Renee the dog
Background (Skip to next post if you just want to read about the race impressions itself)
This story actually begins in October, 2008. I had recently become fairly consistent at running over 20 mpw, and ran the Atlantic City Half Marathon. It was only the second time I had ever run 13.1 miles. The first was in January, 2007, in which I had a very disappointing result. I came home from the A C Half with a chip time of 1:54:03, and just minor aches and pains. I spent several days reflecting on how I felt, and decided that racing halves were good for me physically and mentally. I put a couple more on my schedule.
Then, I did something else. I went out to the McMillan calculator, and plugged in my 1:54:03. I was mostly looking for training paces to set up a new training schedule. But, I also looked at my predicted marathon finishing time. It was 4:00:32. This was interesting news. Four hours was mentally doable for me. I wasn’t worried about if I could physically do it, but if mentally I could hang in there and concentrate long enough to complete the task. Four hours was about my limit, I thought. Then, I went and checked the BAA site, and darn if 4:00x isn’t the qualifying time for a 45 yr old woman, which I’d be next year…a goal was hatching in the back burners of my mind.
I’ve been an athlete my whole life, starting with competitive swimming at age 6. I feel I need to say that up front because I do think it was a contributing factor to my success at Rehoboth. I’m not necessarily a natural athlete, but I can usually figure out a sport and work at it to become natural-looking. (If my sister ever read this her head might fall off from laughing as esp. for skiing, it took a long while for me to become a “natural”). Also, having been used to competition from an early age, I’m not really afraid to lose, so it gives me the freedom to set some aggressive goals.
You can peek at my log to see my training. My log is it, other than accounting for 20-30 min of slide boarding per week. Also some stretch and strengthening, but nothing notable – 10-20 min. maybe 2x a week. It is light compared to what many folks would do. I followed the concepts in Matt Fitzgerald’s Brain Training, and chopped miles when my body wasn’t ramping like I’d hoped. And, I think hauling around a 40 lb child and a 30 lb child is probably the secret, cross-training, X factor that helps me stay conditioned even if I’m not logging miles.
So, I started training June 1 (looonng training cycle). And then there was this post in the RA Racing Forum BQ thread:
posted: 7/30/2009 at 7:09 PM modified: 7/30/2009 at 7:13 PM
crap. Put me on the list. My husband has been riding me about sandbagging my whole life and maybe he's right.
4:00:00
Rehoboth Beach Marathon
11/21/09
OK, I had typed it out loud.
My husband (Bayside) and I talked about it frequently. I talked to one or two other folks about it, who knew me pretty well. Everyone thought I had a shot. My husband pointed out that I wasn’t the type to brood if I blew up on course while trying to BQ, but if I missed by a little, I might brood through the whole next training cycle. He had a point.
So, I set up my race strategy the weekend before the race: Run 21 between 9:05 & 9:09…then try to hang on to get to 4:00x. It was going to be close!
Race Weekend
Barely slept Thursday night. Early Friday morning, I had to drop off Renee, my dog, at the kennel. I was so nervous I drove right by the kennel! So while I didn’t get nutty during taper, I sure wasn’t firing on all cylinders 24 hrs ahead of race day.
Took the ferry to Rehoboth, checked out a part of the course with the family. We ate some Thai for lunch, and then went up to packet pick up. Very low key. There were approximately 200 marathoners and 400 half marathoners registered. Our race bag was a reuseable grocery bag. The shirt is a New Balance black long-sleeved, gender specific shirt, without a disastrous design to ruin it. Cool!
Walked back to our hotel and our friends were there from Alabama and Philadelphia! Great reconnecting with everyone. Eventually, our room was ready. The man hands me my folder, and I see my room number. Room 411. That was my bib number for Disney Princess Half, which is my current PR for halves. I almost reached across the counter and kissed him. Not that I’m the least bit superstitious…
Went out to dinner with the family and our friends. We got back to the hotel and our family had lights out at 8:30. I was so beat from the lack of sleep the night before…I did wake several times overnight, but got right back to sleep each time.
GOALS 2012: UNDECIDED
GOALS 2011: LIVE!!!
Race Day
Woke a little after 5 a.m. Made my coffee and ate my Greens+ Energy Bar. Drank a pint of water. Felt too full. Waited ‘till 6:15 a.m. to eat my soft pretzel. My girlfriend came over around 6 a.m. to hang out. She was spectating for the day and helping Bayside with the kids.
I taped up my hip with a new taping method. Got dressed, went downstairs and stood in the street feeling the weather and the wind to see if going with a singlet and skirt without tights was going to be OK. I decided it was. So, I wore my runningbanana customized singlet, Nike running skirt, tech gloves, Nike hat and put my “Running is cheaper than therapy” headband over that to give me some more warmth.
We headed over to the start around 6:40 a.m. It was cool. Again low key, but with a good PA system. We received our last minute race instructions and then, we were off right at 7 a.m.
.
We ran up the main drag in town away from the ocean. My hip hurt right away. Only a little. Since I barely ran in the last week, I expected it, and just laughed it off. My family was at the 1 mile mark to cheer me on. At this point we were heading back towards the ocean to do an out-and-back along the sea. Nice scenery, and I managed to do my first two miles as planned, without even feeling bad, as I usually do for the first two miles. This was going to be good.
A lot is a blur. So, some general remembrances about the race:
- Two guys called me their angel at the start, when I noticed their DTags were still on their bibs. I gave them quick directions, and they were all set before the gun went off.
- Varied scenery – we ran through town, along the sea, through the woods on a trail, past horse farms, through a suburban neighborhood, along a 2 lane road next to a canal, over a bridge, through a state park with its own little “Heartbreak Hill” and simulation of what it seems like running on the moon would be like, out to another beach area, and then back to the trail and into town.
- Excellent course support – folks on bikes, handlers at every turn giving you guidance, kids chalking up dull parts of the course with encouraging sayings, good police support, evenly spaced water stops, beer at Mi 25, excellent finish line management, including picking up runners bib numbers via binoculars so they could announce each runner’s finish.
- I lost a lot of people between mi 13 – 18. The little roller hills in Cape Henlopen State Park were not problems, even for a flatlander like me. I welcomed them, as I figured they were using glycogen from other muscle fibers that hadn’t been accessed yet.
- My pace dropped in Mile 22, and even a bit more in Mi 23. I just tried to find a “new comfortable” and I did, right around 9:45. I knew this was going to get close. I just kept reminding myself to hang in there and smile, like my Dad would have told me to do! I knew I was still within qualifying range if I just hung on. I came out of the trail and two State Policemen were holding traffic. I said, “Thanks” quiety. One of them said, “It’s 2 ½ miles to the finish, and you’ve just got 2 ½ miles in ya.” I thought to myself, “Hey, he assesses people for a living. He knows what he’s talking about.” And with that I relaxed.
- The last mile was easier to run it in a bit stronger, as I didn’t have to worry about hitting a wall anymore. (Maybe that’s the Dixie cup of beer talking!) All along the last couple miles, I just kept reminding myself, “Stay loose. Smile. Run contained. Don’t do anything stupid.” And then of course, I did, indeed do something stupid. I dropped my Fuel Belt water bottle right at my feet and almost tripped myself in the last mile. But, I still had enough in me to leap a little over it. Whew! Nothing more could go wrong. I was coming in, and then all the sudden I saw the finish clock. 4:00:45 or possibly even worse was on the clock. WHAT IF MY CHIP NEVER FIRED ON THE STARTING MAT? I completely spazzed on the course and took off, and crossed the finish in 4:00:59 gun time, so that I had my BQ time even if my chip didn’t fire at the start. I could hear the beep at the end, as I was the only one crossing!
- Almost immediately, a friend who had finished the half, grabbed me and gave me a bear hug – I stuttered out that I thought I had qualified for Boston. Then my family was there, and I just sat down – plunk – on the curb right next to the finish because I was simply out of breath from that last effort. In a couple minutes, after my daughter told me she was sorry I didn’t win, I took off my shoes and we all walked back to retrieve my water bottle. Let me tell you, my feet really enjoyed the cool cement after 26+miles.
- Bayside found my water bottle, and by then my son wanted to be carried. Welcome to my life – I carried 30 or 40 lbs of child around within minutes after the finish. That’s just the reality. And it is safer.
- There were three RA folks trying to qualify for Boston. We all did. Another RA person, my friend from Alabama, got 3rd place in her age group for her first marathon. HOW COOL IS ALL THAT??!! What an RA weekend at Rehoboth!
- The finish was right in front of the running store that was the main sponsor, and heated tents were set up for the post race party. Veggie burgers, pulled pork, excellent salad, mac & cheese, 4 or 5 types of beer from the local brewery all included for the runners and $15 for the visitors. No one felt ripped off.
- Awards ceremonies were around 12:30 p.m. A guy who finished about 3 ½ min. before me set a new state record for 70+. That’s some fine Masters running.
We finally left the party and walked the few blocks back to our beachfront hotel. My girlfriend, who helped Bayside out all day, came back to the hotel with us, and her husband, who was done all his work on his boat, came to visit too. He qualified for Boston twice, but no longer runs, and it was really fun talking to him. I hope maybe being around the race gets him inspired to run again. Two hours later our crew of 8 were out prowling the streets looking for an early dinner. We went to a Mexican and Spanish restaurant, and darn if the co-owner isn’t a runner. He’s never done a marathon before, and before the end of our meal, he came over and told us he’s committed to running it next year. He also threw in dessert for everyone in our party. Very kind!
Oh so for those who are interested, here’s what I did for nutrition during the race:
12 oz. Coconut water (not the milk! Yuck!) from mi 3-6
12 oz. Water Mi 7-13, 1 clif shot w/caffeine Mi 7
Soft pretzel (most of it – dropped some) Mi 8-9
1 more clif shot somewhere before 13.1 mi
Mile 18.5-21 – 1 orange in 4 -5 sections
Mi-22-25 – 10 oz. water & 6 M & Ms. Should have been 5. The 6th one totally p***ed me off! Luckily, at Mi 25 was a beer stop. Got a Dixie cup of beer, and yelled THANK GOD! (They probably didn’t realize it was because it got rid of that lousy last M & M taste!)
Anyway, as I said in the daily thread, I truly thank everyone at RA who has shared their trials and triumphs over the years. I gleaned so much knowledge from each of you that you are all a part of my success and joy at this first marathon. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I can not wait to run my next one!!!
YOU SOOOOOOO ROCK, NONO!!!!! Can't wait to read the details.
Eliz
flomotioncoaching.com
Priceless; your daughter saying she's sorry you didn't win .
Very interesting, wonderful to read report. Where do you learn to tape your hip? I have a PT belt (invented by a Phys. Therapist) that my PT gave me years ago as I have a loose SI joint on the left side. Would that kind of thing help you?
When she won NYC marathon last year, Paula Radcliffe was toting her daughter in her arms within moments of crossing the finish. And I agree totally--one of my friends started gaining weight when nothing much had changed in her life--except that she had decided her oldest was too heavy to lift anymore and had stopped a few weeks before.
So, Boston in 2011?
Congrats!
grins,
A
Wow you guys are fast! Aamos, I made up the taping method after watch Kinesio taping sessions on Runnersworld.com....
Here's my "Oh No Mr. Bill" face when I realized what the gun clock was reading as I headed towards the chute:
Notice the 5 cm lift I'm managing to get off the pavement! LOL
Oh this was a great race report! I love it... your daughter being sorry you didn't win. That is so funny.
I love your style, Nono. The way you decided to do this marathon in the first place, the way you went about it, the way you ran it and the way you wrote it up. All of it is great. Not so sure about the beer at mile 25 though... There are some things that we do in these races, that afterwards when we think about all the seconds lost doing silly things, you wonder how you'd end up if you hadn't done them. But then again, they all add to the whole experience, right? Never mind me, I'm just blabbing... Thanks for the ride, Nono. This was a fun report!
(and I'll say it again, love your pictures!)
"The last mile was easier to run it in a bit stronger, as I didn’t have to worry about hitting a wall anymore. "
nono - that pace drop at mile 22 -- that was the wall! That's all there is to it. You went through and came out the other side in a blaze of BQedness.
You trained for the time you ran, and you ran the time that you trained for.
Very well done, and thanks for the report.
Lou, (aka Mr. predawnrunner), MD, USA | Lou's Brews | lking@pobox.com
King of PhotoShop
I have always thought that you are a far better athlete than you often give yourself credit for. I am so happy for you and this wonderful result. Sign up for Boston just as soon as it opens. Congratulations on a fine race and a wonderful report.
You might be interested to know that on November 1st I ran a half in 1:54 and I too saw that McMillan prediction of 4:00, but I don't have near the base you have. I will attempt a marathon soon and my expectations are more along the lines of 4:20 or so. Well done Nono.
Spareribs
Trails are hard!
Need a fast half for late fall. Then I need to actually train for it.
"Champions are everywhere; all you need is to train them properly..." ~Arthur Lydiard
Live like you are dying not like you are afraid to die.
Drunken Irish Soda Bread and Irish Brown Bread this way --> http://allrecipes.com/cook/4379041/
Carolyn
I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.
denise
Congratulations, nono! What a great report on a fantastic race. I'm so glad you had such a great experience, and BQing in your first! Well - some people just have to make it look easy. But seriously, your training was solid, and you ran a smart race. See you in Boston!
aka Mrs. WillRunForBeer, MD, USA Marathoning, the triumph of desire over reason
Chumbawamba: I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down