First Race-cation: Smoothie King Big Easy Runfest

About a year ago my husband and I learned of a race with an interesting registration set-up where the first group of people who signed up got in for a dollar, the next group got in for $5, then $10, and so on in $5 increments.  Even though we live in Ohio and this race takes place in New Orleans we figured that if our registration was cheap enough we wouldn't lose much money if we couldn't make it to the race.  While I worked Nick signed us up for the race as fast as he could.  He got in for $5 and he registered me for $35.  $40 is not a bad price for the two of us to run a half marathon.  So, we started to plan our trip to New Orleans, a place neither of us had been to before.

We reserved a room in the host hotel, about 11 months in advance, and started saving.  Our local grocery store sells gift cards to the hotel chain where we were going to stay and when you shop there you earn fuel points.  When we bought $100 of groceries we would get 10 cents off per gallon of gas in a fill-up.  When we bought $100 of gift cards we would get between 20 and 40 cents off per gallon of gas in a fill-up.  This is how we saved for our trip.  We bought gas and hotel gift cards which saved us money on gas which we could use for more gift cards.  If we didn't make it to New Orleans we could use those gift cards on another hotel in the chain, it was a good way to save money.

Finally we got to the week of our trip.  We were leaving Wednesday night and coming back on Sunday.  It would have been nice to go for a whole week but I only get 4 personal days a year so I can't take a full week off from work plus that would also add hotel costs.  I was planning on taking Thursday and Friday as personal days and getting back in time to go to work on Monday.  Some friends were watching our kids for us and I am so grateful to them for doing that.  After having our normal Wednesday dinner of Skyline we dropped off the kids and headed South, it was going to be a long drive.

Rest Stop in Alabama

Driving overnight has its advantages and disadvantages, less traffic but fighting sleepiness.  Usually Nick sleeps all day before driving an overnight but he had worked a lot in the past few days and had not gotten an opportunity to rest up.  We stopped a few times for gas, food, and caffeine.  Unfortunately our gas cards weren't very useful.  Most of the Shell stations that we passed on our trip down were closed so we had to get gas at other stations.

One notable stop was the first rest stop in Alabama.  It had a rocket at the entrance to the rest stop.  We were pulling off to take a nap but we had to get out and look around.  It had a wonderful park with memorials and, of course, the rocket.  We wandered it at 2 am then returned to our car to catch a quick nap.  Afterwards we continued on, alternating drivers a few times.  We continued into Mississippi and then Louisiana, two states I had never been in before.  As we approached our destination we knew we would be really early to the hotel and we wanted to be able to check-in when we got there.  Along the way we stopped at a Wal-Mart about an hour away from the hotel to pick up a few last minute items that we had forgotten.  We got into New Orleans around 1 pm on Thursday, a few hours before check-in at our hotel but we were hoping that we could check in a little early.  Fortunately it wasn't a problem.  We checked in, using all our gift cards, which amused the employee who checked us in.  She had never seen gift cards to the hotel and wondered where we had found them.  She found the story interesting.

View of the inside of the hotel from the 26th floor

We went to our room, settled our things, and checked out the hotel.  As part of our room we had access to a lounge which served breakfast, afternoon snack, and evening appetizers.  Since we had reserved our room so far in advance we were always vigilant for a better price on our room.  As the year passed better rooms became available for cheaper than the room we had reserved.  We kept switching until we had an amazing room that was a lot cheaper than our initial reservation.  This room included quite a bit of free food.  We checked-in with time to go get some afternoon snacks which included huge cookies, amazing puff pastries, and a variety of drinks available.  It was nice having food immediately available.  We enjoyed the view from the highest floor, checked out the gym, went to the gift shop, then headed out to enjoy New Orleans.

Nick and I on Bourbon Street

We walked from our hotel to Canal Street and Bourbon Street.   We checked out the shops, listened to music from the bars, and ate at The Hard Rock Cafe.  I wanted to try some authentic cuisine, but on the first night we just wanted to get some good food since we had been eating a lot of snacks and not much in the way of meals over the last 24 hours.  It was only around 6-7 pm when we headed back to the hotel.  We were still tired from the drive and had a few days to enjoy the city.

On Friday I needed to get a run in.  I did not run on Wednesday or Thursday so I needed to warm up my legs for the race on Saturday.  We asked the concierge about a good place to run.  She suggested a street that was only a few blocks away.  We walked to that street to find that it was narrow and bustling with traffic, that wasn't going to work at all.  So we kept walking.  This was the opposite direction that we had gone on Thursday so we got to see parts of New Orleans that were not a part of the French Quarter including a World War II museum, Civil War Museum, a Grilled Cheese and Wine restaurant, and various street art.  Eventually we found our way to the Mississippi River where there was an outlet mall and a River Walk, where there were many people out for a run.  I had found a place to run.  Nick wasn't planning on running so he checked out the stores at the outlet mall while I got my run in.

Sights along the River Walk

November is Louisiana is warm but this day was a bit warmer than normal, even for them.  It was easily in the 90s with high humidity.  The river walk did not offer much shade at all but it was a safe place to run and that was all I needed.  The walk itself, from one end to the other, was only about 1 mile long.  I wanted at least 3 miles so I would have to run parts of the river walk at least twice.  There were many sights along the river walk including an aquarium, holocaust memorial, statues, and the Mississippi River.  This was also an area where riverboats docked for tours up and down the Mississippi.  There were lots of people, not just runners, along the river walk but there were at least a dozen runners that I saw so I wasn't the only one jostling the non-runners.  On my first time down the path I just enjoyed the sights.  On my second trip I stopped and took pictures, who knows when I would get a chance to see this place again, and I figured out a better route to follow.  I was just enjoying a run so I might as well document it.  I returned after 3 miles to the outlet mall to find my husband.  He was shopping at the Puma store and had seen me running through their store windows.  We got some bingets (not sure of spelling) checked out a lot of shops (Coach, It's Sugar, Lindor, and a New Orleans shop) and did some shopping.  Nick started feeling sick and we needed to head back to the hotel so that we could pick up our race packets so we went back to the hotel.

We figured out a much more direct route back than we took to get to the river walk and were back to the Superdome very quickly.  After picking up our packets, and turning in canned goods (part of the registration requirements) we checked out the few booths at the outdoor expo and picked up a few items.  Nick got sunglasses and I got a pain cream for my feet.  It was a smaller expo than we expected but we both found some interesting things and we both got a free shirt and some other goodies, I love free stuff.  Nick needed to rest after that and I needed a shower so we returned to the hotel for a few hours.  I think our internal clocks were all messed up because we ended up eating an early dinner again.  This time we went to a local Mexican food chain, Juan's Flying Burrito, it was small, away from the French Quarter, and very different from the Mexican food I'm used to in Ohio.  It was good.  We came back to the hotel to find a jazz band setting up outside one of the restaurants.  I wanted to see a jazz band so I came back down to the lobby to enjoy the music while Nick recovered from his stomach ache in our room.  The performance was wonderful.  I just soaked up all the music.

Ready to go

Race day.  Since we were close to the start of the race we didn't get up very early, not early enough for me to get a warm-up mile, but we did get ready and out in time to join a group warm-up done by a local fitness place at the race start.  It was fun and it got me warmed up.  Nick and I were enjoying a game of "Spot the Northerner".  There were runners at the race like Nick and I, wearing tank tops and shorts, and there were runners who were very different, wearing jackets, earmuffs, and gloves.  It was around 50 degrees F with some very strong winds so to us it was perfect running weather; to the local New Orleans runners it was a chilly day.  I placed my self near the 10 min/mile pacer because I just wanted to enjoy the run, not push for a PR and the race began.  I lost the 10 minute pacer but I kept him in sight and planned to catch-up.  Surprisingly the course followed a similar route to the course that Nick and I had walked the day before to get to the River walk.  We saw a lot of the same sights and went around the same round-about and found it amusing that we were covering these roads again.  I didn't have to sight-see because I had already seen it.  We went past Mardi Gras World, past the outlet mall, barely touching the French Quarter, back to the hotel, and out towards neighborhoods in the opposite direction.  This was when we had some new sights to see.  There was a large park with lighted sculptures, art and memorials to local legends (some I knew, some I didn't), and a very different view of New Orleans.

Within the last mile of the course

The first part of the course was a loop, the second part was an out-and-back.  I got into the out-and-back portion shortly before the race winners were coming to the home stretch so I got to see everyone along that part of the course.  We ran along a canal to a small dip below a bridge then back up again.  This was the only hill we had in the entire course and we did it twice.  It was maybe a 6ft climb at most, quite a change from Adams County.  We came back along the canal and I knew that I should see my husband before I reached mile 10.  Nick is slow, but I do have a point where I start to worry about him.  The course did have a cut-off time and I didn't want him to be swept by the SAG wagon.  I got to mile 10, there was a timing mat there, but I still hadn't seen Nick.  I came around the corner and there he was.  He even had his camera out so he could snap a picture of me.  He stopped me to give me a kiss mid-race, it was so sweet, he's never done that before.  As I came closer to the end I saw the end of the race, the last person followed by the sweeper.  I saw them around the same place that the leaders in the race had seen me when I was on my way out and they were on their way back.  I had caught and passed the 10 minute pacer about 4 miles into the race and I wasn't going to let him pass me.  I was going to finish strong.

I came to the final turn and as I did I saw the 5k runners lining up for their start.  I had hoped to jump in and complete the 5k as well if I finished the Half in time to do so.  The Half started at 7am, the 5k at 9:15 when it was originally scheduled to start at 9:30.  I finished the half in 2:08 but since I didn't start at the front of the pack for the half I didn't have enough time to get into the 5k.  By the time I had my medal, water, and mylar blanket the 5k had started.  They did have a mat before the finish so that they could announce runners as they finished the race.  When they announced my approach they had a bit of difficulty pronouncing my hometown.  It was amusing to hear how they pronounced Piqua.  I know I brutalize names that I am not familiar with and it's nice to hear someone else interpret one I am familiar with.

Post-race photos

I decided to go back out on the course to get some pictures and hopefully run my husband in to the finish line.  I cheered for runners at the 2nd to last turn and made sure to capture some of the sights along that last mile.  Unfortunately Nick was no where near the end of the course and I was getting cold since I wasn't running anymore.  I tried tracking him on Facebook with the Nearby Friends feature and he was still miles out.  I walked back to the finish line and got in line for the free Physical Therapy tent.  Nick finished after 3 and a half hours, his worst half ever, but he had not had a lot of food and had been sick over the last 24 hours.  He was just glad that he finished the race.  We got out free beer, food (Jumbalia, not sure on spelling again), and enjoyed the post-race events.

Overall the course was very nice.  It was flatter than a pancake, very scenic and a nice way to see New Orleans.  The volunteers were enthusiastic and well prepared to help all the runners.  There were plenty of water stops along the course with lots of people handing out hydration.  There was plenty of food and beer after the race and a lot of places to hang out and enjoy the post-race amenities.  I love the medal and the bib was very nice.  The shirt is a little tight around the neck but the design was very nice, yellow but not eye-bleed yellow with nice graphics on the front.  I do wish I had been able to do the 5k as well, but I guess I just have to be a little faster in the future.  Then I would have had 2 shirts, a medal, and a cup plus 2 races in Louisiana.  If we could afford to travel to New Orleans in the future I would absolutely run this race again but I think we would want to travel to new places before we start repeat trips. 

Race Shirt and Medal

We spent our last night back on Bourbon Street but this time we took the Trolley.  I know, it is touristy, but we were tourists and wanted to enjoy the most famous street in New Orleans.  Bourbon Street on Saturday night is very different from Thursday night.  On Saturday night there were parades on Canal Street including a wedding party parading and and Indian dance troupe.  On Bourbon street artists set up in the middle of the street, dancers, acrobats, bands, all performing in the middle of the street.  Young men were hanging out of balconies throwing beads trying to "encourage" young women into certain behavior.  None of this was going on during our Thursday night trip.  We checked out some of the side streets where we found various art galleries and artists selling so many types of paintings.  We found shops that were less touristy and more charming downtown shops.  Plus, I finally tried some authentic New Orleans food.  We went to the Fish Market as recommended by a friend of mine who used to live in Louisiana where I tried Craw-fish for the first time.  It was spicy but I couldn't stop eating it.  The flavors were amazing.  Our seat was right by a big, open window onto Bourbon Street so we got to people watch while we enjoyed our Cajun dinner.  It was a perfect way to spend our final evening in the city.

We left the next morning, with a car packed with goodies and souvenirs.  It took all day to get back to Ohio and the trip back was even more exhausting.  I would love to visit New Orleans again, go to less touristy places and see more of the city.  It was very nice to be somewhere different.  I thoroughly enjoyed our first race-cation and I look forward to going on another one eventually in the future.

Dayton River Corridor Classic

Am I capable of pacing a half marathon well 2 weeks after running a very difficult marathon?  I would find out on October 9th.

To be honest, I thought I was crazy.  I wanted to run the Dayton River Corridor Classic when I learned about it because is was a relatively cheap half in October and it seemed wrong to not run a half in October, despite my very busy September schedule.  But, I also knew that I would be exhausted and that this race would not be a great race for me if I were able to run it. When they posted about needing pacers, specifically a 2:30 pacer, on Facebook I thought it was meant to be.  I could get my half for free and I wouldn't have to worry about being fast, but even with that would I be recovered enough to be able to run a half marathon well enough to pace others?  I didn't even think about it, I volunteered and determined that I would do it.

Pacers

This was the first time in my pacing where I got to know the other pacers in the race.  I was added to a Facebook group with the other pacers and we were able to discuss coordinating our clothing, meeting for a photo, and other race information.  It was really nice to know what we were doing besides running our pace.  This was also the first pacing I have done of an established race and outside of the Race 13.1 series.  I felt that I had done well pacing for 13.1 and wanted to do the same or better here.

I arrived at the race, checked in, received my shirt, bib, and pacing sign.  After dropping off my shirt in my car I ran into a friend that I started running with in 2012, Jen.  She was a part of Reasons to Run and a ran with her a lot that year.  After the Columbus Half in 2012 we hadn't really talked much.  She decided to remove her Facebook account and I couldn't come to the 5 am runs in Troy anymore so we lost touch.  She was running with a friend and had been doing less running lately, but it was nice to see her.

Off we go.  Larry is on my left

I met up with the other pacers and we discussed the course, past pacing, and plans for the race.  Many of them were experienced pacers but Lisa (pacing the 2:20 group) was new to pacing so I was giving her some tips.  We got our group picture and placed ourselves in the starting chute.  This was the first time I've paced where we did spread ourselves out well for the runners.  Runners started streaming into the start area, lining themselves up to pacers and coming right towards me were Pam and her cousin Larry, two of my running buddies from Piqua.  I had no idea they were running this and I was very happy to see them.  Larry asked if he could hold the pacing sign.  I told him he could if they stuck with me for the first mile.  They were just there for fun and said they would try to stick with me.

The race began and if you are familiar with Dayton races you would be familiar with a lot of this course.  We started in front of the Riverscape Metro Park (Ghost and Goblin start in the past and where the Dayton Celtic Festival takes place) and went North towards 5/3 Field then West over the bridge near the ballpark (same course as Dayton Dragons 5k).  The course takes that road to another bridge which leads to another park (still the same as the Dragons course).  This is where the course becomes mainly bike path and we had our first water stop.  Some ladies who were running near me had already made a comment about calming down and keeping an even pace, to which the other lady replied that they needed to keep my pace.  They were trying to stick with me and I would do my best to help them.  We took a left in the park to follow a bike path that went over a bridge and onto a path that went beyond the park.  On the other side of the bridge was a large crowd cheering and this was around the mile 1 marker.  They were working a water station that we would hit twice later.

Me and my group at mile 3

We went left on the path down to the 3 mile marker.  This was turn-around 1 and also water stop number two.  This is where I ran into Pam and Larry again.  They had gone ahead at the first bridge and had a decent lead.  Pam stopped when she saw me and got a picture of me pacing.  At this point I should mention that even though this race is 40 years old they had to change the course this year due to construction.  This year the course was a Y shaped double out-and-back.  Many people weren't happy about this, but to me it meant that I could anticipate the course a bit better for pacing the 2nd part of each out-and-back.  It also meant that the pacers saw each other twice and could cheer for each other's groups.  I really thought it turned out pretty well.  We saw the leaders of the race twice and we could see the sweepers behind us twice.  It gave you an interesting perspective of the race.  By this time in the course it had been really flat.  The worst hills were the bridges, which weren't really that bad.  I was keeping my pace within 10 seconds above or below the goal pace and I was feeling good.

We headed back to the bridge where the cheering crowd had become a water stop, but instead of going over it we took the right leg of the bike path for our second out-and-back leg.  At this point I had gained some more runners in my group, ones that had tried to stay ahead of me, but were now just trying to keep up with me.  I was still keeping an even pace that would put me within 1 minute ahead of 2:30.  We took a dip into an area of the park that smelled like sewage, that was not fun.  We were all relieved when we got through that area, but we also knew that we would have to go back through it again since it was part of the second out-and-back.  The course continued along the river where there was another water stop, up a steep but short hill, and along the side of a golf course with a tall fence that included barbed wire.  I thought it looked like a nice prison, ha ha.  This led to a dip where we had out last turn-around at mile 8 with another water stop.  I had lost a bit of my group by this point, but one lady kept dropping, losing me, then catching back up.  She and I started talking during mile 8, which was nice, but accidentally slowed me down and while we were still on pace to finish well, if we had another mile like that we would be in trouble.  I was about 70 seconds ahead of perfect pace, after that mile we were about 20-30 seconds ahead.  We picked up the pace and I kept it right where it needed to be for the next few miles.

Lady in dark blue is the one that sticks through 

We got back to the sewage area during mile 12 and we must have wanted to get through that because my mile 12 was a bit on the speedy side.  I didn't lose my buddy through mile 12 though she could tell that I had picked up the pace.  We came back to that water stop by the bridge, went over the bridge, back to the first water stop, and back out to the road we started on.  I told the lady I was pacing before the mile 12 marker that she needed to leave me at that marker and go for the finish.  Due to my unintentional acceleration I gave her a surge of speed for the end.  I slowed down a bit for the last mile, when pacing I do not like to pass anyone in the last mile unless I absolutely have to pass them.  It really stinks if you have stayed ahead of a pacer for 12 miles and they catch you right before the finish, especially if your goal was to stay ahead of that pacer.  Even though my pace was slower, it really only made up for the speedy mile 12.  I was still right around a nice pace for the pace I was supposed to keep.  We didn't take the exact route out to go back to the start.  We started on roads, we finished on the bike path behind Riverscape Metro Park (same route as Celtic Festival 5k/10k finish).

Even though I slowed down, the woman I was pacing kept looking behind to see how far I was behind her.  I kept smiling and urging her on.  I was by myself at this point and I like when I lose runners I am pacing because they are running their last mile faster but I know some people see that as bad for a pacer.  I do wish my group had stayed with me longer than it did. It thinned out a lot by mile 5.  I came to a bridge about a half mile from the finish where a volunteer was worried that I would not be on time for my pace, he thought I was really far ahead of my time.  I told him I knew I was ahead, but I thought I was close.  I came to the finish and as I neared the finish line, through crowds of people who were already done, I heard a group notice me ("Here comes the 2:30 pacer, she's good") then look at the clock ("Wow, she's really good!").  According to the clock I finished within 30 seconds of 2:30 (2:29:30) and according to my chip I came in within 1 minute of 2:30 (2:29:05).  My best pacing ever!

Medal Picture

I got my medal, collected the pacing signs from the other pacer, and waited to pass on the signs to the last pacer.  The woman I had paced and encouraged had been looking for me.  When she found me she thanked me tremendously.  This was her first half marathon and even in training she had not done a lot of continuous running.  She said she never thought she could do what she just did and thanked me for helping her run continuously for the entire distance.  She was so happy.  I love that!  The last pacer came through (I think 3:00 or 2:40) with a huge group.  It was a speedy half that didn't have a lot of finishers after 3:00.  I'm not sure what the time limit may have been but usually 2:30 is not in the last 25% of finishers and in this race it was pretty close to that low.  I don't know if it attracts faster runners or has a strict time limit but it was odd for me to be that close to the back of the pack, even pacing.

After the race there was a PT tent (yea!!) so I had my feet treated for free again.  That's one thing that balances, I may be injured but if I keep running races I keep getting free treatment.  Runner logic, it doesn't really make sense but we use it anyway.  They also had a free pancake breakfast which was very enjoyable.  I didn't run into Pam, Larry, or Jen after the race, but they finished well ahead of me so I didn't expect them to stick around for me.  I have kept in touch with many of the pacers from that day and have even run with a few of them since that day.  A few days later the race asked us for feedback on the race since we had a unique view of it as pacers.  We also got some feedback from them, which was largely positive.

I really enjoyed pacing this race and was pleasantly surprised that I had recovered enough to run an even half marathon 2 weeks after my worst marathon.  I do hope I can pace it again in the future.  I'm also glad that I'm getting better with keeping an even pace.  Maybe one day I will be a Beast Pacer, I just have to keep pacing.

Adams County, Run with the Amish, My Last Marathon (?)

Pre-race photos

I signed up for the Adams County Marathon in November of 2015.  I didn't know the course or much more about the race except that it had a coupon code that made the marathon $40 instead of $85, it was within driving distance, and it had same day packet pickup.  That was good enough for me.  I wanted to run another marathon due to my injury before Columbus last year.  I knew that I could have finished much faster last year if I hadn't been injured and I wanted another chance at doing that.  I also thought that if I had to drop to the half that $40 was not a bad price for a half marathon.

September 23, the day before the race, both of my feet decided that they were going to hurt like never before.  I knew that this was due to nerves and was largely psychological but I still didn't like it.  I did not feel ready for this marathon at all.  I had learned that the course was extremely hilly and my training over the summer had been lacking due to the heat and the humidity.  I had considered dropping down to the half many times but my coach and my friends convinced me that I could finish it and possibly PR at the race.  I was going to do this.  I even asked my students to predict my finish time and promised a prize to the student who had the closest guess.  Even though my feet were in pain I went out for a very slow shake out run, around a 12 minute mile, that night and hoped for the best in the morning.

September 24th I got up at 3 in the morning to get dressed and drive the two and a half hours to the race location.  I left home around 3:45 and my GPS predicted that I would get to the race shortly after 6 am.  I expected a lot of winding country roads to get to the race so I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to go slower than the GPS expected.  It turns out that most of the drive was on straight, flat, well-lit, wide state routes and interstate routes.  The last 15 minutes of the drive turned into the back country roads with steep hills, no lights, and sharp turns but I had plenty of time to traverse this short part of the drive due to my early start.  I noticed that this drive took me along the race course.  I could see mile markers and tables set up to be water stations.  I hoped it would be friendlier on foot.

I got to the race site shortly after 6 am and I was the third car to park for the race.  I did initially miss the entrance but so did the person ahead of me and I followed them to turn around.  I picked up my packet and played on my phone while waiting the 2 hours for the race to start.  Around 6:30 I noticed about a dozen people walking on the road with hydration belts and head lamps.  This made me wonder if I had missed the race start.  It also confused some other runners waiting in their cars.  We all popped out of our cars to see what was going on.  Apparently they have an early start option for those who want to take it.  I wish I had known and had brought my headlamp.  The forecast for the day was looking warm and that was another thing I was worried about.  Had I been able to start early I could have avoided a bit of the heat.

The race started at 8 so people started steadily arriving after the early group started.  Around 7 I decided to get out of my car and hit the port-a-pots, time to get ready to run.  Since I didn't have any friends at this race with me I roamed around the starting area.  Even though I am a Half Fanatic (#14011) I don't have a shirt to show that I am one.  I saw many fanatics wearing their shirts at the race so I went to say hello to them and introduce myself.  I knew that many other fanatics had met friendly runners just by wearing their shirts at races.  I was hoping I could do the same.  Half Fanatics also tend to get a group picture and I wanted to make sure I didn't miss it.  After getting our picture everyone headed to the starting area.  There were no corrals or pacers so we simply set ourselves in place.  I tried to move towards the back of the group.  Since I had paced two half marathons at a 2:30 pace my goal was to do something similar, keep that 2:30 pace (11:27 min/mile) for the entire marathon and come in under 5 hours.  Since a 2:30 half is easy for me, this should be easy too, right?  This meant I wasn't planning on shooting out of the start.

Calf sleeves, blue shirt, orange shoes.  I had so much energy
at the start.

The race started and we were off.  As we got onto the road it was a slight uphill, but I knew that would be coming so I just tried to keep myself steady.  Then we had a rolling downhill, alright, I can do this.  This continued for the first few miles.  We passed a water stop around a half mile from the start.  Though I didn't need it yet, I knew it would come in handy.  The race was a double loop and that water would be great at mile 13.5.  Then at 1 mile out we came to the turn for the 5k, they went left on a street and we kept going.  The street they went down had a downhill and uphill that were pretty gentle and it seemed like a lot of the course would be like this.  Around mile 3 we passed a farm where horses were out near the road.  They saw us running and decided to join in.  Until they ran into the fence that surrounded them, they were running right alongside us.  It was really cool.  The views of the foothills and the farms were gorgeous and the mist that covered them just made them more beautiful.  I was keeping my pace well and I was feeling good.  I didn't feel tired or winded and I had hope.  I didn't want to stop and take pictures since I was doing well on my pace.  I figured that if I fell from my pace I would have lots of time to take pictures on my second time around the course.  I was running by 3 girls in yellow shirts, all from a group in Columbus.  They were doing the marathon too and we figured we would be spending a lot of time together since we seemed to be around the same pace.  I talked to them a lot during that first loop.

Half Fanatic Group Picture

We came to a right turn by a cemetery, went up a short hill and that is where we saw the start of the real hills.  It started with a major decent, not incredibly steep but it was a long way down.  I clicked in like a roller coaster and enjoyed the ride down because the uphill was immediately following.  The uphill wasn't particularly steep but it was a long way up.  I just chugged up the hill steadily trying to keep my pace.  When I reached the next mile, I was still good.  I had kept my pace steady through that major hill.  The next hill was not so kind.  We had passed mile 6 and were heading to the halfway point of the loop when we hit a super steep downhill.  I don't tend to slow myself much when going downhills because I'm good at catching myself and I feel like I would trip if I tried to slow down.  This generally gives me a great boost but I wasn't expecting how steep and long this hill would be.  Before I had finished it I had hit a 5:48 min/mile and I wasn't slowing down.  The hill kept going and going and I knew I couldn't do much to stop myself so I kept repeating "Oh, crap" on the 2nd half of the hill.  This made a few runners laugh but it helped me stay focused on staying upright.  I enjoyed going down, but I knew there would be some climbing to make up for that decent.  When we got to the bottom of the hill we turned left into what I call, The Valley of Names.  Along the sides of the road, dotting trees and posts, were numerous colorful signs cheering on runners.  It looked like the Amish community had written out and posted a sign for every runner in the race.  I thought it was very sweet and slowed a little to look for my name, not too much, but I wanted to find it.  After the valley was a short uphill and more names.  I hoped that the climb could be a series of short climbs, I could do that.  Then we got to the opposite of the downhill, the hill you climb that is so steep you feel like you are kissing the pavement.  This was where I lost my pace.

I know it is hard to tell from a
picture but the elevation on this,
whew.

I had to slow down and walk up this hill, it was killing my knees trying to run it.  I told myself that I had banked 2 minutes of extra time and that I could and should take my time on this hill.  When I reached the mile 7 marker, I was one and a half minutes behind pace and I was feeling those hills.  I knew I had to have good miles for the rest of the race if I wanted to hit my goal and that I would probably have to walk up that hill again on my second loop.  It was starting to look bad but I refused to give up.  I tried to get back on pace during the next mile.  I was close, 11:55, but I would have to pick it up.  That's when I ran into the next big climb and this one was winding.  It seemed short and I tried to chug up it, then it turned and went up some more, then another turn and up some more.  By the time I reached that first turn I was exhausted.  When I saw it continue I knew I couldn't keep my pace, I walked again.  This was while I was next to a guy on team RWB.  He was carrying the flag and planning on running the marathon.  We talked a bit and he has done many Cincinnati runs.  While we climbed he commented that these hills were, "like Eden Park on steroids."  I couldn't have agreed more.  The hills just didn't end.  I got to the end of these climbing miles with a 13:36 min/mile and a 15:01 min/mile.  I knew that since I had to do this again that all chances of coming in after 5 hours were gone.  Now I had to reconsider what I wanted to do.  Should I just finish the half and be done or should I go out for another loop of punishment and finish the full.  I just wasn't sure.

At this point we were nearing the 5k turn again, only this time we had to go out and back on the little road.  The worst thing was that the mile 12 marker was just on the opposite corner, we could see it, but we had to go nearly another mile to get to it.  Along this road was another group of signs on a fence.  I continued to look for my name since I didn't see it in the valley.  I finally found my name and it did make me happy and gave me a small boost of energy.  I picked up my pace because of that sign and knowing that I was entering the smaller hills.

My name among the signs

I neared the finish/turn around and the RWB guy had decided to be done after the half instead of going for the full, it was really tempting.  There were 2 things stopping me though: 1. My students predicted a marathon time not a half marathon time so I needed a marathon time to choose a winner (I need to set an example of commitment and dedication) and 2. I had decided this would be my last marathon and it didn't feel right to cut that short.  I knew the race had no time limit so I decided that I was doing that 2nd loop but I didn't care how fast I went.  I was going to take pictures and have fun.  As long as my body covered the distance I would be satisfied.

At the turn around they had a water stop.  I stopped there to prepare myself to handle this loop again.  As I was drinking a woman next to me asked if I was ready to tackle the second half.  I told her that I was as ready as I could be and we continued on our 2nd loop together.  She asked if she could stick with me and I was happy to have her company so we decided to stick together as long as we could for the rest of the race.  We started talking and getting to know each other.  Her name is Terri and she was there for her first marathon.  We were both struggling with the course and felt we could do better together.  She kept telling me to leave her if I needed to go faster but I told her that I just wanted to finish the race.  Before we got to the cemetery again we could hear someone behind us.  At this point we were pretty much alone on the course.  Little did we know that only 37 of the 61 registered marathon runners would finish the race.  37 runners spread out over 13 miles does not lead to a lot of crowding so we were surprised to hear someone coming from behind.  Her name was Jennifer and she asked if she could join us.  She had been on the road on her own and had been nearly hit by a truck.  She was worried about her safety on the course.  We told her that she was more that welcome to join us, but we were going slowly.  Jennifer was trying to qualify as a Marathon Maniac since she had just done the Air Force Marathon the week before so she just wanted to finish too.  So now we continued on as a trio.

Asking for feedback at the top of a hill

One of the best things about this race is the amount of aid stations along the course.  There's a water station for at least every mile where they have fruits, water, Gatorade, candies, and helpful people all along the course.  Even when some of the volunteers went home they left the aid stations well stocked for all the runners to use for whatever they needed.  Jennifer, Terri, and I always had water and fuel when we needed it and never felt like we were dying to find the next water stop.  The second time around it had gotten a lot hotter, near 90, and we were feeling it.  There's not a lot of shade along Amish farms and the sun was pretty brutal, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  This is when the aid stations started giving out bottles of water and Gatorade and we were grateful.  The race director was also driving around, checking on runners, dropping off popsicles to aid stations, and stopping in the middle of the road to give runners ice.  We had been worried about passing out without anyone noticing, since there were no crowds and no other runners near us, but his diligence along the course helped relieve our fears.  I am glad that they were looking out for us.

While the 3 of us were together we tried to run down the hills whenever we could, including a service road that went down a hill, over a small bridge, then right back up (which I remember from the first loop but not how it fit in with the rest of the course).  We talked a lot, stopped at water stations, took pictures, and enjoyed the course.  I even did some live videos to Facebook so that I could share the course with my running buddies.  Our main worry was traffic.  Jennifer's close call on the road would not be our last close call.  The roads were not closed at all and drivers did not seem to care that we were participating in a race.  When there were over 200 half marathon runners and over 100 5k runners on the course we had the numbers that would make the cars go around us but with only 37 marathon runners on the roads, the cars didn't have to move.  We were a slight annoyance that they could speed around without moving over much.  The same truck that nearly hit Jennifer nearly hit me when he came back around.  He didn't move over at all nor did he really slow down.  Luckily Jennifer got a picture of his plate this time and we waved down a sheriff to pass on this information.  It was dangerous on those roads.

New friends: Me, Jennifer, Terri

Finally we got to the 5k out and back and the fence full of signs.  Some of the signs were gone but we knew that we were almost a mile away from the end of the course.  I decided that I was going to take my sign.  I was sure it would just get thrown away and I would only have to carry it for a mile so I grabbed it.  We found Jennifer's sign and she grabbed hers too.  We were guessing that the other signs had disappeared the same way.  We got to the mile 25 marker and decided to try to run the last mile.  We tried, but we didn't get too far, our legs were so tired from the hills.  We kept moving forward though.  As we neared the last uphill Terri could see her husband waiting at the top of the hill.  He ran off as soon as he saw us so he could meet her at the finish.  When we crested the hill I could see the finish.  I told the girls we should run for it and that if I lost either of them I would come back out for them.  Jennifer and I pushed together and she finished just a tenth of a second before me.  Terri followed us very shortly after.  It was my worst marathon time ever, 6:22:04.

As we cooled down in the shade, drinking water and eating post race goodies, an Amish woman approached Jennifer and I.  She asked which one of us was bib 61, Jennifer, and handed her a bird feeder and told her that she got 1st in her age group.  Then she asked if I was Ruth, I nodded, and she told me I had gotten 2nd in my age group and she handed me a basket.  Jennifer and I were in shock.  Both of us have done better at a marathon and both of us are in competitive age groups.  We never imagined that we would ever place at a marathon, especially when we went so slowly on the second half.  I asked Jennifer which age group she was in, since she said it was competitive.  She said the same age group that I am in.  Since she started behind me at the beginning it turns out that she finished about a half minute before me according to our chips even though we crossed the finish together.  Ultimately we were both ecstatic to have placed in our age group at all at a marathon and we were happy for each other.

Age group awards

Overall there were many good things about the Adams County Marathon.  The support from the aid stations, the views, placing in my age group, helping someone complete her first marathon, and the price were all good things that I enjoyed at this race.  I did not enjoy the temperature in the 80s and 90s and the course was brutally hard.  I know the the weather is beyond anyone's control and I should have looked into the course before signing up but they made this race very difficult.  The one thing that the race could improve is the traffic.  I know that shutting down roads for a long time is an inconvenience but there really needed to be some traffic control.  There should not have been numerous times when a car came within inches of hitting me.  What makes it worse is that there were runners on those roads until near 6:30 in the evening.  The last runner came in at 11 hours 30 minutes and they were out there alone for a long time so they had a lot of traffic passing by them as they went.  I am just glad that he made it to the finish safely.

I am proud of many things in this race.  I am proud that I finished when so many gave up and I wanted to give up.  I'm proud that I was able to help other women along the course.  Could I have gone faster and placed 1st in my age group?  Maybe but I felt a lot safer with my friends.  We each took turns encouraging the others to run so I think we finished stronger together.  I am proud that I completed the race in a smart way instead of pushing myself foolishly.  I came away from the race sore but no more injured than the week before.  I kept myself hydrated and fueled so I didn't risk passing out.  I want to run for the rest of my life, if I can.  It is not worth risking a permanent injury for a slightly faster finish.  I am also proud that out of 37 finishers 24 of them were women and despite my poor time I placed 22nd overall.  There are many things to be happy about with this race and I choose to focus on the positive elements.

So, is this my last marathon?  I honestly don't know.  I know I don't want to do one next year and I don't think I will ever return to this race again (the 2017 race is cancelled so it is not even an option) unless I want a challenging half marathon course to run.  I also know that my body needs time to heal.  My plantar faciatis has ebbed and flared through the year and marathon training did not make it feel better.  I need to give it rest when it needs it so I can't push paces and distances in a short period of time to try to complete another marathon.  Will I one day return to the marathon?  Maybe, but I will take a few years to train well for it if I do.  I don't want to say I'll never do another but I this point I can't say that I am planning to do another marathon any time soon.  So I am done with marathons for now but don't count me out just yet.  After all, I did place in my age group.

Indy Women's Half Marathon

Finisher Rose and Medal

If you haven't noticed by now, my race blogs tend to focus less on the course and more on the experiences while I am running.  This one will focus even less on the course due to impaired vision both times that I ran it.  Even without seeing everything along the course the Indy Women's Half Marathon is one of my favorite races.

Indy Women's is a unique race because it really is an only women's race.  I've seen races with a feminine theme where men don't tend to participate and ones where men are separated from women but this was the first one I had seen where the only gender option is female and the standard shirt is a woman's fit.  I liked that is was only women, I liked that it was only about 2.5 hours from home, and I loved the fact that they said they had same day packet pickup.  I could go to an out of state race in an awesome city and keep the cost low.  So I signed up for the race last year.

In 2015 I was so excited and wanted my girlfriends to join me.  Pam was already considering running the race so she decided to sign up too.  That's when I noticed something odd.  People were asking the race director if there was same day packet pickup and he was responding that there was not pickup on the race day.  I checked the website where it still said that there was indeed race day pickup.  I brought this to the attention of the race director, telling them that I hadn't planned to stay in a hotel.  They realized their editing error and tried to find a way to make it work.  Pam and I realized we might as well stay in Indy and enjoy the city for the weekend.  We ran our shakeout miles on the canal path, catching sight of the Rungatta 5k starting along the same route.

Pam and I in 2015 before the lightning

We took pictures of monuments and museums and ate wonderful Italian food.  We stayed in a hotel right near the starting line and picked up our packets very early on Friday so we didn't have to worry about them.  We also got loads of free things from the expo including an extra shirt.  It was shaping up to be a great weekend, until we woke up on race day.  Rain had been predicted but we didn't expect a storm.  This was going to be a shaky race.  The race was started when the rain cleared a little and we got about 2 miles onto the course before the director decided to cancel the race due to lightning on the course.  The police were trying to pull all the runners to safety but, as Pam said, our shirts said "Can't Stop Running" so we can't stop running.  We kept going despite the weather and finished our race plus an extra 7 miles.  Even though the race was canceled some people and police stayed out to cheer us on and support us.  One police officer said, "The race is canceled, get off the road, by the way the course goes this way."  And another stopped a group of us to make sure we really wanted to keep going and that we accepted the risks of running in this weather.  We still got our medals and goodies because they kept the finish area going until they absolutely had to shut it down.  While I had fun and enjoyed the race I was disappointed that it was not an official race for me due to the weather.  I was going to come back and run this again.

View from our Hotel room, Gorgeous! 

2016 came and Indy Women's Half was on my "Must Run" list.  I knew Pam would return with me, due to last year and we both wanted a big group of girls to go with us, I just needed to convince more friends.  Mindy was going to run it, until an announcement came out about the Air Force Marathon, then she signed up for that.  While I live in the Dayton area I don't really enjoy the Air Force Marathon races.  I volunteered at a water stop in 2012 and ran the half in 2013.  I enjoyed volunteering more than I enjoyed running at that race.  Things might have changed, but I don't really have a desire to return to that race.  So this makes me a rare Dayton person who leaves Dayton for one of the biggest races.  Rhonda wanted to run the race and convinced her husband and herself that she could do it.  She and I signed up for the race within moments of each other.  Kendra thought it sounded like fun and wanted to join us.  Unfortunately, from my point of view, Pam's goals changed to a trail ultra and didn't really want to run the road race.  Kendra just couldn't commit to the race.  That left Rhonda and I but we were going to have some fun.

My name on the back of the participant shirt

Rhonda picked me up after I got home from work and we headed to Indy.  We made great time and had over 2 hours to enjoy at the expo.  Even though this is a smaller expo, compared to The Pig, Air Force, and Columbus, I always come away with a bag full of free goodies.  This year we stayed in the host hotel so checking in and packet pickup were quick and convenient.  The expo takes up about 2 conference rooms in the hotel and an open space outside of the conference rooms.  There are around a dozen vendors but there isn't a lot of repetition, every place sells something quite different from the rest.  When you pick up your packet your bag is already heavy with free items from various sponsors.  As you make your way around the expo you continue to collect free items.  This year the bag was a clear, heavy plastic that can be reused with the race logo on it, wonderful for shopping the expo.  We checked out all the vendors, collected freebies, and took goofy pictures.  The one thing I HAD to buy was in the outer area.  This year they decided to sell participant shirts where they had the names of all the runners (registered by a certain time) printed on the back.  Since we got there close to the end of the expo, all they had was XL (I wear small) and the only color it came in was pink (I hate pink)...I bought it.  I don't know when I will wear it, but I had to get it, it had my name on it...

Goofy Expo Photo

This year we didn't have a lot of time to see the sights.  Neither Rhonda nor I could have taken off of work on Friday so that limited our amount of time in the city.  We did walk around, eat at Spaghetti Factory, listen to a band in the center circle, and check out the outdoor library so we made the most of the time we had in Indy.  Once again, rain was in our forecast and we were vigilantly watching the weather.

When we woke the next morning it was raining, but we couldn't see lighting or hear thunder.  We didn't care if we got wet, we just didn't want it to be canceled again.  Rhonda and I ran our warm-up mile to drop off a bag at the bag drop near the finish.  We got into the start and hoped that the weather would behave.  This is a good point to mention one of my favorite things about this race.  Indy Women's has a half marathon and a 5k.  They start together and run together for a few miles.  The 5k makes my heart soar.  As we wait for the half to start we are surrounded by little girls and their mothers.  They are running the 5k together which is sweet, but all these young women get to see over a thousand strong women of all body types coming together and supporting each other, running a half marathon together and it is just awesome.  There I times I want to grab one of my nieces to take to this race just for this inspirational moment.  I am moved by these amazing young women and all the strong women around them.  It truly is inspiring.

Pre-Race Photo

While waited for the race to start, the weather started to clear.... just like last year... we could take pictures and start without being drenched.  I had an ominous feeling.  As we started, it started to rain gently, then get heavier.... just like last year... I just kept wishing it wouldn't get worse.  The course goes away from our hotel and the city center, past the finish line and a couple more blocks, to turn back towards the city center by taking 2 rights.  We go through a quarter of the circle in the center of town then head away from the hotel in the opposite direction.  After that I get a little blurry, literally, this is where the rain has been bad enough both years to fog up and cover my glasses enough that I just want to avoid landing on a bad spot.  Rhonda and I had started behind the 2:30 pacer but we had caught her by the time we got back to the hotel.  I left Rhonda with the pacer and kept pushing ahead, I was chasing pacers.  Rhonda was laughing with the pacer about me ditching her.

As we continued on the course I was noting landmarks in an unusual way.  I was looking for the place where we were pulled in 2015.  If we made it past there we were doing good.  Then I looked for the intersection where we evaded the police (an officer was determined to stop us from continuing last year at a major intersection and as he was pulling us a car accident happened on the road behind him which distracted him long enough for a group of us to get across the road and keep going).  I made it past that, even better, no cancellation so far.   Rhonda wasn't so lucky at this intersection.  Even though the race wasn't cancelled the police officer working that intersection attempted to stop the runners, including the pacer, to let traffic go through.  Rhonda was in this group and they were obviously unhappy about this.  They paid for a race, they were not going to let him stop them from running their best time ever.  Even though he tried to stop them they would not stop and rode on a surge of adrenaline for the next few miles.

On Course Photo

I kept looking for things, despite my glasses, to let me know I was doing better than last year.  I talked to other women along the course, one pregnant and running her baby's first race an others who were curious about what happened last year.  There was a man cheering along the course and I swear that he was along the course last year in the same spot.  He hollered out that there wasn't any lightning so far.  It made me smile.  We entered a small curvy neighborhood that leads to a short out and back.  The out and back is great because all the women running are cheering for each other along that entire portion.  The guys at the turn around are very supportive and are always loud, they were sticking around though the lightning last year too.  I saw the 2:15 pacer, I wasn't far behind, I could catch her.  But that is when I got 6 text messages, in a row.  I worried that something was wrong with my kids so I slowed down to check it out while I was under the dry safety of an overpass.  Nope, my youngest just had to share a video of a video with me, sigh.  So I got back on my pace.  This is where the course jumps onto a bike path that would be great if it was evenly paved.  As it is, it is very narrow staying to one side of it.

Once I got off the bike path I started hitting puddles.  Having rain covered glasses makes it difficult to distinguish wet ground from massive puddle.  While most people around me dodged the worst of the puddles my feet seemed to find every one.  Around mile 9 we had a river crossing, the puddles were enormous and flowing through this street so strongly that everyone around me had to drop down to walk to get past it.  This is also when I thought I might have heard some thunder but I hoped that at this point it was safer to let us finish than it would be to try to gather all of us up and cancel the race.  That was the only rumble I heard, so it could have been many things, but it didn't cancel the race.  Now my shoes were a few pounds heavier and I could feel it on the climbs up the small hills.  I knew I had a marathon the next week, so I didn't want to push too hard and injure myself, so I took some walk breaks and caught my breath.  At the last mile I came alongside a woman who was running her first half.  I said to myself that I would run the last mile, she said she would try to keep up.  We ran together as long as she could and I finished to the roars of the crowd with a decent official time of 2:18.  I was happy to officially finish this wonderful race.

Running Rhonda to the Finish
She doesn't look happy

After I got my medal, rose, chocolate milk, and food in another awesome reusable bag I headed back out on the course to run Rhonda in to the finish line.  I found her less than a half mile out, just behind the 2:30 pacer.  I jumped back into the race with her and kept her moving towards the finish.  Even though this was her 2nd half marathon in 7 days she finished with a better time than Winans.  We could hear the crowd cheering for a quarter mile before the finish.  There was a man screaming at the 13 mile mark, he was in yellow, congratulating and celebrating every woman who passed him on their way to the finish.  There were dozens on men, women, and kids crowded around the finish to cheer in every last runner.  We both had fun, finished strong and got lots of goodies.  The course felt more hilly than last year, but we actually ran the full course this year.  The weather may not have been perfect but it was still good running weather since it didn't cancel the race.

Some of the other great things about this race: complementary physical therapy tent, a dozen people per aid station cheering and helping every runner enthusiastically, a race director who checks in with the runners when they finish, lots of port-a-pots and I never saw a line for any of them, free race photos, and a beer garden that we didn't have time to enjoy either year.  Luckily Rhonda and I had a late checkout so we could warm up and clean up before leaving.  Especially since we had been waiting for an hour for the PT tent.

I have enjoyed this race for many reasons and it is one of my favorite races.  I'm not sure I can afford to go back to Indy Women's again but if I can I will.  Maybe one day one of my nieces will join me on the half marathon course but I think that won't be for a while.  I recommend this race to any woman that can get to it and I hope I can come back again some day.

Winans to Winans Half Marathon 2016

Race Goodies

Winans to Winans is my half marathon in so many ways and it's hard to believe I almost skipped out on it 3 years ago.

I love the Winans to Winans Half Marathon for so many reasons, but very few of them will convince someone else to run the race.  First, I love it because it is local.  There isn't an inch of this course that I haven't run at least a dozen times, not including the races themselves.  I know the tangents so well that the course is always about a tenth of a mile short for me.  Every time I come to the hill near the end of the race I push even harder and tell myself that I need to show these other runners that I am a local runner and that this hill doesn't phase me.  Second, all my friends run this race.  Before and after the race I can't turn around without running into a friend.  Along the course I usually have at least 1 of my running buddies near me at all times, even if it isn't the same running buddy.  I pass some of my friends, some of my friends pass me, and we all cheer for each other at the finish line.  Even friends who don't run the race come out to cheer us on and take pictures.  I'm running with my friends while my friends cheer, there's nothing better.  I also know most of the groups involved with the race.  My son's scout troop volunteers at a water stop, I get my water from Mark (and so do my friends).  The local running store does the timing for the race so I chat with them at the start and finish.  Two water stops are run by the local cross country teams who train on the same routes that we run.  It's just a lot of family along the entire course.

Year 1 finisher medal, 2 years later
it still has the ribbon attached.
Not very useful to me.

The third reason I love this race is because I have run the race every year.  The race started in 2014 out of the group that met at the Troy Winans to run on Saturdays.  I used to run with this group when I started running.  When they announced the race that first year, I had no intention of running it.  The finisher medal was a mug... a mug.... with free coffee (I don't like coffee and do not consume caffeine).  It did not sound like it was worth the money.  I was training for my first full marathon and didn't want to mess with my plan but I had built in 3 extra weeks to adjust for potential illness so I had the flexibility to add the race.  My running buddy, also training for her first marathon, was already signed up for the race and I didn't want to do a long run without her.  So I signed for the race during packet pickup, on impulse.  It was my first impulsive half marathon.  That year, it also became my PR.  The next year, I set another PR at Winans.  Now, I would never miss it.  Another reason I keep coming back is the bonus goody.  Runners who have run the race every year have gotten a pint glass stating that we have completed 26.2 miles last year and 39.3 miles this year.

This year was a bit different for me.  I went into this race knowing that my marathon was in a short 2 weeks.  I couldn't kill myself trying to go fast or else my legs would be dead for the marathon.  I also wanted to run a decent time.  I really didn't want to run too easy, I wanted to test my training before my big race.

Greg and I, 2 Half Fanatics

The weather was great!  After suffering through a tremendously hot summer we started the race with temperatures in the mid 50s.  The sky was clear, it was cool, humidity was minimal, and I was enjoying being a little cold.  This year they had an early start for walkers an hour before the runners started.  It worried me a little, that we might be tripping over walkers, but it was no problem.  I got to the race start early enough to see the walkers start so I cheered them on.  Now I was just waiting for my friends to arrive to warm up together.  Little by little so many of my friends arrived at the start of the race.  I took pictures with a few, talked to others, chatted in the port-a-pot line, and wandered around.  Once my main buddies showed up we went for our warm up, Kendra, Rhonda, Judy, and Kendra's Sister-in-law all an with me.  This race was just another group run for us.  We got to the start ready to go.

2016's race happened to fall on 9/11 so team RWB and first responders were there to honor the day and be honored by the runners.  The race held a wonderful ceremony with a moment of silence before the race.  Then we were off.  I had told Kendra that I would stay with her and pace her to a near 2 hour finish.  I was taking an easy pace for a 2 hour finish at first but before we even covered a mile Kendra told me that this was not an easy pace.  By the time we reached a 1.5 miles I had left her behind and I had started to pass people.  I have learned to love starting near the back.  There are some runners who love to be swept up with the fast runners, it makes them go faster.  I like starting slow then passing a lot of people, it helps me set goals.  That's how the rest of my race was, I passed people.  Even when I caught up to the walkers who started early they stayed to the right and I had no problem sliding ahead of them.  It was less of a hassle than the group of cyclists who were on the course last year who nearly ran us over.  The bike path may not be very busy most Sunday mornings so closing it doesn't seem necessary for the race, but notifying local athletes would have helped.

Kendra and I at the finish.  We were
both happy with how we did.

I kept a very steady pace, though a bit slower than the 2 hours I was trying to make.  I kept trying to make up the seconds, I had a running total in my head (10 seconds behind, 14 seconds now, down to 9 seconds keep it up, darn 30 seconds behind now).  I walked through the water stops and fueled as I needed to fuel.  I could tell that my training was not as good as last year.  It was a real struggle to push my pace in the last half, where the course goes from flat and sunny to hilly and shady, but I kept pushing and hoping that I could get close to that 2 hour mark.  I felt bad for another runner.  I passed her right around mile 12, this happened to be right before the footbridge.  The course between Piqua and Troy is beautiful and fairly kind to runners, but the footbridge sucks.  During the race it starts with about 5 narrows, short steps.  Yes, steps on a half marathon course.  This is what angers most out of town runners.  The bridge itself is a single lane metal bridge that shakes when anyone runs on it.  It goes over the Great Miami River and there are times I think it wants to take me swimming.  When I got ahead of this other woman I knew I had to stay ahead of her.  It would just be mean to drop my speed across the bridge, right when she can't pass me, so I pushed my speed so that she wouldn't have to slow down unless she wanted to push.  I still felt bad because I essentially blocked her for any energy surge she might have had.  The footbridge ends with a steep down ramp, which I was flying on.  I came to the end when my left leg landed with the thunk, the type of landing that makes you feel like that leg isn't going to move for a while.  This happened to be my son's water stop so I could slow a little to get some from him.  The person in front of me took Mark's water, but I still had to get it from him so I waited for Mark to grab another one.  I felt better after that tiny slow down so I picked up my pace again.  I came to the final loop of the course knowing that I couldn't make up the time but I saw my youngest son and my husband cheering for me while ringing cowbells and knew I had to push to finish the best that I could.  I kept pushing to the end finishing in 2:02:14.

My youngest enjoying the post-race

It wasn't a PR, about 6 minutes slower, but it was a PR for 2016.  Since I've been recovering from my plantar faciatis since October of last year I knew I wasn't going to be as fast.  I am still healing and it will take a bit more time for me to recover my speed.  My husband and youngest met me at the finish line, my husband was taking race photos of me and some friends.  My GPS had about 13.05 miles so I had to add that extra distance so it would count as a half marathon.  I got Enzo to join me for that last jog.  Then he took my portion of the post-race snacks, except the free drinks.  He had a banana, some cookies, and some chocolate.  Hey, he was out there cheering, it was hard (according to him).  While he enjoyed the goodies I caught up with friends who finished before me and cheered on friends who finished behind me.  Everyone was having a wonderful race day.  Kendra came in about 15 minutes behind me, then Rhonda came in behind her.  Rhonda and I enjoyed the free Physical Therapy provided by Xcel Sports Medicine even though our therapists were pulled away to get their age group awards from the race during our therapy.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I love this race.  I still love this race and will continue to complete it as long as my legs will cover 13.1 miles.  It was a wonderful race, with wonderful friends, on a wonderful day.

Rhonda and I