ever-changing evermore

Today was my last “long run Monday” until my half marathon on June 4. My next long run will be this coming Saturday or Sunday while on vacation up north. I’ve mapped my route and it will be beautiful (lakeside)! I need to pull my long run back to the weekend to allow enough recovery time for the half… Because I’m totally going for a personal best on the 4th!!!

My kids had camp so I ran from their school/camp to our downtown river and back. The weather was perfect, the traffic was minimal, the paths were clear, and I had more than enough time! I had to stop for 3 pretty long stop lights and then took time to snap a few photos three different times, never stopping my tracking apps. When you race, your timing chip doesn’t stop for water breaks or photos or potty breaks, so I’ve broken the habit of stopping my timers when I run. This made for a terrible pace (9:35-9:42, depending on which app I trust), but that’s ok.

I’ve gotten to the point where I can just lock in and run forever, just taking in the sights and thinking through whatever is on my mind. I was turning around at 5.5 miles before I knew it and the run back really seemed to go by quickly (as it should being only 5.5 miles left versus, 7 or 9 or 10!). I even enjoyed the hills, and they were long and frequent!

Best long training run so far! I’m really looking forward to my lake run this weekend (18k so at least 11.5 miles).

I did something on Saturday that I’ve never done and honestly, I’ve never thought of doing.  I ran a 75 mile relay with 7 other gals from sun-up to sun-down!

We all met in a dark parking lot at 5:30 AM, ate the scrambled egg and cheese muffin sandwiches I made, and drove for an hour and a half to Jefferson to run the Market to Market Relay back to Des Moines!  Our start time was 7:15 and we got there with plenty of time to check things out and soak up the party vibe (these people know how to put on a FUN race!) before sending our first runner on her way!

We had 8 runners, so we each got to run 2 legs and one of us, our first runner, ran 3 legs.  Once our runners switched at an exchange point, we were back in the car and driving to the next exchange point.  I thought we would have a lot of time to kill at each exchange waiting for our runner to come in, but we really got there just in time for a bathroom break and the exchange.  We were constantly moving.

When it was time for my first leg, lightning struck and we had to wait 30 minutes before we could get on the course again.  There was a rule that if we had to wait more than 45 minutes, that the leg would be skipped and we’d drive to the next exchange point.  Another lightning strike happened within 15 minutes of the first one, which would have pushed us out 45 minutes but we were told to hang tight for an official ruling.  I was not happy about missing my leg because I’d skipped running the day before and was really hoping to run!  I decided to run to the bathroom quick as we waited  but as I was heading there, I saw runners hopping on the course and we were told that we could run at our own risk.  OK!  I skipped the bathroom and went for it!  I ran those 5.7 miles in 48:07 with an 8:26 pace!  It only rained for the first few minutes.  I passed 12 people and 3 people passed me, so I netted 9  😉

I came in strong and happy and handed off the timing chip to runner #8, my friend who invited me on this adventure.  Funny story, she lost the chip!  She had a rain jacket on and had the chip band on her arm and when she whipped her jacket off, the chip went flying and she had no idea.  The poor thing turned around and backtracked 0.35 miles before deciding to leave it and came in to the mid-way check point chip-less.  No one cared, they manually logged us in, and we were on our way again.  Being chip-less worked out great because then we could just high-five each other and not worry about putting the chip band on, starting our running apps, making sure music was on, etc. all at once!

The weather cleared up and we enjoyed the day, but man alive, we were tired!  By the time I was up to run again, I was just ready to be done.  I ran my 4.3 mile leg in 36:10 for an 8:23 pace so I was happy with that!  I was passed by 3 people but passed 5, so I netted 2  😉

Everyone ran way faster than they thought they would and our finish time was 11:45:06 including our 21 minute stop for the lightning – we were THRILLED!  We ended up placing 54th out of 102 female teams which isn’t too bad for a team of gals who expected to run 10:00 paces the entire way!

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I loved doing this, but I’m not sure I’ll do it again anytime soon.  It took the entire day and I was left exhausted and spent!  If I do it again, I’ll want to do it on a team with my husband.  That would be more fun for me!  But really, this was a blast and I’m so glad I did it!

I had a 5K on deck for tonight in a beautiful little town about an hour away.  We ran this race back in 2008 and it has been my 5K PR for years and years until… NOW!

2008 stats:

393/1104 runners;  114/644 females;  21/83 in age division;  finish time 27:38;  average pace 8:54

2016 stats:

272/2098 runners; 67/1222 females; 4/94 in age division; finish time 25:47.5; average pace 8:18

I am so excited, I can hardly stand it!  FOURTH IN MY AGE DIVISION????  That is crazy!  Never, in a million years, would I have thought I’d be in the top 4% of runners in my age division.

My little guys ran a kids race tonight too, and they both did great and won a ribbon and a popsicle.  My big kid ran so hard and so fast, I had to take off after him to make sure someone was at the finish for him when he got done.  My little guy ran 5 blocks just to get to the race on time, and then ran the entire thing once it started.  They both had a great time, and that’s why I do this.  I do this so that they can see me having fun doing it so maybe, just maybe, they’ll think they’ll have fun doing it too!  So far, my plan is working!

Do you know how hard it is to figure out if you’ve run a negative split when you don’t have an official “half way done” pace? Let me tell you, I had to think on it, and think hard!

I did have an official chip time for my first 10k, so I went from there:

6.2137 miles = 10k = 59:12 (9:33) (this is the official chip timing at 10k)

Official half marathon chip time was 2:04:18, so the time spent running after the 10k split was 65:06 (or 1:05:06)

A 10k distance is officially 6.2137 miles, so the distance spent running after the 10k split was 6.8863 miles

So….

6.8863 miles = second half after 10k split = 65:06 = a pace of 9:27

So there I have it… My first official negative split… And now the formula to calculate it more easily next time… If there is a next time! Having the hills at the front half of the race helped, even if they weren’t that hard. If anything, getting them out of the way, and realizing they were easy hills, helped my attitude stay super positive!

I gave my husband my phone just before turning mile 11 during my half this past weekend.  The rain was really bad, my music kept coming and going, and I was terrified I was destroying the phone we’d just bought the night before.  So, with no hesitation at all (which is not normal for this control-freak), I gave my phone to my husband to safe-guard from the rain, giving up my mileage tracking for the last 2+ miles of the race (turns out the phone was fine, the headphones were not).

My husband forgot to turn off Endomondo, which was tracking my run, so miles 11-13.1 were paced as he drove.  I’m SUPER fast, according to Endomondo.  😉  I did get to review my splits for miles 1-10 and I’m quite pleased – I got faster as the race went on.  It turns out… I ran a negative split!  At the 10K chip pad, I was running a 9:33 pace and I finished with a 9:30 pace overall – this is something I’ve never done but was hoping I could manage with the hills and crowd of runners in the first 6.5 miles of the race.  I don’t expect to do this again, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try!

I ran my race this morning in 40 windy degrees and constant rain. No kidding, it rained from the moment my husband dropped me off to the moment we got home. I have been known to be a big baby about the wind and rain, but it wasn’t that bad. It really was just fine!

This course is said to be hilly. I was dreading two points in the race but they were easy-peasy. Either I’m toughening up, or the course was easy.  I think it’s a combo of both!

My husband brought my kids out to multiple points on the course and that was great for my soul! It helped that they brought orange wedges for me to chomp on quickly.  I stopped once for water and twice to kiss my boys and grab an orange, so we’re thinking I spent an entire minute during those 3 stops. The third stop entailed digging out my phone to give to my husband because I was worried the rain was killing it (turned out it was my headphones that were being destroyed), so that stop was a long one!

Having my family there to cheer me on was the best thing ever. I started to cry at the start of the race knowing that they were going to brave the constant rain to cheer me on. They had signs and a cheer memorized and melted my heart with them! ❤

It was cold… So cold. My fingers were useless for getting my phone out, unzipping my coat, opening water bottles, etc. But somehow, I ran faster than I’ve ever run a long distance (considering my stops).  I can’t believe it! I’m beyond thrilled!!

So what did I use that was packed?  I wore my pants and they were worth every penny!!! I ended up wearing a jacket over my tank top and that was perfect. I ate the energy chews throughout the race according to the directions and I believe they helped me quite a bit – I will do that again for sure. We didn’t use anything in the relief bag until after the race when my husband rushed me, soaking wet and freezing, to his downtown office to shower so that I could warm up (he’s very thoughtful this way). Then I used the dry shoes, socks, and the other clothes from my post-race bag. Had it stopped raining, I would have switched to dry shoes and socks for sure prior to finishing, but that wasn’t an option. The relief bag was and is a great idea that we’ll do again if it rains during a long race.

2:04:18

I did it in 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 18 seconds in constant rain and wind. That’s a 9:30 per mile pace without taking it my stops. I am super happy!!!