Madison Mini Race Report

I'm really trying to make an effort to catch up on race reports for 2015 by the time the year ends. That's two more months. I can do it.

So last time I blogged, I told you about running--err, trudging--up a bluff for some fantastic views at Dances with Dirt.

August brought the Madison Mini. I love this race. I missed doing it in 2014 because I hadn't completely recovered from the car accident, so I was excited to run it this year. And play hostess to three good friends.

The race itself was a struggle. From the get-go. Like 3 miles in I just wanted to quit. But I kept putting one foot in front of the other. Covered some miles. Got a popsicle from a little kid around Mile 10. Cursed the slight course change over the final miles that made me run up the back of Bascom Hill. Longed for the final miles on the Lakeshore Path that were missing this year. And had a smile on my face when I crossed the finish line.

Most of my struggles were mental. I put in some decent training this summer, got some long runs in the 9 and 10 mile range in. Just mentally didn't have it. I need to work on that.

But the race got run, we enjoyed the post-race party on the terrace and had a fabulous weekend with friends. Looking forward to the 2016 version!

Lake Michigan Trail Half Marathon race report

I was totally unprepared, but I went and ran a half marathon last weekend.

Last winter, it was announced there was going to be a new race in Milwaukee that was going to utilize county parks and trails. Along with a bunch of friends, I signed up. At that point, I figured it was going to be half marathon 2 of 3 during a one month period for me.

Well, it's turned into my first half marathon of the year since I was in a car crash the day before the Green Bay Half Marathon and I decided to take a DNS at the Madison Mini in mid-August because I didn't want to hate the race that I love so much.

So the Lake Michigan Trail Half Marathon was going to be my first attempt at 13.1 miles this years. The race also offered a full marathon, 50K and 20-mile training run option, so there was no worry about coming in dead last.

But still. I was woefully under trained. Oops.

I went to the starting line with no expectations other than to eventually finish and have a good time.

That lack of expectations was a good thing since it was super warm and humid. As in, just standing at the starting line I could see the salt crystals starting to form on my arms. Oh boy.

And did I mention it was foggy? Yeah. A good portion of the route was along Lake Michigan (hence the name), but given the amount of fog, if you didn't know you were running next to a big ole lake, you would have never realized it. So much thick fog.

Kind of made it a little eerie, but oh so cool at the same time.

So like I said. No expectations. I just decided to aim for getting 7 or 8 miles in without feeling like I was going to die and then just coast until the finish line.

The first five miles were on a pave multi-purpose trail that ran through some of the parks. Then we got to play on the trails in the woods. And oh my gosh. Was it gorgeous. Even with all the fog.

Somewhere around mile 8.5ish, the wheels started to fall off. My legs were getting cranky and tired, it was hot and I was rationing water because I wasn't quite sure when I was going to be coming up upon the next aid station. So I started adding in more walking. On the final back portion of an out and back, I ran into my friend Erica, who was struggling with an injury. We walked it in the final three-quarters of a mile and called it a day.

 In the end, it was my worst time ever for a half marathon. But I enjoyed my time out there. The route was gorgeous, it was a good weekend with friends and after we had some food and drink, Erica and I went to go float in the pool at her condo for a good chunk of the afternoon.

I'm hoping to go back next year and actually be prepared to run the race for a decent time.

Time to start running up

Hills. We don't grow them here in Oshkosh.

Which means I haven't run a lot of them lately. But since I decided to run a half marathon in Raleigh, NC - the RunRaleigh Half Marathon - with by BFF Jess in April, that's got to change.

Because apparently Raleigh is hilly. And I don't want to die.

So when I sat down and figured out a training plan a week or so ago, I went back to something that has worked for me before. I pulled out my first plan from Coach Jim that I got way back in January 2011. It got me to my first 2:30 half marathon (in terrible conditions) and eventually lead to my current PR. So like I said, it worked. And I felt strong on hills. And considering my IT band has HATED hills for about the last 6 months, I'm eager to feel strong (sans a cranky IT band) when I encounter those hills in Raleigh in a few months.

So hill intervals it is.

And tonight was my first hill interval workout. Considering we don't grow hills in Oshkosh and everything has this layer of ice due to the crazy Wisconsin weather we've been having, I opted to head indoors for the treadmill.

After a one mile warm up, it was time for those hills. The first two felt pretty good. Number 3 was tougher. And that final interval? Absolutely brutal. But all four got done. And because that wasn't painful enough, I tacked on a 15-minute ab workout from the Nike Training Club app.

I'll be interested to see how the abs and legs feel tomorrow.

Fox Cities Half Marathon Race Report

 Or what will also be known as, "This is going to hurt. Deal with it."

I went into race weekend feeling pretty calm. I'm not sure when it started happening, but somewhere along the way, I've realized I don't really get nervous for half marathons anymore. Maybe it's because I've run the race distance so many times. Or I'm not putting a ton of pressure on myself for results. I don't know. But for like the last year, I haven't been getting super nervous. I'll take it.

So Saturday I watched the Badger game and then headed over to Fox Valley Tech to the race expo. I met up with Peggy, my running partner in crime who opted not to run the race this year, and we browsed for a bit. I picked up some BioFreeze, she picked up some socks and we were done. We headed over to Starbucks for some caffeine, where we proceeded to hatch a plan for next year and beyond, chat and talk race strategy, because even though she wasn't running, she gave me good advice. And she wanted to let me in on her spectating plan for the next day.

Race day dawned bright dark and early. I got up, put on my race day outfit and headed out the door at 5:45. While my mom was driving over to my brother's house to pick up my sister-in-law, I did a quick race morning social media check - Twitter and Facebook, very important pre-race tasks. While I was at it, I posted this:

See even though I had taped my IT band that morning, I knew it was still going to hurt. But I didn't want to let the pain win the mental battle. I wanted to gut it out. The day before Peggy gave me advice: Run the first part with your head, the middle with your personality and the final third with your heart. And then there was Jeff's advice from last year still rolling around my head: Run your own race and then throw the hammer down in the final miles.

This was my race. Not my IT band's race. I wasn't going to let  it decide what kind of race I was going to have.

We got to the race site, I made a quick stop in the port-a-potty while the lines were still short and tried to find my Fleet Feet team, but was unsuccessful. Soon it was go time.

Right before the gun went off, one of the assistant coaches from the Fleet Feet group, Sue, found me. She asked me if she could run with me. I said I didn't care, but I wasn't going to be talking. See here's the thing. I like running with other people.

During training runs.

When it comes to racing, I actually prefer to be on my own. I like to zone out to my iPod and run my own race. I'm actually pretty good at pacing  myself to hit the goals I set for myself.

But she said she understood I wasn't going to be chatty, so I shrugged my shoulders and said OK.

Years of practice is paying off. I like this one my Mom snapped at the start.

The gun sounded and we were off. I saw my Mom just after the starting line and I settled in at a nice easy pace. Sue tried to chat a bit, but I kept my answers short and then plugged myself back into  my iPod. Remember, I was running my own race.

Shortly before Mile 1 I started to scan the crowds lining the street, looking for Peggy and her daughter. All of a sudden I saw a bright neon pink sign with my name! I cut across the road and gave them high fives and I was off.

Coach Eddie was out on the course snapping pictures. Never saw him here.

The first four miles went really well. I was feeling good, keeping a decent pace and carrying out my plan of walking the water stations. Right before Mile 4.5 I saw my aunt and I handed her my gloves and kept running, through the roundabout and past my non-family cheering section of Peggy, her daughter and Rita, another runner I know.

I was feeling good. Strong. The IT band wasn't cranky. I turned the corner onto Plank Road and kept running. Even with the light winds that I was running into, I still felt good.

Miles 5-7 were uneventful. Pretty much a 2-mile straight away. I saw my cheering crew around Mile 7 again. It was great seeing someone so often. It gave me a little bit of a boost of energy and I could feel myself picking up the speed right after I spotted them and for a bit of time afterwards.


Right around Mile 7.5 I had a bit of a problem. Seems the wonderful Menasha Police Officer thought it was completely acceptable to see a pack of 6 runners approaching and still wave the car through the intersection even though said runners are like 5 feet from the car. That's what he did though. Which meant we either had to stop suddenly or alter or path really quickly. I yelled at the cop. Would have said something much worse and given him a one-fingered salute, but then decided against it. After all, he was a police officer.

I saw my Mom and my niece and nephews at Mile 8 and kept on running. I didn't hear him, but apparently the youngest rugrat (he's 6), yelled, "Go Aunt Jenny! You stink!" His reasoning was that if he yelled something mean, I would get mad and run faster. OK.

Swiped from the official race photographer. Note: It's hard to run, smile and make a W with your fingers.

I made it to the aid station at Jefferson Park, which is right around Mile 9. I walked a little bit further through the aid station than I had been at previous ones. This was really the only time I walked much longer than 10 seconds or so. The legs were starting to get a bit tired at this point, but that makes sense. I had a quick conversation with my IT band, reminded it to deal with anything that would be coming over the next four miles. I exited the park and started to run again.

My cheering crew right at Mile 10!

The next mile was a long straight away until you turned the corner before the second bridge on the course. At the corner I spotted my bright pink sign and Peggy. Up until this point, I hadn't really been looking at my Garmin. But as I approached that corner I glanced down. 10 miles. 1:45.

Say what?

I did some quick math in my head and also realized that I was running the same pace as I did at Fox Cities last year. Whoa. Could a PR be in my sights?

As I passed Peggy I told her this. Well as much as I could in 2.5 seconds. She told me I looked great and was kicking ass and to keep running.

So I did. Up and over the Racine Street bridge, through the next aid station - which was decked out in a Badger theme complete with "Jump Around" blasting from the boom box - and on my way towards Mile 11 where I saw my crew again.

Another one from Coach Eddie. Just under 1.5 miles to go.

Even knowing a PR was in my sights, I didn't constantly check the Garmin. I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Because I knew with every step that got me closer to the finish line. It worked. Pretty soon I was making the turn on to the last big straight away before I made a final turn for the loop around the park past the lighthouse and to the finish line

When I could see the finish line arch in the distance, with about 0.2 miles to go, I let myself look down at my Garmin. It would be so close to a PR. But perhaps more importantly, so much faster than I was anticipating I would be able to finish in. I admit, I teared up a little bit. I kicked into my finish line sprint and crossed the line.

2:20:13

Finish line swiped from the official photographer

Holy cow! Totally not expecting that kind of result! But I guess that just goes to show you what can be accomplished when you put your mind to it. Although I'm not going to lie, there's a tiny piece of me that wonders what I could have done had I not had some setbacks in training this summer due to that pesky IT band.

I went through the finish chute, got my Mylar blanket (which felt oh so good on this chilly day!) and medal. The first people I see? Peggy and her daughter. My cheering crew that kept me going through this 13.1 mile journey. Seriously. I can't even start to form words that express how grateful I am for their support.

Post race runners high. See the bridge in the background? That's right around Mile 11.5.

I looked for my Mom, didn't see her. While I went to the med tent to get some ice for my IT band, Peggy called my Mom. Turns out I ran too fast for her and the Rugrats to get to the finish line in time to see me cross.

For those keeping track at home, that's 10 minutes faster than my fastest half this year (which was at the Oshkosh Half way back in April) and just 46 seconds slower than my PR. And that's after a summer long struggle with an IT band injury.

I'd say the IT band is a pretty good listener though. It hurt. But it just shut up and dealt with it. At least until after the race was run. :)

Because it's nice to have numbers, here's my splits. I'm pretty happy with what I see. For one thing, my slowest mile isn't my last mile!
Mile 1 - 10:29
Mile 2 - 10:32
Mile 3 - 10:10
Mile 4 - 10:18
Mile 5 - 10:19
Mile 6 - 10:20
Mile 7 - 9:59 (where the heck did I pull a sub-10 minute mile from?!?)
Mile 8 - 10:34
Mile 9 -  11:00
Mile 10 - 11:39 (slowest mile, also had that extended walk through an aide station)
Mile 11 - 11:05
Mile 12 - 11:18
Mile 13 - 11:17
Mile 13.1 - 1:07
Total: 2:20:13

Three Things Thursday: Fox Cities Edition

1. The next time I lace up my running shoes I'll be getting ready to tackle the Fox Cities Half Marathon. Tonight was my final run of the training plan. I was told somewhere between one and three miles. I headed out planning on just doing an easy two miles, but somewhere around Mile 1.5 I decided to just tack on an extra mile and finish with 3. I took the first mile easy, pushed it a little bit in Mile 2 and finished with a final easier mile. It felt good. Now just to spend some quality time with my foam roller and I'll be ready for Sunday.

2. After a spring and summer of running in unseasonably hot weather, I had to do a double take when I first saw the weather forecast for race day. Ten days out, I figured there was a good chance the weatherman was wrong, that it would change and we'd be running in 80s and humid. Guys. It didn't change. A high of 57? Instead I'm left rethinking my race day outfit. I have a feeling shorts and tank will be a bit chilly at the starting line when the temperature is maybe going to be 40. Can't tell you how excited I am to run in this kind of weather!

3. So goals. Of course I've got them. If I hadn't eased up on the mileage and the number of runs per week this summer due that pesky IT band injury I've been dealing with, I might have more aggressive goals. But the IT band happened. Some runs were missed. Some miles were cut. But I think I still had a decent training cycle and there might be a season-PR in these legs. Especially given the conditions.

A Goal: Sub-2:19. This would be a new overall PR for me. Everything. And I mean everything, including a fully cooperating IT band, would have to be perfect on race day for this to happen.

B Goal: Sub-2:25. This is what I was aiming for a the Madison Mini last month with Katie. And through 7  miles it was possible. Then the IT band got cranky. But I think part of that was due to the hills. Fox Cities? Unless you count two bridges, it's pretty flat. I think this is doable.

C Goal: Sub-2:30. This would give me my fastest half marathon of the year. I'd be happy with that.

D Goal: Have fun. Don't die.

FCHM Training: Week 5

This was a less than stellar week of training. But it’s not like I sat and did nothing all week. It was AirVenture week here in Oshkosh, so I spent lots of time out on the EAA grounds and I did LOTS of walking. Granted that meant by the time I headed home at night, my legs wanted absolutely nothing to do with anything other than sitting in my recliner. Oops.

So the plan called for:

Monday: 4-5 miles

Tuesday: 6 miles total, speed work consisting of 1.5 mile warm up, a “magic mile,” 3 easy miles and finish with 4x200

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 4-5 miles

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 8-9 miles

Sunday: Rest

Here’s what I actually did:

Monday: I walked. A lot. In 100 degree heat.

Tuesday: Another long day at AirVenture and another day of a lot of walking. I made myself go to speed work at track, even though I knew it was going to hurt. I got to the track just as my group was leaving for the warm up and I probably took my warm up miles too fast. I finished my 1.5 miles in 15:31. After a bit of a stretching break it was time for the “magic mile.” The goal? Run a mile on the track as fast as you possibly could. Hmm. I told myself, it’s just a mile. So I went. The last lap was hard, but I finished in 9:26. I was hoping to get closer to 9 flat, but given the state of my legs, I was ok with that. Leaves me room to improve, right? Finished with a pretty slow 3 miles and then threw in the 4x200 strides at the end. Tough workout, especially on the trashed legs, but glad I made myself do it.

Wednesday: Rest day! But lots of walking at AirVenture.

Thursday: Nope. Legs wanted nothing to do with running after 5 straight days of tons of walking around looking at airplanes.

Friday: Rest day! I thought about sneaking in a few miles, but that thought only lasted a few minutes.

Saturday: 9 miles on the schedule. It was an out-and-back. The weather was glorious. We’re talking low 60s and no humidity when I started at 7 a.m. I ran the entire first half, making decent time for a long run. The second half of the run got a little more tough. My IT band was starting to get a tiny bit cranky, kind of expected given the amount of walking I did all week on the uneven ground. I took two very short walk breaks during the second half and then got stopped by a train a mile from the end. Ended up finishing the 9 miles in 1:42. I’ll take it. I followed up the run with a trip to my nephew’s baseball game and, oh, more walking at AirVenture. But this time it was purely for fun.

Sunday: Rest day.

So why all those extra rest days? I spent 5 days walking the AirVenture grounds for work. I’d guess I walked about 12-15 miles on the uneven grounds during the week. I’m not surprised though. Every year I struggle with training during AirVenture week. I just chalk it up and get back on track the next week. Which is exactly what I’m going to be doing this year.

FCHM Training: Week 4

Four weeks in. And I'm pretty happy with the week.

Here's what the plan had:

Monday: 4 miles
Tuesday: Speed work. Total of 6 miles with 4x800s.
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 7-8 miles
Sunday: Rest

Here's what I ended up doing.

Monday: Rest. I can't remember why I skipped the run. It might have been a late night at work, or a nasty headache. I don't remember.

Tuesday: I was supposed to work a night shift at work, meaning I wouldn't be able to make it up to the group speed work session. So the original plan was to get up early and hit the track before work to get those 800s in. The actual plan? I ended up not getting up early enough, my night meeting got cancelled, I was still at work late and I hit the YMCA late to sneak in a quick 4 miles. I kept it easy, two miles at 10:30 pace, two miles at a 10 min/mile pace.

Wednesday: Well, I had skipped speed work Tuesday and I knew I had to get it done. I headed to the track after work. I started with a two mile warm up, just from the school to the cemetery and back. It wasn't awful, but not wonderful. Then it was time for the 800s, with three minutes rest between 800s. The first three felt decent, but that final one? BRUTAL. I just wanted to quit midway through, but I gutted it out. The splits were OK: 4:30, 4:34, 4:37 and 4:44. I was supposed to finish with a two mile cool down, but my legs were trashed. After a 1.5 mile run/walk I threw in the towel and headed home. Well, first a pit stop to watch a bike race in downtown Oshkosh.

Thursday: I skipped this run. I had a date with a dude. We went to the Wisconsin TimberRattlers game to watch Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy make a rehab start. The game was good. The date? Well, let's just say he seemed more interested in his Blackberry.

Friday: I rested.

Saturday: My first long run in a REALLY long time that felt good. Granted, it didn't start good. The first three miles were rough. There was a train viaduct that I had to run up right around Mile 3, and since my cranky IT band still doesn't like hills, I was planning on walking it. At that moment, the coach I'm working with was riding his bike next to me and talking, but I got to the viaduct, told him my plan and he rode ahead. After getting off the viaduct, I started running again until I got to Mile 4 where the group had a water station set up. I paused, got some cold water and I was off again. At this point the IT band was just starting to get a little achy, but not bad. But I told myself I'd start doing the short walk every mile. Well, when I got to Mile 5 I was feeling good. So I kept running. Got to the bridge right before Mile 6, was feeling good so I tested myself and ran the bridge. Felt good. I kept running, finally taking a short short break around Mile 6.5. I told myself I'd give myself one more brief, brief break if needed, but I kept running. I felt stronger in the second half of the run than in the beginning. It was a good run. And I felt good at the end, like I could have gone further. No major IT band pain. No tape on my knee. I guess the PT is working!

Week 5 could be interesting. It's EAA AirVenture week and with five long days of work out there, including a TON of walking (hello cross training!), it'll be interesting to see how the legs (and IT band) handle the miles I've got to run this week.

FCHM Training: Weeks 2 & 3

I disappeared for a few days, so you get two training week recaps in one.

Here's what the schedule called for:

Week 2:
Monday - 3 miles
Tuesday - speed work at the track, 4 miles total with 2 sets of (200, 200, 400)
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - 3 miles
Friday - rest
Saturday - 5-6 miles
Sunday - rest

Week 3:
Monday - 4 miles
Tuesday - speed work at the track, 5 miles total with 2x200, 2x400, 800, 2x200
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - 4 miles
Friday - rest
Saturday - 6-7 miles
Sunday - rest

What happened:


Week 2
Monday - This is also known as the week that Wisconsin became an oven. Seriously. You know it's going to be a rough week when a heat advisory is issued Monday morning lasting through Friday at 10 p.m. Temps in the 90s and high humidity means feels like temps in the 100-105 range. Not fun. So I took this run indoors on the treadmill.

Tuesday - This was supposed to be speed work. But it was also my first session with my physical therapist for my cranky knee. And even though there wasn't much therapy done, it was still really sore. That soreness combined with nasty heat outside and the lure of fireworks meant I skipped speed work. Plus I justified it by telling myself I had a race to run in the morning.

Wednesday - I ran the Firecracker 5K. Look for a race report in a day or two.

Not only was it hot, this is what it looked liked when I left the YMCA Thursday. Minutes before the storm rolled in.

Thursday - Still hot outside, but I knew I needed to get that speed work in, so I headed over to the indoor track at the YMCA, where I figured out 1.5 laps would be a 200. The 1.5 mile warm up (14:56) was a little rough, the knee was cranky, but I gutted it out. Pretty happy with the speed session. Splits were 0:59, 0:58, 2:05, 0:57, 1:01, 2:09. Finished with a 1.5 mile cool down (16:08) for a total of 5.1 miles.


Friday - rest

Saturday - Uh, this was supposed to be a long run with the group, but I managed to turn my alarm off in my sleep. Thought about doing it Saturday late afternoon/evening at my parents house, but got a little freaked out about running near the park in their neighborhood after a report of a stranger stabbing earlier that week with a suspect still at large.

 Lake Winnebago as seen on my bike ride.

Sunday - No running, but I did do 880 yards of water walking with my mom and logged a 14.1 mile bike ride out to High Cliff State Park.

Week 3
Monday - I skipped my run today after getting out of work really late due to training. By the time I got home at 7 p.m. I was hungry and figured food was way more important than 4 miles.

Speed work directions. 

Tuesday - Another later night at work, but I was bound and determined to make to the track to do my speed work, even if it meant having to do it solo. I headed over to the track, ran my 1.5 mile warm up (15:26) but then had to find myself another track since the one I was at was taken over by what looked like the HS track team. Very intimidating. Luckily we've got two public high schools in town, so I headed over to the other school, where some police recruits were just finishing up some testing. Armed with my workout, I got to work. I was supposed to do 2x200, 2x400, 800, 2x200. My splits: 0:56, 0:59, 2:01, 2:01, 4:27, 0:58, 0:59. Finished with a 1.75 mile cool down run/walk (19:20). The 800? HARD!

Wednesday - rest

Thursday - Headed out for a run after work. The miles got done, but I really need to remember to bring hydration with me, even for shorter runs, when the temps are above 80. The first two miles went fine, the second two miles were brutal.

Friday - rest


Saturday - Met up with the group for the weekend run. Finished 7.1 miles in 1:22 and ran with Jenny, another woman in the group. Her pace was a little bit slower and she took occasional walk breaks to get her heart rate lower, but I was OK with that. Didn't want to anger the IT band too badly. I also made the decision to walk the Racine Street bridge in Menasha on both loops. Even though I like hills, my IT band isn't so fond of them right now. So I thought I'd better play it safe.

Sunday - I rested. I planned on getting in a bike ride, but it just didn't work out.

Totals for the two weeks: 27.35 miles running, 880 yards water walking, 14.1 miles biking. Not bad. Bring on Week 4.

FCHM Training: Week 1

It's started.

Twelve weeks until Fox Cities Half Marathon, my goal race for the fall. I thought I'd do a short weekly recap in the weeks leading up to the race, just to give an idea of what's on the training plan, what I end up doing and how I'm feeling.

So here's what the training plan called for this week:

Monday - 3 miles
Tuesday - speed work at the track, 4 miles total with 6x200, 1x400
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - 3 miles
Friday - rest
Saturday -  4-5 miles
Sunday - rest

Here's what I ended up doing:

Monday - I ended up deciding to skip this run. After a morning appointment with my doctor, I learned I was going to be sent to physical therapy for my cranky knee, which was most likely an IT band issue. The knee was acting up throughout the day, so I thought I'd take an unplanned rest day, in hopes of resting it up before my first attempt at speed work the next day.

Tuesday - Speed work. Read about it here. It actually ended up being 4.85 miles.

Wednesday - Planned rest day.

Thursday - It was warm out. Like mid-90s and humid. Not wanting to die, I headed for the treadmill and pounded out my 3 miles. Not super fast, but felt pretty decent. Followed it up with a half-mile cool down walk.

Friday - I rested.


Saturday - First long run with the new group. And I admit, I'm not sure what to think. Seems like 75 percent of the runners plug into headphones. Normally I wouldn't think twice about plugging in to some tunes during a long run. But I guess my mentality over the last year has shifted when it comes to long runs with groups. There are people. You can talk. You don't need headphones. So I've gotten in the habit of NOT bringing my iPod. I may have to rethink that strategy. See I'm in this no-man's land when it comes to my pace. Not super fast, but not the group of run/walkers. So I find myself alone. And this weekend when I did find myself by other runners? They were plugged in. So it was a little lonely. And not to mention hard. It was hot. Humid. There was no shade on the trail I was running on. Ugh. Hard. The first three miles went ok, the final three? I threw in some more walk breaks than I normally would have, to deal with the heat, but also because the IT band was getting a bit cranky. But I finished. 6 miles in 1:11. Eh. I'll take it.

Sunday - Swam some laps at the YMCA. Finished about 900 yards, mostly easy freestyle. Threw in a few 25 yard freestyle sprints, a bit of backstroke and even an attempt at the breast stroke. That one had to be amusing to watch. After the pool I headed out on my bike for 16 semi-hilly miles. Probably not the smartest idea since the IT band was starting to get angry the final 5 miles. Oops. Guess who's got a date with the ice and foam roller?

So for the week I had 13.85 miles running, 900 yards swimming and 16 miles on the bike. Not bad for week one. Twelve weeks to go.

Cellcom Green Bay Half Marathon Race Report

*Blogger Note: Normally I like to stay in chronological order when it comes to race reports. But I feel I need to get Green Bay's out there, since everyone is talking about. I'll get back to Ohio reports in a day or two.*

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So question, if I crossed the finish line, saw the finish line clock still running and got a medal, did I just finish my 11th half marathon? Some would say yes. But when you look at the results from the Cellcom Green Bay Half Marathon, you won't find a result.

Heck, you won't find a result for almost half of the half marathon finishers and only a handful of the full marathon finishers.

So what happened?

Well, a race closure happened. As in stopped the race. Blame Mother Nature for this one. When I crossed the finish line at 9:45ish, it was already 80 degrees, humid and not a cloud in the sky. Oh, and no wind. It was a hot one.

Hanging out with my friend Vince Lombardi before the race.

Heck, it was hot when I lined up at the starting line at 6:50 a.m. I knew all week it was going to be toasty. I hydrated. Stayed off my feet. Did I what I could do earlier in the week to acclimate to the warmer temps by logging some runs when it was in the 70s. But I knew it was still going to be tough on Sunday.

With that knowledge, I threw a race plan for a fast race out the wind. I just wanted to finish with a somewhat respectable time. And midway through the race, somewhere around Mile 6.5, I threw THAT plan out the wind. Instead my race plan became "Don't die and don't get hauled off in an ambulance."

Seriously.

Here we go. Let's just start running, it's getting hot.

The first few miles went well. I was actually feeling pretty good considering the heat. I was taking it easy, walking the water stops. Hydrating. I saw some friends around Mile 2, saw my Mom around Mile 4. And then it started to hurt.

Yes, I might be just a little bit nervous.

My pace slowed. I walked a little longer through the water stops. And I saw a runner or two down on the grass being attended to by paramedics. Not for a bloody knee or scrape. Nope. We're talking ice on their body, IV hanging from a tree.

At Mile 4. Whoa.

Suddenly I didn't feel so bad about wanting to walk those water stations.

I made it through Mile 6, struggling, but still running. But shortly after, that demon came out in my head. Here I was. On a long straight away that was slightly uphill. Not an inch of shade to be found. Suddenly I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do this. I gave in. I walked. And I kept walking. I feel bad admitting this, but I walked for almost three-quarters of a mile. It wasn't pretty.

I got to the turn and turned into a breeze. It felt good. And there was some shaded spots dotting the street. And a downhill. I ran. It felt good. And the best part of this mile long stretch of race on Point Road? All of the residents that brought out hoses and sprinklers and set them up to cool down us runners.

So I felt good for a mile or so, then I turned out of this wonderful neighborhood onto a road that was just lined by fields. Not sprinklers here. Just a lot of sun. But I kept running.

Around Mile 4, right before I started to struggle.

More sprinklers between mile markers 9 and 10. And shade. It was shortly after passing the Mile 10 marker that I noticed the group of runners I was in amongst had turned mostly into walkers. Even with the shade and the water, it was hot. And you could tell it was taking a toll on people. I kept shuffling along though, knowing that the more I ran, the faster I'd be done.

Reaching Mile 11, I started hearing sirens and seeing a few more runners on the side of the road being attended to by medical personnel. And just after Mile 12, where the full and half marathons split, I saw a cluster of full marathoners standing by a police officer. At first glance, it looked like they were waiting for a stoplight to change to green. Odd, I thought. I kept running though, knowing the finish line was just a mile away.

The last mile was hard. I walked some. I ran a good chunk though, including a nice little kick as I rounded the final turns in the shadows of Lambeau Field to the finish line. I remember seeing orange cones set up across the finish line and I thought that was strange, but I also saw the clock was still running.

The bling. Even if I don't have an "official" time.

I finished in 2:39:28. Not what I was hoping for, but I survived and didn't get hauled off in an ambulance. I got my medal and stopped in the med tent to get some ice for my cranky knee/IT band.

That's when it hit me what was going on.

Folks, the med tent was scary. All of the cots were full of runners. Some with bags of ice covering their bodies. Some with ice and IVs. There were people that were being lead into the tent who couldn't even walk under their own power. And in the background, there was the constant sound of ambulance sirens and a line of ambulances either dropping patients off or hauling people off to hospitals for more care. It was scary. And here I was, feeling ashamed asking for a bag of ice when there were people who were so much worse off than me.

I did get the bag of ice and after that I just wanted out of the finish line area. I wanted to get my bottle of water, find my Mom and find some shade. Because I was hurting. Not just from running 13.25 miles (all of that weaving to hit every single hose/sprinkler added up!), but I was feeling a bit woozy myself.

While I'm sitting in the air conditioning of the Lambeau Field Atrium, I learned that they had called the race and closed the course. I figured I would still get my "official" time though since I had finished and the clock was still running.

Not so. A few hours later I learned that they made the decision to close the course at 9:25 and stopped the timing system at 9:35, which means I just barely missed the cut off.

Now, I whole-heartedly agreed with the decision race and medical staff made to cancel the race. It was getting scary out there. The sights I saw in the few minutes I was standing in the med tent alone made me realize how serious things were, and how much worse they could potentially get. Yes, there were apparently some communication issues out on the second half of the marathon course in terms of what exactly was going on. Now, people are making the argument that it was only 80 degrees and runners have to prepare for all types of weather. If this was July? I don't think it would have been as much of an issue. But it's mid-May. We haven't seen these kind of  temps in Wisconsin since last summer. We haven't had the opportunity to acclimate to the weather and while most probably know they need to listen to their bodies, not everyone did and I'm sure some were just affected by the heat suddenly.

I guess my problem lies with the "official" results. Nobody who crossed the line after 9:35 a.m. got an "official" finishing time. I crossed minutes afterwards. Yet, my Mom still got the text messages giving her a one-mile to go update as well as a "Jennifer has crossed the finish line" message. And remember, the clock was still running at the finish line. That tells me the timing system was still running. And then there's the fact that they kept the clock running long enough for the top five female full marathoners to cross the finish line. The fifth woman? Finished in 3 hours, 24 minutes, that's almost an hour after the made the decision to close the course and turned off the timing system.

I dunno. I wasn't in their shoes when they made the decision.

Am I disappointed? A bit. I ran the miles, I crossed the finish line and even got a medal. Yet I have no result. Normally I wouldn't be too upset, but I was planning on using this race as my third half marathon in 90 days in order to qualify for the Half Fanatics. Guess I'll be putting that off until the fall.

Will I be back at Green Bay in 2013? You bet.

A few things for Friday: Cellcom Green Bay Half Marathon edition

1. It's race weekend! Again! This time it's the Cellcom Green Bay Half Marathon. If you would have asked me two weeks ago - heck even a week ago - I would have said this was definitely my A race for the spring. Now? I'm not so sure. It might turn into a run, survive and have fun kind of day...

2. Because have you heard about the weather? Almost 70 at the 7 a.m. start, with temps climbing. Oh boy. This girl wasn't ready for that two weeks ago in Ohio. And I'm definitely not ready for it this weekend. I'll probably even be happy for that wind, as long as it doesn't turn into the steady 40 mile per hour winds I had to deal with last year.


3. So goals. Of course I've got them, even though it's supposed to be hot warm. Considering I failed at hitting my goals for Columbus two weeks ago - well I did manage to have fun, so it wasn't a complete failure - I think I might go with them again. Or at least something close to them.

• A Goal: Sub-2:20. This might be that pie in the sky goal and it would end up giving me a new PR. Kind of doubtful especially since I'm pretty sure this won't be a PR kind of day, but I've at least got it out there.
• B Goal: 2:25. If I pace myself, don't blow up and can beat those mental demons that invaded my head at Capital City two weeks ago, this is possible. I've run the miles. I feel prepared. It's a flat course that I'm very familiar with.
• C Goal: 2:30. If the heat gets to me, I'll make that decision to slow it down, not kill myself and aim for 2:30.
• D Goal: Don't die. And have fun.

4. I know. I know. I still owe you a Cinco de Mayo 5K race report along with a recap of the other things we did in Columbus to keep us busy. And a Sole Burner 5K race report from last weekend. I'll catch up. Someday. Hopefully this weekend since I took an extra day off work and should have some time.

Capital City Half Marathon Race Report

Let's ignore the typo on the bib. Celbrate? Really?

Oh Columbus, Ohio. Where do I begin?

Well, there's the trip from Wisconsin to Ohio, and what we did during the days leading up to the Capital City Half Marathon, but I'll save that for an entirely different post. Same with the 5K we ran hours after the half marathon. They all deserve their own time in the spotlight.

So the half marathon.

First off, Mother Nature was not kind to this Wisconsin girl. It was warm. As in 68 when I lined up in the starting corrals at 7:45 a.m. for the 8 o'clock start. And humid. I knew right then, even before the national anthem was played and the gun went off that this was going to be a tough race.

Photo credit: Capital City Half Marathon Facebook page

So Jerry DiPizzo plays the national anthem. It was amazing. And the first corral starts. Then w e wait 5 minutes and corral B starts. Then it's time for corral C to shuffle forward to the starting line. Peggy and I shuffled and pretty soon we were running. Across the mat and we were on our way.

Ideally I would have liked to clock a 2:25ish finish, but I also knew I needed to keep it easy in the beginning miles, especially since it was only getting warmer.

By the time I got to the first mile marker about 10 minutes and 30 seconds later, I was already dripping in sweat. Uh-oh. I kept running. Kept it easy. People watched and silently prayed to Mother Nature to just open up the clouds and let it rain, because at least the humidity would go away a bit.

My prayers weren't answered.

I kept the miles easy and followed my plan of walking through the water stations. The first miles actually went pretty good. I kept my pace in the 10:30-10:45 min/mile range through the first 6.5 miles and was feeling pretty good.

And then it hit me.

I just wanted to be done. But I still had half of the race to run. I wanted to slow down and take an unscheduled walk break between aid stations, but I couldn't. Why you ask? Well considering I was smack dab in the middle of The Ohio State University Campus and wearing Wisconsin Badger gear, that would not have been the smartest decision.

So I kept running.

And somewhere around Mile 8 I was finally off the campus and I allowed myself to take that unscheduled walk break. It was the first of many. It's also the point in the race where I started taking two cups of water at the aid stations - one for me to drink and one to pour on my head - because it was starting to get warm.

I kept shuffling along. I watched the 2:20 pace group pass me. Then the 2:25 pace group pass me. I knew this wasn't going to be a stellar result kind of day. I kept running though, sprinkling in some walking breaks (which were probably longer than necessary).

Photo credit: Capital City Half Marathon Facebook page

Just before I hit the Mile 10 marker I came upon a group of military guys (I'm not sure which branch they were with). They were outfitted in full fatigues, carrying their full packs and running/walking in their combat boots. It was just before they were about to make the final turn for the 10K route. Pretty inspiring. And the other cool thing? I'm running along and as I come up to these guys, all the runners who were in the vicinity broke out in applause. Very cool.

So seeing that? Even though I was struggling I knew what I was going through was much easier than what those guys were and they weren't complaining. So I kept running.

I glanced at my Garmin when I hit the Mile 10 marker and saw it flip  to 2 hours. Well, if ran the last 3.1 miles and didn't stop or slow down, I could still hit a 2:30 half marathon. Hard, but possible. So I tried.

And about a mile later I saw a guy sitting up against a tree with an IV bag hanging from the tree trunk and wearing an oxygen mask. Then I realized. Yes, I had emergency contact info on my Road ID for my mom. But it wouldn't be much help since she was in Wisconsin. My friends Peggy and Jeff? I didn't know their phone numbers. That info was saved in my phone, which was locked up in Jeff's car.

I was feeling a little funky at this point, and given that conversation I just had with myself in my head? I didn't push it. Alternating runs with walks over the final 2 miles. And finally, 2 hours and 42 minutes after I started, I finished.

It wasn't the kind of race I hoping to have. It wasn't the prettiest half marathon and it definitely was my slowest half marathon over a year, but given the heat, humidity and all of those freaking false flats? I'll take it. I was also glad to hear from other runners that I wasn't the only one who thought that was a tough 13.1 miles.

I earned every ounce of this bling.

After a pit stop in the bathrooms for an angry stomach, some sparkling wine and water, Peggy, Jeff and I walked (well, I hobbled), back to the car so we could head back to Jeff's house.

Race number 2 was yet to come....

I'm headed back to Green Bay

When the announcement was made in November that there wouldn't be a lap through the players tunnel or around Lambeau Field, a lot of folks decided to hold off on running the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon and Half Marathon.

I'm not one of those people.

For starters it's so close, I don't have to worry about booking a hotel. I can sleep in my own bed and drive up. And it's a race that holds a special place in my heart. It's where I returned to distance running after a two-year hiatus due to the Monster in my head.

So for the third year in a row, I'll be toeing the line with thousands of other runners on May 20. I may not end with a lap around Lambeau Field, but I'm still going to love every step of that 13.1 miles through the city of Green Bay. And hopefully this year I won't encounter the steady 40 mile per hour winds at the 11.5 mile marker. That was brutal.

See you in Green Bay!