Monday, April 30, 2012

The race i didn't race.



Saturday morning i woke up at 4:45am, noticed it was pouring rain, and then ate a clif bar while pondering the fact the i have obviously made some terrible choices in my life.  I had won an entry to the CARA lakefront 10, but because of my training schedule, i needed to run 20 miles.  So i had decided to run 10 in advance of the race.  I was super lucky, because people actually agreed to come meet me at 6am to run in the rain.  I am a special girl.  Luckily the worst of the rain was only for the first couple miles, and then it slowly began to taper off.  By the time the race started, it had completely stopped.  I was still soaking wet though.  


I ran about 8.25 miles with my pace leader david, and Brittany who has her marathon next week!  We ran at an even 10:00 pace, which i am super thankful for, because i might not have been able to stick to that on my own (in the rain) and would have for sure gone out too fast.  After our 8 miles were done, i changed out of my shirt (to feel less wet), ate two gatorade chew things, and ran down to the race.  I had to run pretty fast, because apparently changing my shirt took way to long.  I made it into the starting area as the national anthem was playing, so i only had to stand for about a minute, which was nice.


The race started right at 8, and for me, this was the hardest part.  Because this was a training run, and it was 20 miles, i had to keep myself to a 9:30/9:45 pace so that i didn't burn out in 5 miles.  It made me miserable.  I think 8,000 people passed me in the first mile, which is very confusing in a race of 1,500 people.  Everyone i knew sprinted ahead in hopes of a great time, and i just chugged along like a little wet honey badger.  My plan was to find people running at my pace to talk to, but i was really grouchy the first few miles at the thought of "not pushing myself."


The first 5 miles kind of blew by.  I was a little nervous when we ran along the lakefront because it was very windy, and they had put up the "yellow flag" which i think means "be moderately concerned about the wind blowing you into the lake."  After leaving the danger zone, we went over cricket hill, which i found strangely easy going up, but almost fell going down because of the slippery grass.


Around mile 4-5, i decided it was time to take my gel, and the whole time, all i could think was "everyone is staring at me, and wondering why i am taking a gel 4 miles into this race." I am so vain that i wanted to scream at everyone "it's mile 14!!!"  I have problems.


At about mile 7 (17) I put on my head phones, because i was just feeling kind of lonely.  Most people were running in pairs, and i became a sad lone wolf.  However, listening to guns n roses made it all better, and my last three miles were very speed (relatively)  That last mile sucked in my opinion, mostly because the entire time you can hear the end.  This made it seem really, REALLY long to me.  The last mile seemed more like 4.  When i finally did see the finish line, i went into a maniac sprint, and passed about 6 or 7 people to redeem myself for everyone passing me at first.  I ended up with a respectable 1:33:48, which was right on par with where i should have been.  


The race:
The medal
Very nice.
The t-shirt

Nothing special, but i was glad i got it after the race, i used it to keep warm!
The spectators
It think most people stayed home on account of the weather. (i dont blame them)
The course
- I liked it - it was familiar, but they mixed it up a little so it wasn't boring.  I just hated the last mile wrap-around.  The water placement was excellent, and everything flowed nicely, except where mud/mini-lakes had formed because of the rain


The volunteers
-AMAZING.  especially with that weather.  You guys deserve medals more than we do.


After party
-I feel bad, because this would actually have been a fun party to hang out at if it wasn't cold, rainy, and windy.  I was shivering so bad i was spilling my beer, and that's a crime.


Would i run this again?  Totally.  Is this a PR race? In my opinion, no.  Its a race to have fun at and thats ok with me!
Now its time for "May Madness" To begin, starting next week with the Flying Pig half marathon!!


***Also, if anyone follows me on twitter, my account was hacked.  I'm sorry.  I have a poor understanding of technology at best.

25 comments:

  1. nice pic! And you're running the Pig? I'd love to try to run the full marathon there someday........maybe when I have so much money that traveling to marathons is more practical.....oh, wait a minute.....I'm a teacher, married to another teacher......with a mortgage, 2 car payments, multiple student loans.......yeah, there's just a big pile of discretionary income lying around Fine Manor! LOL

    But seriously, I'd love to run the Pig someday! Glad to hear you got your run in....the medal and shirt are pretty sweet!

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    1. Haha, that sounds about like my finances! Luckily, Matt's family lives in Cincinnati, so we head there every couple of months anyway, and i decided to sneak this in! I have heard it's the "biggest small race you will every run" I almost wish i had just signed up for the full at this point, because apparently all the hills are in the first half!

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  2. Darn, the one year I don't run the CARA 10-Miler (I ran it last year and the year before) is the year you get MEDALS and LONG-SLEEVED tech tees!?

    But I agree that the final mile sucks, because the finish is RIGHT THERE, but you have to go all the way down and around.

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    1. I know! CARA sure knows how to treat a gal (or guy) right. But seriously, i almost went homicidal in the last half mile when looping around.

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  3. You're a beast!! Awesome run!! BOTH of them! I think your time was great and so was your pace! I know all too well the pain of pushing too early!

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    1. I'm really glad i held back. It was the first time i ever finished a run and thought, "yeah. maybe i can run a marathon."

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  4. That's awesome you ran 10 PRE race. I would have totally convinced myself that I would do 10 after the race... and then just hung out at the post-race party drinking 312 telling myself that it was cold and 10 was enough.

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    1. i KNEW thats what would happen if i didn't do them before. I am so predictable.

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  5. Enjoy your taper - you've totally earned it. Rockstar!!!

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    1. Lets just hope i don't succumb to taper madness!!

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  6. Hahahaha I totally would have been thinking the same thing "It's mile 14!" Although taking a GU at mile 4 isn't weird, doesn't the packaging say to take one every 30-45 minutes or something?

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    1. That is totally true, but for whatever reason (probably because i usually eat so dang much before) I would never eat anything for a 10 mile run (let alone that early) Its all in my head :)

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  7. LOVE that jacket (obvi)... Congrats on another 20 miler... Now it is only taper time until the BIG day! Best of luck to you!!! :)

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    1. my new dream = tripletsies picture with you and Maggie. :D

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  8. It was windy and rainy at the CARA Lakefront 10 last year, too!

    Great job on not letting the race atmosphere get to you and make you go too fast. That will be key when at the start line for your marathon.

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    1. thats what i heard! Maybe bad weather is the tradition. It's funny because everyone always says "pace yourself" but this is when it really sank in that even starting 10 seconds slower can be huge towards the end!

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  9. Very nice way to sneak in your 20 girl! Yes the weather pretty much sucked but at least it wasn't hot. I am digging CARA's new logo. Nice swag!
    Wow Pig already next week? Time flies.

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  10. Congrats on a smart race and great 20! What did you think of your fueling? Did it work well for you?

    The medal and shirt are pretty sweet! :-)

    Taper time, wheeeeeeee! You still have to meet me to run at Half Day after the marathon. Just sayin'.

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    1. Oh, you can consider Half Day a weekly occurance :D

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  11. You are a ROCKSTAR! I dig that shirt, too!

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  12. LOL. I totally had the same thought at the yellow flag! :)

    Also, I LOVE your medal holder! Adorable!

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  13. Sounds like a great 20 mile run for the morning despite the weather!

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  14. aw man..great shirt though! If I could fit into it, I would totally steal it ;)

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