Columbus Marathon

It was a beautiful day for running in Columbus, OH yesterday.  It was huge 4,279 marathon finishers and 9.887 half marathon finishers. 

So this marathon was so different for me.  Jim, my husband and Malachi, my son traveled with me as well as Kristen and her family.  My youngest sister lives in the outskirts of Columbus with her family and so we stayed with them.  Then my Mom came up from Lancaster, my hometown.  They were all at the race at some point along the course to cheer me on.  It was so cool to have families faces along the route.

Jim and Kristen went to the start at 6am with me.  I got in the port-a-pot line with 40-45 minutes to wait for the start.  The line was like being in line for a Black Friday deal. I was still at least 20 people out with 5 minutes before the fireworks start. I had to go so I decided I was staying in line for however long it took me to get there because my time would not start till I went across the line.  So I ended up getting it done and finding my corral 1 minute before the gun went off.  HAHA!  I wore a large trash bag to keep the cold wind off of me until I started and met a 75-yr old man that got in line behind me and complimented my fashion.  It was because he had the same fashion.  :)

So the band was playing loud downtown at the start and continued to play until everyone crossed the start line.  There were over a 100 music acts along the way.  This was awesome to have.  My goal was to try for 9:30 per mile pace.  Her is the breakdown of my times.  My 10K split was 58:30; I was feeling awesome thru mile 10, which is where I saw Kristen's husband, my Mom, my sister, and brother-in-law.  We ran with the half marathon through mile 12.75.  I was slowing down after that big hill and the left side of the ball of my foot was having pain so I slowed down.  SO then I was a 2:03 at 13.1 miles.  Kristen and Jim were here looking for me but I missed them and they me.  So then they were worried.  My 15 I had a blister bandaid that I decided to put on the ball of my foot to add some cushion there.  It was all I had on me that I could think of.  I kept moving but my pace was slower and then at mile 18 I fell apart.  My left knee, on the outside edge got a sharp pain, and I had to walk.  I had not had this pain since my 25K in 2010.  I was angry, sad, and hurting.  I would finish though because that is what I came to do.  So my 9:30 goal had slipped and I was now determined no matter what I would have to walk or run the pace I could to get in under 5 hours.  My prior marathon PR was 5:01, which Jen and I had ran in the  Twin Cities (Minnesota) Marathon.  THe worst part of having to slow down was I still had the energy and my breathing was awesome.  My sister and that group were just prior to mile 25 and my sister could tell since I was walking something was not right.  I told her I am fine just pray for my knee!  So she walked a half to 3/4 mile with me.  We talked about what was happening, where my head was, and she parted to her car and I headed on.  I am thinking how am I not going to be able to run from mile 25 in.  So pretty well from Mile 18-26.2  I walked or jogged at best.  I just needed to keep my pace under 15:00 miles.  Then I saw my husband run out with the camera as I made the turn jogging at 26.  I told him "no" I did not want a picture.  Well, I find out later he was coming to run the .2 with me.  I felt horrible for telling him NO.  I just knew I would lose it if he snapped a picture.  I was mentally done.  I was sooooooooooooo thrilled to be done and kind of still walking.

Now, I wake up this morning and my knee feels totally fine, praise the Lord!  My quads are tight and I am so thrilled with my weekend.  I loved having my family at the race.  It was hard not having one of my buddies in the race with me.  The crowds were wonderful and YES I would do it all over again.  I am thinking the pounding on the trail is sooooooooo much more fun than the road though.

Oct 2-Betsie Valley Half Marathon

Well it was the first cold race of the year.  I had Jen take a picture of me sitting on  a lift chair and my butt defrosted it.  This was before the race.  It was a beautiful run with about 7 miles on a two-track.  I would rather be off road running than anything else anyway.  I was hoping to run 9:30 miles.  My goal was to have a half marathon PR.  You never know until the run starts how everything is going to work out. 

Jen planned on walking this race and I planned on running like the wind.  So I found two ladies who were running about the pace I had wanted to keep for the entire race.  We ran together till about the port-a-pot at mile 4 where one of them had to stop.  Usually it is mean having to take advantage of these things but not today.

On the two-track I ran mostly by myself because people were either too far in front or behind me.  I did catch some people and then pass.  The volunteers along the way were great at cheering us on.

The entire race felt great until I hit a 1/4 mile up hill at about mile 12.  What the heck were they thinking.  I have learned to enjoy hills but I was not prepared for this one at this point in the race.  So my pace slowed considerably.  I made it up and tried to gain my pace once again.  It took until the end.

I ended with a PR of 2:00:34.  My fastest half marathon prior to this was 2:12.  So now what would be in-store for my full marathon in 2 weeks?!

We inquired as to where The best place was to grab some lunch.  We were at Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville, MI.  In the middle of nowhere.  There was a cute little diner called Rosie's Cafe.  We sat at the bar.  They were packed but had awesome food.

Another race in the books.

Air Force Marathon weekend

Well, I have run the Air Force half 2 times before this year. This year, I decided it would be fun to throw in the 5K on Friday night. I looked at previous years finish times and saw that the third place female in my age group (40-44) ran a 26:03 in 2010. So my goal, although I though it a little beyond my means, was to run a 26:00 and hope that would get me a third place finish. I have never placed at a race before. So I felt great and took off with gusto. I looked at my Garmin at the 1/2 mile and saw I was running around 6:34/mile pace. I am not sure I have ever run that fast. Oh no! I thought what does this mean. I was scared I would fizzle out before I saw the finish line. Well at the mile mark I was a little over 7:00/mile. I have never seen that on a clock before. So I felt good and decided to keep running at a pace that made me know I was working but not dying. At the 2 Mile mark the clock said 15:00. What?! Unbelievable! I was so excited and knew at that point with only 1.1 to go I would be finishing well. I tried to find people to run beside to keep me on pace. Well, I was thrilled to see the finish clock read 24:34. My fastest ever 5K. Happy, overwhelmed, etc. etc.--there are not really words to explain what I was going through at this point. As tears rolled down my cheeks I looked like I was hurt I guess because a few people asked me if I was alright. I am wonderful!

At mile 1, I told God if I am suppose to have a fast time then let US do it. If not, slow me down so that I finish where I need to. I still need to finish a half marathon run the next morning.

So my goal this weekend was to PR at the 5K and just enjoy a training run for the half marathon. This is what I did.

So then it was I wonder what I can do at my last two races of the year. I had a half marathon and a full marathon left to complete. Hmmmmm! God is in control.