They see me runnin'....they hatin'...tryin' to catch me runnin' dirty! Well, as you all know, Sunday was the Rochester Half Marathon. I've alluded to my race on facebook, but we have to do a race recap, right? Right!
Pre Race - We had a rough sleep night, so I was pretty tired the morning of the race. Rob got me up about 4am and we did a feed, then dozed for about an hour. I got up for good at 5, took a shower, ate some peach oats and made my peanut butter sandwich to eat about a half hour before start. This has been working well on the long runs I've done so far...I need more fuel now that I am breast feeding, so I figured I would play it safe (HAH). Tactical error one - I bypassed the immodium. It's not the healthiest habit, but for half marathons/Olympic Tris and longer, I usually take an immodium to avoid any potential bathroom issues. It's never happened in a race (ahem, until THEN) but better safe than sorry. (By the way, if poop offends you, best to skip this post now). Anyways...I figured I was safe since I don't #2 as much now that I've given birth. Stupid Rae. We packed up, I gave little man a top off, and left the house about 6:15ish. We got to the race site at 7, parked and I went to go potty. Start time was 745, so we headed off to the start with a thumbs up from my little guy....got in line at the porta potties to pee, but realized I had no time and went to line up. I lined up with the 1:55 pacers, which was way faster than I expected to go, but I knew I could do a sub 9 minute mile for the first mile and avoid dodging too many people. For the record- my A goal was a 2:05, but I really was just out to have fun (PR is 1:50- I plan to break that next year!) I saw a few friends, chatted a bit, and we were off!
Miles 1-4: I. felt. amazing. I was averaging 8:40-8:45 minute miles with no issues. I stopped to grab water and high five my support (I was lucky enough to have 3 people out at various points!) and just kept running, so happy to be out there. I had to pee, but nothing terrible. I even ran the hills, which is really abnormal for me. Nothing felt hard. It just felt good!
Mile 5-7: Still feeling great running wise, but I really had to potty. #1, mayyybe #2. I was starting to feel gassy....and queasy. Yuck. I took in some gatorade...couldn't deal with my race fuel (buttered popcorn jelly beans....noms). At mile 7 (1:01, still sub 9 minute miles)! I saw my mom and asked her to go potty for me, lol. We turned onto the canal, and I saw a port o potty....with a line. Dammit. I figured I was good enough to not poop myself, so I kept going. (I am dumb. This is a theme). Within 5 minutes, I knew I needed some bushes. 90 seconds later and a few unfortunate leaves....yeah....I was back on the run. Still feeling good legs wise.
Miles 8-10: This is where I fell apart. I went potty AGAIN in the bushes at mile 8...scratched my leg up good. I was so pissed. There was a porta potty at mile 9 and I took it. Tucked some TP in my bra for future emergencies (um, yeah, that was stupid). Mile 9 - 1:23. I knew I could get my 2:05, and figured if there were no more pit stops, I could make my 9 minute miles without an issue. I saw my little dude and Greg at mile 9 in the park, and felt recharged and ready to go!! 2 minutes later....I had to go again. Dammit! I was running on the park path, dying, and looking for a bush....but it was a way more populated area, crap. (Or not). As I was contemplating my next move, I missed a bump in the path...and the next thing I knew, I was crashing to the ground. WTF. I scraped my hands, twisted my ankle, and scraped the hell out of my knee....and of course tore my new tights. I sat for a minute, stunned. The awesome runners around me all stopped to make sure I was okay, and I stood up shakily. I knew I could walk, but wasn't sure if I could run. A volunteer came running to see if I needed to pull out, and I said Hell No! (Well, not really, but you know). I shook out, refused to look at my knee (I knew I would freak out), and then did a walk run to mile 10. 1:34.
Miles 11-13.1: Good news, bad news. My aching knee made me forget about pooping, and I could still run. Bad news...I was kinda over this. I still didn't feel tired, but I kinda lost my mental edge. I ticked off mile 11 in 1:43 and knew I couldnt do a sub 2. But as I was wallowing for 60 seconds, I realized that I could most certainly make my 2:05 goal, and I took off! Mile 12...1:52. Mile 13: 2:00...and sprinting toward the finish with a final time of 2:01:17, a 9:16 pace and top third of my age group!! Woohoo!!
Post Race: I met up with a friend (who came in second in her age group with a speedy time of 1:43-go Kim!) and um, used the potty. Found my guys and got some post race noms to bring home....I really couldnt eat yet. We headed home for an afternoon of football and knee/ankle soaking.
Post race lesson? Take the damn immodium, idiot! I could have come in about 3 minutes or more sooner!! Seriously, though, even though I had a rough race, I am super encouraged. I killed my goal. That's a 2:01 with 3 potty breaks, a fall, and 5 off the course hugs. (I would never take those hugs away!!). And 11 weeks after lil man came along. And the best part? I didn't get running tired until mile 12.5. Aww yeah. Know what that means? It means spring marathon, baby. It means that sub 4 quest? Oh it is SO ON. Woohoo!
Pre Race - We had a rough sleep night, so I was pretty tired the morning of the race. Rob got me up about 4am and we did a feed, then dozed for about an hour. I got up for good at 5, took a shower, ate some peach oats and made my peanut butter sandwich to eat about a half hour before start. This has been working well on the long runs I've done so far...I need more fuel now that I am breast feeding, so I figured I would play it safe (HAH). Tactical error one - I bypassed the immodium. It's not the healthiest habit, but for half marathons/Olympic Tris and longer, I usually take an immodium to avoid any potential bathroom issues. It's never happened in a race (ahem, until THEN) but better safe than sorry. (By the way, if poop offends you, best to skip this post now). Anyways...I figured I was safe since I don't #2 as much now that I've given birth. Stupid Rae. We packed up, I gave little man a top off, and left the house about 6:15ish. We got to the race site at 7, parked and I went to go potty. Start time was 745, so we headed off to the start with a thumbs up from my little guy....got in line at the porta potties to pee, but realized I had no time and went to line up. I lined up with the 1:55 pacers, which was way faster than I expected to go, but I knew I could do a sub 9 minute mile for the first mile and avoid dodging too many people. For the record- my A goal was a 2:05, but I really was just out to have fun (PR is 1:50- I plan to break that next year!) I saw a few friends, chatted a bit, and we were off!Miles 1-4: I. felt. amazing. I was averaging 8:40-8:45 minute miles with no issues. I stopped to grab water and high five my support (I was lucky enough to have 3 people out at various points!) and just kept running, so happy to be out there. I had to pee, but nothing terrible. I even ran the hills, which is really abnormal for me. Nothing felt hard. It just felt good!
Mile 5-7: Still feeling great running wise, but I really had to potty. #1, mayyybe #2. I was starting to feel gassy....and queasy. Yuck. I took in some gatorade...couldn't deal with my race fuel (buttered popcorn jelly beans....noms). At mile 7 (1:01, still sub 9 minute miles)! I saw my mom and asked her to go potty for me, lol. We turned onto the canal, and I saw a port o potty....with a line. Dammit. I figured I was good enough to not poop myself, so I kept going. (I am dumb. This is a theme). Within 5 minutes, I knew I needed some bushes. 90 seconds later and a few unfortunate leaves....yeah....I was back on the run. Still feeling good legs wise.
Miles 11-13.1: Good news, bad news. My aching knee made me forget about pooping, and I could still run. Bad news...I was kinda over this. I still didn't feel tired, but I kinda lost my mental edge. I ticked off mile 11 in 1:43 and knew I couldnt do a sub 2. But as I was wallowing for 60 seconds, I realized that I could most certainly make my 2:05 goal, and I took off! Mile 12...1:52. Mile 13: 2:00...and sprinting toward the finish with a final time of 2:01:17, a 9:16 pace and top third of my age group!! Woohoo!!Post Race: I met up with a friend (who came in second in her age group with a speedy time of 1:43-go Kim!) and um, used the potty. Found my guys and got some post race noms to bring home....I really couldnt eat yet. We headed home for an afternoon of football and knee/ankle soaking.
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| I need new tights. And a new knee! |
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