Me and The Boys

Eight Years and 24 Half-Marathons Later - Back to Hartford For 13.1 Again

I posted on Facebook the other day that I had run Hartford as my first half marathon back in 2009, but I was wrong - it was actually 2007! I had planned on running the full that year, but got injured and was barely able to train for the half, and finished in 2:14. That seems like eons ago, and a lot has changed in those 8 years (and I've run 24 half marathons in the course of those 8 years, making this my 25th!). 

What hasn't changed is that HMF puts on fantastic races, which is why I went back and ran the full in 2011. It wasn't my first full, but it did become my first Boston Qualifier. So Hartford definitely has some significance for me, and I was excited to go back and run the half this year. And really - what's not to love about finishing under this arch? 

Due to there not being packet pickup on race morning, I opted to spend Friday night in town, which was great, because I was able to see Dimity and Denise from the Run Like a Mother crew at the expo Friday afternoon. 

The weather Friday night was rainy, and actually kind of warm and humid, but the weather forecast was calling for cool and dry temperatures Saturday morning, so I just hoped they were right. 

I took advantage of having a hotel room all to myself and had a nice, quiet, relaxing night, and got to bed relatively early, which was good, because I woke up at 5am - well before my alarm went off. According to the news and my weather app on my phone, the cool, dry air had rolled in, and the temperature was right around 50 degrees. And it looked like the sun would be coming out, but not warming things up much above 60 degrees. In a word - perfection. 

I definitely had some pre-race jitters, but I was mostly really excited and couldn't wait to get out there and run. Even though I knew that I was only running the half today, my mind kept going back to the incredible bundle of nerves that I was when I ran the full 4 years ago. My goal that day (BQ) was something that had once seemed so unbelievably out of reach, so to actually be there attempting it that day was almost surreal - and those feelings kept washing over me Saturday morning. 

I'm glad they did, though, because as much as it put me in that jittery frame of mind, it was also a reminder for me of how much I accomplished when I got that BQ, and how much I accomplished when I ran two more marathons after that, each time faster than the previous. It reminded me of how many obstacles I've overcome, how much I've learned and grown as a runner, and how much running has brought to my life. 

I knew being back there would call up all those memories, and it made me smile as I made my way through the city and over to the start. Race morning always makes me really emotional, and this race morning just had a little extra dose of that. 

And here's where I bow my head in shame and confess that as I stood near the starting line, soaking up the whole scene (I love watching everyone milling around and going through their pre-race rituals), the DJ blasted the song "More Than a Feeling." Yes - total cheeseball 80s rock anthem that I would never in a million years choose to listen to.

But when that song came blaring out of the speakers, with the sun rising behind the city skyline, it totally got to me. And I have since downloaded it to my iPhone. We all have our guilty pleasures, and I guess cheesy rock anthems are one of mine. (Yes, I have "Don't Stop Believin'" on there, too). 

So after my moment of 80s-rock-inspired zen, I made my way to the actual start, and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't all that crowded. I was able to find a spot right up between the 7:00 and 8:00 pace signs. 

I was hoping to run a 1:41, which would have been about a 7:42 pace. I felt like that was a very reasonable goal, given my 1:42 finish in Surftown last month and the 7:07 pace I ran for the Zooma 10K. 

As they made the announcements, the corral became much more crowded, and I was just so ready to start running, and was so relieved when the gun finally sounded and we were off. 

I had looked at the course elevation a few days earlier, and knew there were some hills, but they didn't look too terrible, so I wasn't all that concerned. Just kept it in the back of my mind that it was not going to be a flat course. 

All I could think as we started out was how amazingly perfect the weather is. The thought kept running through my mind that this was PR weather, and I really needed to take advantage. I didn't have a firm pacing goal in mind, but of course had wanted to start slow. And of course I didn't. Mile 1 - 7:30, mile 2 - 7:33, mile 3 - 7:32. 

So I hit that 3-mile mark, and there was a timing clock, and I saw those big red numbers at just over 23 minutes, and I thought "Hmmmmm... that's a little fast."  But I also thought about how great I was feeling. And I also thought about how completely and totally ready I felt to do this today. And I thought about how I did not want to waste this opportunity - this perfect day, this great course, this event that I love - I wanted to make the most of it. 

So I kept going.

The hills were there, but they were rolling - just the way I like them. Most were very gentle inclines, and they came just often enough that they were almost a welcome change. I was loving the course (a different one than I had run in 2007, and way better, I think). Every time I'd start feeling like I was getting sick of a long, straight stretch, we'd turn a corner and get a change of scenery. Everything was clicking.

Mile 4 - 7:29. Wow. That one freaked me out a little bit, I think, and I consciously dialed it back a little for mile 5 - 7:40. But, um, that didn't last long. Mile 6 - 7:19 and mile 7 - 7:22.

Around this time I started to try to do the math, and realized that I was on track to be well under the 1:41 I had hoped for. I had thought to come in at 1:40 would be fantastic, but now I started thinking that 1:39 was a possibility - and maybe even 1:38??  I didn't want to get ahead of myself, but I knew I was in a good place, and I just wanted to stay there. 

 

I definitely will not say that the pace felt easy, but it felt right. I was working hard, and it was challenging, but I was loving it. This is what I wanted to be doing, even though it was work, and it did hurt a little. And there were times on some of the hills where I felt tired, but I never once had that feeling of wanting to stop and walk. I never once felt like I didn't want to be there, giving it my all. That in itself was a victory. 

Mile 8 slowed me down a bit - 7:39, but I worked back down to 7:33 for mile 9, and 7:12 for mile 10. 

And that was it - 3 miles to go. I wasn't going to hold back now. Mile 11 - 7:14. Mile 12 - 7:03. I had hoped I could negative split those last few miles, but a hill in mile 13 held me back to 7:13. 

Then it was the final turn and through the arch, and I ran the last .1 at a 6:57 pace, and almost started crying when I saw 1:38:18 on the clock. Less than a minute off my all-time half-marathon PR, which, for the last couple of years, has seemed an entirely unattainable goal. Guess I need to rethink that! 

 

Also great to meet Samantha, who I've gotten to know virtually through her FB page - always so fun to meet FB friends in real life! Thanks again for the pics, Sammy! 

Never in a million years would I have guessed I'd be able to run that pace on this day. I had begun to think that I'd never run a half marathon at that pace ever again. It didn't seem real that I had just done it, without even planning to. 

I thought that Surftown was a huge turning point for me - and it was - but this was even bigger. Running 1:42 in Surftown made me feel like I was getting close to being ready to train for another 3:30 in Boston next year. But running 1:38 in Hartford makes me feel like I am ready, and that 3:30 is well within reach. 

I've always known that mental training is a huge component of preparing for a race, and the boost I got from Surftown last month definitely made all the difference in the word for me heading into Hartford. After being ambivalent for quite a while, my head was completely back in the game on Saturday, and that was a key component of how successful my run was. Never ever underestimate the power that a positive outlook can have, in running and in life. 

And if my finishing time hadn't made me happy enough, my standing in the results was the icing on the cake. In a decent-sized race with a pretty competitive field, I had made the top 10 in my age group - 9th out of 411! And just barely missed being in the top 10 Female Masters - came in 11th of 1, 161. I keep going back and looking at this, because I still kind of can't believe it. 

The smile on my face says it all : )  

 

Final numbers:

1:38:18; 7:30 pace (7:24; 13.3 miles by my Garmin)

9th of 411 age group

11th of 1,161 Female Masters

68 of 2,963 females

327 of 5,059 overall

So happy to be back, and already looking forward to my next race! 

Surftown Half - One of the Good Ones

I've spent the whole summer trying to shake off my Mystic Half Marathon debacle, and there were honestly times that I wasn't sure if I was going to succeed. That race unleashed a tidal wave of negative thoughts in my brain, and I was convinced that I was all washed up and wasn't going to race anymore, and every time I got tired I was just going to throw in the towel. 

The heat and humidity didn't really help all that much, either, as the conditions for much of the summer made even easy runs feel challenging, and as the date for Surftown approached, I maintained my laissez-faire attitude, and figured I'd just go out and run the best I could and not really care how slow or fast I was. It's a fun race, and a beautiful course, so I'd just go out and have fun with it. 

But then I started running, and 7:42 for the first mile felt pretty comfortable. And 7:43 for the second mile felt good, too.

Of course I went through the process of worrying that I was going out too fast and was going to pay for it later. But some part of me felt like maybe, just maybe, I could pull this off, if I could stay consistent with that pace. So I tried, without too much checking of my Garmin. It was truly feeling like a comfortable pace to run, and it just felt right. Ran a 7:45 for mile 3, and 7:41 for mile 4. 

Around mile 2 I had found myself stuck behind the 1:45 pace group, and I briefly thought about hanging with them for a little while, but didn't like being stuck in that big pack, so sped up and jumped ahead of them a bit - and worried that if I had a rotten day, they might end up passing me later on, but luckily that didn't happen. 

Those first miles of the course start with a long flat stretch along the ocean, and then wind through some neighborhoods with some rolling hills and very bumpy,  uneven roads, where you really have to watch your footing. I had started pretty close to the front, so never felt really crowded, but it did take a lot of concentration to run that pace on those rough, narrow roads, so it was nice to get back out to the oceanfront stretch again. 

I appreciated the flat, open road, and having the wind at my back at this point. It wasn't horribly windy, but there had been a noticeable headwind on the way out, so it was nice to be heading the other way for a little while. Mile 5 was 7:43, and I stopped to eat my Gu and drink some water in mile 6, so that slowed me down to 8:01. 

I was still feeling pretty good, and got through mile 7 in 7:39, and then we headed back into a windier stretch again, so mile 8 dropped back to 7:46. 

This is the point at which the pace stopped feeling comfortable and started to feel like work. And this is where the doubts really started to creep in, and the negative thoughts threatened.

In some ways it would have been so easy to convince myself that I had absolutely nothing to prove with this race. I hadn't set out to race it, and I hadn't put out any real goal for myself, so why not just back off to a slower pace and give myself a break?

But as these thoughts ran around and around in my head, I knew deep down inside that backing off wasn't the easy way out. Backing off would mean I'd remain stuck in this negative headspace that had been hanging over my running like a dark cloud for the past three months. Not that I didn't enjoy a great summer of running, because I did, but there's definitely been this undercurrent of a feeling of failure that I couldn't completely shake. 

And as I ran yesterday, I decided that I was ready to shake it once and for all. I was ready to reclaim the part of me that had been MIA for so long. And I called up the mantra that I latched onto after reading this blog post - I GET to do this. Nobody makes me do this. I'm not accountable to anyone but myself. I choose to do this, I choose how I run this race, and on this day, I was going to choose to run it with everything I had. 

Looking back now on that moment, I visualize it as an actual switch being flipped. My attitude completely changed, and I was ready to embrace the pain and work through it, instead of giving in to it. 

Mile 9 showed the mood shift - 7:38. But then mile 10, with the biggest hill on the course, brought back a little dose of reality with a 7:47. 

And that's where the real race began.  The last 3 miles always hurt, and I braced myself for it, and got ready to meet it head on. 

I did get thrown for a little bit of a loop in the last few miles, as they changed the course a bit from previous years, and the mostly flat final miles to the finish turned into a couple of miles of rolling hills and some sharp turns. I wasn't quite prepared for that, but I powered up the hills, and found myself starting to pass people who had been just ahead of me for most of the race. A woman running near me even gave me some props for charging up the hills, which was nice. Runners are awesome : ) 

Miles 11 and 12 hurt really, really bad - 7:36, 7:41. My brain was sending a barrage of messages to my body telling it to just stop already! But I refused to give in. I needed to conquer this one, and I knew that. 

Finally we were back onto the flat, open road and heading toward the beach again, and the finish was so close, but seemed so impossibly far away. 

But I knew the only way to get there was to keep running, and the only way to get there sooner was to run faster. So I did. Mile 13 in 7:34, final .1 at 7:09 pace. Not much of a kick, but I absolutely gave it all I had. 

I crossed knowing that I had run the fastest half marathon I've run in nearly a year, and more importantly, that I had raced and given it my all, and done so successfully. 

After I got my breath back, I caught up to two women who had been running just ahead of me and congratulated them both and thanked them for giving me someone to chase. I knew I wasn't going to catch them, but it's always good to have that for motivation. 

All in all, a really great day - one that could have easily gone the other way and left me feeling even more defeated than ever, but I didn't let it. I called the shots, and I turned it around, and that makes me even happier than my finishing time. 

But I am also happy with my finishing time of 1:42:26.

The other numbers make me happy, too:

6 of 175 in my age group

37 of 1,003 females

129 of 1,475 overall

And with that, I suddenly find myself excited to race again - so much so that I'm contemplating signing up for the Hartford Half marathon next month. It was my first half, and the full was my first BQ, so I've already got two great memories in Hartford - might be time to go make a third : ) 

My Not-So-Triumphant Return to Racing (and Blogging)

I doubt that this is going to become anything even close to a regular thing again, but after 5 months away from my blog, I'm finally compelled to post, thanks to a horrible race experience yesterday that I need to write about in order to process. 

There have been two other races that I've run since Philly last November, but since I was still in the process of returning after my 6-week winter ITB syndrome layoff, I didn't really race either of them all out, but treated them more as tempo runs. One was the State Police 5K at the end of April, which I ran as a few tempo miles in the middle of a 10-mile training run, ending up with a 7:39, 7:23, and 7:01 - a nice effort at the time. 

After that I ran the Providence half (for the eighth time), and treated it as a training run, aiming to run a pace that felt moderately challenging, which turned out to be right around 8 minutes per mile. 

The Mystic Half Marathon was the one I was really waiting for, though. I was looking forward to running in Mystic, and I felt like it was good timing for me to get out and really put myself to the test and see what I could do. Based on my training runs leading up to race day, I felt like I had a good shot at running right around a 7:50 pace, and I even hoped I could drop down into the 7:45 range for the final miles. 

 

Since I was planning to truly make it a race effort, I even took a complete rest day on Saturday - almost unheard of for me, but I wanted to make sure I went into race day as rested and prepared as possible. And my other runs/workouts during the week were lighter than usual, too. 

I wasn't obsessively checking the weather (surprisingly, since I usually do), but I did check it Saturday night, and it looked like it was going to be in the upper 60s, but cloudy and possibly rainy. I figured the clouds and rain would keep it cool enough that the warmer temp wouldn't be too much of an issue. And since the race started at 7am, I thought we'd end up with something closer to the lower 60s. 

I was wrong. 

As I was getting my stuff ready and eating my breakfast Sunday morning, I stepped outside to gauge what it felt like, and I knew right away that it was going to be warmer than I had anticipated - and humid, too. And the sun was out. Hmmmmmm......

I tried to keep thinking positive, though, and kept waiting for the rain clouds to appear as I drove down to Mystic, but skies were still clear. It was definitely warm just standing around at the start, and the race announcer kept reminding everyone to drink lots of water because it was going to warm up out there. 

But I was still excited, and anxious to get going. It's been such a long time since I really raced, I had forgotten what pre-race nerves feel like, and even though it's tough to get so nervous like that, it's such a big part of the excitement, I was happy to be experiencing it again.

And that moment of standing in the corral moments before the race start - I love that so much, and at that point, my head was still in a good place, so I was smiling as we finally heard the horn blast and headed out. 

The first mile I focused solely on getting into a good rhythm with my planned pace of 7:50. It was flat, so it was tempting to go fast and it took a little back and forth, but in the end, I nailed it for mile 1 - exactly 7:50. I got a little ahead of myself during mile 2, with a 7:42, but brought it back down to 7:50 and 7:49 for miles 3 and 4. 

Unfortunately, by the time I got to mile 4, I was already in a very rapid downward spiral. The temperature at the start was 68 degrees, and the cloud cover I was hoping for never showed up. And the first 4 miles of the race were basically in full sun. It was a very pretty route, but all I could think about was how stinkin' hot it was. 

I was completely overheated at mile 2, and having trouble catching my breath due to the humidity, and feeling very nervous about what that was going to mean for me in the later miles. And as we made our way up a pretty decent sized hill in mile 4, I felt nowhere near as strong as I typically feel on hills. 

I tried to tell myself that it was ok, that I'd bounce back and still meet my goal, because I was doing a good job sticking to what I had thought would feel like a pretty conservative pace for the early miles. 

But as we continued through a bunch of rolling hills through miles 5, 6, and 7, the 7:57, 7:54, and 7:48 miles I ran felt a whole lot harder than that pace should have felt for me. 

A very large hill around mile 8 nearly brought me to tears. I was struggling, and I can't remember the last time I felt so bad in a race. I'm usually passing people on hills, but this time I was barely able to keep my feet moving, and it was sheer willpower and stubbornness that kept me from stopping to walk. As soon as we got to the top of that hill and I saw a water stop, I did stop to walk and take my Gu, which cost me, making that mile an 8:10. 

Seeing that 8 was very discouraging, and just added to the absolute barrage of negative thoughts that was swirling around in my brain. It was all I could do not to completely succumb to them and just park myself on the side of the road. 

I pulled it together enough to rally for a 7:46 for mile 9, but that was probably not a good idea, because then somewhere around mile 10, I was completely and utterly done. My brain was screaming at me to just stop and walk already, as it had been for miles and miles, but this time I listened. 

And as I walked for a good 40 seconds or so, I kept muttering under my breath, "I suck. I just suck." 

Not a good place to be. In fact, a very, very bad place to be.

 

It's hard to describe the mind games you go through when you sink to such a low point during a race. It was so easy for me to tell myself that there would be nothing wrong with just jogging the last few miles at a truly easy pace and calling it a training run. 

But as soon as I'd think that, I'd get even madder at myself for even considering it. This battle went on for miles. And as I struggled, the phrase "epic fail" kept going through my head. But I just reminded myself over and over that if I kept pushing, it wouldn't be a failure. I knew I wasn't going to make my goal, but I also knew I had to cross that line knowing that I hadn't thrown in the towel; that I still gave it my all. 

For mile 11, that meant an 8:02. Still way off where I wanted to be, but better than the 8:57. And thanks to some nice downhill, I managed a 7:58 for mile 12. 

I was still fighting for nearly every single step, but knowing there was only a mile left, I fell back on my "you can do anything for one mile" mantra, and got my legs moving for a 7:40 for mile 13. 

That final .1 always seems to take forever, and it seemed even longer this time, but I found a little kick, even passing someone and registering a 6:34 pace for that final little stretch.  

As happy as I was to be done, I was completely and utterly dejected seeing the 1:45:41 on the clock. A good 3 - 4 minutes slower than I had hoped I'd be. But what was most disheartening was that the whole thing felt so damn hard.

I kept going back to a 12-mile training run I ran a few weeks ago, where I maintained a 7:50 average pace and felt great. But the weather that morning was in the low 50s, and completely dry - a far cry from Sunday's  hot, humid conditions. 

I usually hang around at least for a short while after a race, but I was so disgusted and angry with how my day had gone, I grabbed water and a snack and headed out immediately. Luckily the remainder of the day was salvaged with some fun as we spent it at the Air Show at Quonset - a good remedy for a major case of disappointment. 

And later in the day I checked the results and saw that I was 4th in my age group. (I appear to be tied with the third place finisher, as they have us both listed as 1:45:41, but I was actually two tenths of a second slower than her, so I am technically 4th). 

Seeing that gave me a lot of perspective, because if I can have what felt like one of the most difficult, crappiest races of my life, and come in 4th out of 107 in my age group, I'm still doing something right. 

This race taught me a lot. It taught me to never, ever underestimate the effects of weather on a run. I've enjoyed some lovely cool sunrise runs this spring, and I've run some great training paces, but my body has not had any chance to acclimate to warmer, more humid weather, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. 

It also taught me that even when you hit your lowest point, and you're bent over, shuffling along, certain you'll never be able to run again, you CAN come back. Because I was at that point, and I sunk to that walk, and to that 8:57 mile, but two miles later, I ran a 7:40. 

Never give up. Never count yourself out. Never stop trying. Because there is so much more strength inside you than you ever thought possible. 

And that's what I'm going to take away from this whole experience. That even though I flirted with failure, and I flirted with quitting, I didn't quit, and I didn't fail. It may have been one of my worst half marathons, and there are elements of it that I want to just put behind me and forget about.

But the next time I feel discouraged and beaten down in a race, I need to be able to remember this one, because knowing that I was able to fight back this time will be the fuel I need for the fire the next time. 

In the end -

1:45:41 finish

8:05 pace officially, but thanks to me still not being good at running the tangents, Garmin has me at a 7:57 pace for 13.33 miles.

103 of 1,044 overall

25 of 687 females

4th of 107 in my age group

As much as I want to get back out there and redeem myself, I'm glad the next race on my schedule is a 5K next weekend that I'll run with Dante. A truly fun run is probably the best thing I can do for myself right now. 

My 20th Half Marathon, A Triple Crown Age-Group Win, and A Lesson In Gratitude

The Newport Half is one of my favorite races of the year, solely for the reason that I absolutely love the course. I have to note that I think it's soon to be edged out by the Gansett Half, which will have just as beautiful a course, and which I know firsthand is going to be superbly organized and well-supported (two areas where I think the Newport half has a lot of room for improvement). 

But I do still love Newport - it's a gorgeous city, and a great place to run, which is why the race has grown so much in recent years, and why I keep going back every year (despite some organizational snafus like shuttle issues and late race starts).

It's also part of the reason I signed up for the Triple Crown again. I've got a streak going in the Providence race, and I like to run the Newport race, so I figure why not throw Jamestown in there and make it official? 

With the injury forcing me to take two weeks off, and run a very scaled back week last week, I didn't really know what to expect in Newport, but thought that I could safely plan to finish just under 1:40.   I was nervous about how difficult that pace would feel, but felt I had a good shot at pulling it off. 

After the Jamestown debacle in July, I was determined to get to this race start earlier than necessary, and I executed that part of the plan flawlessly. Driving over the Newport Bridge at sunrise has a way of filling you with optimism about the day ahead - another thing I love about races in Newport. 

I parked in the designated half marathon lot, but opted to walk over instead of deal with the shuttles. It's not a long walk - maybe just over a mile - and it was such a gorgeous morning, and I had plenty of time. I had brought a jacket and long pants, but all I really needed was a long-sleeve shirt (and gloves) over my tank and arm warmers, and I was fine. 

I didn't have a lot of time to mill about, but just enough to check my bag and hit the porta-potties. The marathon started nearly 20 minutes late, and I wondered if we'd go off on time, but made my way to the start assuming - and hoping - that we would. And luckily, we did. 

Unfortunately, despite many, many reminders from the announcer to seed yourself properly (i.e., slower runners in the back), I immediately found myself surrounded by people running just under a 9-minute pace, even though I had lined up pretty close to the front. Frustrating.

It is so difficult to try to bob and weave around people in that first mile, and I was beginning to have flashbacks to Jamestown, and didn't want to start the race in that completely stressed frame of mind, so I just let it go and passed when I was able, but didn't work hard at it.

Thanks to that, and a very large hill, I ran mile 1 at the painfully slow pace of 8:55. I didn't freak out, though - I knew it would probably be better that I started so slow, especially since I still needed to be conscious of what was going on with my hip. 

And what was going on with my hip was......   absolutely NOTHING! It felt completely and totally fine. Such a relief. 

The course flattens out and has a nice downhill stretch for mile 2, and mile 3 is mostly flat, and I got ahead of myself a little bit and ran those two miles in 7:20 and 7:18. Oops. I saw those paces, and all I could think was "oh boy, I'm going to pay for that later." 

So I really did try to slow down, and got mile 4 down to 7:32, which seemed more reasonable. But then mile 5 came in at 7:15. Crap. 

This is when I realized that I was spending too much time and energy focusing on the numbers, and I wasn't enjoying myself at all. I wanted to run well, but I also wanted to enjoy this run, mostly because a week ago, I wasn't sure if I'd even be out there. 

So after we came out of Fort Adams and headed down towards Ocean Drive, I made the decision to flip my watch over on my wrist and ignore it. As soon as I did that, I felt better. I told myself that I've run some of my best races without paying attention to my pace, and that I needed to trust that my body would run to the best of its ability, and that was all I could ask of it today. 

That strategy worked, for a few miles. Miles 6 and 7 were great. We ran along Ocean Drive, and it wasn't a wall of wind, as it has been so often in years past - it was just a beautiful, sparkling, blue-sky autumn day - absolutely ideal conditions. I had shed my arm warmers and gloves back at mile 2, and the weather could not have been better, and I felt great. (I didn't know it, of course, but I slowed to a 7:42 and 7:39 for those two miles) 

Then came miles 8 through 10, which is where I struggled. A lot. Not the whole time, but my emotions were very up and down. I'd have moments where I felt like I could run forever, and moments where I wanted nothing more than to stop. But I kept pushing on, just waiting to hit that 10-mile mark. It showed in my paces, too - 7:43, 7:40, and 7:52. 

I didn't know at the time what my splits were, though - all I knew is that I was running as hard as I could. I was not giving up or backing off. I was giving it my all, and hoping that my all would be enough. 

The last 3 miles of a half marathon are always tough, but you get through them knowing that it's only a 5K to go. And that's all that kept me going. I followed the familiar twists and turns of the course, and kept telling myself to just keep moving forward. 

As badly as I wanted to stop and walk at the water stations, I didn't. I knew if I stopped to walk, getting started again would be too hard. (Mile 11 and 12 splits were 7:49 and 7:46.)  It was a real battle at this point. My legs were like lead, and it was taking everything I had to keep running. 

I did think several times about wanting to hold onto my Triple Crown age-group win - it's really not a big deal, but it was a motivator for me going into this race. I had gotten myself to first place, and I wanted to stay there! 

So I dug deep as we made the final turns and headed back toward the finish, and the glorious downhill (the same large hill in the first mile of the course).

The only problem is that after you have that great downhill, you still have quite a ways to go before you get to the finish. You run down the street and into the parking lot, and then down the parking lot, and down some more, and down some more, and it seems like it will never end. 

But of course it does, and as I came up to the clock, I was more than a little disappointed to see 1:41 on it. I still sprinted in, though, and I'm proud that I was able to get my last mile split down to 7:33, and the final .1 to a 7:30 pace. Not my usual finishing kick, but better than nothing. 

I was pretty dejected, though, and spent most of the remainder of the day feeling that way. I was questioning everything - Philly, my overall running fitness, the wisdom of trying to run a fast marathon when I couldn't even run a fast half, and honestly wondering if I've hit the point where PRs are behind me, and my race times are going to start going in the other direction.

My half marathon PR is 1:37:28, and it's stood there for 2 years now, and I'm frustrated that I can't seem to get back there - or even get close! 

I was feeling a bit dramatic, and a bit sorry for myself. And I knew I shouldn't be - taking my injury and all the missed training runs into account, I had still run a really great race. But it wasn't what I thought I'd be able to do, and I was disappointed. 

Luckily, just a couple days later, I've gained a little perspective, and although I am still slightly upset that I didn't come closer to my goal, I have realized that I need to be incredibly happy that I raced 13.1 miles without pain, just three weeks after I was literally limping around my house and wondering if I'd be sitting on the sidelines for months. 

Honestly - 3 weeks ago, I could barely walk normally, and here I am, a few days after running 13.1 miles at an all-out effort, and I feel great. 

And that's the other thing - I found myself questioning if whether ignoring my watch after mile 6 was a good thing or not, seeing as how my pace slowed dramatically as soon as I did that. But I replay it over and over in my head, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, I was not holding back. Watch or no watch, I was racing, and I was giving it everything I had.

So if I had been looking at my watch that whole time and seen those slower paces, I think it would have done nothing but discourage me even further, and mess with my head in ways I didn't need. 

So what I now take away from this race is not that I didn't hit my goal, but that I ran healthy and strong, and that is the absolute most important thing at this point.

And what I also take away is that I am more determined than ever to do what it takes to get back to training and get back to running the times that I know I'm capable of running. 

In the span of a few hours on Sunday, thanks to some not-so-welcome red numbers on a clock, I managed to forget about the 8 weeks of spectacularly successful marathon training I have under my belt right now, and how everything I'd done up to that time pointed to me being able to run a 3:25 marathon next month. Granted, this little injury has thrown a wrench into the works in respect to the 3:25, and if I do feel able to run the full 26.2, I'm doubtful that it'll be in less than 3:30. 

But I'm not going to throw my hands up in the air and decide that my days of fast running are completely behind me. No way. Not yet. 

So now the focus returns to continuing to heal, continuing to go to PT and acupuncture (I had one appt. this past Sat, and will try to go back again this weekend), and getting back to some semblance of training - whatever my body is up to. 

Philly is still a big question mark, and one that may not be answered until just before race day, but I'm not counting it out yet.

The stats for Newport, and the stats for the Triple Crown Series, where I placed 2nd overall female, and 1st in my age group! 

1:41:26, 7:37 pace

11 of 434 age group

58 of 1,745 females

224 of 2,818 overall

Part of Week 10, and Preparing to Race

After sneaking out for my run on Sunday, I actually didn't feel too bad, and thought that maybe I'd try again on Tuesday. I knew speedwork was out of the question, but figured I'd try just some regular miles and see how it felt. 

It sounds silly, but I woke up that morning feeling different. I can't put my finger on anything specific, but somehow I felt like the run was going to be go different that day - that I'd feel good, and healthy, and strong. 

And amazingly enough, that's exactly what happened. I kept waiting to feel a twinge, or a pull, or the familiar tightness in my hip - but it never came. Instead, I felt like I had barely skipped a beat, and was back to my regular routine. 

I had no intention of running a specific pace, and was surprised to find myself dipping below 8-minute miles as soon as I hit mile 2. Mile 3 was down to 7:44, and mile 4 and 5, 7:31 and 7:34!  I did start to feel tired at that point, though, and slowed down a bit for the last few miles. The heat - yes, heat - actually got to me a bit, too - it was 70 and kind of humid; unusual and unexpected for mid-October! 

But in all, I ran 7.5 miles at just under an 8:00 pace. And not a hint of pain afterward, either. 

I followed that up with another run on Thursday, which I made a point of running slower, and which did bring a little bit of the hip tightness, but nothing too serious - and I was able to get in 8 miles, at a very respectable 8:10 pace. 

Both of these runs were filled with thoughts of whether or not I'm going to try for Philly, and I'm still on the fence about that. I think for the next week or two, I have to take it one day and one run at a time. I'm still in recovery mode (and still in PT twice a week), so I can't jump ahead and make any final decisions right now. 

One thing I did decide, though, is that the Newport half marathon this weekend is a go, which means I'll be able to complete my second Triple Crown. I'm currently in first place in my age group in the Triple Crown standings, and I'd love to hold onto that if I can.

I don't know how fast I'll be, given that I took two full weeks off, and this week has been very scaled back. I'm hoping that maybe the rest will end up being a good thing? 

I don't know - but what I do know is that I'm going to get out there and run my heart out, and wherever that leads will be good enough, because I'm just lucky to be able to do this. This is one of my favorite races of the year, and I'm grateful I'm feeling healthy enough to run it. 

I picked up my number today, and I have to say, I'm pretty excited about it. I usually don't care much about what race number I have, but this is a very cool one. 

Something about this number just seems like a good omen.

I'm not hoping for a PR - I think that's totally unrealistic at this point - but I do hope to be under 1:40. I have a hard time not having some kind of goal in mind, even when circumstances have prevented me from really and truly training for a race. 

But given the fact that three weeks ago, I was literally limping around my house, I'll be happy with just about anything. 

I'm going to run grateful, and I'm going to run happy, because three weeks ago, I didn't think I'd be running at all. 

Jamestown Half - Also Known As That Time I Got to the Race Start 20 Minutes Late

I'm not blogging about this as a way of bashing the Jamestown race. I truly do like so many things about it.

It's a great location - Jamestown is absolutely beautiful. It's an incredibly challenging course, but part of me likes that. I wouldn't want to run easy, flat courses all the time. The on-course support is great - water stops every 2 miles. The medal this year was beautiful, and the post-race watermelon was the perfect choice. And I know lots of people aren't fans of the 6:30am start, but for an early riser like me (and on a hot summer day), I think it's a great starting time. 

All that being said, they still have some kinks to work out. The first year, there was an alarming absence of porta-potties at the race start (they were finally delivered 5 minutes before the gun was scheduled to go off). Last year (I didn't run it, but friends did) the start was nearly half an hour late. This, I think, led them to decide that this year the race was starting on time no matter what.

Unfortunately, that meant that those of us who showed up to the shuttle buses in Newport just after 5:30am (leaving nearly an hour to get over to the starting area, which we assumed would be plenty of time) and discovered mile-long lines waiting for said shuttles, and ended up not getting to the starting line until 6:5o were greeted with announcements that "the race was underway, and the starting mat would soon be broken down and taken away, so we better cross it asap." 

This is not the way you want to start a race, for so, so many reasons. I was really looking forward to this one. I've been doing regular speedwork and temp runs for about 6 weeks now, and have been running faster paces than ever before, and feeling great. We did a practice run on the course just a few weeks ago, so I knew it well and was prepared for what I'd be facing. 

I was ready, I was excited, and I couldn't wait to be on that starting line with the crowd, feeling that energy and getting ready to go out and attack the course. Instead, we showed up, found out we'd be lucky if we even had the chance to cross the mat and get an official time - forget about any kind of warmup - and had to simply dash over the mat without so much as a single bit of fanfare. 

It was anticlimactic, to say the least. And yes, I'm glad I got there in time and didn't miss the mat entirely, and not having the whole 'race start' fanfare probably didn't make that big a difference in how I ran, but it did affect me a bit, because I count on that rush of adrenaline, and it just wasn't there. 

What was there was a sense of panic, when we heard that they were moments away from taking the starting mat away entirely, and I thought once I settled into my pace a few miles in, that feeling would go away.

But I soon realized that was not going to be the case. The first couple miles wind through the center of Jamestown, and at just about a mile into the race, I was met with a literal wall of walkers. And since we were in residential areas, the streets were fairly narrow, and there wasn't much open space to be found on either side of the street, so right away I was bobbing and weaving my way through the pack. 

It was frustrating, and it was making me feel very frantic. And even though I knew the race was chip timed, and my official time would reflect when I had actually crossed the mat, there was still that sense that we had started so late, so I felt the need to kick it into high gear almost immediately. 

Which resulted in a 7:21 first mile. Way too fast, and I knew it, so I did try to back off, and got mile 2 down to 7:40, which was more where I wanted to be. 

It was all just feeling so awful, though. Physically I didn't feel bad, since it was still so early in the race, but mentally, I was all over the place. And 2 miles in, and the crowd still hadn't thinned out. I skipped the mile 2 water stop entirely, as it was just too mobbed. 

I have to pause here and note that I am all for people walking a race - I admire anyone who gets out there and gets it done, and my frustration was not with the walkers, per se - it was with the fact that I had started behind them and now had to work so hard to get through. Not their fault at all - just a very tough way to race, especially when you had a very specific goal in mind. 

I continued to try to somehow find my race pace, even though I was all over the road, working incredibly hard just to get clear space in which to run. Making things even more challenging, of course, was the insane course elevation - hill after hill after hill after hill. And not small hills - crazy long hills that seem to never end. 

 

 

Even with all the crazy back and forth and weaving among walkers, I got down to 7:29 and 7:23 for miles 3 and 4, and at that point the crowd became slightly less thick, and I even pulled off a 7:15 for mile 5.

That one was probably a little too fast, but because my head was so messed up by the crazy circumstances, it was extremely difficult to maintain any sort of consistency with pacing. I kept trying, though, and did succeed in evening things out a bit with a 7:39 for mile 6. 

Mile 7 included one of the biggest hills on the course. You climb and climb and climb, and you think you're at the top, but then you go up a little bit more. That one slowed me down, and between that and the water stop just after the mile 6 mark I slowed down to 7:56 for mile 7. I was walking a bit at the water stops, because they were so crowded it was nearly impossible to try to run through.

Most of the hills - the mile 7 one included - are not steep climbing, but endless climbing. I'm proud of the fact that I did not stop and walk up a single hill, though. I refused to give in, and continued to pass people both up the hills and down the hills and on the flats. I honestly don't know if I had a single person pass me the whole race. There must have been at least a few who did, but it felt like the entire race I was passing rather than being passed, and I knew that's what I had to keep doing, so I stuck with it. 

One of the other problems with starting so far back in the race, though, is that you're nowhere near evenly matched with the people who are running around you, so there's absolutely nobody you can pace off of, and nobody you can chase. I will often stick with a runner who seems to be running the same general pace as me - or try to catch up to someone who's running stronger than I am. It's motivating, and it's very helpful, to be in similar company. 

But with the absence of that, it was just me pushing myself. And believe me, I push myself pretty hard, so that was enough, but it was tough not having that little bit of extra motivation. I count on that in a race, and it definitely wasn't part of this race experience for me.

So I drew on the track workouts, and the tempo runs, and all the times during these past 6 weeks that I was doing a tough workout and wanted to quit, but didn't. I knew I had the mental toughness to deal with the conditions I was facing, and I just had to keep reminding myself of that. 

Miles 8 - 10 were actually the best I felt all day. I was still doing a bit of dodging slower runners, but was mostly able to stick to the outside edge of the pack, near the traffic cones, and felt almost settled into a decent pace. I ran 7:29 and 7:41 for miles 8 and 9, but the mile 10 water stop cost me a bit of time, and brought that mile down to 7:50. 

This was actually also the point at which my rib started hurting. Earlier in the week, I had leaned very awkwardly over the front seat of the car to try to get something out of the back seat, and had bashed my rib into the corner of the seat. As soon as I did it, I knew it was bad. I had run once since then, and it didn't bother me on a short run, so I had hoped it wouldn't bother me on a long run.It was kind of painful to take a really deep breath, but again, I just hoped it would hold up ok, and until mile 8, it did. 

But that's when I started to feel it. It was sore, and I was getting a side stitch - probably because my breathing was a little messed up. But it wasn't so bad that I felt the need to stop, and I focused on trying to breathe as deep as I could, and it stayed at a manageable level, so I pushed forward. It was actually worst after the race, when I tried to drive home (in Scott's car, which is a manual transmission) and was unable to shift into reverse with my right arm, and had to reach over and do it with my left, which had me thinking I might be paying the doctor a visit. Thankfully a day later it was feeling much better, and a few days later it feels almost normal, so it must have just been a very bad bruise. 

And thankfully, despite the pain that was setting in, and the huge hill that I knew awaited me in the mile ahead, mile 10 is always a great spot. The exhaustion is kicking in - and on this day, the heat was really beginning to be a factor - but so is the knowledge that there's just a 5K to go. And despite the fact that mile 11 is the second-biggest hill on the course, I ran that mile in 7:15. I was tired, though. 

Mile 12 is mostly flat, and mile 13 is downhill (gotta love the downhill stretch to the finish), and those came in at 7:31 and 7:15, and I got the final .1 to the finish at a 7:12 pace. 

The clock time was irrelevant, but my Garmin showed a 1:39:20 finish, and I was anxious to see if the timing would match up with that. Thankfully it did, and my official time was 1:39:19. Not a PR, but I wasn't going for a PR - what I had set out to do was run a 7:30 pace, and I pulled it off, so I was  happy. 

And with everything I went through leading up to Boston, and the fact that I've only been doing regular speedwork for 6 weeks, I'm pretty thrilled that I ran this half a full 5 minutes faster than I ran the Providence one in May (and just two minutes off my PR time of 1:37) - and it was a course PR by two full minutes, too! 

I'm very glad about the progress I've made in such a short time, and feeling great about my chances for a PR at the Blessing in two weeks, and even better about what I'll be able to do in Philly in November. 

So although it wasn't quite the experience I wanted it to be, at the end of the day, it was a good race for me. And probably one that I can be even more proud of, because I faced down some pretty tough obstacles and still fought through and accomplished what I set out to do. 

And if I can run a 1:39 very hilly half-marathon on a hot day with a 20-minute delayed start, I know a half-marathon PR won't be far behind, when conditions are more favorable. 

I'm glad that whole experience is behind me, though, and already looking forward to my next starting line, for which I will be absolutely sure I am EARLY! 

The final numbers - 

1:39:19, 7:32 pace

4 of 208 in my age group

17 of 984 females

96 of 1632 overall 

Happy runner. 

Lucky Seven - Cox Providence Rhode Races Half

I learned a very valuable lesson when I ran this race last year - don't skimp on marathon recovery. If you don't recovery properly, you'll pay for it - and I did last year, for sure. I actually ran this half 4 minutes faster last year (but last year I was just coming off of a 3:30 marathon, so was in much better shape), but I felt pretty rotten the whole time.

This year, I ran what is actually a pretty good pace considering that I was coming off a 3:53 marathon that I wasn't properly trained for - but most importantly, I felt great, and I truly enjoyed the whole race. And that, in my mind, is well worth the additional 4 minutes it took me.

After taking a full 6 days off from running post-Boston, and just doing a couple of very easy elliptical workouts that first week, I had a great first run back, and an even better second run back, and that trend has just continued.

I still didn't have high expectations for this race, since it was just two weeks after what ended up being a tough 26.2 for me, but it was a beautiful morning and I was excited to run, because I had been feeling so good.

The full marathon started 10 minutes late, but thankfully the half went off on time, unlike last year, when it was nearly 20 minutes late.

I figured I'd start around an 8:30 pace, and after a quick first half mile (7:44 on the Garmin - oops!), I settled in nicely to a pace in the mid-8s. My first 4 miles were 8:13, 8:03, 8:16, 8:16, and I was feeling amazingly good.

This is not an easy course, but I've gotten to know it pretty well now, and I know where the hills are and how bad they are. The ones in the early part of the course are long, gradual inclines, which are the kind of hills I tend to do really well on. Last year they really did a number on me, but this year, I barely noticed them, and passed a lot of people as we climbed.

After mile 4, I'm not entirely sure what happened, but it felt like my legs found another gear and dialed in, and I was just along for the ride as my pace suddenly dipped down to 7:55, then 7:53, then 7:50.

I wondered how this was going to play out. I still felt great, but I knew the biggest hill on the course was looming, and there was still one more doozy after that (at mile 11). Did I really have it in me to run a sub-8 pace for the remaining miles? Surprisingly, I felt like I did.

And the hill at mile 7/8 that absolutely crushed me last year hardly phased me at all this year. I powered up, feeling strong, and looking forward to the downhill on the other side.

As I came to the top and started down, I decided to put in my headphones. For some reason I can't quite figure out, the song that was playing over the loudspeakers when we started the race was "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" from the Wizard of Oz. 

An odd choice, and although I love the movie, that is NOT the song you want playing on repeat in your head while you're running a half-marathon - but that's exactly where it was for the first 7 or 8 miles of my race, until I finally couldn't take it anymore and stuck my headphones in to drown it out with my own music.

The big hill slowed me a little, to an 8:00 mile, then once I hit that downhill, I knew I was just going to go for it and see what I could do. Mile 9 came in at 7:38, and mile 10 was a tad too fast at 7:19, but the final big hill at mile 11 kept me honest, taking me back down to 7:56.

But truthfully, I was still feeling great. Getting tired, but not feeling like I was overreaching. I really just felt like the whole thing was so fun - being out there with so many other runners, running a course I know so well, on a perfect spring day that was warm without being hot, under a blue sky filled with sunshine. It was just everything I wanted it to be, and I was loving it.

The last two miles were run directly into a pretty stiff headwind, but I didn't even care. I was determined to finish strong, so I kept pushing. It was only 2 more miles, and I knew I could hold on, so I did, running the final 2 in 7:34 and 7:37. And as I turned the corner for the final stretch, I had plenty left in the tank for a final little kick to the finish at 6:58 pace.

I was thrilled to cross in 1:44:01. Nowhere near a PR, and on any other day, I'd consider that a 'slow' half, but on that day, it was a time to be very proud of, and I couldn't stop smiling.

I circled back to watch my friend Lisa cross, and was happy to see that she had a great two-weeks-post-Boston finishing time, too.

After we grabbed a bite to eat, I checked my results on the race app and was shocked to see that I had placed third in my age group! Most other years, a 1:44 would not have placed me so high up, but it was a nice surprise. Prizes were only given out to 1st place age-group winners, so I didn't win anything, but it's still nice to know I was 3rd.

I don't know if I would have run this race if I didn't have a streak going, and if it wasn't part of the Triple Crown series that I signed up for again this year - but I'm glad that it is and glad that I did run, because it was such a great race experience for me this year, and left me feeling so happy and so confident and upbeat about what lies ahead.

In short, it was the exact opposite of my experience here last year. And when I think about that, I can't help but think some of that is due to my state of mind.

After Boston last year, I was kind of a mess. My head was not in a good place, and that feeling lasted a really long time. Even when the worst of it had faded into the background, it was still there below the surface, and of course as April 21 approached this year, it was front and center again. As I wrote about in my Boston recap, I knew the only way to finally let it go was to run again.

And ever since I did just that, I've felt lighter, like a tremendous weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I didn't just leave it all on the course physically over the course of those 26.2 miles - I left a piece of my heart there, too.

My running identity has been so completely wrapped up with Boston for the past year, and if I'm honest, I have to admit that there's a small part of me that's relieved that I didn't qualify for 2015.

I may go back as a spectator next year, but I'm kind of glad that I won't be running. I need some space, and I need to take another step forward, and after this race, I feel like I'm well on my way.

As I ran down Blackstone Boulevard Sunday - one of the prettiest parts of the course - feeling healthy and strong and having so much fun, I realized that it was the most I've felt like 'me' in a long, long time. It was completely empowering.

And it wasn't just about the pace I was running - it was about the fact that I was out there doing what I love, and really truly loving every second of it.

It may sound dramatic, but I feel like I found myself as I ran those 13.1 miles - the part of myself that's been buried under a cloud of uncertainty and stress for the past few months. I've missed her, and I'm glad she's back.

So this absolutely proved to be lucky number seven for me, and I'm still on a post-race endorphin high (one that gave me the final push to sign up for the Philly Marathon in November - something I've been thinking about for a while now, and finally pulled the trigger on - more on that in another post!).

And the numbers aren't too shabby, either -

1:44:01

7:55 pace

3/232 in my age group

58/1,212 females

251/2,008 overall

A great race, a fabulous start to the Triple Crown, and the perfect way to kick off what I know is going to be a great, fun summer race season. Ready. To. Run!

Back-to-Back Race Weekends, Back-to-Back Age-Group Awards!

Earlier this year, I had grand plans of getting my half-marathon PR down to 1:35 (from 1:37:28). Then, as the weeks and months passed, my motivation to chase down that goal waned. I kept up with some racing and some speedwork all summer and into the early part of the fall, but my heart just wasn't in it. I didn't feel the drive to work as hard as I knew I needed to in order to run a half at that pace.

I've struggled with this over the past month or two, feeling like I was losing my edge, and like maybe it was the beginnning of the end of my PR days. Being a little dramatic, I know, but for someone who's spent the past few years so completley focused on time goals and PRs and competing, it's felt strange to not have that desire.

It came back a little bit with the Ocean Road 10K  two weeks ago, and having a great race experience there definitely got me a little more excited about racing in Newport last weekend. And although I wasn't feeling PR-ready as I drove over Sunday morning, I was feeling race-ready, and I knew I was going to give it my all, which is all I can really ask of myself.

I met up with friends as we waited before the start, but since I had actually gotten there a little later than I planned, it wasn't long before we headed to the starting line. And then we stood at the starting line and waited. And waited. And waited some more. The race start was delayed last year, too - my only complaint about an otherwise fabulous event.

Waiting at the starting line is when I discovered that my Garmin was dead. Kaput. Not functioning. I reset it at least a dozen times (had plenty of time for that, since the delay ended up being a good 15 minutes!), but still nothing. I had my phone with me, since I had decided to listen to music for this race - something I haven't done in years - so I fired up mapmyrun and figured I'd use that. Even though I know it's nowhere near as accurate as my Garmin, I thought I'd try to have at least some data.

But since it was in my armband, I wouldn't be able to see the numbers, so I'd be running blind. I was surprisingly not rattled by this, though. In the past couple of years, I've gotten much better at pacing myself, and I usually only glance at my watch a few times even during a long race. So I'd just have to run by feel this time, and I truly wasn't worried about it.

I knew the start would be crowded, and I knew the huge hill at the beginning would keep my pace down a bit anyway, so I didn't fight too hard to navigate the crowds. I did work a little harder during the second mile, though, to try to make up a bit for what I knew (even without a watch to tell me) was a relatively slow mile 1.

I actually like the fact that you get this huge hill out of the way immediately - and then get to run back down it just before the finish!

Miles 3 through 5 were pretty uneventful. It was a gorgeous day - the temperature was absolutely perfect, and I quickly tossed my armwarmers, and was very comfortable in my shorts and tank top. There are a couple small hills in that stretch - including the driveway leading into and out of Fort Adams State park - but they aren't very tough hills, and they didn't slow me down much at all.

It was comfortable, but warm enough that I grabbed water at every aid station, but didn't stop to walk. And even though I haven't practiced drinking on the run lately, I did a pretty good job of not spilling water all over myself. 

As we headed out of Fort Adams and down toward the water, I braced myself. My experience here last year was not a good one, with winds gusting up to 30 mph. It didn't seem anywhere near that windy this year, but I prepared myself mentally, just in case.

But luckily, conditions this year were blissfully calm. There were a few spots where we ran into a headwind, but I almost laughed at how wimpy it seemed compared to last year. And since it wasn't a battle running up that long stretch of ocean road, I was actually able to smile and enjoy it, which was a nice treat!

Prettiest part of the course - but you can see how it could be kind of rough on a windy day....

I was also having fun listening to my music. It's been so long since I raced with a playlist, and it was a nice change for me. I don't plan to start doing it all the time again, but for this race, it was the right thing, and I'm glad I did it.

The ocean road stretch is beautiful and scenic, but it's also a long stretch, and always feels like it just goes on forever. Having just run it a few weeks earlier, though, I knew what landmarks to look for to gauge how much further I had to go, which really helped mentally.

And at this point, I was feeling pretty good. I was racing, and I was working hard, but I felt strong, and I knew I was having a good race. I considered asking someone who was running near me what their goal was, to try to and figure out how I was doing, but I opted not to. I felt like not knowing was working for me, so decided I'd stick with it.

There was a moment between mile 8 and 9 where I was hit with a wave of exhaustion and wanted to be done. But it passed really quickly when I charged up the hill around mile 9, passing several people as I went. I swear, I felt like I accelerated going up that hill, and I felt stronger than ever when I got to the top.

That was the last real hill of the course, and I knew it, so I settled in and worked on trying to push it a bit for the last few miles.

As we ran back towards town, I knew the final miles were all flat or downhill, and I definitely picked up the pace here. I wish I had some kind of data so I could see how my pacing played out, but when I checked mapmyrun after I finished, it told me I had run 13.63 miles at a 7:06 pace - which is why I only use phone apps for running when I have no other option - far from accurate!

I know I was running faster in those last 4 miles, though, and I passed a fair amount of people as we wound our way up Bellevue Ave and through the side streets that would bring us back toward the beach.

I also knew that I needed to not sprint as soon as I hit the beach parking lot at the bottom of the hill. I made that mistake last year and it was not pleasant, as the finish line is a full half mile away at that point, and sprinting for a half mile at the end of a half marathon is really, really painful.

The long final stretch to the finish.

I was running at a good clip down that final stretch, though, and I had taken my headphones off about a mile earlier, so I soaked up all the cheers and cowbells and crossed the finish at just over 1:38. I knew my official time would be a teeny bit faster, but since I had lined up pretty close to the start, probably not that much faster - and I was right, as it ended up being 1:37:56.

I admit I had kind of hoped I might be able to pull off a small PR at this race, but I didn't spend too much time thinking about that.

Instead I focused on the fact that I ran with no watch, no pacing feedback whatsoever, and I was able to run just 28 seconds slower than my PR. And I also accomplished that just one week after running a 44-minute 10K, so I think taking all that into consideration, this was a pretty great effort for me!

And it was a good enough effort to get me a third-place age-group award, which I was not expecting at all!

A lot of friends were also running, so I spent a good amount of time at the finish line cheering them on as they came in, and then headed back to the shuttle buses to begin my afternoon and evening of relaxation (courtesy of my free night at the host hotel, which I won in a contest held by the race organizers). 

It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. Quiet, peaceful, restful, and rejuvenating.

Even though I had just raced 13.1 miles, I spent the afternoon walking around Newport shopping and people watching, treated myself to an enormous burger (my favorite post-race meal) at the Brick Alley (one of my favorite Newport spots), enjoyed a leisurely glass of wine at a bar right on the harbor at sunset, and then spent the evening lounging in my very luxurious, beautiful hotel room.

I wish every half-marathon could end that way, but alas, it's not par for the course for us non-elite runners. It was a nice treat, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time alone.

So, despite not getting a PR, I did walk away with another age-group award, and with the knowledge that I may not have made a lot of progress with my running over the summer, but I certainly have not lost any fitness. And I've gotten very good at pacing myself, which is a really valuable skill, and one I'm glad to have finally mastered!

1:37:56, 7:29 pace

3 of 418 age group

22 of 1,751 females

147 of 2,800 overall

And now, unfortunately, my cranky shin is being extra cranky (almost as cranky as it was a few years ago when I had to take many many many weeks off from running to let it finally heal). I thought I had nipped it in the bud a few weeks ago when it started feeling a little sore and I gave it my own home treatments - massage, ice, stretching - and it began to feel better.

But I guess two weekends of racing in a row was a bit much, and it's time to get myself back into PT. And it's also time to give it a rest.

So, in the interest of not doing anything stupid to jeapordize my Boston training - which is going to be starting before you I know it!  - I'm taking some time off now. Hopefully it won't require too long of a layoff, but if it does, it's better to take it now rather than be faced with injury in the middle of a training cycle.

Right now I have a good attitude about the whole thing, and I've been living in my compression socks the past few days and have already felt huge improvements in how it feels, so I'm hopeful that this won't drag on too long, because the longer I go without running, the harder it is to maintain that good attitude.

Fingers crossed that my optimistic outlook isn't put to the test!

Just Like Old Times

Last weekend we did something we've been wanting to do for a long, long time - brought the boys out to Block Island, which is where Scott and I first met, 22 1/2 years ago.

This little island is an absolute treasure right in our backyard, and given that it's where we met, spent 4 summers living and working together, and where we got engaged, it's a pretty special place to us.

Which would lead you to believe that we'd go out frequently - but for one reason or another, it had been nearly 10 years since the last time we'd gone. And now that we finally went back, I know for sure that it will NOT be another ten years before we visit again.

It was a short visit - just a day trip - and we didn't do an awful lot besides have lunch and walk around, but it was enough to bring back a flood of memories and make me very nostalgic. And it was enough for the boys to see that it's a pretty cool place, and one that they can't wait to go back to.

The boat ride over was an adventure in itself for three boys who have only ever been on the steamboat at Mystic Seaport and the ferry over the CT River in Essex (a 5-minute ride). A whole hour on a 'big' boat was quite the event, and we checked out every square inch of that boat - up and down the stairs, in and out of the cabin, and back and forth across the deck. And luckily the water was very calm, so it was a nice, smooth ride.

We were about halfway across when Gabe told us he saw dolphins in the water. We brushed it off, telling him there was no way there were dolphins out there, but then I looked and sure enough, he had actually seen dolphins! Bonus excitement for the boat ride!

Lunch at one of our old haunts was our first stop, followed by the walk up the hill to the Spring House, where we wandered around and pointed out to the boys where Scott tended bar, and where I chopped and prepped and cooked in the kitchen, and where our rooms were in the bunkhouse and barn (nearly unrecognizable due to major renovations).

A walk through town, some window shopping, and some ice cream, and our day was done. But it was a fabulous one, and I was sad to leave.

But we're already talking about what we'll do next time - hopefully we'll bring bikes and be able to explore more of the island, because they loved the small bit they saw, but there is so, so much more I want to show them. Lucky for us, it's a trip we can take just about any time we want, so I know we'll get to all those spots, and I know the older they get, the more they'll appreciate them.

Tomorrow I start gearing up for this weekend's festivities - spectating in Hartford with Gabe and Dante on Saturday (gotta dig out the cowbells!), and my half-marathon and overnight getaway in Newport on Sunday.

I think the boys will have fun in Hartford. From what I remember when I ran it a few years ago, they have a lot of kids' activities set up in Bushnell Park, so there should be plenty for them to do while we wait to head over to the finish line to cheer.

I know they won't fully get how amazing it is to watch all these people crossing the finish after running 26.2 miles, but they are beginning to get a sense of how big a deal it is, and hopefully they'll enjoy it.

And although I'll have some time on Saturday afternoon to get my stuff packed up for Sunday, I'm going to get started on it tomorrow, so that I don't feel rushed. One thing I'm doing that I haven't done in a long, long time is making a playlist.

I think the last race that I listened to music at was Gansett, more than two years ago. And the only time I listen on training runs is if I'm on the treadmill. But for some reason I'm feeling like I want some tunes for this race, so I'm going to go with that.

I'm excited to race, and I'm excited to run hard, and I'm also excited to hang out at the finish line after I'm done and wait for my friends (several are running) to come in. And with the weather forecast calling for mostly cloudy and a high of 61, it looks like Mother Nature is cooperating, too. As long as she doesn't hit us with the gusty winds we had last year, it'll be nearly perfect!

Ready to cheer, and ready to run!

Back-to-Back Race Weekends - and A Little Getaway, Too!

I had a feeling I was going to like the 10K distance, and I was right. I liked it, and I ran it well, and I will definitely be racing more 10Ks in the future!

This was the inaugural year for the Ocean Road 10K, and it was a point-to-point course heading up a road that I run on at least once a week (sometimes two or three times!), so I knew exactly what I was in for.

As I waited in the shuttle bus to head down to the starting line, I considered just getting out and running down there instead. I had gotten to the shuttles really early, so would have had plenty of time. 

But I wanted to really race this one, and running 6 miles to the start would be a little excessive for a warmup, so I stayed put and rode the bus.

I walked around a bit at the start - a really pretty, scenic spot - and hit the porta-potties a couple times, then headed out for my warmup. I had only planned on 2 miles, but I had so much time, I took it nice and easy and ran 3.

It was cloudy and gray race morning, so not quite this pretty, but still a very nice spot to begin a race!

I had seen the direction the flags were blowing as we drove past the beach on the way down, and I knew we were going to be running into a headwind the whole way. It wasn't a super-strong headwind, but it was enough that I felt it would be a bit of a factor mentally, if nothing else.

The race went off right at 8am, and I had lined up pretty close to the front, but I didn't want to start out too fast, so I kept a pretty close eye on my watch for that first mile, and I felt good that it ended up at 7:16. That's the pace that I've run for a lot of my tempo runs, so I was pretty confident that I could hold it for the whole distance. 

I had a bit of a side stitch during the first 2 miles, but it never got too bad, and it went away after mile 2, thankfully. Despite the side stitch and the wind, I ended up running mile 2 in 7:07. This mile was pretty much completely flat, so I think that accounts for the faster pace.

At the beginning of mile 3 we were still fighting the wind, and then we started up one of the hills on the course, so my pace went back down to 7:17 for that mile. The second hill on the course was during mile 4, which kept that one at 7:18.

The hills made this stretch of the course a little tough, but thankfully, shortly after mile 3 we were  largely sheltered from the wind, and I'm so used to running these two hills that I was still feeling pretty good. I was working hard, but I felt like I could work harder. So I did - got mile 5 down to 7:04.

And now we were heading back to the beach, and back into the wind. But we were also heading into the final mile, so I stopped looking at my watch and just ran.

Finished mile 6 in exactly 7 minutes.

I knew the finish line was in the beach parking lot, and I knew that final .2 was going to feel like forever, and it did. And it was even worse than I thought, because we had to turn a sharp corner to enter the parking lot, then had to run to one end of the lot and then circle back and run back to the other end. Tough to sprint a stretch like that, but I definitely gave it my all, and got down to a 6:26 for that final .2.

Crossed the finish line in 44:09, which I was thrilled with. I had hoped my pace would be around 7:15, so to end up with a 7:07 pace was fantastic!

And I ended up winning 3rd place in my age group, too - not bad for my first 10K! 

If I'm honest with myself, I think I could have pushed a little harder during the first half. But having never raced this distance before, I know it was better for me to start conservatively. Learning how to pace yourself at different distances takes some practice, and I look forward to practicing more at this distance!

Final results - 44:09, 7:07 pace, 3rd place age group, 8th female, 25 of 287 overall. 

And now it's on to the Newport half next weekend, which had been my big goal race for the season - until I decided to go all out and race yesterday.

I know full well that racing a 10K the weekend before a goal half-marathon is not advisable, and I know that as a result, my time in the half may be a little slower than I planned. But I'm ok with that. I had fun racing the 10K, and I'm glad I finally added that distance to my repertoire.

I do hope to run well in Newport, though - hopefully at least close to my PR of 1:37 - but whatever the day brings, I'll just do my best and be happy with that.

I'm getting a huge bonus this weekend, too - I won a contest on the United Healthcare Triple Crown Facebook page, and the prize was an overnight stay at the Hotel Viking on race weekend! Since I'm local, there's no need to stay the night before, so I opted to stay the night following the race.

We had hoped to find someone to babysit the kids so that Scott could join me and we could have a little getaway, but unfortunately we've exhausted all our possibilities and have come up empty-handed.

I am disappointed that we can't have a getaway together, but we're not going to let a free hotel room go to waste, so I'm still going to stay over.

And I can't deny being pretty thrilled that I get to finish the race, linger as long as I want (will be hanging out at the finish line cheering on lots of friends who are also running), return to the hotel, get cleaned up, spend the afternoon hanging out in Newport browsing all the shops, enjoy a late leisurely lunch, and then return to the hotel for a quiet dinner and a night with the entire room all to myself.  The silence is going to be blissful.

I'm also hoping to bring Gabe and Dante down to the Hartford Marathon on Saturday morning, to watch my friend who's running and is going to hopefully break 3 hours - something I don't want to miss! 

So, a fun fall weekend to look forward to - race spectating Saturday, race running Sunday, and a day/night of rejuvenation Sunday into Monday - lucky me!