BAA 5K and Country Music Half Marathon

BAA 5K - April 17th
Joe and I were lucky enough to get into the BAA 5K and have a vacation on the same week of the Boston Marathon. I absolutely love watching the Boston Marathon so this was great to be at least a slight part of the excitement. We were staying with our friend Shauna for the weekend and all of us were going to run the race. I was excited to see how fast I could run a 5K since it has been a while since I have run a 5K and I had been running really well. We were up early on Sunday morning and went to Copley Center. It was cool and a really strong storm had gone through the night before so it was wet out. It was perfect weather for a race to me. Plus the course was fairly flat and fast. I heard the gun go off and I took off leaving Shauna behind me (I didn't really mean to - I wasn't sure if she was going to try to run with me or not - Sorry Shauna). I had my fast pink shoes on and was really excited to see what I could do in them. I ran the first mile fast and felt out of breath and it just hurt! The second mile I didn't know how fast I was going or how fast I would finish in. I really thought that my time would be just about 29 min - which is what I wanted - but then the last mile hit. I went into the third mile knowing that I only had 1 mile remaining and with my training of distance, that would be nothing. The last mile was just all out for me (I know that an 8 something mile is not all out to some but to me it was my full sprint). As I went through the finishing line, I was shocked to see that my time was a 28:06. This was great because my PR in the 5K was a 29:14 in 2008!!! I am so excited by this improvement!

Country Music Marathon - April 30
Off to Nashville I went to run a race with Jenn, Kim, Macy, and Gretchen. Macy was going to attempt the full marathon while Jenn and I were going to attempt to see how fast we could go and Kim and Gretchen were going out for their first attempt at a half marathon. With Erin in tow, we had a girls weekend centered around a really big Rock N Roll Series race. This is my kind of girls weekend surrounded by good people who are all interested in testing our limits and achieving things through running. I know how much each one of us worked to get there for this race and knew how much this race meant for all of us. We enjoyed all of the expo and a fantastic dinner near Vanderbilt then went back to the hotel to turn in for the night.

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning at 4 am - a time that I swore I would never see if I wasn't doing an Ironman! We were in the car by 4:45 and then were stuck in this insane amount of traffic, all runners converging on the LP Field parking lots to catch the shuttle buses to the start and my anxiety started to get the better of me. I am a creature of habit before races - arrive 1 hr prior to the start, have my cup of coffee, eat a small breakfast about an hour and a half away from the start, and then use the bathroom right before the start. This way I can be calm and cool when I start to run. We knew the shuttles were supposed to stop running at 6 am but we weren't parked until around 6ish after sitting in the car for over an hour in traffic. We were able to get on a bus around 6:30 am and then the shuttle bus got stuck in traffic. When we arrived we wanted to get our bags to gear check since that was supposed to have closed at 6:30 and the race was going to start at 7. I lost Macy, Gretchen, and Kim at the bag check but Jenn and I made our way to the very nasty porta potties together after the first corrals had already started. Then we went our separate ways only to meet up in the corral because once the race started, all of the corrals started to jumble together because they didn't have people making sure that only certain people were allowed in that corral.

Jenn and I decided to start together and then go our separate ways once one of us felt held back. I had assumed it would be Jenn because she is naturally a little faster than I am but we hadn't seen the course yet and it was already a hot one and we had only run in over 62 degree temps once or twice. We went out at a challenging pace to maintain for a half marathon but we figured it would feel comfortable after a couple miles. As we started up our first hill and crested it, we could see the massive sea of people in front of us traversing up the next hill. This would be our view for most of the race. I thought of dropping off the pace a few times but just figured I would just go with it. My theory is that you don't know where your crash and burn point is until you hit it so you might as well go after it and see what happens. Because of the corral issue, we had to weave a lot at the beginning as people starting in front of us were just walking and not staying to the sides. At mile 5 I realized I was in trouble with this pace but wasn't willing to hold back. I had told Jenn that if she felt she was being held back, she should go but she didn't want to - she was ok with the pace. It was getting hot and all the course had was up-hills and down-hills! At mile 7 I turned to Jenn and asked if there were any flat parts of this course as I was feeling my quads deteriorate after all the hills. I was so focused on running hard I was missing the bands and the crowds and just concentrating on my pace. Jenn and I settled into our normal training stance with Jenn running right off of my left shoulder and I could make out her pink hat or her shadow. We were not talking at all. We were just pacing one another. jenn then turned to me and said she had goosebumps which to me showed a heat related issue. I knew that wasn't exactly the best situation for this much of the race remaining but told her to drink the cyotmax at the next aid station. At around mile 9 or 10 (I actually knew I was pushing too hard and we had gone out too fast by now but was trying to remain focused and consistant), I went into a zone - getting rid of all of my distractions and focusing on maintaining a positive mind set and trying to replay my mantra's in my head instead of concentrating on the constantly rolling hills. At the next mile marker, I realized Jenn wasn't on my shoulder and I didn't know where she went. I figured she either pulled ahead or was close behind as I was coming off of our wanted pace. I hadn't been eating at all since my 2 gu blocks at mile 5 since they just made me feel like I was going to vomit. I had an orange a couple miles ago and then saw more oranges in bins near the side. I tried to grab one and missed, then another and missed, then finally slowed just enough to grab them while the volunteer yelled at me to "Just slow down and grab it, it doesn't matter." I said "I don't want to slow down!" This is obviously someone who A) doesn't run or B) doesn't understand that just because I am running above a 10 min per mile pace, I am still competing against myself and it matters to me!!! I entered mile 11 and there was a downhill - thank goodness as I felt like I was really not going to make it. I kept saying it isn't an Ironman - you just need to go 2 more miles. I also kept thinking that I could do 12 min miles and finish in 2:20 which was around my goal. Mile 11 and only 2 miles to go. The death march set in - one foot in front of the other and the thought "Just walk..." but I wouldn't do it. From Ironman I knew that this wasn't as bad as it could be after 136 miles so I just kept pushing forward thinking that the downhill would continue. Then there was mile 12 - up hill! UGH! This is painful. It was so hot compaired to the 50 degree long runs I had been doing. I kept saying to myself "Just pick it up a little, you are so close to your time goal and finish line. If you pass out at the end it is ok, someone will help you there. Just keep pushing." I just couldn't go any faster though. This was my slowest mile. I got to the finish line in 2 hrs 18 min 33 sec!!! My PR at the extremely flat Mohawk Hudson Half Marathon in 2008 of 2 hrs 18 min 29 sec - yes, I missed my PR by 4 sec! I feel like I can find those 4 sec at the orange station - too bad I needed to take in oranges since my intestines can't handle all of the other stuff. But I am thrilled. This was not my goal race - my goal race is Lake Placid in June and I am ready to really kick some butt now!

We all finished! Kim and Gretchen enjoyed every minute of their first half marathon and a love of running and a drive to do more! Jenn finished and even though she didn't hit the time goal she wanted, I think she is willing to try a marathon in the fall still or at least another half marathon in the near future! She did well on a tough hot day and a hilly course that we were not prepared for. Macy decided to do the half instead of the full but did well - she is a fast one! She finished and then tried to figure out how to get me to do a 30 mile trail run in Illinois!

We ended our weekend by going to the Gaylord Opryland Resort for dinner and a viewing of the botanical gardens and the fountain! It was gorgeous! And then we said goodbye to girls weekend on Sunday to go back to our lives.

Threee days later, my quads are still killing me from all of the uphills and even more from the downhills! It is a good feeling that I don't feel often due to my Ironman training. I have taken a few days off to recover but start again tomorrow to push hard until June and the Lake Placid Half Marathon.

In conclusion
I am working hard to get faster and stronger and I am thrilled that it is paying off. Of course, it is coming with me just running - I haven't really been biking or swimming at all so it is all just from running. I hope that once I start adding in all of the other stuff it will keep getting better. I am so happy that I have friends who love running as much (or maybe close to as much) as I do! I have a new plan to do a race somewhere in the US once a year with Kim - which makes me extremely happy. I am extremely happy with my running right now and I have such high hopes that it continues!