Thursday, May 25, 2017

Redemption Run: Cleveland Marathon Recap

I am sure I am going to be leaving some stuff out, but here it goes my recap

4 am came too quickly....after tossing and turning most of the night I was up. I guess I did sleep a little as I had a terrible dream that not only was I running a marathon but at every mile the only way you could continue was spell a word correctly, a spelling bee and a marathon? I am a terrible speller and so thankful that it was only a dream. I got up and dressed in my capri pants (nothing worse than getting chaffed in between legs!) and my "Dream Team" t-shirt from last year’s Akron marathon. I ate my pre-race breakfast of a bagel, peanut butter, and string cheese.

I drove to my friend, Shelley's, house and jumped in her car to drive up to Fairlawn to get Megan and LaShell. Megan drove us up to Cleveland and Shelley got us some rockstar parking (and NO traffic) right in between the start and the finish line at tower city. We were able to use real bathrooms, no real wait either time thank goodness, and stay warm while waiting for the race. I was also able to collect myself and reorganize things. After Canton I realized that even though you can attach/secure the GU's to the sides of the belt (so you don't have to reach around and fumble to get them), I had trouble with them hitting my arms while running and after grabbing one they all got loose and I had to carry them for the rest of the race. So I decided to have a second (!) belt just for the GUs that I could just reach right in front of me and grab them one at a time and not have to worry about anything, which ended up working out really well! I also had killed Matt's iPod, and was counting on music. My iPhone wouldn't let me download iTunes from my computer so Amanda thankfully let me borrow hers and I was able to download my playlist. I had to figure out how to waterproof it and attach it to me somehow. I really felt like a nerd with my running watch and iPod with a sandwich bag around it on my right arm wrist and my fitbit on my left!



We all got ready and unfortunately wasn't able to meet with Amanda who was running the half with her brother and got to our corrals by the Q. I nervously looked around trying to meet someone else who was running the full to maybe make a friend and run with. Everyone around me was either running the 10K or the half. Oh well, the National Anthem played and the race began with the song "Cleveland Rocks" and it took several (maybe 5 minutes) to actually cross the start line and start running. The first few miles were a blur, I wish I knew Cleveland better as I really had no idea where I was most of the time, other than running by the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame and the Browns stadium. There was one huge incline/hill/bridge that I think threw everyone for a loop but I really enjoyed getting to run through the downtown area.

This may seem weird, but the hardest thing about this race for me was when the 10Kers and the half marathoners turned and went separate ways. Don't get me wrong I loved having more space to run but I got really confused. The 10Kers left at around 4.5 miles and for some reason I thought I had already run 6 miles! I was soo disappointed to see that only 4.5 miles had passed. It took probably a half mile for me to realize it actually. Same thing happened at the 11th mile went the half marathoners left. I think that time it took 3 miles before I started to "remember" that I still had lots more miles to run. However, there was NEVER a time that I felt like there was no way that I was going to finish the race. From mile 12 – 23ish there was a long section of an out and back. I had looked at the map but didn’t know when we turned around and asked a few people and was “disappointed” to learn that it was like at mile 17.5ish. Again, it was just a mental thing for me but actually it was fun to see all the quicker runners on the way out and see people (“Hi Jen!”) on the way back. Another distraction came around mile 14 when it started to rain. The crowd support through this section (even in the rain) was GREAT, I remember seeing at someone house a table set up with beer and bacon, yes bacon which I almost ate but decided that wasn’t the best idea. Others were providing extra water tables and watermelon. It was also fun to see the same volunteers at actual water stations as apparently I looked better on the way back then on the way out…um thanks! It may have helped at one point a police officer who told me after the turn around it was “all downhill from here”…which it was in two ways, I only had 9 miles left and I hadn’t realized that I had been running up a slight incline the whole way out. Around mile 19 I met some “friends”, they were a young married couple running their first marathon together. We ended up running the next 6 miles together often taking turns pacing us and I did my best to encourage them as they told me their longest run had been 18 miles. I wish I had gotten their names but I was able see them at the end and took their picture.

Hydration wise I took GU even 5 miles and water and blue Powerade at every water stop. I would drink the Powerade and then take a few sips of water and dumped the rest on my head (even when it was raining) and towards the end I almost ended up dumping the Powerade on my head. I ended up taking on more GU at mile 24 which was a mistake. I had some stomach issues and I was forced to walk more than I wanted to at the end. But really it was okay, and I got super excited at mile 25 and knew I was going to make it under 5 hours, the 4:55 pacer person passed me but I realized that his group was ahead of schedule but I made sure that I didn't lose them and ended up passing the pacer right at the end. My friends, Megan and Shelley who ran the half, were cheering me on at the end and got some good pictures of me.






Overall, even though I am pretty sure that I am capable of running a faster marathon, I am super proud of myself! I started something and I kept at it until I crossed the finish line even if it took two attempts. And I learned something, well maybe not learned but it was reaffirmed, I do NOT do well in heat! And that’s okay! I just know that signing up for summer races I should stick to shorter distances and not really race them but do them more for fun and not to be disappointed. 


Tuesday, May 23, 2017

The Week before attempt #2

I've been slacking writing but I want to make sure that I have a log of all my training still, so you'll have to wait until the next post to read if I got my revenge on Canton (okay, I know most people who read this also have facebook so you know I totally did :D)

Week of May 13-20

Saturday I met up with Amanda at her house and ran around Ellet and the Goodyear half blue line. It was nice to have a change of scenery and actually I would consider running the Goodyear half but I won't it's in August and I know that I don't do well in the heat/humidity and that's okay! We ran 6 miles before we got off the blue line to make it an even 8 miles. We ran through a neighborhood that Amanda didn't know existed, there were some really cute houses back there. And we were "chased" by a dog for like a quarter mile and it might have to ran further if we didn't notice it. And then the last mile we ran up and down (I was mad at this point having to run up those hills after 7 miles) but I think we had our fastest mile and ended the 8 miles with an average pace under 10 minute miles. (Also this would have been another great day to run a marathon.

Sunday was Mother's Day and Matt and the kids got me a new fitbit, this time the Charge 2 which I am loving. I like having the heart rate monitor and having new challenges like trying to walk more stairs. Again another good marathon day, actually my father-in-law said maybe instead of signing up for a race we should just declare the best weather running day the day that Lyndsey runs a marathon! We enjoyed going to my nephew's dedication and cookout at my in-laws house. We came home and I decided I wanted to run a few miles to see how the fitbit works. It was interesting to see how "high" my heart rate went and how fast it went back to normal. I am apparently in "very good" shape (lol!).

Monday, I went to yoga and took the day off from running.

Tuesday I met up with Amanda on the towpath for 3.1 miles. I started the run not feeling good, allergies I think, and it seemed really hard. I also had forgotten my watch but with my fitbit you can track runs with gps so I used that. It's not as good as a running watch as I didn't know my overall pace but like I said I thought this run with really tough and I was struggling. Or so I thought. We ended up running the first mile in 9;26 and then we really picked it up 9:07 for the second and 8:50 for the last mile. Average pace was 9:08 so even if I thought I was struggling I was but it wasn't due to allergies, it was going a little too quick. Oh well,

Wednesday I was suppose to run 2, but ended up running 3.1 again. It was really warm that day and since I started to realize that Sunday was going to be like that I needed to try to get as many miles as I could to try to get used to the weather. Seriously it was like 80 by 11 am!!

Thursday, was going to be a rest day, and I didn't do anything. But I went to kettlebell (10 lb bell, no kickboxing) and ran a mile before to warm up and then I ended up running another mile to cool down and then I walked for a bit.

Friday, another rest day...but not! I was in a mood all day and by the time Matt got home from work he took one look at me and told me to go for a walk, he gets me. I meant to walk but I ended up running/walking for an hour at the Y on the treadmill. I made it 5 miles so even though I didn't have a rest day I didn't over due anything.

Saturday, I woke up and ran 2 shake out miles on the towpath. That afternoon I drove up to Cleveland to pick up my packet, shirt (which I love, and have worn everyday and will continue for most of the week I am sure) and walked around the expo. I bought myself some more GUs (I decided to stick to the vanilla and strawberry/banana ones since I was used to them and have never tried the stingers that they were going to be offering on the course) and a magnet that is in the shape of Ohio with the word "run". I came home and Matt had been outside all day mulching all the flower beds and didn't feel like thinking about dinner and told me we should go out. However, I couldn't think of even one place that I wanted to go to. So we ended up eating whatever was in the house, I had gone grocery shopping but we had leftovers from the week. I made the kids mac and cheese, I had some too, and a leftover piece of BBQ chicken. The kids were dirty from playing outside all day and from soccer so we gave them a bath and put them to bed soon after dinner. Matt and I watched a few shows on Netflix before I decided it was time to try to sleep. I set my alarm for 4 am (!!!!) and tried to sleep at 9:30...

Friday, May 12, 2017

Random stuff

I never did the month of April breakdown...I don't really have much to say other than I ran 139.21 miles and I attempted to run the Canton marathon but due to heat I had to DNF at mile 17 and will try again on May 21st. That makes the grand total of the year to 507.99 (and now on May 11 it's 550.99...43 miles this month).

I ran 12 miles on the towpath starting at Lock 29 and headed north last Sunday. The weather was PERFECT (seriously why couldn't that been the week before...okay I am done now...actually since the marathon the weather has been close to perfect, and guess what on May 21 it suppose to be 75...please please change, it's got 10 days right?!?!?!) I had met friends but it ended up being just me and my music which was actually kind of nice. Around the 5 mile mark I saw a deer that really didn't care that I was running (there were so many people out) that it didn't move but we stared at each other as I passed and I actually thought it might chase me. After I turned around at mile 6 I wondered if the deer would be there again at 7. Sure enough there it was and I really thought it would start running with me. It actually made a move but I guess it was just moving to another spot to find food. Other than that it was uneventful but a really really really nice run. I ran 12 miles in just over 2 hours.

The weather was sunny for the first half of the week. I got to run on the towpath everyday! Tuesday I ran 4 miles and on Wednesday I ran mostly by feel and surprised myself by running a fast 3 miler. I met up with Amanda on Thursday and we mostly dodged the rain, other than the last halfish mile when we got SOAKED!

Today is a rest day and tomorrow I will run 8 miles with Amanda most likely the Goodyear half blue line.

10 days until attempt 2!

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

The marathon that wasn't

All week leading up the Canton marathon the weather said it was going to thunderstorm all morning and be HOT! I prayed and prayed that the weather was gonna be wrong. I am TERRIFIED of thunderstorms (even though I may have run faster ask Amanda or Joseph) and I am NOT a runner that likes the heat. And I hadn't trained AT ALL in the heat so I was really worried. By Thursday I think the thunderstorms had disappeared and it looked like it was going to be in the low 70s by noon which to me seemed perfect. And then on Saturday it rained all day and was chilly, mid 50s, and I secretly hoped the weather forecast was going to stay like that, boy was I wrong!

I ate well the days leading up the race and for once had a great night of sleep (going to bed around 9 and sleeping until 415). I took a shower just to calm myself down and ate my pre-race breakfast of a bagel with peanut butter and string cheese. My friend Beth purchased VIP parking and picked me up at 515. We got to the race with no problems and started walking to the start  of the race. That is when I noticed that my running watch had FROZEN! I quickly googled it and found out that to unfreeze it you have to plug it in. What the WHAT?!?!? I texted Cathy since she was the one who gave me the watch and she found the same info. But at about the same time I found out that if you hold both of buttons on the right for several seconds it will unfreeze! Thank goodness!!!! We then found out that due to an accident on 77S there was going to be a 15 minute delay...GREAT! We took pictures and wished each other good luck and I step into my pace group of 4.5 hours (a 10:17 pace). Apparently the National Anthem was played (I only heard the last line) and we were off with the temperature around 60 I think. The first few miles were a blur but I know that my pace was just under 10 for the first mile and hovered around 10:05-10:17 for the first 9 miles. I was feeling great, but I could feel the temperature rising. I LOVED seeing my friends at miles 4 and 8.


The best cowbell brigade ever!!!





By mile 10.5 I knew that my 10:17 pace wasn't going to be happening the whole race as the sun just beat down on us. I was taking water and gatorade at all the water stops and an extra water to dump on my head. I took my GUs at every 5 miles. I was doing everything perfect. I got to the half way part just over my original goal of 2:15 (I was around 2:20 at this point). I saw my friends and I think my friend Cathy asked how I was and I just shook my head "no" or maybe I just waved them in a way that she knew I was in trouble. She hopped in and tried with all these encouraging things and telling me how well I was doing. Asking me if I was drinking enough and if I had my taking the GUs, yes and yes. She MADE me try to do this walk for 2 minutes and walk a minute. I think I yelled bad things at her around this time and at mile 15 she said, "okay, I'll see you at mile 19, you're doing great!" After she left me I knew that I was never gonna make it. I don't know what road we had turned onto but I knew that there was NO shade! I tried for about a mile to keep up with my run 2 minutes and walk a minute but that was getting to be too much for me.SIDE NOTE: I may have hallucinated this, but at one of the last water stops I swear I saw a volunteer nursing her baby!!!

So at mile 16.5 I called Matt and told him I was done and started to cry. Matt told me that he was at mile 17 with the kids that they would start walking towards me but I had to keep walking myself. I cried lots of angry and frustrated tears the whole way to my family. I cried even harder seeing the signs they had made me.
LOL!!!!!



I walked with my head down back to  the finish line and got a half marathon finisher medal and more water. The best part of a DNF is that I got to see my buddy Amanda cross the line, which was so funny. I was screaming at her and when she saw me, she had this look of why in the world are you here..she actually almost stopped. I had to yell at her to keep going and that I would explain when she crossed the finish line. I also got to see another buddy, Beth, cross the finish line which seriously was AWESOME! I know that I made the right decision to stop running, but it took lots of encouraging words from friends. My favorite one was that I had done all the hard work (the 18 week training schedule) and that the race was just the icing on the cake. That if the weather had be better that I would have been able to keep going and that I would have finished due to all my hard work. I also knew that I wasn't gonna let the stupid weather get the best of me. We all went out to lunch afterwards which is always fun. And Randy, who walked the half marathon with his 73 year old mom!, came and brought us donuts!!!



I started thinking about a fall marathon since I knew the weather wouldn't such a factor. I mean it could still be hot in October but I had decided that I was going to run the Towpath Marathon which is flat and mostly shady. By Monday though I had told myself why should I "waste" all my training and started to think about what if I ran Cleveland. I ran the half in 2013 and it was extremely hot that day too. But last years marathon it was like sleeting on everyone. So I kind of restarted thinking about Cleveland, it was $120 to sign up too and I just can't control the weather. Tuesday came around and I was still sort of going back and forth about Cleveland when I decided if I could find someone who wasn't going to use their bib if I could buy it off them for a discounted price then I would run, I mean it was like meant to be! This morning I saw a post on FB stating the person was injured and was unable to run anymore. I messaged her how much was she looking for her bib. Long story short I am running the Cleveland marathon for $70!!! So I am "back" in training mode, I ran 5 miles yesterday and 4 miles today. Tomorrow I will run 5 miles and on Sunday 12 miles. I can't believe this, all I ask now is that it's 50 degrees on May 21. Is that too much to ask? It really can't be 1000000 degrees twice can it?