Rock 'N' Roll USA (DC) Day 2

Today is race day!

Hubby finally arrived in DC! Granted it was 11:30pm and he had to take a plane (a great friend hooked him up), but he made it. So bedtime came a little later than I had hoped; I finally fell asleep around 12:30.

The alarm went off at 6:00 am and I felt exhausted. My prerace jitters got the best of me and I didn't sleep as soundly as I liked. After getting ready and hurrying out the door we finally made it to the metro station (which DC opened an hour early).

When we arrived at our transfer point, the trains were having major problems. Which meant there were 20,000 runners stuck waiting for long periods to squeeze into a small space on the train.

When we finally arrived at our station, I couldn't help but turn around at the top of the stairs and look down (of course out of the way of foot traffic). The sea of runners was insane.

Once out of the metro, we made our way to our corrals. As I found my pacer (2:45), my hubby whispered to me that he would be running with me today because he was exhausted (both mentally and physically from work). Hubby only ran one run with me during training, so the fact he wanted to run a whole race with me was surprising. He is substantially faster than me, so I was pumped to have him run alongside me for 13.1.

As the race started, the corrals moved smoothly through the start. Runners were spreading out nicely and it didn't feel like people were on top of each other. Not once did I feel like I was being squeezed to the shoulder of the road.

Mile one went by pretty fast.  I kept a really steady pace and was pretty proud of the speed. As we reached the mile one marker a female spectator was yelling, "Yo! You running through the hood! Run faster!" My hubby and I looked at each other and laughed.

Mile two I stopped to use the bathroom. I hesitated because I didn't want to lose my pacer, who was only a few yards in front of me. I hate my bladder (will do a separate post about it a different day). But the pit-stop cost me 3 minutes. The port-a-potties were disgusting, pee all over (I mean on the walls, floor, seat, etc). And there were so few of them as the race went on. Definitely not enough for 25,000 people to utilize. After I was finished I hurried outside to find my husband motioning for me to get a move on, "You got to pick up your pace a little bit to make-up for the time you were in the bathroom". I nodded and sped up to a comfortable fast.

The first five miles were pretty uneventful. But the scenery was nice; we passed the Capital Building, Washington Monument, the Smithsonian's, and ran Constitution Avenue. There were great spectators. Some cute signs. One family waved a sign for their daughter, Ali, that said "Don't Dilidalie Ali, Beer Awaits." It made me smile. A group of people who were part of the Fallen Soldiers had flags set up and it lined half a block. Everyone seemed to fall quite when they passed. During this whole time I hadn't seen the pacer, but I held hope that I could catch her. A little after mile 4, I saw her turning a corner. I got excited and told my husband we can get to her if we increase speed just a little bit. He told me to not push to hard and we would catch her soon. I sorta listened. I sped up gradually. And just short of mile 5 I had caught her. I was happy.

Just after we passed the mile 5 marker I started to feel like I was losing some steam. I had just climbed our first massive hill. So I took 3 Shot Blocks. It took a while to feel the energy comeback, but my husband kept pushing me forward. I took a short walk break and we continued. My bladder started to act-up and I told my hubby that I might have to pee. We saw some bathrooms, but the line was at least 20 deep. Hubby motioned to pull off the road towards the line, I shook my head no. I couldn't afford to lose the valuable time.

Miles 6-8 had some crazy hills. CRAZY! I walked a few and coasted down the downhill. But hubby wouldn't let me walk them all, he would say "you trained for this, utilize it" or "keep strong". It helped. I ran up most of them, and while doing it I would say "I eat hills for breakfast!" Hubby would just giggle and keep going. At mile 7 I felt tired. I lost a lot of energy running up those hills, and it really did have an impact on my time. It was the worst mile I ran at 13.43 minutes, it was over two minutes slower then my good pacing. Mile 8 I took a few more Shot Blocks and I started to feel the energy come back in. I felt strong and I utilized it.

The spectators in the later miles were amazing. We were now running through neighborhoods, and people were on their porches and sitting on their lawns cheering us on. One group of young adults were giving out cups of cold beer. COLD BEER! Oh how much I just wanted a sip, but I didn't want to risk it. I had never had beer while running and I had a mission to accomplish.

Mile 10 volunteers were handing out Gu, I passed it because I had my own sustenance. I should have used that as a sign that I needed to have something soon. Miles 10 and 11 I cruised through. I felt strong and hubby kept me going. I had been keeping my pacer in front of me most of the time, but at mile 10 I passed her. I had the energy, I didn't push myself and I knew it was the right thing to do. The rest of the race I felt like I was being chased. I did not want for her to pass me. If I could accomplish this, I had my PR in the bag.

Mile 12 was brutal. It was getting hot and my energy was running out. Hubby kept telling me to run just a little faster. I couldn't, my back was killing me and I just wanted to walk with everyone else I saw walking. I saw my hubby glance back. The look was disappointment. "What is it?" He didn't answer me. He didn't have to. 3 to 4 seconds later my pacer was beside me. I had slowed down and she caught up and passed me eventually. But I wouldn't let this happen. My brain turned into crazy mantra mode, I started saying out-loud "Pain is temporary, Pride is forever" over and over. It helped, because on a uphill I passed them.

Mile 12.6 I knew the finish line was around the corner. But I was exhausted. I wanted to stop. Not once during this race did I say I wanted to quit. Until that point. I told hubby "I'm done. My feet can't go anymore." He shook his head no and said "push". So I did. I ran that uphill to the finish (this was very mean of the race organizers to put a finish on an uphill like this). And as I got to about 20 yards from the finish line I began to sob. I couldn't help it. The harder I ran the harder I cried. But I pushed. And I finished.

My unofficial Garmin said 2:45. I did it I had a PR. Thanks to my hubby and my Personal Trainer, Alexandra. My official time was 2:44:59 (even better). As I sat at the finish line trying to gain composure, I watched my pacer come through. I had done it. The feeling was crazy. I was so proud of myself, of my husband for pushing me, and us as a couple for working together. It was amazing. I beat my previous PR (from Oct) by 6 minutes and 42 seconds. As I sat in a chair waiting to get ice for my knees, I heard the live band Switchfoot start their next song. They begun singing Dare You to Move. I just closed my eyes and lived in that moment, and it felt great.

My Mile by Mile Breakdown

* After looking at my results and really thinking about how I felt during certain times of my race, I have come to the conclusion I need to adjust when I take my energy bars. I think I could have avoided those slow times at miles 5, 7, and 12 if I had gave myself the blocks a little earlier.


The Overall Pace and Course Elevation Graph

The Race
- Water stations were in abundance. At least 1 every other mile. They had supplies of water and Gatorade.
- Food after the race was also abundant. Tons of bagels, bananas, water, Gatorade, and chocolate milk.
- The first medical tent post race was swamped. The second tent had more people helping. Response time post race was fast.
- I only saw one medical tent on course and a few medical people sprinkled around the miles. This was slightly disturbing for such a large race.
- There were not enough restrooms on course for 25,000 people.
- People have been complaining that there was not enough on-course entertainment, I didn't mind. But I am not a big on-course entertainment person.

Rock 'N' Roll USA (DC) Day 1

Written on Saturday 3/16/2012
Today I set off for my next adventure running adventure…The Rock & Roll Half Marathon in DC. I am beyond excited for this race. Running through the National Mall, pass the white house, underneath the cheery blossoms. In all honesty, out of all the races I have ran to date, this one is by far the one I am most looking forward to. I just hope it lives up to the mental hype I have going on in my head right now.

On the flip side of things, the planning process has been a crap-storm for this race. As a compulsive planner, everything is always setup and ready to go weeks in advance. But because of a minor snafu, my husband had to work on Thursday and Friday. Instead of arriving in DC Thursday afternoon and enjoying the day seeing the city and attending expo on Friday; I left this morning by myself. Hubby will be arriving late tonight via plane because he has officially missed his bus. The most important thing is that we both get to the starting line.

Today started with a 5:30am alarm that taunted me until I reluctantly rolled out of bed after a brief 5 hours of sleep. I had to be on a bus in Manhattan by 7:30am. On our way to the bus station, we drove by the Today Show where I saw Matt and Al sitting in their newscaster chairs laughing about something. Here I am watching two ‘celebrities’ and thinking “If I don’t make this bus, I am going to miss bib pickup and I might kill somebody!” Oh how my outlook on life has changed. I arrived at the station just is time to climb on the bus; within five minutes we were on our way.

Long Line for MegaBus

The trip went smoothly, nothing too crazy. The bus was packed to the max and was slightly hot on-board. Not to mention the toilet must have backed-up because the smell started to seep through the bus during the last 30 minutes of our trip. During the trip I regretted not buying a cup of coffee and some breakfast before getting on board. Besides my deep thoughts of caffeine, I spent most of my time reading Running On Empty by Marshall Ulrich. Great book, but it did cause me to shed some tears. Probably not the best choice for a light read on a packed bus.

Once to the hotel, I got checked in and headed to my room. I reserved a room through Pricelines name your own price and I got the Hotel Monaco. This place is pretty cool, but the hallways do give off a slight “The Shinning” vibe. Once in my room I noticed no bathtub! So I called down to request a room with the right “half marathoner” facilities. They moved me to the first floor, which was right below ground level. The whole place smelled like stale cigarettes. After sitting in the room for 20 minutes I decided that it wasn’t worth the switch, so I called the front desk and ask for our old room back. They were more than polite and understanding.

What?! No Bathtub!

 After I finally got settled in I headed over to expo. I arrived at 2 on Friday so the foot traffic wasn’t horrendous. The shirts were pretty cool and we got one free Gu in our race packet. The expo was pretty interesting, with Brooks having a carnival type atmosphere right after you left packet pickup. Other than that the thing I found most interesting was the Brooks changing rooms. Totally hilarious!

After expo I went back to the room, started to do my hydrating, put out our racing gear, and ordered pasta for dinner.

Hydrating Time!

Seafood Pasta for Dinner

Running gear ready!

Now it is just time to sit and relax. I will probably do some foam rolling and read a little bit before we have dinner and head to bed. Race day tomorrow! 5th half marathon in 6 months!

Hyannis Half Marathon Day 2 - Race Day

After relaxing at the hotel for a little bit on day 1 we headed out for dinner to get our carbs for the next day. We decided on the nice restaurant in town, Albertos. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as we had wished for. One guy behind us even sent his meal back because it tasted so bad. One thing they did get right was the oysters on a half shell. I know it is a slightly unorthodox prerace meal, but my husband and I are suckers for fresh oysters. The plus side of dinner was that everyone around us was talking about the race or running. The man behind us was discussing the Boston Marathon compared to New York. The two young people beside us were talking about the difference in the new "it" running shoes. A couple with two children sitting along our other side were talking about their Garmins and discussing upgrading to the new MotoActv. All around us was running and I was LOVING it.

Fresh Oysters

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and searched for a parking spot. It was FULL with cars donning 13.1 and 26.2 stickers as well as run, swim, bike love stickers. It was a parking lot full of people who just love to run. Once in the room I turned on the weather channel and  started sitting out our gear for the next day. The weather man was saying high winds with low temps in the morning, but gradual temp increases throughout the day. So to be safe I made sure we had wind jackets and some layers. And after a nice warm shower, I headed to bed.

Running attire ready for the race

I think I slept well, but in all honesty I woke-up feeling like the night went by way too fast. I started the day before the alarm and threw on my basic running outfit and headed down to the hotels continental breakfast. I thought I had beat the rush since it was so quite. But I was wrong! The eating area was packed with runners and their families making small talk. I grabbed some raisin toast, bananas, and tea and headed back up to the room to make sure hubby was up and getting ready.

The parking lot in the morning. 10 am start time means sleeping in.

Hubby taking advantage of the late start time

The race was a late start 10:00am, so most of the runners from the hotel were only starting to head over to the start around 9:00. But I was eager to go and make sure that we got a parking spot. The starting area was packed and parking was horrendous. I am glad we got there early. Once we found a parking spot we headed to the start. When we arrived at the starting line we noticed no one was actually at waiting there. Everyone was waiting in the Conference Center to stay warm so we followed the crowd. When we were 30 minutes away from the start, hubby and I started to look for bathrooms. But the lines were LONG. We finally decided to use the port-a-potties and headed outside. Those lines were horrible and we waited 20 minutes for a bathroom.

Everyone at the conference center warming up before the race.

At the start trying not to worry about the wind

Starting Line

At the beginning of the race everyone started to pile into the start. I made sure that I was towards the back, but once the race begun a wave of people passed me. They must have been waiting for the bathrooms but they were not suppose to be in my marked pace group. With the rush sweeping by, I got swept up in the pace and found myself running a little too fast the first mile.

First mile

After the first I decided to stop at a bathroom since I had skipped using one at the start. BIG MISTAKE. It literally took me 5+ minutes to get in. That one bathroom break had a huge impact on my time and I lost the group that I had begun pacing with.

At about mile 2 the course went from residential to beautiful. We were starting our leg around the bay. The sun was just really starting to rise and it was breathtaking. The course was by far the hilliest course I have ever ran. And today the wind was a killer, it really started to weigh me down. I was trying for a PR but it didn't happen. I am just happy with the fact that I finished and I tried hard. It was a witch of a course but I enjoyed it. Pictures of the first 6 miles below.

A few downsides of the race were the lack of bathrooms, the awkward spacing of water stations, lack of food after the race for runners, no real mile markers after mile 7, and not enough markings on course to make sure we were going in the direction we were suppose to.

*At one point (mile 12) I accidentally got turned around. I was following the runners in front of me and I must have followed the wrong pack. Because about two minutes after making a right turn on the course an ambulance driver chased me down to tell me I was going in the wrong direction and I would have made a second lap (when I didn't need to). So thank you random man for saving me an extra 12 miles!

Some awesome perks of the race were that it honestly felt like I was doing a long training run in a local neighborhood, the community was great support, NOBODY said you are almost there (except for the last .5 left in the race), there were a lot of police officers directing traffic because it was not a closed course, and the feeling of the race was intense because it was a BQ.

In the end my times were not ideal. But considering the hills, wind gusts, and long bathroom breaks I am also not too disappointed in the end result. Mile 11 was pretty difficult because I ended up getting some pretty bad indigestion from my GU. I did forget to stop my Garmin when I crossed the finish line, so the overall time is off. You can find my splits below:

My next half is in 20 days, hopefully I can achieve a PR during my DC race.



Be Inspired, Stay Motivated, Run Strong!

Hyannis Half Marathon Day 1

We are finally here! It was a five hour trip with car-to-car traffic over 1/3 of the way. The weather during our drive was horrendous switching between rain and snow with steady gusts of winds.

I don't pack light!

When we arrived at Comfort Inn Cape Cod they checked us in and gave us our Welcome Runner's Bag, which included a bottle of water, granola bar, an itenary for the weekend, a map of the town, and a book of things to do. We settled into our room, ordered some dinner (delivery), and went to sleep.

Gift Bag from Comfort Inn.

Our room

Our Room

This morning we woke up late (we could sleep in since little MG stayed at home with grandma) and took our time getting ready. We headed out to breakfast and decided to stop at the famous Keltic Kitchen. An amazing choice! The atmosphere was perfect, a hopping breakfast restaurant with old wood paneling and family pictures gracing the walls. The food selection is strictly breakfast, but there were more than enough choices. The best part was the quality, the food was to die for. Hands down the best breakfast I have ever had.

After we finished breakfast the hubby and I headed over to the Expo at the Conference Center. Compared to other expos, it was relatively small. Most of the vendors were in the outside hallway. I am glad we went right when it opened because I could see it becoming extremely crowded fast. There weren't many vendors selling items. I did get a massage to help get the kink out of my back. I also did find a top and a pair of shorts for a pretty decent price (50% off all items!).

Hyannis Half Marathon shirt. Made of 100% cotton. I am only wearing it before the race so you can see what it looks like.

The coolest part of expo was exploring the new MotoActv. I will trade in my Garmin for one (pretty big deal).

It has some pretty cool features including charting what songs you workout best to, it connects your texts and phone calls to the device, it can be used for multiple activities (pilates, running, walking, biking, etc), it connects to a wireless waterproof bluetooth headset (which has a heart-rate monitor built in), GPS with map viewing features, Android software that can be updated (not a hardware update like Garmin), it is scratch proof, has the option of armband or wrist watch, and it has a built in accelerometer to use indoors. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get my hands on one of these little guys to test out. 

After finishing expo, hubby and I headed down to the beach to walk around. The wind was crazy! But it was fun looking for sea shells. After walking the beach we headed to Main St. with numerous quaint shops. Most were closed for the season, but I found a great jewelery shop that sold handmade items. A certain friend is going to have a great gift for her upcoming birthday :)

Crazy Wind!

That is it for Day 1! Tomorrow morning is R-Day. So we are relaxing tonight and going to head out for dinner shortly.

Be Inspired, Stay Motivated, Run Strong!

Disney World Marathon Relay 2012 Race Report

I had decided to register for two back to back half marathons. The time from race one start to race two finish was only 32 hours. After coming off my first race and feeling horrendous, I knew that my second race was going to be a tough one. The truth is that the second race was my worse time ever (even in training).

The day began with an early start; 3:00 am wake-up call and 3:30 am departure. We were once again off to the same place as the day before; the starting line right outside Epcot. I was heading over to the start with my husband and my brother who were running the marathon. Once I left them so they could head over to the starting line, I met up with a group of runners who I met on an online facebook page (Bling Whores). It was great meeting so many people who I have conversed with regularly. After I met my relay partner face to face, she headed off to the start and I headed to the monorail to be transported to the relay exchange.

When I arrived at the exchange area, I was shocked. It was the complete opposite of the starting line. No water, no food, no shelter, no benches.... NOTHING but porta potties, a DJ, and two medical tents. The second leg runners sat from 5:00 am until their runners reached the 13.1 mark (mine was 8:30 am). It was cold and uncomfortable. This is where Disney dropped the ball. It would have been nice to have a tent (not even heated) and it got to a point where I would have paid to eat some breakfast and drink some water.

Before my partner made it to the transition point, I had decided to go to one of the medical tents and get my ankle wrapped since it was a little sore from the day before. This was a huge mistake, as you will hear about later. Once that was done, I headed over to my corral and waited for Stephanie to arrive.

Once Stephanie reached me, I was off. The starting point for the second relay wasn't actually the start of our time. We had to run almost half a mile before we reached the chip reader and have our time started. Besides the chip start location and the relay exchange accommodations, the race was amazing.

Even though this race had my worse chip time ever, it was the best race mentally. It made me realize exactly what my body was capable of accomplishing. The first few miles went pretty well, I felt well. The atmosphere of the marathon was so different from that of a half marathon. I can't quite describe it, but it has encouraged me to run one by the end of the year.

Back to the race, after the first few miles my ankle started to hurt and throb. It got to a point by my mile 4, marathon mile 17, that my ankle was so swollen that my toes were feeling stiff. I began to hobble. In my mind all I had to do was finish. By mile 18, I had enough. I had to take the bandage off my foot asap or I was going to give up right there. I couldn't feel anything below my ankle and the pain was causing a migraine I had never experienced before. Without a medical center in site, I pulled to the side of the road and sat down removing my shoe and sock. I began to tare away the bandage, but because my leg was so swollen and my bandage was so tight, it was taking everything in my willpower to pull off the tape. I finally asked a bystander for keys... no luck. She hollered to others, no one had anything sharp. A man ran over, seeing my foot said that he was going to call the medics to come and pick me up. "NO!" I shouted. I was not quitting, not until I say so. At that point a young women rushed over. She was a TNT coach. She looked at me and said, "raise your foot" and I did. She proceeded to tare off my tape with her teeth. "Listen, your foot is swollen because this damn thing is too tight and you have too many electrolytes in your body." I looked her in the eyes and with sincere gratitude I said "Thank You." She smiled and responded "No problem. Now finish." I got up and headed off. After that, there was no option but to finish even if it was dead last.

The following miles weren't as bad, as the swelling went down I began to feel better. But I didn't feel awesome and capable of running full out until mile 23ish. By this point, my time was already shot. I text messaged my husband to see how he was doing. He wasn't doing well. I knew I, once again, needed to stop. This time it was to wait for him. He needed me to help him through the remaining miles. So I paused at a medical station until I saw him. He was obviously upset that I had waited and didn't finish. But getting to the finish line and crossing it with him, together, was the most amazing experience.

The spectators of the race were by far the best of any race I had ran. They had amazing signs and one was even handing out Twizzlers (Awesome). Some of my favorite signs during the race included:
Giving away free high-fives (a child holding it)
Chuck Norris counted to infinity but he never ran a marathon
Billy if you are reading this you need to start running
And my #1 favorite sign.....
You trained longer for this moment than Kim Kardashian could keep a husband

Disney had an abudance of characters (Chip and Dale, UP, Woody and friends, Belle and Beast, Pirates, Mickey and gang, Alice, Cinderella, Jiminy Cricket, Incredibles, Peter Pan, Aladdin, Stitch, Pooh and friends, Scrooge, and Monsters Inc), as well as DJs and marching bands. Porta potties were numerous and rarely did I have to stand in a crazy line to get in one. Water stations were plenty, one every two miles. This actually caused me problems because I ended up over hydrating and that took a toll on my body as well. It was after my second race that I realized that I was bloated for the last two days because I had consumed way to many electrolytes. Disney also had two banana stations (highway), one Gu station (highway), and a chocolate and gummy station (Hollywood Studios).

Once again the finish line was a large distance from the transportation center. And after this race we really felt the distance. Bag check, medical, and postrace food were all great. I just would have wished that the race merchandise was more abundant. By the time I got to the tent the shelves were empty. With Disney race merchandise, if you don't buy it at expo or right after the race then you are SOL because Disney doesn't sale it online.

Overall it was an amazing experience which helped me realize that I was capable of an amazing task. I learned that I need to do cross training to become a stronger runner, and I also discovered that I truly love the feeling of running.


Be Inspired, Stay Motivated, Run Strong!