One Month

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Corey

In one month from today I will be running 26.2 miles through Eugene, OR.

To say I am excited is an understatement. I CANNOT WAIT. Of course I am nervous as hell too. And a little terrified of the pain and ecstatic about that feeling of crossing the finish line. And beyond thrilled for the reunion with friends from all over the country…

Hood-to-Coast-Relay_Exchange_nuun-1024x798

Including 5 of My “Team Brunch” Nuun Teammates!

I have trained harder for this race than I have ever trained for a marathon before. I am a one (maybe two this year) marathon a year kind of runner, therefore I put all of my of eggs in one lonely basket (timely Easter reference?). I have a lot invested in this training cycle and I know that if things don’t go well on April 28th, I will be heartbroken. I truly do believe my body will be prepared to run a big PR and I will continue to focus on that and not the outside factors that I can’t control.

So what will the next month bring?

After this weekend’s long run, I will have one more big week of peak training, then I will taper. I plan to cut back about 20% of my mileage the first week, then another 20% the following week, then race week will be all about easy miles and a short “dress rehearsal”.
I will do everything I can to stay healthy. I have mentioned this before, but my right hip, glute and hamstring have been super tight since very early in this training cycle. It doesn’t hurt when I run, but usually feels sore & tight after sitting at my desk all day. Yoga has been helpful and I have gotten a deep tissue massage about once a month. I got another one yesterday. It hurts like hell and I swear, Kelly, my massage therapist is a masochist, but it works wonders!
I will give a baby shower for my very good friend and neighbor. Among a number of other small things, I am responsible for decorations (Hello, Pinterest), cupcakes and booze (fitting). I am so happy I could be part of this before I move, since I won’t be as involved with her and the baby as I would have been if we stayed in Greenville.
In the next month I will pack up my life and move it to another state. (Or more accurately, movers will pack up our home and transport everything and I will get in my car with a suitcase and drive 750 miles).
I will say goodbye to some amazing friends and neighbors and leave behind a place that Brad & I have called home for the last 5 years…The city where we lived when we got engaged, got our first puppy, got married, got our second dog and continued to build our lives together.
I will sign on the dotted line (correction: lots of dotted lines) to sell the home we have lived in for the last 2 1/2 years, then will most likely give my husband power of attorney so that he can sign for both of us to buy a new home (while I am on a plane to Oregon).

I am strangely still calm about everything that is happening. It’s hard to be stressed about other things when my mind can’t focus on much more than the next run and getting to April 28th healthy and ready to run marathon #4.

What’s your best advice for me in the next 30 days?!

Posted in family, friends, Goals, Greenville, Hood to Coast, life, Moving, Races, running, training, Travel | 12 Comments

NYC 1/2 Marathon

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Corey

As you could probably tell from my contemplation on whether to race or not, I had no idea what to expect from this race. I didn’t know what my body had to give and I was afraid to fail if I pushed for a PR and didn’t get it. I knew that my confidence for Eugene would be badly damaged if I went out at PR-pace and couldn’t hold it, and because of that I almost didn’t try. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to go for it and race, because being scared is no reason not to TRY. (Lesson learned.)

Before I get into the race report, I’ll share a little about the weekend (despite the complete blogger #fail and not taking any pics!).

Get some coffee and get comfortable because this is a long one…

Friday & Saturday

My only request to Jocelyn was that we do whatever she would do on a normal weekend. (I already did the tourist thing last summer). So when I arrived Friday morning, we chatted for a little bit, then she pointed me toward the subway and I headed off to Lincoln Center to do some shopping.

The afternoon flew by (my credit card is still hurting a little) and soon it was time to meet Laura for a run. I met her at work so I got to see the Greatist Headquarters! Laura was running 20 miles (!!) and I was happy to keep her company for 8ish of those. We ran along the Westside Highway and it was WINDY. I quickly learned how rough it would be if we had a headwind at Sunday’s race! Despite a “normal” pace, my legs felt REALLY dead on this run…making me further question my ability to run a strong race on Sunday.

After the run, I met Jocelyn and Meggie at the expo. It was pretty small and relatively unorganized (and I was a cold, sweaty mess), so we didn’t stay long. Friday evening we went to dinner with Jocelyn’s sweet mom and sister, then Joc and I walked all around the city, just talking and catching up. This was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip!

Saturday we woke up early, walked to Whole Foods to get breakfast, then just hung out before it was time to meet the Oiselle girls for lunch at Hu Kitchen. The food was amazing and I loved meeting and chatting with everyone (and seeing Steph!). I really appreciate them letting me crash their team lunch .

After walking a ton on Friday, I really wanted to rest my legs on Saturday, so I was more than happy that we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Meggie and Christa (Jocelyn’s sister), watching TV, reading blogs and relaxing. I really miss this kind of girl time in my life. We ordered dinner in (Seamless.com is THE BEST & I can’t wait to have this in Chicago) and I think I was asleep before 10.

Pre-Race

I woke up around 5:45 on Sunday morning with a heavy feeling in my stomach. The first thing I told Jocelyn when I woke up was that I wasn’t even nervous…just dreading the race. That feeling is super unusual for me, but I was really lacking confidence. I went through the motions to get ready and at 6:15 headed out to run to the start.

The first thing I noticed when I stepped outside was just how cold and windy it was. I ran 2.5 miles really slowly over to the start in Central Park and despite the cold, I warmed up quickly since I had throwaway sweats on over my running clothes. The race officials said they were closing the corrals at 7 (although they never did), so I got there around 10 til. I was a little sweaty from the warm up and was absolutely FREEZING standing around for 40 minutes.

I talked to 2 guys and a lady who were standing next to me. They were all aiming for sub 1:34 paces and the lady told us she runs 140 miles per week (20 every day). She was a little wacky and I am not 100% sure I actually believed her, but it was good entertainment and distraction from the cold.

The Race

The race started right on time at 7:30 and it was a huge relief to get moving. It was hard to find my target pace in the first mile because my hands and feet were numb and I couldn’t feel anything. I finally warmed up in the 2nd mile and tried to settle into a 7:35-7:40 pace.

The first 4 miles in the park has gentle rollers and I let myself coast the downhills and tried to maintain steady effort on the uphills. This worked well and the paces kind of evened out. I felt okay during these miles…not great, but not bad either. There was a moment at mile 4 that I thought I was already starting to feel fatigued, but I realized I was going uphill and that’s why the pace felt hard.

Miles 1 – 4: 7:38, 7:33, 7:27, 7:37

The remaining 2ish miles in the park hit the hills that I had been warned about. I built them up in my head and was pretty nervous. In reality, they weren’t that bad. Greenville is hilly and I think I underestimate how running on hills regularly prepares me in races. I focused on keeping the effort steady and using the downhills to gain some time back. I was relieved when we looped back by the start and headed out of the park. CP is really pretty, but I was looking forward to a change in scenery.

This must have been just before mile 5 because it is the only place I remember taking water in CP. And the water was FROZEN so I was kind of choking on ice chunks!

Miles 5 – 7: 7:34, 7:33, 7:27

Heading out of the park and running toward Times Square was awesome. The crowds started building and even before I got to the main part of Times Square, I could see the lights. It was loud and bright and I just tried to look around and take it all in.

Yep, I was definitely looking at all the bright lights!

Right after leaving the main part of Times Square, we took a right and headed toward the Westside Highway. It was pretty windy and quiet on this section, but also slightly downhill. I took a little inventory of how I was feeling and decided that I felt strong. At that point, I finally squashed the fear that I would bonk. I even realized I probably had enough left to drop the pace and have a strong finish.

Once I got on Westside Highway, I liked that it was one long straight shot to the end. The biggest mistake I made here is that I dropped my Gu as I rushed to open it while I had a cup of water. Stopping my momentum to pick it up was really annoying (and I distinctly remembered yelling s**t as it fell. Oops). If I was ever questioning carrying my own water/Nuun in Eugene, I think this solidified it for me…imagine how stopping would feel at mile 20?!

Miles 8 – 10: 7:12 (Pace off in Times Square), 7:26, 7:26

Once I passed mile 10 on the Westside Highway, I decided I wanted the final 3 miles to be under 7:20. I wanted to make it really hurt. The wind was at our backs (THANK GOODNESS) and I almost felt like I was running downhill. I was passing tons of people on this section and had the ultimate runner’s high. It is very rare that I have felt this strong at the end of a race. I knew I would PR and go sub-1:40 and I kept reminding myself that it is supposed to hurt and trying to push to see how far under 1:40 I could go. Finally I reached the tunnel at mile 13, which was really fun. It was warm in there and the cops were cheering for everyone and giving high fives. After the short hill leaving the tunnel (I felt like I was crawling), I started seeing the signs for 800m, 400m and 200m to go. I was ready to be done and was just trying to visualize the distance on the track. The crowds in the final chute were awesome and I when I crossed the finish line I was really excited to see the time on my watch!

Miles 11 – 13.1: 7:15, 7:11, 7:52 (Lost satellite in tunnel), 6:17

Overall: 1:38:30 (7:32 avg. pace)

After the race, I quickly found Jocelyn, Meggie and Christa (who both had big PR’s too!).

We were freezing so we quickly walked over to the subway and jumped on to head home and get warm!

After the race we went back to Hu Kitchen to celebrate Meggie’s residency match and then relaxed at the apartment for the rest of the evening.

Monday morning I met Meggie for a SUPER slow and easy run/shuffle along the East River. It felt good to get my legs moving and the blood flowing.

Yes, I finally took pictures on the last day.

I didn’t have much soreness after the race, which was a pleasant surprise. My biggest battle wound from the weekend? The chaffing on my neck!

And the only bad part of the entire weekend? My flight was cancelled Monday evening and I had to stay at a hotel out by the airport and leave Tuesday morning. Despite it being weather related, Delta paid for it (!!), so I guess I can’t complain too much!

Posted in friends, Goals, Hood to Coast, Race reports, Races, running, training, Travel, weekend fun, workout clothes | 11 Comments

(Un)steady State

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Corey

Before I get to my NYC 1/2 Marathon race report, I had to get some thoughts out on everything related to our move. In short, things are going really, really well. And it terrifies me.

We are moving along through the purchase process in Chicago. The inspection was pretty good, with only minor issues; Our financing process is progressing and we are looking to close the week before Eugene; We got a estimate back for some work we want to do on the home and it came in WAY below what we expected to pay.

We also accepted a near full-price offer on our home in Greenville this morning…and we never even put it on the market. The couple buying wants to close on April 19th, the week before we close in Chicago, which makes the relocation process ideal.

I couldn’t ask for things to be going better. But I can’t tell you how many times I have said to my mom, “It’s too good to be true.” or “Something will go wrong. I just know it.”

I don’t know why I feel like we don’t deserve for things to come together or why I can’t just be happy that so many things seem to be falling into place, but I am on pins and needles waiting for the bottom to drop out. My mind is racing to come up with all of the things that could go wrong and I laid awake in bed last night, exhausted, but unable to shut off my brain.

Maybe this is natural…just a normal part of a big life change? Maybe I am struggling with something else that I never recognized in myself before? Maybe its because life has been full of such HIGH highs and such LOW lows the last several weeks? For example, when we were house hunting in Chicago, in a matter of 48 hours, I went from the huge high of celebrating Brad accepting the job and Char’s BQ, to finding out Ernie was really sick the same day my dad was having major back surgery and my grandma was admitted to the hospital. All those things added to the stress of finding a home and moving and it felt like my world was falling apart. Then 2 days later, everyone was home, recovering and life went back to normal again. It was pretty bizarre.

Through all of this, running has been the only constant. You might think that marathon training would add more stress, but I have found it to be a blessing. Being committed to my plan during peak marathon training keeps me from letting excuses get in the way of what is always the perfect therapeutic outlet. I know you all know exactly what I mean…running puts everything into perspective. What seems stressful at the start of a run, can melt away as I pound out repeats on the track or push through the last tempo miles of a tough workout. I find it really easy to pour myself into marathon training when the rest of my life gets hectic. It’s the only thing that I feel like is steady in my life.

Well, that was a big unloading of emotion there…and I am not sure if I really even said anything. Don’t be surprised to see more of these brain dumps over the next few months. I suppose getting a journal would be more rational, but why do that when I can put all of my thoughts out on the internet for the whole world to read??

Posted in Ernie, family, Goals, Greenville, life, Moving, Races, running, Travel | 5 Comments

Chicago Bound

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Corey

“You’re running the Chicago Marathon?”, you ask. Nope. I am not Chicago bound because I am running the marathon this October. In fact, despite debating it for a while, I didn’t even try to register or enter the lottery.

I am Chicago bound because…

WE ARE MOVING TO CHICAGO!!!

What you read next might be a rambling mess. Even though I have been writing this blog post in my head for weeks…no make that months now…this is so life changing that I am not sure where to start.

The details?

Brad got a new job in Chicago. It is a position that he has always aspired to in his career and with a company that he has a great deal of experience working with as one of his current clients. Needless to say, he is thrilled beyond belief for the opportunity and I couldn’t be more excited that I can fully support him chasing a career dream of his, while still staying on track with mine.

Yes, someone actually gave this guy a new job.

My company, specifically, my super supportive and amazing boss, is allowing me to work remotely in Chicago. We are doing some investigation into what remote offices we have there (yes, my company is so big that no one even knows where all the offices are!), but if there is not a convenient corporate office, then I will be working from home. I know there are advantages and disadvantages of working from home (and don’t think I haven’t been following the explosion of the discussion around this topic in the media lately), but right now all I can visualize is being in yoga pants with puppies on my lap all day

I mean seriously, who wouldn’t want to look at these faces all day?!

There are a number of reasons that working remotely is acceptable for the position that I have right now, but a big reason is that I am spending a ton of time on the phone with people in Peoria, IL right now. My boss and I have agreed that I will make the 2.5 hour drive down there a few times a month to spend time with them in person. Since we have family there…I see it as a win/win for me getting to support Brad’s career, spend time with my in-laws and nieces and make it easy for my boss to justify why this is the right thing to do.

Brad will start his new position on April 22 (SO SOON!) but of course we are in the process of closing on a home in Chicago and selling our home here, so I am not sure when I will transition. I have a project that I will wrap up in the next 30 days that requires me to be in Greenville, so staying here will allow me to get the house stuff taken care of, throw a baby shower for this beautiful girl and maintain a little consistency with marathon training.

Speaking of training…no I still don’t know where I will be living when it is time to travel to Eugene for the marathon. I alluded to this in a recent post and so far I still have no clarity. Despite having a pretty strongly Type-A personality, I have relocated enough times to know that some things just have to be taken as they come and decisions can’t always be made in advance. I am just breathing, controlling what I can and trying to let everything else go. So far, so good! Or maybe it just hasn’t quite hit me yet?!

As excited as we are for the big change, the move is very, very bittersweet. We absolutely LOVE Greenville and will absolutely miss our life here. It is a beautiful, smallish town, with an outstanding outdoor community that is huge for running and cycling (for me) and golf (for Brad). We have AMAZING friends and neighbors here and it makes my heart ache just thinking about saying goodbye to them. Oh, and I won’t even get started on the weather. Ahhh, the weather.

I don’t even want to think about leaving this girl.

BUT we also have a great group of friends in Chicago…both from college and our time living in Illinois after college. We absolutely love the city, access to shopping, airports, great food, SPORTS (CUBS! BEARS!) and everything else that a big city provides. I know we will eventually get established and have a life we love there too, but it will take time.

View of Lake Michigan from downtown Chicago

I am sure there will be many more follow-ups to this post. Things will be crazy, but I hope to document it all…the excitement, frustrations, sadness, and all the other emotions that come with such a big life change. I want to be able to look back and re-live this journey…if nothing else for lessons learned for the next go-round!

So, who lives in Chicago? I will need running partners, cycling buddies and somewhere to swim that doesn’t require my entire paycheck for a membership. Also, who is running a race in the city and wants to stay with me?! We will have plenty of space in our new house!

Posted in Ernie, family, friends, Greenville, life, Nieces and Nephews, Races, running, the boys, training, Travel, triathlon, work travel | 27 Comments

To Race or Not to Race?

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Corey

This weekend is finally the New York City 1/2 Marathon! You might remember that this trip is my NYC re-do from the cancelled trip back in November. Needless to say, I am BEYOND excited for a long weekend in one of my favorite cities and staying with one of my favorite people. In fact, I am not sure if I am more excited about the weekend fun or actually running the race?!

Fact: I love racing. I love the nerves, the anticipation of a hard effort, the possibility of running faster than I have before, the feeling of crossing the finish line, post-race brunch. All of it. And since I haven’t truly raced since December in Kiawah (excluding Ragnar in January), you would think I would be chomping at the bit to race this 1/2 marathon.

When I registered it was supposed to be my sub-1:40:00 race. I knew I would be 9 weeks into Eugene training and hoped I would be feeling really strong and fast. But I also knew that I would be in peak marathon training and that it was a possibility that my legs may not be fresh and ready to chase down a PR.

And all of that is true. I am feeling strong and am pretty consistently hitting hard paces on the track and in tempo runs. In fact, I have even had more than a few workouts where I have run 5-6 miles at what would be my half marathon goal pace and haven’t felt too terribly fatigued.

BUT (of course there is always a “but”) I am not sure if racing this weekend is the smartest move. The race on Sunday, along with a warm-up and cool-down, will put me around 52 miles for the week. Is it smart to race during a high mileage (for me) week? My right glute and hammy have been a little tight. So far it’s nothing that stretching, yoga and massage haven’t been able to keep under control, but will pushing a 1/2 marathon aggravate it? I have another high intensity, high mileage week on the schedule for next week. Will pushing the race force me to take it easy on those miles and interfere with my marathon training?

Those are all the questions I am asking myself right now. The logical thing is to run the half marathon as a marathon pace effort or even just as easy miles as part of a long run, but of course “logical” and “running decisions” aren’t always synonymous. Plus, technically my schedule called for a tune-up race this week…albeit not longer than 15k…so maybe it is a good idea to race and assess my fitness level?!

Back-and-forth. So many considerations. (Also #firstworldproblems). To be honest, this will most likely be a “game time” decision. In fact, it might even be a decision that I make at mile 3 or 4 of the race, depending on how my legs feel after a few 7:30ish miles.

Either way, I know it is going to be an awesome weekend! I can’t wait to see my HTC teammate Steph at the race, and hopefully Laura and Susan too! I also can’t wait to meet Meggie and some of my other Twitter/blog friends!

Who else is running the 1/2 this weekend? Anyone have any advice on racing during peak marathon training? I would love to hear other points that I may have missed!!

Posted in friends, Goals, Hood to Coast, injuries, Races, running, training, Travel, weekend fun | 10 Comments

Halfway

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Corey

Last week was week 8 of Eugene Marathon training. Completing week 8 of a 16-week plan means that I am now HALFWAY through this training cycle.

This excites me and scares me at the same time because I can’t wait to race Eugene but I also don’t feel ready quite yet.

Breathe.

I haven’t blogged near as much during this training cycle as I did when training for big races before. I am not exactly sure why, especially since this is the most challenging marathon training cycle I have ever had. But really, I just feel like I am kind of putting my head down and getting it done. And there really isn’t too much to say…I got up early, I ran, it was hard, but I nailed my splits (or didn’t) and then repeat.

I love marathon training and this cycle has been no exception. In fact, increasing my mileage has been a new challenge that I have whole-heartedly enjoyed. Seeing workouts and training weeks that scare me a little every week is what keeps me going. It’s what I day dream about at work all day and what I think about when I fall asleep at night.

So where am I at and what have I learned in the last 8 weeks?

Increasing mileage isn’t as big of a deal as I thought it would be. Since I did it slowly, it never felt overwhelming and the longer mid-week runs are just sort of part of the routine now.
My body feels pretty good. I am at the point where I think every little twinge is a season ending injury but so far, nothing major has come up. I did get a much needed massage last week to work out tightness in my right glute and hamstring, but it feels like it did the trick. (*crosses fingers*)
I am starting to feel stronger and more confident. Speed workout and tempo paces that were brutally impossible 6 weeks ago are starting to become manageable. Not easy, but just hard enough that I can hit the splits and feel strong and not like I will collapse any second.
I am paranoid of germs. The last thing I want right now is to get sick so I am washing my hands like crazy and hate touching things in public places like airports.
I don’t yet have butterflies about the race. When I think about race day, it is still far enough away that I don’t get that nervous, excited flutter in my tummy. When I picture race day, all that comes to mind right now is “What will I wear?” which of course I can’t answer because I have no idea what the weather will be.
I have a *little* anxiety about not having travel plans for Eugene yet. Many of my housemates for the weekend have already booked flights and rental cars and have their travel sorted. I will do my best not to be vague here (since I hate that) but I just need some more time to figure out the details.
My appetite is crazy! I tried something different during this training cycle and I am tracking my calorie burn and intake with My Fitness Pal. This has been helpful because I tend to overdo it with sugar when I am training, but I can see with the app that I DO need a lot of calories to fuel but I also am more accountable with sugar intake. And without even trying, I have lost about 5 lbs. I actually think it was 5 lbs that I could stand to lose since I had gained some after 70.3 training last fall.
I have talked about this a few times now, but the treadmill has been a really good training tool for me. It works out really well to do a recovery run on the treadmill then head straight downstairs to my 6 a.m. yoga class on Mondays and Fridays. It ensures that I keep recovery runs easy and don’t push myself more than I should and just makes sense sometimes.
Speaking of yoga, I am obsessed. There was a time last week when I went to a yoga class 4 out of 5 days. I love how I feel after and I truly believe that it has been part of me staying healthy over the last 8 weeks.
I love running. Now more than ever. I had one day where I felt burnt out, but looking back now I think I probably had a little Monday blues more than anything. At almost 9 weeks into training, I am not yet “ready to get it over with”. But we’ll see…

Here’s hoping to 7 more weeks of a healthy body and tough mind!

Posted in friends, Goals, Greenville, injuries, Races, running, training | 10 Comments

Albany Marathon: Char’s BQ

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Corey

Last Saturday I had the privilege of not only witnessing one of my best friends achieve a HUGE goal, but being a part of it.

Back Story

Char has qualified for The Boston Marathon TWICE. But she has never run The Boston Marathon.

The first time she qualified was in 2009 at Albany with a 3:40:xx. She was training for The Goofy Challenge and decided to wait to register for Boston until she was sure she would be healthy through her increased mileage. Of course this was back when Boston had never filled before January. Well, in 2009 (for the ’10 race), we saw the first signs of Boston’s increasing popularity…as it filled nearly 2 months earlier than it ever had – in early December. Char missed registration by a week. She was devastated.

But true to her character, she didn’t give up on her Boston dream. We trained together for Kiawah Marathon in December 2010 and once again, on a tough, rainy day she BQ’d with a 3:40:xx. Due to Boston filling in only 8 hours that year, a few months later the BAA announced that the registration process in 2011 (for 2012) would be cascaded down from fastest to slowest. 3:37:xx was the cut-off and once again, Char didn’t get to run Boston.

Fast forward 2 years, an Ironman and lots of convincing by yours truly and Char was convinced that she could run a 3:34:59. She trained for the Charleston Marathon on January 19th and ran a PR of 3:37:26. Of course she was happy with the PR, but she still had her sights on Boston.

We contemplated other races, discussed long-term fatigue, talked about utilizing base fitness and ultimately decided that she would try again at Albany….6 weeks later.

Because I know I would want to know, here is what her recovery/build-up plan looked like:

Week 1: A few easy 3-4 milers, long run of 6 miles
Week 2: Short, intense speed work (4×800′s), long run of 12 miles
Week 3: 2 Easy runs + 15-miler that included a 10-mile race (avg. just under MGP)
Week 4: 21-miler @ MGP + 15 seconds (per Run Less, Run Faster)
Week 5: 8-mile long run @ MGP (total of only 18 miles this week)
Marathon week: 2 runs: 5-miler w/ 4×400, 3-miles @ MGP

She also cross-trained with lots of easy spinning on the trainer, a few outdoor rides and swimming 1-2 times/week.

Pre-Race

Up until 10 p.m. on the Thursday night before the marathon, Char still wasn’t sure if she would run it. She had been sick and missed miles during week 4, her IT-band was acting up in week 5 and she just wasn’t sure if it was worth the trip. I had told her from the beginning that if she made the trip, I would be there. I even flip-flopped my training schedule so that I would have MGP miles in my long run for that weekend. After lots of debating and weather stalking, she registered 2 hours before the on-line cut-off and we made the 5-hour drive to Albany on Friday afternoon.

We had lots of fun chatting on the drive, vegging out with pasta take-out in our hotel room and watching trash TV that our husbands hate. It was a perfect girls’ night.

Is there any question that runners were in this room?

The Race

Albany is a small race (about 2000 runners) so we were easily able to get a parking spot within eye shot of the start line. It was cold but we stayed warm in the car until about 10 minutes before the start then we walked up so Char could find the 3:35 pace group and get ready to go.

The race started right on time at 7 a.m. and I waited just over an hour until I started running. I ran a nice easy 6 miles over to mile 16, then waited a short 5ish minutes before the 3:35 pace group came through, right on time. I hopped in and fell into pace with Char, as planned. (For those of you who will look down on my rule-breaking, just note that I didn’t take any water or other supplies from the course! I carried my own!)

At mile-16 Char was feeling strong. The group had been steady and she had about a 30-second cushion. As we chatted with the runners around us, we slowly found ourselves pulling away from the pace group. The miles ticked off pretty quickly and before we knew it, we hit mile 20. At that point, we were in a small group with a first-time marathoner (!!), an older (super annoying) guy and another really nice girl who BQ’d at Rehoboth in December. I sort of became the pacer for this little group as we chugged away at mile 21, then 22. Shortly before 23, the nice girl pulled away, the guy dropped out and the super sweet first-timer was a few steps behind us.

Char made it to 23 still feeling pretty strong. She was talking, her form looked good and I just kept repeating to her that it was “Her Day”. We had built up about a 45-second cushion by then and I was confident that she would make it.

Around 24.5, the small rolling hills and wind started to take its toll on Char. I kept right on pace and staying a few steps in front of her, not only so she could tuck in behind me, but also so she could just focus on following me and not worry about anything else. I knew that she knew that she would make it. But I also knew that she was hurting pretty bad.

We just focused on the next turn and making it to the next mile marker. When we finally hit mile 25, the official clock showed that she had 11-minutes to run 1.2 miles and at last, she was able to relax. She smiled big and I told her that this was her victory lap. The look on her face, knowing that she had done it, was priceless. Finally when we hit mile-26, she picked up the pace and sprinted it in, and I yelled to the crowds as we ran in that “She is going to Boston!”. This got tons of loud cheers and support as she entered the finishers’ chute.

I peeled off at the chute and watched her cross the finish line at 3:34:06.

We were both in tears and gave each other the biggest, sweatiest hug ever. I am not sure if I have ever been more proud of another individual in my entire life. She ran a perfect, negative split race by a few seconds and qualified for Boston for the THIRD time!

I have never been more inspired to achieve that goal in my life. I am so excited for Eugene!

Posted in friends, Goals, injuries, life, Race reports, Races, running, training | 8 Comments

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