medals, we got to take our official race photos and took some of each other too. I was glad to have my iPhone at that point though carrying it was annoying.

I walked around Battery Park for a few minutes since I'd never been there and then caught a taxi to the PATH station at WTC. I got to peek through the fence to get a quick glimpse of ground zero which was strange to see. I had never seen it even though I lived in NJ post 9/11. I did think about the WTC victims during the last few miles a bit to keep me going. I saw they are starting construction on the new WTC which is awesome...a real showing of how resilient America is. I didn't spend much time near the WTC site but was glad I got to see it for a few minutes.

I was soaking wet with sweat and I needed to get back to shower and either have lunch or nap (wasn't sure which yet). I met the two women from Hoboken that I had originally spoken with on the train on the way to the race which was cool. They are part of a running club in Hoboken. Once off the train in Hoboken I walked w. them to Starbucks and then walked w. them until I reached my parking garage. Then I drove the almost hour back to Raritan where we were staying with friends, but it seemed faster on the way back. I decided in the end I was more hungry than tired so I showered and went to a great brunch in Warren, NJ. Later we drove to my sister's house near Trenton and I got to take a much needed nap before an awesome post race dinner of ribs, potato salad, creme brulee, and red wine.

I really had just gotten back to running seriously this year after running a few 5Ks at the end of 2008. This race was the first one this year that I didn't set a PR. Of course it had to happen eventually, not every race can be a PR. I had a feeling that with such a fast, flat race in Annapolis in May, combined with my knee issues (which turned out to not be an issue for this race), that this would be the race that I would not get a PR in so I was sort of prepared for that. It was a great race overall, great practice for the NYC Marathon and a great weekend with friends and family so I was glad to have run it.

Great Raleigh Road Race, July 4, 2009

I haven't posted in quite a while because I have pretty much reserved these blog posts for races and I haven't run one since the end of May. But after I heard about the Great Raleigh Road Race I decided it might be fun to do one more race before the half marathon in NYC in mid August. It was only 4 miles, close by, promised tech t-shirts instead of dreaded cotton, and Keith agreed to watch the kids that morning so I posted it on the RTR (Raleigh Trail Runner) website to see if anyone else was interested in running. We ended up with several people attending from RTR and I saw a few other familiar faces at the race as well.

I picked up my race packet the day before and saw the t-shirt was nice, fit pretty well and was patriotically (is that a word?) colored, so I decided to wear it for the race which I almost never do. The race didn't start until 8am but I planned to get there early to try to find the RTR folks. Parking was a breeze, not much traffic on the road at 7am on a holiday in Raleigh! In fact I wondered how few people would actually attend the race when it didn't look very crowded still at 7:30. Turned out that 350 people finished the race in the end, though it didn't look like nearly that many at the start. Maybe that was because I moved up near the front right away and didn't really look back much! Moving up front was a good call. There was a pretty large and fast group that took off and separated pretty fast from the pack.

I did my best to keep a more than my standard fast pace to get out in front quickly too. I figured there wasn't much sense in "conserving" energy in a 4 mile race. If the first mile was fastest then so be it, at least it helped to reduce my overall time! Maybe not the best strategy but it was the one I decided to go with. I realized after maybe 1/4 to 1/2 mile that there was no way I could sustain the pace I was going (under 6 min mile pace) so I did consciously slow down but not too much. I ended up feeling tired but still ok after mile 1 which I did in a record breaking (for me) 6:37. Mile 1 was straight up Hillsborough, so nothing exciting to speak of.

I didn't consciously slow down after that, I just really couldn't go faster and slowed to an average 6:51 pace for mile 2, which was really ok by me. Mile 2 was a great part of the course. It went into neighborhoods I didn't know existed in Raleigh (maybe the streets were Hawthorne Rd to Park Drive from what I can tell on the map, but not quite sure). Beautiful winding tree lined streets with very nice houses. And the fact that most of this was flat or downhill didn't hurt either! Overall I was still under a 6:45 pace and thought for a moment if I could maintain that it would be awesome. I secretly was hoping sometime soon to run a 6:45 pace for a 5K, but during a 4 mi would be even better.

That, however, was not meant to be, and really I was ok with that too. Once it became painfully clear that mile 3 was pretty hilly (or at least it seemed so but the elevation profile doesn't really look too bad now) and not very shady (the sun is my downfall in running, not the heat), I knew it would take a lot just to keep moving as fast as I could and not be consumed by thinking "wow, I really wish this was a 5K!". Mile 3 (or I guess from the elevation profile, really the end of mile 2 into 3 and the end of mile 3 into 4) was probably the worst part of the race. Mile 3 was the slowest at 7:04. Still not too bad considering my best average 5K pace was 6:59.

I knew once I reached Hillsborough Street again, I'd only have 1 mile to go. It was still a long way to keep going at the pace I was going since I usually would be at this pace or slower and be at the end of a 5K race, not only 3/4 done with a race! It was, however, a straight shot. I could see the finish from at least 1/4 mile or more away. Normally I don't like this because that means it's out in the open, which I always hated in cross country races...running through an open field to finish always seemed to slow me down...uggh! But since this was still a tree and business lined street, for some reason it wasn't so bad. I just kept up the pace and took advantage of the down hill that comes just prior to the uphill finish. This time there really weren't any women in sight so there was no pressure to pass anyone or stress of being passed (though I really don't recall looking back but I didn't hear anyone behind me). I did pass at least one guy as I headed into the last 200 yards or so, and he said "hey, thought I lost you" because I suppose we had been running about the same pace during most of the race. I felt pretty ok to try to speed up and then though I saw 27: 40 or 50 something on the clock so sped up even more since I didn't want to go over 28 minutes, only to realize as I crossed the finish it really said more like 27:36 (bad vision due to sweat in the eyes!).

In the end my chip time was 27:35 and the officially recorded pace was 6:54. That beats my PR pace for a 5K, so for a 4 mile (which isn't a standard distance so really don't have a prior PR for it) I was pretty happy with it. Overall my perception is that it was a pretty fast race field. I was 54th of 350 overall, which is the top 15%. But in other recent races I am pretty sure I've been higher up than that. So perhaps it was that there were a lot more fast runners that came out on a holiday or that the middle and/or back of the pack folks had better things to do (sleep in, rest up for BBQs and fireworks, etc) or a combo of both, not sure. I ended up being 2nd female in my age group and 10th overall female. Again another situation where if I were a bit older (NOT rushing it mind you) I would have placed in the female masters category as 3rd overall. Still again, no rush to join the masters, I'll wait until March!

Before I knew the official race results and when the awards would be given out, I had previously planned to meet some RTR folks at the Morning Times Cafe (unbelieveably hard to find a place that served coffee and breakfast within walking distance of the race that was open on a Saturday, took me quite a while online a few weeks ago). We enjoyed some coffee/breakfast and headed back to our cars near the race just in time to be there for the age group awards. Turns out several of us placed it our age groups so that was nice that we got to have coffee and still get back to get our awards (gift certificates for gracies gear for women, for The Athlete's Foot for men).

All in all a great day...a well run race that was easy to get to and from, no problem getting to a port-a-potty (always a big stress for me!), pretty good weather (not too hot, less sun would have been ok by me!), great company, and a new PR. Not a bad way to start the holiday!

Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon, May 31, 2009

So this was it, the big event that I signed up for very early this year...the ZOOMA Annapolis Half Marathon. I was looking for a half marathon around May or June but didn't find any local ones that were planned that far in advance, so in January (I think) I decided it might be fun to do this one. My friend from college lives near there and we hadn't seen each other in about 4 yrs so we decided that I'd come there and she'd run the 10K and I'd run the half. It's a race focused on women, so the "theme" was kind of a girl's day out for the after race festivities. Originally I thought it would be a family trip but then we decided it was just too much of a challenge to bring the kids and we were taking them to NYC for the half marathon in August anyway. So Keith stayed home with the kiddlings and I drove to Annapolis, which for some reason I'd never bothered earlier in the year to check how long a drive it was. It's about 5.5 hrs, about 2.5 hrs beyond what I usually can comfortably drive without going crazy. Oh, well...too late now!

I got up pretty early and headed out on Saturday AM. Of course no matter what time you leave for some reason traffic in DC is always backed up so it was smooth sailing until DC. I was pretty tired when I got there but went right to my friend's house and joined them at the pool and for a ride on their boat. It's the perfect size, a 17 ft one, lots of fun. I really would love to have one someday (hint, hint...Keith) but they are a lot of work and you really need to commit to using it all the time which I guess we can't do right now.

After an early dinner (pasta, carb loading!) I headed back to the hotel. The Westin Annapolis was race HQ so I stayed there since it was less than 1 mi to the starting line. I was still feeling sniffly (allergies?) and tired and I was so busy at work that week I didn't run at all after Tuesday. So not really confidence inspiring. I went to bed around 9 or 10. And of course had the dream about completely missing the race. I dreamt that it was a marathon though and we got there and the clock say 5 hrs or something (so the race had been going on for 5 hrs and people were finishing). I woke up all stressed from that only to see the clock in my room said 5:10am. I never set the room clock because the sound of a loud alarm clock is too loud and stressful for me, so I usually set the alarm on my phone. That alarm hadn't gone off, so I jumped out of bed thinking I was already 10 minutes late. But then I realized someone had set the room clock 10 minutes fast. Uggh! I really hate that but won't dwell on it here since I am sure some people do find it helpful, but I am not one of them because I know I'd just say "oh, well the clock is fast anyway" so I'd just leave 10 minutes later. It's not like I'd forget I set it fast so it's not really helping me then is it? Ok, enough dwelling...

I took a quick shower since I still felt all sun-lotiony from the day before and ate a granola bar and went to the lobby to see if I could scrounge up a banana or coffee. They did have a table set up for the runners with complimentary stuff. I decided that AM to drive to the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium instead of walk just so that I could have my stuff with me after the race (clothes, money, etc) and not have to carry it. Well, what a good call that was. Almost as good as putting the windows on my Jeep before having it valet parked the day before (yeah, no real free parking at the Westin, so that was an expense I wasn't expecting). No sooner did I say to a guy in the lobby (who was a REALLY great friend to some woman who was upstairs still getting ready since he was there ready to run the race in his pink ZOOMA race t-shirt and all) "hey, that's cool, so we know there will be at least one guy in the race. And it looks like the weather will be good for it", that it started to drizzle. Ok, drizzle, not to bad right? By the time the car was brought to the door, it started to rain harder. I knew they called for some light rain but wasn't expecting this.

I started the drive to the stadium and did my good deed for the day. As it started to pour, I saw a woman walking (as I had originally planned to do but was SOOO glad I didn't) from the hotel to the stadium. I offered her a ride and she asked if I was going to the race which was kind of funny. Once I assured her I was and that I don't usually pick up strangers we drove up to the stadium. The rain turned into thunder and a bit of lightening. By that time my friend met me there and we realized we were under dressed. I had a white singlet on, bad call. She had her pink race tshirt on but it was pretty cold and wet already. So I gave her my extra long sleeve shirt that I usually bring for after a run and I changed into my extra short sleeve running shirt and wore my light running jacket, which I intended to take off before the race.

Then it was off to the port a potty (again, I had already been once when I first got there). I know, another potty story, but this one is a significant part of the race story, I swear. When I first got there I commented to my friend how awesome it was that there were so many port a pottys. I forgot to consider the fact that this was mostly a women's race, so 1183 people in the half marathon alone, and 1103 were women. The 10K had 1266, and 1204 were women. That is a bathroom disaster no matter how many port a pottys you have. The line was the longest I'd ever seen and only 15 minutes before the start. I was getting so nervous that I'd miss the start. I was talking to a woman and her daughter in front of me. The woman flew in from New York the night before to run the 10K w. her daughter. They were definitely there just for fun, not to achieve a particular goal. She was very calm and said "hey, I get there when I get there and the chip on my shoe will log the actual time anyway". I knew of course she was right but the thought of being on the potty line while the gun went off was just driving me crazy. Seeing the look of stress on my face she let me go ahead of her.

If that nice woman (definitely karma I think for my good deed in driving the woman who was walking in the rain) had not done that, I would surely have missed the start. I was still in the potty when they announce 45 seconds to the start. AHHHH! I ran out of there and over to the starting line. Still had my jacket on, didn't have my headphones on yet, I didn't stretch, and I ran through a hugh puddle to get there so my feet were totally soaked. I got there and they started less than 10 seconds after that. So not the ideal start to the big race that I've been training for all year. Uggh.

Both the half and 10K started together, which I thought was unusual but kind of nice. However I never did find my friend at the start after the potty incident. I just hoped she had started on time and wasn't looking around for me! I started out pretty fast, my shoes sloshing from the start, while trying to put my headphones on. I got into a grove of running just over 7 min mile pace but felt good and figured I'd see how long I could keep that up. Not only were there people still on line for the potty as we left the stadium parking lot but as we looped around the other side I saw cars still coming in to park with runners in them! (In fact if you look at the results of chip vs. gun time you'll see some HUGE differences!). My shoe inserts ($7 at Harris Teeter) have been awesome to date and I have a pair of them in all my running shoes. However it seems that once they are soaking wet they move around A LOT. Didn't know that. They actually bunched up so much they felt like they were going to come out the side of the shoe. I stopped a few times to try to adjust them or tried scrunching them back into place by moving my toes and feet around. Between that and fidgeting with my jacket I certainly had something to focus on besides running.

The race took us over the Naval Academy Bridge just before mile 3 which was very cool. There were a few groups on the bridge cheering us on. Around 3 miles the rain subsided and I decided the jacket had to go but it's my favorite for running in bad weather so I couldn't ditch it so I tied it around my waist. I really hate running like that so I spent the next few miles considering where I could drop it off and come back and get it. Could I give it to a race volunteer or police officer along the course, maybe put it in someone's mailbox? Nope, decided I'd really never be able to get it back so I just sucked it up and kept going.

After about 4.5 miles the 10K and half marathon courses diverged. The 10K stayed on the road at a turnaround point and the half marathon turned onto the B&A trail, a paved multiuse trail. It was very peaceful out there, I could only see one woman in front of me, and no one beyond her, which if you've read my other blogs or know me, you know I much prefer rather than a big wide open space where I can see everyone running. It's much nicer to have at least some of the race be more secluded like this. I estimated that much of the pack had actually turn around for the 10K, so I wasn't sure how many really had gone on to the half marathon.

By this time my shoe inserts had straightened themselves out and I did forget about my jacket. I just focused on my pace on my Garmin. I usually set it to look at average pace but I could tell I was slowing down so I switched the view to current pace so I could try to maintain under a 7:30 pace, since my ideal goal for the race was 1:40 even though 1:45 would have been ok too. My worst case scenario was 2 hours but since I was doing well and it was over 5 miles I figured I'd continue aiming for the 1:40 goal. I wasn't trying to pass anyone this time, I was purely aiming for time. However in doing that I did manage to pass the woman in front of me maybe around mile 7. I just kept the pace under 7:30 as much as I could, often staying around the low 7's.

The B&A trail was really great to run on. They had plenty of water stops and gatorade but between stops there was no one really there, it was like running by myself which was pretty nice. The idea was to run out on the trail to about mile 9 or 10 and then there is a turn around to go back down the trail and eventually onto the road to re-join the 10K course. A few things about this that were good and bad...

Bad:
1) The mile markers were posted for the out and back so you for example are passing the Mile 11 marker when you are only at mile 5 (how cruel!).
2) For some unknown reason, I kept thinking about getting to mile 10. That after mile 10 it would be just 2 miles from there. Well either I was delirious or just am bad at math because of course at mile 10 there are 3.1 miles to go, NOT 2. Duh! Which unfortunately I realized at mile 10 when I said "oh, crap, it's 3 miles left not 2!". Fortunately I was still feeling pretty ok so I got over it quickly.
3) While it was great to be in a larger group again to finish the race after running solo for a few miles (remember the half re-joins the 10K course and so there are still folks running the 10K as the faster half marathoners are coming off the B&A trail), it was a bit challenging to dodge in and around the 10K folks. By this time (well over an hour since the start, only 2 miles left to go in the half) there are a lot of 10K walkers and groups who are walking/running 3 or more across and chatting.

Good
1) I could see how many runners were ahead (I didn't really count, just got a good feel for it) because they passed me when they turned around.
2) Once I turned around I could see how many runners I was ahead of. More and more runners were heading still towards the turn around. It went from a few here and there to a sea of people running towards me. It was really cool because some cheered me on saying "great job" and such. I haven't really experienced that because one, I am usually not that far ahead of the pack and two, the race courses don't usually loop around like that.
3) It was pretty cool to rejoin the 10K course because I am also never back that far so I got to see who was still out there and cheer some of them on as well. I also thanked a volunteer who was doing an impossible job of trying to collect all the used water cups from the side of the road...a big job!

Ok, enough of the B&A trail bad vs. good...since I had passed the 12 mile mark early in the race at mile 3 or so, I knew where it was (for those trying to do the math here, the start and finish weren't in the same place...I know it sounds weird to say I passed the 12 mile mark at mile 3 and only had 1.1 miles left to run!). Once I passed it I knew I was going to be ok despite the pretty hilly road and running around the 10K walkers and joggers. When I passed mile 13 I could see one woman ahead of me but she was definitely too far to catch. Still I sped up as much as I could and was thankful that the last 100 yds or so were a down hill into a local park.

I felt great crossing the finish line even though I was sore. I did remember to stop my watch. I hadn't really looked at the actual total time during the race, only the average and current pace, except for somewhere between 12 and 12.5 miles. I saw it was around 1 hr 30 minutes at that point, so I knew I was going to hit my 1:40 goal. I always forget to look at the official clock while finishing, but my watch said 1:36 (doesn't show the seconds on that setting but the chip time was actually 1:36:07). I was pretty happy about that and would have been even if the race didn't start as it had....pouring rain, potty incident, soaked sloshing shoes and inserts, annoying jacket. So given all that it was even better. And it was a PR by far...the one prior was in 1999 and was 1:52 (granted a much hillier course in the heat of August in NYC). By this time the sun was shining and I found my friend after looking only a few minutes. We boarded the shuttle bus (a school bus...boy those poor kids if they didn't clean out that bus before using it on Monday...sweaty seats everywhere!) back to the stadium.

We got changed, had our free boxed lunch, bought some ZOOMA t shirts (one for me and a little one for Grace), and watched a band play. They were a great cover band and my friend who is a nurse actually delivered the baby of one of the guys in the band over a year ago. My friend then left to go to church and I stuck around for a few more minutes until the half marathon results were posted and to partake in a few sips of the free wine being served. I came in second in my age group, the first woman in that group came in 2 or 3 minutes ahead of me, so that wasn't close enough where I felt I could have run harder and gotten first. No awards for age group finishers though, which was kind of a bummer. And they only announced the name of the first in each age group. While I didn't care too much since no one I knew was there by then anyway, I still think it's nice to announce names and give a little something (even socks!) to all who place in their age group. Oh well. After looking at the results on line later that day I found I was 13th overall of the 1183. Of course again only 80 men ran, but still of the women I was 9th of the 1103. I'll take that!

After leaving the race I went back to the hotel, showered and put on my newly purchased ZOOMA t-shirt and took a short nap. But it was too nice of a day by this time to sleep too long. I had spotted an Indian restaurant across from the hotel so I headed over there hoping they served lunch on Sundays. They did so I ate lunch outside with a nice glass of sauvignon blanc and relaxed (ok, actually played around on FB on my iPhone...I never actually can sit and just relax). Then I headed back over to my friend's place and hung at the pool, had dinner and we walked around Annapolis which was nice. I got a few t-shirts for the family (a Navy Hockey one for Owen, Navy Cross Country for me and an Annapolis one for Keith). I was actually still hungry when I got back to the hotel so I treated myself to a snack in the lobby restaurant/bar (chicken tacos, which were awesome) and a glass of cabernet while I again played on my iPhone. Then it was off to bed. I planned to sleep in but who am I kidding, I really can't do that so I got up very early and headed home to beat the DC rush hour traffic, which I did.

A fun weekend and a great race!