Unity Health Systems Flower City Challege 1/2 Marathon

I had a lot of anxiety going into this event for a few reasons.....

1. I didn't train nearly as much as necessary to have a decent time.....
2. The forecast called for continuous rain/downpours beginning at 1am and not ending for days.....
3. My husband had been sick all week and I was not feeling 100%......
4. We watched a rather depressing movie the night before this run and I ended up in a very strange mental space...
5. I wasn't sure how I was feeling about my pre run banana, toast, and peanut butter...

This all turned into the perfect mix for a not so great run.

First, this was a wonderful event that was very well organized and easy to maneuver. Fleet Feet Rochester (Ellen and Boots) truly put on a top notch inaugural event! The entire event was a full weekend that included a Duathalon and Triathlon on Saturday and the 1/2 Marathon and a 5K on Sunday. All events toured the participants through all the beautiful treasures and historic neighborhoods that Rochester holds. We began at the Rochester War Memorial, wove through the Susan B. Anthony neighborhood (where we were cheered on by members in period attire!), and then headed past Frontier Field, where our Rochester Red Wings play. We then made our way down Main St. to East Ave. and passed the Little Theatre (best popcorn ever!), George Eastman House (Kodak), and headed to Park Ave neighborhood. We then made our way to Highland Park area and began our trek through Mt. Hope Cemetery where we spent about 2 miles. Once out of Mt. Hope, we ran through the University of Rochester campus, over the Ford St. Bridge, into the Corn Hill Neighborhood, and then could see the finish line back at the War Memorial. What an incredible course through our beautiful city!

Now....what I was really feeling that day! I chose to run with the 2:30 pace group and bumped into my friend Kelly (who was running her first half marathon) as well as some other friends I trained with last summer at Fleet Feet. Ellen from Fleet Feet was shouting encouragement from the microphone and then got us ready and yelled GO! It was invigorating; I was actually feeling really good! There was a ton of crowd support (actually the 5kers and family) cheering us on as we started our 13.1 mile journey. I did learn one thing about myself right out of the gate....I start way too fast! I was having a hard time getting into the groove with the pace group and kept getting ahead. Once I got the feeling of the 2:30 pace, I was feeling pretty good. Kelly and I were chatting and running, saw my friends Derek & Katie road marshalling at mile 1 and got in a good high five.

All was good up until the 3 mile mark and my stomach started cramping. Awesome. Way too early in the run to deal with this. I knew from the pre race newsletter that there would be a porta potty at the 5k point, so I figured I would stop before it got too bad. Little did I know, this would turn into my fatal error for the run. There was one porta potty and a 4 person long line. I lost about 4-5 minutes waiting, and I was trying to bounce around to keep my legs warm, but it wasn't working. At this point, the race participants were dwindling, and next thing we know (b/c there were still at least 4 people in line behind me), the ambulance goes by. Seriously...am I now at the end of the run!! I've been at the end of a run one time only and I swore that would never happen again. So, I did my business, and got back on the road with the goal of getting back in front of the ambulance, which was now a good 1/2 mile or more ahead of me. My legs felt like LEAD!!!! I started freaking out b/c I still had 10 miles to go! Ugh!! But, I pushed it hard, passed a bunch of people and caught up to the ambulance as we were turning to head up to Park Ave. Yay!! I was elated when I caught up and got ahead and then settled into a comfortable pace that would get me to the finish. At this point, I had already thrown the towel in on my hope of 2:30 b/c I had just lost too much time with the bathroom stop and now felt worse that I did before I stopped. My new goal was to just keep moving, and, with the course being nice and flat at this point, that wasn't too difficult.

Next up was the Highland area and Mt. Hope Cemetery. I knew there were hills coming, but I was truly unprepared for the continuous, repeating hills. Especially when I got to what wasn't just a hill, but was a cobblestone hill. Are you kidding me?? I was already feeling somewhat defeated, and the hills pushed me over the edge. Somewhere in the cemetery, I felt like I could possibly throw up or start crying, I wasn't sure...and I was feeling severely dehydrated. What the heck was happening?? I had hydrated for days, it was cool and misty weather, and I had been taking water, sport drinks, and GU from the aid stations. But, I started getting scared that I wasn't actually going to finish. My legs also started breaking down and I had to start taking walk breaks. Ugh! I hated it and just felt terrible....which didn't help my mental space.

Luckily, while in Mt. Hope Cemetary, I found my new friend Rene! Yay! She was also struggling and we decided to help each other to the finish. We started doing a run/walk rotation while chatting it up and found our way out of Mt. Hope, through UofR, over the Ford St. bridge, and past Corn Hill to the finish line! Whoo Hoo!! I had a few more break down moments in that time (calves cramping), but knew we were closing in on the finish, so I pushed through.


As I said in my last post, I matched an old Half time, and I'll take that with all the issues I had.

Lastly, I have to say, I have never seen volunteers who were more supportive and encouraging in any other run. Their incredible smiles and words of encouragement meant more than they will ever know.....they helped me through some tough moments. Thank you!

Alright, that was my day. Now I where I'm at and exactly how much work I have ahead of me to get read for NYC!!

Today......

Kicked my behind. Seriously. I'm still recovering, not feeling that great right now. I had a hard time about midway through (around 7miles) and alot of my parts started breaking down. I'll give more of an update tomorrow and a better overview of what was a fantastic course. I finished, didn't have a PR, but matched the time from my very first half marathon in '07. I'll take that!

Preferred Care Rochester Half Marathon

This was absolutely by far the worst run I have ever had in my life. Seriously. It was even worse than the Barktober Fest 5miler last September in 90 degree temps (with no shade or breeze) where I began to lose control of bodily functions when I crossed the finish! What is going on with these mid summer days in September in Rochester, NY. It is just craziness!

I had a feeling when I stepped outside at 6am yesterday morning that this was going to be a very tough day to run and I was absolutely right! The air was already so heavy and there wasn't a breeze to be found. After picking up my timing chip, I found my friend Diane in the half marathon crowd and we prepared for our sticky and sweaty 13.1 mile journey. The start siren went off at 7:45am and it was just getting warmer. It was still overcast, so we were just dealing with the 3 H's and not the sun beating on us. However, by mile 2 I knew the day was not going to turn out particularly well for me. I was already feeling fatigued and feeling tightness in my chest. I felt really bad because a poor women in front of me actually wiped out on East Ave by Wegman's b/c there was some water on the road from the rain and there was a divot in the pavement. She was OK though, we were not far from the first water stop, so volunteers were at her side almost immediately.

So, I ran for about 5 miles before having to take a walk break. My legs felt so heavy and fatigued for most of the 13.1 miles, so it really was a tough day for me. However, I was so determined to just finish, I pushed through it! My friend Adam and his girlfriend Sara were out there cheering and both times I saw them, I took a little break! The second time I wasn't feeling so hot and it was just before mile 8 maybe or 9, I can't remember. They were standing with a cop and he started asking if I wanted him to call someone to get me off the course and I said absolutely not!! I've come this far, might as well finish the last few miles! Although, my fingers had swollen to the point of looking like that might actually explode and my wedding band was cutting off the circulation to my ring finger! I couldn't even feel the cups they were handing me water in b/c it just felt like little pin pricks on my finger tips. That was definitely not a good sign at all!! At that point I was way way off my pace and basically was just hoping to finish in under 3 hours. I was actually doing a pretty consistent walk/jog and pacing the guy in front of me who was doing the same thing. However, he eventually fell back pretty far as he was visibly struggling and I was left to my own walk/jog schedule.

I think it was just before my mile 9 (fulls mile 22), the officials began to come out and started posting signs to slow down your pace due to high heat risk. I knew that wasn't a good sign at all! So, at that point, I dropped the walk/jog pacing and went with a 'run only in shaded areas' idea. That seemed to make sense to me at that point! Once I got off the canal path though, it was totally open and no shade could be found anywhere. It was miserable! Ugh!!

As I dragged on and kept checking my time, I realized I probably wasn't even going to finish in under 3hrs b/c I couldn't get my legs to run at all! They felt like cement blocks. Seriously, as if I was dragging stones around with me. I have never had that feeling of heaviness. The worst was when my body started shutting down around 11.5 miles. I was really struggling at that point and starting to have real concern about actually finishing....which was starting to piss me off because I was approaching 12 miles and I was so close to the finish!! I decided I had to suck it up and just walk the rest. It was pointless to try and force myself to run. I speed walked for quite a while, occasionally jogging a teeny little bit b/c I was so close to the end!!

It was just before I reached the corner of Frontier Field that I saw Alex walking toward me looking rather concerned! I had told him I would cross between 10:15 and 10:30 and here it was, 11am! He tried to get me to fake a run for a picture, but I just couldn't even muster up that, so he took an absolutely pathetic picture of me just walking. He walked with me until just before the final turn that took me to the finish. I sucked it up just before the corner and ran it in for a good finish! The best part was when Ellen from Fleet Feet was announcing (actually yelling into the microphone) my name and welcoming me to the finish line! Loved it! They put the medal around my neck, took my timing chip off and then I asked which way to medical so I could get some ice or something to bring the swelling down in my hands. Of course, the finish line volunteers were about to drop everything to take me over to make sure I was OK, but I assured them I was good and just needed to get something to bring my body temp down.

My friend Diane also did the race and we started together, but I told her to go ahead after a mile b/c I was already beginning to feel spent. She had an awesome run yesterday, despite the weather! Congrats Diane! Also, her daughter Heather did the full marathon and had a strong finish as well. Congrats Heather!

All in all, as I look back on yesterday's experience, I am happy that I did it and happy that I was able to finish in one piece. My hip held up, only some minor pain yesterday and today, I only had 2 blisters, and I am not terribly sore today! Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who volunteered for the Rochester Marathon yesterday! You all rock!! Without the encouragement and constant checking in to make sure we were all OK as we ran by, many of us might not have finished! I especially loved the XC team just after we (half) joined the canal path. They were shaking jugs full of coins or rocks or something, but it was so loud and exciting that I couldn't even hear my IPod over their encouragements! Thank you Thank you Thank you from a back of the pack runner who probably wouldn't make it through these things without people like you cheering me to the finish and telling me that I'm looking good when I know for a fact I look pretty beat up! Thank you to all of the Rochestarians who came out to cheer for all the runners, every runner out there greatly appreciated your support! And a huge thank you to the finish area volunteers who did an amazing job of making sure every runner who crossed the finish line was OK and got me over to medical to get some ice, the massage chair volunteer who gave me an amazing massage that got my blood flowing in my arms again and allowed my fingers to stop swelling, and everyone else who simply was there to make sure the runners had a place to decompress after their hours on the course.

Thank You Rochester!

The night before....

Ok, I'm trying to keep my nerves and at bay, but I know my training has been minimal since the stress fracture and I know that is going to impact my run tomorrow. I just need to not let it get into my head too much. It's also going to be muggy and in the 70's, definitely much different than last years half where it was 45 degree's at the start! I've been hydrating a lot and my friends and I just had a nice pasta dinner with all the fixings! I'm having an eloctrolyte drink right now and then off to bed to try and get a good nights rest!

Actually, funny story about the sleeping thing.....I woke my husband up at 7:26 this morning as I started swearing at the top of my lungs because I thought I overslept and was about to miss the start of the half marathon!! I jumped out of bed, grabbed my running clothes and then realized today was Saturday! Duh! Alex was soooo pissed! Seriously! Lucky for me I was able to fall back asleep and stay there until 9am, poor Alex couldn't get back to sleep and finally got out of bed at 8am. Ooops!