Derby Half Marathon Recap

Friday - expo and dinner - Jeremy and I drove to Lexington to pick up Jeremy's brother, Jordan. We stopped at Jimmy Johns on the way up and got lunch.  After we picked up Jordan, we drove to Louisville and checked in to our hotel.  We met Lesley and her husband, who were also staying at our hotel, and headed to the expo a few blocks away. I love walking through expos, it's always fun to look at running stuff. But I didn't buy anything this time.  After the expo, we walked several blocks to the Bluegrass Brewing Co. for dinner where we could get some meat and potatos. 



Race Shirt

Saturday - prerace - I did not sleep well at all the night of the half.  The hotel we were staying at was very close to where a live band was playing and we were on that side of the hotel. In addition to that Jordan was talking in his sleep and my sister-in-law was playing words with friends at 3AM.  (love ya trisha) Needless to say my sleep was not very restful.  When the alarm went off at 5:45AM though we did have the good fortune of it NOT raining!!

Me and Lesley in the coral

Jeremy, Jordan, Lesley, Clay (her husband) and I walked to another hotel to pick up Twila, Monica (her other running buddy) and Clay's running partner Pat.  Then we headed down to the starting line.  Lesley and I dropped everyone off and headed on back to go to a port a potty and our coral.  We were able to take care of business before the race started. We decided we would not talk during the race but would stay together as long as we could.  We stayed together through mile 7ish, with me hollering to walk on our scheduled walk breaks every 9 minutes.  Lesley was starting to pull away. I was able to keep her in sight for a while but finally lost her.

Miles 1-8 were good. I was on pace to get a PR, unfotunately the wheels fell off quickly.  Around mile 9 or so I was starting to really feel it.  I think I had drank too much water and had that sloshy feeling in my stomach.  I should have taken one more GU around then but didnt think I could handle it.  Mile 9 was my worst mile by far time wise.  I'm not quite sure what happened then. I don't remember it being that bad but according to my watch it was!  I do remember starting to feel like my right underarm starting to run as well as my legs where the compression shorts hit at the bottom.  :(

My leg where my shorts rubbed

Around mile 10 a girl that I had been going back and forth with through mile 9 asked if she could run next to me to help her keep pace. Her running partner had gone on ahead too.  So we ran for the most part in silence for the next 3 miles trying to encourage each other when it was time to walk. My walk breaks of one minute became more like one and half to two minute break. 

Finally we turned the corner and saw the finish.  I crossed the line with a time of 2:52:22.  Three minutes slower than my PR time from West Virginia.  My father in law who had volunteered at the race was there to take my picture and walk with me to get some food while we waited on Jeremy and Jordan and Twila to finish.   

My medal

I'm not extremely disappointed with my time and not PR'ing.  I do have another race in three weeks and think this will help me in that one since we never did a 12 miler before this half.  I know I need to drink less and eat another GU somewhere around mile 9. 

Jeremy's dad and I waited at the finish and watched Jordan break 4 hours for the first time, Twila hit 4 hours on the dot, and watched Jeremy unfortunately add some time to his previous full marathon PR.  He had been on pace to break 4 through mile 20.5 but hit the wall majorly. 

He says Cleveland will be his last marathon...... I'm not so sure.  I think he has learned and knows he needs to train, eat and hydrate differently.  Hopefully we can get some of that worked out before the Cleveland race. 

It's Almost Here

The Derby Half is two and a half days away! 


I know I have trained more than the previous two half's and am physically ready but mentally I'm not sure.  I have been watching the weather like a hawk and it has changed drastically since the 10 day forecast started appearing.  It's gone from high of 82 and sunny to 66 and cloudy.  Today's current forecast for Saturday is  75 degrees with a chance of rain and storms.  I know what shorts I'm wearing, but the top I had planned on chaffed my arm on my last long run, so I can't wear it....  I guess I'll wear my regular sleeveless shirt. It seems to be my "go to" shirt. 

after my first Tri - 2010

after my first half - 2010

after the indoor tri - 2012

Apparently I have regular "go to" shorts too, but I'm not wearing them on Saturday.


I really don't have a time goal in mind for this race, other than to PR.  But if I have to have goals I guess they are: a PR even by one second will be my A goal,  2:45 for my B goal, and 2:40 for my C goal.

Lesley and I are going to start together, but I'm not sure how long we will stay together. I have a feeling she will be well in front of me.  I plan on sticking to my run 9 minutes, walking 1 minute pace for as long as I can.  Usually the last couple miles it's hard to not walk more.  I also plan on running with my Ipod which I don't do when we do our long runs.

When you run "with" someone in a race do you stay by their side the whole time?  Or are you within site of each other?

4 races in 4 weekends...

What have I done?  As of today I am signed up to run in 4 races the next 4 weekends. I have the Derby Half on Saturday, then I signed up for 2 5K's the following two Saturdays, and then will do another half in Cleveland. Yikes! (Of course Jeremy has it even worse because instead of a half he is doing both full marathons and instead of one of the 5K's, he is doing the 15K.) I'm not sure what we have gotten ourselves into!

Quite honestly the 5K's make me more nervous than either of the half marathons.  I still haven't achieved my sub 30 time goal and until I do, I think the thought of a 5K will make me sick to my stomach.  I know I've gotten faster, but sub 30 is still out there looming in the distance.  I'm hoping 2012 will be the year I can do it!

 

Last Long Run

Today was our last long run before the Derby Half Marathon.  Lesley and I met at 8:35am and headed out on our new/old path. It's pretty much the same path we always run but we started at a different spot to add some distance and instead of running around the College, we added some on another street and through the park. 

When we were in Pigeon Forge a couple weeks ago, I bought a two new tanks and a couple pairs of running skirts with shorts underneath.  I'm tried out one of the tanks to know if I can wear it at Derby.  I have matching skirt/shorts to go with it but was hesitant to run in new bottoms for that long of a distance.  I'm thinking I'll try the bottoms out on Saturday for a semi-long run of 4 miles or so. I loved the tank, it was a lot cooler and thinner than my previous tanks, BUT it caused a bit of chaffing under my left arm! :( I'm not sure what it was rubbing on. The right arm didn't bother me at all.  Now I'm worried I wont be able to wear it at all.  Anyone had that problem with chaffing under their arms?  Will body glide help and/or last for a half?

Originally we were supposed to run last Saturday but well, things didn't work out.  I had a brief moment of thinking we would just run 12 this upcoming Saturday but Jeremy got me worried that even though it was only two days later that I wouldn't be fully recovered in time for the half.

I know I am better trained for this half than the previous two.  I have put in a lot more mileage and cross-training since the last half and feel it will be a good race.  The only downfall is that the weather is predicted to be pretty warm that day.  I'm hoping as we get closer the forecast will change and bring some cooler weather.  Today's run though causes me to worry a bit.  Our 12 turned in to 10.65 miles.  It was/is warmer than it has been all spring and with our semi late start, the 20 degree change really made a difference.  I knew at mile 6 that it wasn't going to be pretty bc our average pace at mile 6 was the same as it was a week and a half ago for 10!  Let's just say it did NOT get better from there.  We finished 10.65 a minute per mile slower than last weeks 10. 

The upside, or what I'm trying to see as the upside, is that I am not sore afterwards like I was last week and that the race will be starting an hour earlier than we started today. But it's supposed to be warmer next weekend so that probably cancels out the earlier start time. 

No one likes having a bad run, especially one a little over a week before their race. 

He's a Winner!

I want to thank everyone for their condolences on the loss of my grandmother.  It meant a lot to me.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that Jeremy was entered in a drawing at work for a free entry fee and weekend to the Cleveland Marathon.  He found out on Monday that he won the drawing!!  He gets a "free" vacation day for travel, $100 Visa card for food, two nights in a hotel, and reimbursement for gas or the use of the company vehicle to drive there!  Yay!!! I registered myself for the half yesterday. 

Jeremy with his packet of winnings

The only bad thing about this trip/race is that will be only three weeks after the Derby full/half for us.  Which means not much recovery or taper for the Cleveland race.  There is a 5K each of the Saturdays that I'd like to do, so I was thinking of doing them, then doing a long run 8-10 miles in the middle of that week, half way between the two halves. 

We are planning on going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, touring the American Greetings Headquarters, and possibly going to the Pro-Football Hall of Fame in Canton and to Cedar Point Amusement Park as well.  Of course to do all that we would need to take an extra day or two vacation and make it into a longer weekend trip. 

Has anyone ran a full or a half with three weeks in between? What kind of training did you do in-between?

Also, I've been having trouble with emailing myself pictures from my Iphone.  It's not turning them the correct way when it comes through email.  I don't know if a setting has been changed or what.  Any suggestions?

Loss

My grandmother on my dad's side, passed away from Alzheimer's on Saturday. She has been in a nursing home for the past several years, but in the past few months she has really declined.  I have lost both of my  grandmothers to Alzheimer's.  I truly hope they find a cure or a treatment for it because it's not looking good for me!

Friday while on my way to swim, my mom called and said the nursing home had called and said the family needs to come, it won't be much longer.  I drove to tell my masters coach that I wouldn't be able to stay and drove to the nursing home instead to see her one last time. 

Saturday, Lesley and I had planned on getting up and running at 6am, which is extremely early for the two of us.  Right after my alarm went off, she texted that she was sick and wasn't going to be able to make it.  So I reset my alarm and went back to sleep. I had to go to a meeting at 10 and couldn't wait to start later with Jeremy and Twila because I wouldn't be able to get my miles in before my meeting and didn't want to run in the dark by myself. Mom called at the end of my meeting to tell me that my grandmother had passed away.

I will always remember going to my grandma's house for Sunday dinners with the complete spread of "country" cooking: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, creamed corn, macaroni and cheese and peach cobbler was my favorite meal.   She was the best cook and actually taught my mom how to cook after she and my dad were married.  I'm very thankful for that as well. My grandma loved her soaps and we always enjoyed watching and/or talking about Days of Our Lives when I was younger.

New Schedule

Last week, Jeremy went to days.  He is out the door by 6:45 and he takes lunch from noon-1pm.  He gets an hour now instead of 30 minutes!

Before when he was on split shift days, he went in to work at noon.  I went to my second job from 9:30-11am so I could be home in time to eat lunch with him before he left for work.  Now that he's coming home at noon, I can go in to work an hour later and thus sleep an hour later. However, the past two mornings (last week was spring break at school so I didn't have to go in at all), I have woken up before I used to get up to be at work at 9:30!!!  What?!?!  I can sleep til 10 now, but instead I'm waking up before 9!  GRRR! 

This morning though I decided to embrace it and get  my run in before I went to school. This way, I could take a nap after Jeremy went back to work after lunch and not be rushed to get in a nap and my run!  We'll see if this keeps up or not. 

10 miles and finally a soft drink

On Friday, Lesley and I met to do 10 miles.  Our half is in 3 weeks and we were in desperate need of a long run.  It had been a few weeks since our last 7 miler.  The weather dropped down this weekend and it was upper 30's when we took off.  We started at Twila's house instead of our usual spot at the Save-A-Lot.  This added a little bit of distance and it gave us a change of scenery.   Since school was in session we didn't want to run on Centre's campus so we went down a new street for us.  We ended up going a little past 5 miles out so we were able to cut some off the end of our run.  This same route should work great for next week's 12 miles. 

This past weekend Jeremy and I went to Gatlinburg TN for some outlet mall shopping!! I was in need of some nice work clothes.  Primarily all the clothes I have bought the past two years have been running clothes.  I found some great deals and got several skirts, dress pants and cardigans I can wear to work.  I did get some new running skirts with shorts underneath and a couple running tanks too, I just couldn't pass them up.

The best thing about this weekend though was that TODAY I could drink soft drinks again!!  I bought a dt.mountain dew at the hotel vending machine last night so I could have it first thing this a.m. when I woke up.  It was wonderful. Then I had another dt. coke at the restaurant for breakfast.  I am going to limit myself to only drinking soft drinks 2-3 times a week and not buying any to have on hand at the house.

just a spectating

On Saturday, Jeremy and I had planned on getting up early than normal, running, then going to Lexington to watch Jeremy's dad finish a half marathon. His dad was on a relay and was the fourth and final person in the relay.  Of course things didn't really go as planned. 

We woke up and got ready only to find that Jeremy's garmin had come off the charger and was dead.  He plugged it in but it wasn't going to have enough juice to get him through his run.  So we went back to bed for about a couple hours, then got up and ready again to go to watch the finish line. 

We saw several other runners from Danville that had already finished as we were walking to the finish line.  They all said the same thing "It was hilly!" When the owner of the town running store says it's hilly, you know it's hilly!  We were able to see some of our friends finish while we were waiting for Jeremy's dad.  It is very emotional watching people finish! I teared up several times for people I didn't even know! 

Finally, we saw Jeremy's dad and Jeremy ran in a little ways to the finish with him. 

 When we came home we found this in the tree by the porch.