Sunday, September 15th was the day of the Romeo 2 Richmond Half Marathon, and it also happened to be my birthday. I managed to PR by 2.5 minutes, so it was an excellent way to celebrate!

When I first considered this race, it was half because it would be fun to race on my birthday and half because it would help me get through a big chunk of my second 20-mile training run for the Grand Rapids Marathon. I was supposed to run 10 miles at marathon pace the day before, and 20 the day of the race. I was thinking that I’d add on the extra 7 miles and take it easy during the race. As race day approached, I realized it was going to be nice and cool. Combine that with a fast, flat course, and it makes for perfect racing conditions. I knew it would be hard to discipline myself and not truly race it. I opted to still run 10 miles the day before, but took it easy. I’d save the marathon pace for race day and push it harder if I had it in me.

Matt signed up for the half as well, and we headed out to Richmond early on Sunday morning. Packet pickup was available on Saturday morning in Romeo, and we were strongly encouraged to go then. We were told that it would save us from having to stand in line on race day. We didn’t want to make the extra trip, so we waited until the morning of the race. We got to Richmond High School a little before 7am and got our packets quickly and easily. Because the race raises money for the Macomb Food Program, we took some canned goods with us to the pickup.

Romeo 2 Richmond race t-shirt

They had technical shirts which actually had different cuts for men and women. They didn’t mention the different sizing when we signed up for the race, so luckily the size did work out for me. The packets included a drawstring bag with some goodies like animal crackers, trail mix, pretzels, and the usual coupons and flyers.

There were bathrooms in a building by the football field with no wait, but that’s probably because it was still an hour and a half before the start of the race. Since this was a point-to-point race, busses ran from 7-7:30 to take us out to Romeo. We found our friend Jeff, a speedy runner who I sit next to at work, and got on a bus easily. It was about 7:45 when we got to the park in Romeo, and the race was due to start at 8:30. I had decided to run 3 miles to warm up prior to the race. Rather than try to run the full 20 miles on my schedule, I’d run 16 miles and figure that the harder effort would help make up for fewer miles.

It was a cool morning around 55 degrees, so I had a jacket to leave at the gear check. They gave us garbage bags for our stuff and bussed them back to Richmond. Matt, Jeff, and I headed out on the Macomb Orchard Trail to run 3 miles to warm up. We went out 1.5 miles and got a preview of the first little part of the race route. When we got back, we had a good 10-15 minutes to spare before the start of the race. We knew a bunch of people at this race and chatted a bit as we headed out to the start. Everyone was gathered in a park/field area right by the trail, but the race actually started a good quarter mile or so up the trail. There’s a bit of an incline where the trail crosses over M-53, and we started right in the middle of the incline. The chip-timed race started right at 8:30, and we took off up the short hill. After we got over M-53, there was a nice little downhill stretch that made for a speedy start. After that, the trail flattened out and stayed that way.

The elevation chart for the race

The Macomb Orchard Trail is a nice paved path that mostly runs through some woodsy areas with a few farm-like areas with cornfields. People can probably run about 4 wide. With a little over 300 people running the half, there was a little bit of dodging and weaving at the start. It wasn’t bad, and people spread out soon enough. Luckily, it didn’t seem like there were many (or any?) non-racers out on the trail. At one of the first crossroads, I was surprised to see a co-worker there with his kids calling out my name! It was a great surprise that gave me a little boost and kept me smiling for a bit.

Considering how I’d run 10 miles the day before and was approaching the end of a 52-mile week, I wasn’t sure how I might hold up. I hoped to at least run at my goal marathon pace, which is 8:13. I actually ran 8:13 for the first mile, sped up a little for the next couple miles, then ran a sub-8 pace for the rest of the race. After the first mile or so, I ended up behind a couple of guys who were running about the same pace. I usually get uncomfortable if I’m hanging too close to people, but they both happened to be running a pace that was just right for me. We only chatted for a minute early on, and I learned that one of the guys was aiming for an 8-minute pace. That sounded good to me, and I joked that hopefully he’d pull me along. Although we weren’t talking, it was actually kind of nice to have them around. They were going at a good, steady pace and I think it helped keep me consistent. I was probably by one of the guys for almost 10 miles. There were a few miles in the low 7:50s, and I worried that I might be pushing too fast too early. I wanted to be a bit conservative for at least the first half of the race, and I’d step it up later on if I had it in me.

I’ve never eaten anything during a half marathon before, but wanted to practice for my marathon. I ate a few Honey Stinger Chews around 4.5 miles when I got hungry. At that point I’d actually run a total of 7.5 miles for the day. I ate a few more about 6 miles later, and switched between drinking GU Brew and water that I had in my hydration belt. The belt might seem heavy and obnoxious, but I’ve gotten used to it and really like being able to drink whenever I want to.

When I reached the 10-mile mark and I’d held up consistently in the 7:50s, I decided it was time to give that extra push for the last 5K. I dropped to a 7:39, 7:27, and 7:11 for the last 3 miles. Somehow I dropped down to a 6:43 pace for the last .16 miles! That’s about the fastest I can run Yasso 800s, and I didn’t realize I’d picked it up that much. It was definitely a hard effort for the last little bit. I had the race a little long on my Garmin, probably from my weaving at the start. My official time was 1:43:09.7, which shaved 2.5 minutes off my previous best time!

My splits

I was thrilled with my time. I knew I was well overdue to crush my half marathon PR, but kind of shocked myself that I could finish that strong. When I can hit my 5K pace at the end of 13 miles, I feel like I’ve definitely done something right. In the spring, I ran the Fifth Third River Bank Run 25K at a 7:50 pace and beat my half PR within that race. It was nice to finally be able to beat my PR officially though. The 25K was the most successfully executed race I’d run at that point. I started out a little slower than goal pace, picked it up and held it through the middle, then finished strong. I took a similar approach during this race, and it paid off yet again. It’s a really great feeling to finish a race feeling so strong. I probably still need to find the right balance so that I don’t have THAT much energy at the end though. Maybe I should push my pace a tad bit more a little earlier. It’s always a learning experience!

The finish

I collected my sweet medal at the end and got a bottle of water. Matt had finished just a bit before me and found me right after I finished.

Romeo 2 Richmond medal

The medal features the barn-like covering over M-53 at the start of the race

I went right for the food to see what was available. I got some apple cider, apple slices, a banana, and a bagel. The guy I’d been running by for the first 10 miles came over and we talked for a bit. He managed to hit the 8-minute pace he’d been aiming for and PRed. In addition, he got an age group award. It’s always fun to talk with people at races and realize how friendly and supportive most people are. Most of us are out there trying to achieve our own individual goals and racing against ourselves – not each other.

This race awarded age groups by every 10 years and I was 5th out of 48 women 30-39. Had they used 5-year age groups, I would have pulled off a third place finish. Oh well! I have never placed in a half marathon and wasn’t expecting it anyway. Matt and I hung out for a bit to talk to friends, and it was fun to see so many people we knew.

Me with my medal

When we left, we went to Dairy Queen to gain back some of those calories we’d burned. After that, we hit a cider mill for some donuts. Running a half marathon on my birthday was a great idea because it helped me justify eating a whole bunch of junk food without feeling too guilty!

Although it may have been a little risky to race so hard during marathon training, I’m glad I did. It makes me wonder how much more potential I still have when it comes to racing a half. If I don’t run 10 miles the day before and I’m not in the heart of marathon training, I can probably shave even more time off. This race left me feeling even better about my upcoming marathon. Apparently Hal Higdon’s Advanced 1 plan is working wonders for me!

– Janet

My 13th week of training is complete, and I now have 5 weeks until the Grand Rapids Marathon. Higdon’s Advanced 1 training plan is still going well. A week of 50+ miles ending with a half marathon PR tells me that it must be working! Here’s what I did for week 13:

Monday: 40 minutes of strength training followed by an easy 4-mile run on the trail.

Tuesday: 10 miles on the treadmill. I think 10 miles is about the most I’ve ever done on a treadmill. Somehow I survived. My car said it was 100 degrees outside when I left work, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I debated between suffering in the heat versus suffering on the treadmill, and the treadmill seemed like the better option. I usually survive the treadmill best when I do intervals because changing the pace every half mile or so gives me something to strive for. This was supposed to be an easy run, so I started around a 9-minute pace, worked down to an 8-minute pace for half a mile, then slowed down to around a 9-minute pace to finish.

My key to treadmill survival lately is to listen to funny podcasts. Dave & Chuck the Freak keep me distracted and entertained. The tricky part is that sometimes they crack me up so much that I laugh out loud. Of course they had me laughing when I was trying to maintain an 8-minute pace, so that was a bit challenging. I also listened to a Patcast for part of the run. Pat Monahan, lead singer of the band Train, interviews people and does a song or two with them. This Patcast featured Matt Nathanson, one of my favorite musicians. Matt is practically a comedian too, so I was very entertained. I was thankful for these podcasts because they helped me survive an hour and 25 minutes on the treadmill!

Wednesday: 30 minutes of strength training followed by 5 miles on the treadmill. It was crazy hot outside again and storms were on the way. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to beat the storms, so it was another treadmill day. I listened to music this time around and varied my speed again to keep it somewhat tolerable. The storms were pretty bad when I left the gym, so I definitely made the right choice.

Thursday: Ran 7 hill repeats and made it to 7.5 miles total. Luckily the temperatures dropped to the high 70s by the time I started this run. Hill workouts are already intimidating enough, so I was glad I didn’t have to worry about the heat as well. I ran a couple miles on the trail to warm up, then hit the hill. I was not excited about doing hill repeats at all. However, when the first couple weren’t too bad, it made me feel better about it.

I always like the look of the elevation chart when I do hill repeats.

I made it through the workout just fine and aimed to do a couple miles to cool down. By that point, it was getting pretty cloudy and I knew rain was coming soon. I knew I should stick close to home in case I had to bail on the cool down, yet somehow I convinced myself to run a mile down the trail. That was a bad idea, because of course the rain started once I was exactly a mile out. There was quite a downpour and I was drenched pretty quickly. It can be kind of fun to run in the rain until the mixture of sweat and water gets into my eyes. When my eyes start to burn, it’s not so fun anymore. Instead of running a nice cool down pace, I went faster than I should have following the hill workout. As a result, I aggravated my shin problem.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Ran 10 easy miles on the trail. My schedule called for 10 miles at marathon pace. That was originally my plan, then I’d run 20 miles on Sunday. I planned to run the Romeo 2 Richmond half marathon at an easy pace on Sunday. I realized the weather was going to be nice and cool on Sunday, and I knew the race course was flat and fast. I had a feeling it would be difficult to discipline myself and take it easy during the race. I decided I should run Saturday’s 10 miles at an easy pace and save the faster pace for Sunday. It was nice and cool Saturday morning, so I didn’t feel the need to get up early to beat the heat. That meant I finally got a solid 9 hours of sleep – that never happens anymore! I ran into running buddies Jeff (see his blog at Detroit Runner) and Kevin right after I started, so I ran with them for a few miles as they finished their 20-mile run. It was nice to have the company. I also got to see a couple of police horses on the trail, and that made me smile.

Sunday: Ran 16 miles between the Romeo 2 Richmond half marathon and a warm up run. I had my second 20-mile run on the schedule. However, I had decided I would run 3 miles before the race and give a pretty solid effort during the race. Even though that would only get me to 16 miles total, I figured the hard effort would help make up for a few less miles. I didn’t know how hard I’d be able to run, but hoped I’d at least run at marathon pace. I did run marathon pace…for the first mile. After that, my pace was roughly 10-20 seconds under marathon pace for a good portion of the run. I ended up with a new PR by over 2.5 minutes! Hopefully I’ll write a recap of the race in the next few days.

Totals for the week: 52.7 miles of running and strength training twice.

I was pretty thrilled with the results of this week’s training. I knew I was well overdue to break my half marathon PR, but didn’t expect to do it by 2.5 minutes at the end of a week with 50+ miles. I probably pressed my luck by running the race so hard, and I’m hoping it doesn’t set me back in my training at all. I have another down week coming up, so hopefully that will help me recover. I’m pretty excited about how well training has gone so far, and I just need to keep it up for 5 more weeks.

– Janet

Another week of training for the Grand Rapids Marathon is in the books. Although it was a stepback week, it felt challenging enough. That’s partially because I was coming off a hard week last week, and because I squeezed all of the runs in without taking a day off until Sunday. Here’s what I did for week 12:

Monday: Ran 4 miles. I had the day off for Labor Day and chose to sleep in. By the time I got out, the sun was pretty warm, but half of my route was in the shade anyway. My quads were still sore from the Milford 30K, but I felt them more on stairs than I did while running.

Tuesday: Ran 8 miles – 7 x 800 repeats plus warm up and cool down. Matt and I hit the track to do a speed workout. Matt has paced me through a few of my track workouts, but I know he needs to get some practice running his own (much faster) repeats. I knew I needed to work on hitting the right pace on my own. The last time I did 800s, I feel like I pushed a bit harder than I should have. Following the Yasso 800s rule, if I run 10 800s at a time of 3:30 each (a 7:00 pace), it can be predicted that I might be capable of a 3:30 marathon. Since I’m aiming for roughly 3:35, I probably don’t need to run my 800s much faster than a 7:00 pace. I ran 6:43 and faster last time, so I aimed to keep myself slower this time around.

I thought a slower pace should be easy enough to maintain, but this was still a tough workout. My legs were probably still recovering from the hard 20 I ran on Saturday. Despite tired legs, I stayed pretty consistent, hitting paces of 6:54-6:58. I’d settled on a goal of 6:50-7:00, so I was right on track. I did 400m jogs in between repeats to recover, incorporating some walking after my third or fourth 800. I struggled to catch my breath after a few repeats and the walking helped. I figure if I could still pull this off with such tired legs, I’m in pretty good shape.

Wednesday: 40 minutes of strength training followed by 5 miles on the treadmill. After the previous day’s workout, I made sure to take it slow and easy for this run.

Thursday: Ran 6 miles. I kept this trail run easy because I planned to run 6 more miles the next morning.

Friday: Ran 6 miles at marathon pace. Friday is usually my rest day, but with family plans on Sunday, I thought it would be best to shift my rest day to Sunday. Doing this run in the morning meant a ridiculously early treadmill run. I wondered if I’d be pressing my luck doing my Thursday and Friday 6-mile runs only 10 hours apart, but it all worked out. I averaged just under my marathon pace and felt good.

Work was busy and I kept moving all day, keeping me from crashing too hard from the super early morning. By the time I got out of the car after my drive home, it was a different story. I was wiped out. We were supposed to go to a concert, but I was so tired I bailed on those plans. I guess I can’t do it ALL!

Saturday: Ran 12 miles. The idea of 12 miles as my long run seemed easy in theory since I’d done 20 last weekend. After so many consecutive days of running, it was still a bit intimidating. Matt and I did most of this run together. We ventured out to some dirt roads for part of the run. It’s always fun to see that we have more isolated farm country so close to an area that’s so busy. We also ran by the Rochester Museum and Van Hoosen Farm. It’s really pretty around there, so I took several photos.

Van Hoosen Farm

Stream by the Rochester Museum

A bridge behind the Rochester Museum

More by the museum

A path leading from the farm back towards downtown Rochester

I averaged about 30 seconds above race pace for this one, and ran the last mile just above race pace. So, it was definitely a good run. It’s usually a good sign when I can finish strong.

Sunday: Rest (phew!)

Totals for the week: 41 miles of running, strength training once.

I ran 8 days in a row without a break thanks to my schedule shuffling. Prior to marathon training, I worried that running 3 back-to-back days might make my shin problem unbearable. Running 8 days in a row and still feeling okay tells me that I’ve made a lot of progress.

By Friday, I was especially hungry and thirsty. I guess running 6 miles Thursday night followed by 6 miles Friday morning can explain that. I didn’t have a big dinner or a big breakfast after either run, so I was ready for a second lunch by 2:00 on Friday. I am lucky enough to sit next to someone at work who is also training for a marathon, so we were both trying to get our hands on any food we could!

With my second 20-mile run coming up next weekend, I decided to sign up for the Romeo to Richmond half marathon. The Milford 30K was perfect to work into a 20-mile training day because I only had to add 1.4 miles to get the full distance. I’ll have to add 7 miles to get to my full distance next Sunday. The race follows the Macomb Orchard Trail, so I will probably try to get 7 in on the trail before the race starts. I think the race atmosphere is a good way to get through a long run. Plus, it happens to fall on my birthday. When I’m lucky enough to celebrate my birthday on a weekend, it seems fitting to run a race. I did that last year by running the Rochester Rotary 10K. That course was short and I wasn’t totally thrilled with the organization of the race, but it was still fun. I’m expecting a much more organized and enjoyable experience with this year’s birthday run. With 10 miles at race pace the day before, I should have pretty tired legs and will not be racing this one.

On to another busy week of running 50+ miles!

– Janet

This past week was another big one. It was my first time going over 50 miles in one week. All of this training brought a major high for monthly mileage as well – 210 miles for August. Somehow I’m still holding up. Here’s what week 11 looked like in training for the Grand Rapids Marathon:

Monday: 40 minutes of strength training followed by 4 easy miles on the treadmill. My shins were pretty sore after running 9 miles at marathon pace over the weekend, and they didn’t get any better after adding on 19 miles the next day. I took it extra easy on the treadmill and held up pretty well.

Tuesday: 7.5 miles on the treadmill. It was hot and humid outside, so I chose to stay inside. I had a 45-minute tempo run on the schedule and I always seem to do these workouts best on the treadmill. During marathon training, I’ve been running my tempo runs as cutdowns rather than maintaining a specific pace the whole time. I warmed up for a mile, then did a 5.5-mile cutdown run. I started the first half mile at an 8:27 pace and sped up each half mile, ending with a 7:24 pace for the final half mile. I finished up with a cool down mile. It was a solid run.

The run started out on a good note when OK Go’s video for “Here It Goes Again” began playing on one of the gym’s TVs right as I started. I didn’t start my own music until the video was done. It’s a song on my running playlist anyway! If there’s a chance you haven’t already seen this video, you should check it out. If you have seen it, you should check it out again anyway because it’s always fun to watch. At least I think it is.

Wednesday: Ran 5 miles on the trail. I was glad that I “only” had 5 miles to run because it was pretty hot outside. In addition, we had gone to a concert the night before and I was pretty tired. I took it easy, and staying in the shade for much of the run helped too.

Thursday: Ran 10 miles. I was a bit worried about running 10 miles after work when it was close to 90 degrees and sunny at the start. I’ve gotten a lot better at taking it slow during my runs. During summer runs in the past, I’d sometimes crash pretty hard. I’ve developed a much better feel for judging how fast I should really go in order to maintain my pace. One of my guides is my breathing. I know that if I’m huffing and puffing early, it will probably get ugly later. If I run at a pace where I don’t hear my breathing, it will probably be easy enough for me to maintain the pace. I ran the trails for a bit and neighborhoods for a bit for some variety. I did go through the full 21 oz. of GU Brew I brought. It was definitely a warm one. My pace at the end of the run was about the same as the pace at the beginning, and I wasn’t dying at the end. I considered it a success.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Ran 20.14 miles. I ran 1.4 miles to warm up, then the Milford 30K. Read that recap here.

Sunday: Ran 10 miles. The way my schedule is set up, I normally would have run 10 miles on Saturday followed by 20 on Sunday. I swapped the runs due to the race, and wasn’t sure I’d actually be able to pull off 10. My shins were a bit sore and my quads were feeling it after all of the hills during the race. One bonus is that I finally got some decent sleep – probably 8-9 hours. I rarely get that much anymore and it was really nice. I headed out for the run without any big expectations, sticking to the flat trails. It was super humid and I went slow. Somehow I made it through the full 10 miles successfully, and it was actually a decent run.

I tried to do a good amount of stretching after the run. Our pal Romeo always seems to show up whenever I roll, stretch, or do any kind of exercises on the floor. He seems to have a special radar and shows up almost immediately, making it difficult for me to do whatever I’m trying to do.

He kind of gets in the way

Totals for the week: Ran 56.6 miles, did strength training once.

I’ve come to accept that I’m not going to fit much cross-training in during marathon training. At a minimum, I will make sure I always get weights in at least once a week though. Aside from shin and quad soreness, I’m doing pretty good after such a crazy week. I only have 2 more weeks of training within my plan that will be this action-packed. This coming week will be a down week, which will be a big relief.  Only 7 weeks to go!

– Janet

I’d been warned that the Milford Labor Day 30K tends to be hot and very hilly, but I’m not sure any warning could have prepared me for how tough the hills were on this course. Bottom line – this race was TOUGH.

When I realized I had 20 miles coming up the weekend of this race, I began to debate if I should sign up for it to get me through the training run. I kept going back and forth, monitoring the weather constantly. With an 8am start, I was concerned that I might want to start running earlier for a 20-mile run. The race was to take place on Saturday (August 31), and I finally decided on Thursday night to go for it.

I left the house after 6am on Saturday to make the trek to Milford and got there just before 7am. The timing worked out just fine, and volunteers directed the parking. There was plenty of parking in the lots surrounding Baker’s, and large fields provided overflow parking for those who arrived later. Baker’s is a banquet hall that acted as the central gathering place for the events. It was possible to pick up packets the evening before the race, but it wasn’t worth the extra trip for me. It was quick and easy to get my packet the morning of the race. There were a few tables with flyers and things available, and people could register the morning of the race as well.

Baker’s of Milford

Here’s a picture of the shirt. It’s a technical shirt that’s pretty thin – you can see the print from the back right through it. It probably won’t be one of my favorite shirts, but it will be a good one when I want to be visible!

Race shirt

It almost felt like a triathlon kind of atmosphere because of all of the bikes. In addition to the 30K run, there was a 30K bike, a 10K run, a half-mile kids run, and a 30/30 challenge – 30K of biking followed by 30K of running. The events were all staggered, with the bikers for the 30/30 challenge starting at 7:15. The people only biking the 30K started at 7:45, and the 30K run started at 8:00.

I went back to the car and got my hydration belt ready. I kept my bottles in an insulated bag with ice to try to keep them cold as long as possible. I went back to Baker’s to wait in the restroom line for about 10 minutes. It was nice to have the option of indoor restrooms, and Porta-Potties were available outside as well. After that, I took off for a warm up run. Since I had 20 miles on the schedule, I chose to run 1.4 miles to warm up before the race. I never like to do a cool down afterwards – I just want to be done and eat, haha. I knew the race would probably be longer than 18.6 miles since it was a certified course, but went for 1.4 nonetheless. Baker’s is right by an entrance to Kensington Metropark, so I crossed the street and ran on a paved path through the park. At my turnaround point, I stopped for photos.

Kensington

Since it’s a bit of a hike from where we live, I’ve never run around Kensington. From what I saw, it would be a great place to run.

I finished my warm up with a little over 10 minutes to spare before the start of the race. Runners gathered on the road, and I positioned myself somewhere in the middle. I had no intention of racing this one. I wanted to keep my pace under control and use it as a slow long run. I figured if I had it in me, I could pick up the pace a bit later in the run. I really wanted to concentrate on making it through my first 20-mile run successfully, and without pushing so hard that it would set back any of my upcoming training.

The race started up Milford Road and took us into the downtown village area. The roads were partially closed for us pretty much up until we hit the dirt road portions. The downtown was fun to run through, and I enjoyed looking at all of the shops and restaurants. We ran through some neighborhoods as well, which is where the real hills began. I suppose it’s probably no coincidence that hills can be found on Summit Street. That stretch came between 3 and 4 miles, where we climbed nearly 100 feet in about .3 miles. There was a brief reprieve before hitting another short but steep incline. We got a break from the hills for a couple miles as we made our way out to the dirt roads around the Highland State Recreation Area. There were houses in spots, but eventually we got to some backroads that were out in the middle of nowhere. It was really pretty and peaceful running through the woods. It was also nice and shady.

An idea of what the course looked like, thanks to Google Maps

At some point, bikers came up the road in the opposite direction. It was when we had a nice downhill break for running, but they had to bike uphill. I’m not sure how much of their course was the same as ours since I only saw them a couple times. I knew I sure wouldn’t want to climb the hills on my bike though, and I can’t even imagine biking a course like that, only to follow it up with the run. I give major props to the people who did the 30/30 challenge.

People were spread out pretty good where I was running. I always had people not too far ahead and not too far behind, but not many actually near me. The people at the aid stations were wonderful, and they were about the only people we saw along much of the course because it was in such an isolated area. Even though I had a couple of 21 oz. bottles in my belt, I chose to stop at a bunch of the aid stations because I’m not sure my drinks alone will get me through a full marathon. I wanted to practice stopping, and I clearly needed the practice. After a couple of attempts where I just spilled water all over myself, I decided it’s best if I just walk through as I take a couple sips. Eventually I knew I’d have plenty to drink in my bottles to get through this race, so I quit making the stops.

The hills started again after 5.5 miles. At that point, we had another 100-foot climb over about .3 miles. We climbed a little from 8-10 miles, and the next super steep hill came before 11 miles. After that one, we had a nice downhill portion. I was shocked when I finished the 12th mile and saw an 8:17 split, but it makes sense when I see that the mile was all downhill. Just after the 13-mile mark, we climbed about 130 feet for a little over a mile. The hard part about this course was the steepness of the hills. 5 or 6 of the hills just felt brutal. I’m not sure any elevation chart can fully explain how hard it truly felt. It was like doing steep hill repeats throughout 18+ miles. In races, it always seems like the smallest hills feel tough. In this race, the large hills felt extremely tough!

My Garmin elevation chart (click to see more detail)

I had been warned that the placement of the hills also made things tough near the end. As I hit the super steep hill around 16 miles, I understood. I’d been told that a running buddy who is really speedy and typically places pretty high in races even had to stop to walk up one of the hills near the end. That helped me feel no shame about deciding to walk up that hill. I tried to run, but realized that I was going so slow I may as well walk anyway. I also walked half of another hill that came around 17.5 miles. At that point, I had just turned a corner and saw it up ahead. I couldn’t help but think, “Are you kidding me? Another? Now?” That was the last one, so at least I had the last mile to redeem myself. I had the boost of a downhill portion, then as I ran up Milford Road, I could see the finish up ahead. I had enough in me to surge for the final mile or so. It was a nice feeling to know that as much as I’d felt beat up during the hills, I still had more left in me.

I ended up finishing in 2:41:47. My Garmin said I ran 18.74 (rather than 18.6), which was good for an 8:38 average pace. The fluctuations in my pace can be explained by the hilly portions!

My splits

I was definitely happy with that. The previous week I ran what I thought was a hilly route with a pace of 8:43. I’m glad I’ve been working some hills into my training or this could have been really ugly. My definition of hilly may change after having run this race. The Brooksie Way half marathon is known for its tough hills. After this race, Brooksie’s hills practically seem like a breeze!

After pacing around a bit to cool down, I went to check out the food. I downed a couple cups of Gatorade and got a bottle of water. I tried a banana, but it wasn’t too appealing to me. They also had some oranges. They were grilling a bunch of things, so I got a burger and some chips.

Yum!

The post-race area

Beer was available as well. However, I was distracted by the Dairy Queen across the street. I just had to go over to get a nice big Blizzard. That was a great treat to have following my burger. I ran into a runner I know, chatted for a bit, then checked results. I was 5th in my age group (and 96th out of 332), so no award…not that I was expecting one. I also watched a couple minutes of the little kids doing their half-mile fun run. They were pretty cute. There was one boy who couldn’t have been more than 4 or 5 years old, and he was running so hard and looked so determined. It was adorable. After that, I figured I’d better hit the road for the hour drive back.

I felt very accomplished after finishing this difficult race and also successfully getting through my first 20-miler of marathon training. Although it was nice to feel accomplished, I’m not sure if I’d want to go through it again. This is a race I would never sign up for in advance. Being in the middle of the summer, you never know how hot it might be on race day. I do not do well with the heat. The 90% humidity was not super enjoyable for running, but at least it was around 70 degrees and mostly overcast. The hills are enough of a challenge. Adding heat to the mix could have made it pretty miserable for me. I think if I were to sign up for this again, I’d probably have to somehow forget how brutally tough it was. I’d have to do a whole lot of hill repeats and somehow decide that steep hills aren’t so bad. Either that, or I’d have to decide that I really wanted to torture myself! It was a really nice and pretty run and I’m glad that I did it. I’m just not sure I want to subject myself to it again.

Possibly the hardest I’ve worked for a medal?

Milford medal

Who knows…I’ve done a lot of ridiculously hard things during marathon training so far, so I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if I came back to this race again some day in the future. I just know that it could never be an “A” race for me, because it would be very difficult for me to race this all out.

In the meantime, I’m feeling really good about the marathon. I went into this race with no taper – just my typical Friday rest day following 10 miles the day before that. It was humid and hilly and I ended up running 25 seconds over my goal marathon pace, with gas left in the tank for a strong finish. I’m hoping with potentially cooler temperatures at the end of October, a nice flat course, and rested legs, I can actually run close to my marathon pace. I’m hoping the marathon will feel like a breeze after this!

– Janet

Week 10 is done! Now it’s just 2 months until the Grand Rapids Marathon. So far, so good. I’m still getting my runs in and feeling pretty good about how things are going. Here’s what training involved this week:

Monday: 40 minutes of strength at the gym followed by a 9-mile run. After I got home from the gym, Matt and I headed out for 9 miles. His birthday was on Tuesday, when I had 9 miles on the schedule. I didn’t want to be off running half that night. Instead, I swapped the days of some of my runs. I’d usually do 3 on Monday following my weekend long run. I ran a hard 13 miles last Saturday and took Sunday off. One day was not enough time off for me to turn around and run 9 miles after that kind of effort. This was the ugliest run I’ve had in a long time. I thought I was actually feeling pretty good after the 13 miles, and my legs were fine during the day. Once I started to run, it was a different story. A recovery run of 3 miles would have been ideal, but I was determined to get in 9. By the end, it felt like I was crawling and nearly every muscle in my legs hurt. Somehow I survived, and it definitely helped that Matt was there.

Tuesday: Ran 4 miles. I’d normally run 4 miles on Wednesday, but chose to do it today. I was able to get these miles in pretty quickly so we could have fun for Matt’s birthday afterwards. After the previous day’s brutal run, I didn’t know what to expect. I started really slow, but must have loosened up, gotten faster throughout and finished strong.

Wednesday: Rest. I did not plan on taking this day off. I was going to get up and run 3 miles (Monday’s usual amount) in the morning. I decided it would be better for me to get more sleep since we’d be out late at a Tigers game that night. However, I couldn’t fall back asleep anyway. It figures. That meant I’d not only be tired from getting up way too early, but I didn’t get the run in either. There was no time before the game, so this run would just have to be skipped. I decided missing 3 miles would not really be a big deal and that I should quit worrying about it.

Thursday: Ran 8 miles with hills. I had 6 hill repeats on the schedule. The idea of running hill repeats was not appealing to me at all, especially since it was pretty warm outside. I opted to come up with a hilly route and consider that good enough. I ended up climbing about 200 feet over 3-4 miles, so it was a good challenge. Part of my route took me on some dirt roads in Oakland Township that I don’t usually hit. It made for some good scenery because there are some really amazing houses out there. I didn’t stop to take pictures of the houses, so I grabbed these from Google Maps (which explains the nice fall colors, haha.)

This picture does not do the house any justice. It is HUGE.

Another sweet house that is bigger than it looks here. Pretty nice neighborhood!

I also found a really nice boardwalk in that area. I had no idea any of this stuff was there! I’ll have to run out there more often.

This boardwalk was really pretty.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Ran 9 miles at marathon pace. To make sure I could maintain the pace, I wanted to stick to a flat route. I opted to run on the Paint Creek and Clinton River Trails, and was lucky that Matt was willing to go along. He told me to follow him and not worry about the pace – he’d handle it. I’m pretty lucky! The goal was an 8:13 pace, and we finished with an average just under that. It was challenging at times, and not so bad at other times.

Sunday: Ran 19 miles. This training is getting really serious now. Yesterday’s run left my shins feeling a bit sore, but I was pretty much okay otherwise. I ran all over Rochester Hills for this long run, with about 7+ miles on trails and a dirt road, and the rest on sidewalks. Aside from running the trails around here, it’s pretty much guaranteed that I’ll hit hills somewhere. I sure didn’t make this route an easy one – it climbed from about the 3-mile mark to 14.

A pretty good climb for this run.

I took it easy and ended up averaging about 30 seconds over marathon pace. Matt found me when I had about 5 miles to go and finished the run with me. It was really nice to have his company, especially at the end. I held up pretty good until around 17 miles. At that point, I started to feel a bit of a stomach cramp. A half mile after that, it turned into a cramp in my upper left side. I slowed down a little and luckily I was able to run through it.

In 2012, I had a bad side stitch during the Bayshore half marathon. That hit about halfway through the race, and it got so bad that I had to walk the last 3 miles. Since then, I always worry about a repeat of that experience when I develop a side cramp. I’m glad I was able to finish today, but sure hope it doesn’t happen on marathon day.

Totals for the week: Ran 49 miles, did strength training once.

For my really long runs, I’ve been using a Camelbak hydration belt that holds two 21 oz. bottles. I have water in one and GU Brew in the other. I’ve also been using Honey Stinger chews. I’d never eaten anything during races before, but figured I’d better change that for the marathon. I’ve been taking 3-4 chews every 6 or 7 miles during my long Sunday runs and it seems to be going okay. By the end of today’s run, I was nearly out of stuff to drink. I think I might end up racing with the hydration belt, as annoying as it may be to have the extra weight at the start. I’ve gotten used to it and like knowing that I can drink whenever I want to. I really like having my specific kind of GU Brew as well, and I know the race won’t have that. I got a shipment of stuff from Running Warehouse this week, including more GU Brew and Honey Stinger chews. Before most of my runs, I usually have a Honey Stinger waffle, meaning I eat at least 6 a week. I am obsessed with these waffles and like to have plenty of them in stock.

Stocking up thanks to Running Warehouse.

I figured when I bought a new pair of Brooks Launch shoes 3 weeks ago they’d be the pair I’d use for the marathon. I didn’t realize how quickly the miles would rack up. I already have 93 miles on them! I rotate through several different kinds of shoes for various runs, but tend to go back to the Launch most of the time when I have 8+ miles to run. That means I’ve been using them for probably 3 runs per week. At this rate I might need another new pair before the race! I got around 350 miles out of my last pair before I realized the wear was pretty significant.

Looking at next week, I’m supposed to run back-to-back runs of 10 and 20 miles. This will be the first of 3 20-mile runs in my plan. I’m feeling pretty good about it after running 19 successfully, aside from the darn side stitch. I have been debating if I want to sign up for the Milford 30K next Saturday to help me get through my first 20-miler. With the race on Saturday, that means I’d run 20 first, followed by 10 on Sunday – the opposite of what I’ve gotten used to with my plan. Hopefully that would work out okay. I think the race environment and course support would be good, and it would be nice to have a course already mapped out for me. I’m not sure about it yet because I know it may be pretty warm that day, and I’ve heard it’s a hilly and challenging course. I know that could make it tough, but based on the hilly course I ran today, I’m pretty sure I could manage. It’s the heat I’m most worried about because the race doesn’t start until 8am. I may wait a couple days and finally decide.

Onto the next week of training, with a 50+ mile week!

– Janet

I’m halfway there! I’m now through 9 weeks of my 18-week training plan. I’m happy to say I’ve had another really solid week of training. Here’s how things went:

Monday: Ran 3 miles in the morning, then did 40 minutes of strength and 9 miles on the bike in the afternoon. I had a nice early morning run with Matt. When I’ve looked at information about training paces, I’ve always thought recovery runs were supposed to be run much slower than I feel comfortable running. I ran 17 miles the day before, so I took this one really easy and ran by feel. Finally, my body must have slowed me down enough that I hit that suggested recovery pace. As my mileage increases, I’m getting more comfortable with the slower paces for some of these easy runs.

Tuesday: Ran 9 miles. My schedule was busy on Tuesday, so the treadmill was the only way for me to squeeze this run in. Listening to a morning show podcast kept me entertained and distracted, and the 9 miles were a breeze. I started slow and gradually sped up, to the point that this ended up being a little faster than a marathon pace run.

Wednesday: Ran 4 miles. It was a beautiful day for a run on the trail. My legs had felt pretty fresh during the day, but they stiffened up when I started this run in the afternoon. It made me realize I had better slow down so that my “easy” run actually felt easy. I needed to save my speed for the next day, so I’m glad I felt too tired to push it.

Thursday: Ran 7 miles. Today was a 6 x 800 workout, so I headed out to the track. We’re lucky enough to be close to two schools that are right across from each other, giving us options in case one track is being used. I parked by one track and ran around a neighborhood to warm up. By the time I got back, a bunch of young football players had gathered, so I opted to go to the other track. I always get myself worked up about speed days because I feel pressure to hit a speedy pace. It’s definitely a challenge, and sometimes I both love and dread speed work. It can be fun to go so fast (or what seems fast for me at least), but it can be brutal trying to maintain it. Matt had paced my last couple speed workouts, but I was on my own this time. I thought I ought to aim for a 6:50-7:00 pace, but I ended up hitting between 6:35-6:43 for the repeats, with my final one being the fastest. I couldn’t believe I pulled that off. I ran a lap of recovery between each repeat, but after my third one, I started to incorporate some walking. I’d walk for a minute or so, and jog at least half of the lap. I was so out of breath by going so fast that it’s the only way I managed to recover in between. I really ought to slow down a little bit for these so I don’t end up getting injured.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Ran 13.1 miles for a race simulation. Hal Higdon’s Advanced 1 plan calls for a half marathon race at the end of the 9th week. He says that it is not necessary, but it can be a helpful way to access your current fitness level. I was a bit wary of actually racing a half marathon all-out because I typically take a week off to recover from an effort that hard. I’m trying to be cautious during training. I really hope to avoid injuries so I can make it to the day of the marathon fit and ready to go. My schedule said to rest on Friday and Saturday and run a half marathon on Sunday. With a bunch of family activities going on over the weekend, it wasn’t ideal for me to race, and it worked best to run long on Saturday. I worried a little about only having one day off before running a hard half, especially since I had just run the 800 repeats so hard on Thursday. I figured I could at least aim to complete the run at marathon pace.

Saturday morning was beautiful, and I was actually a little cool at the beginning of the run. The Paint Creek Trail was ideal for this run because I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about stopping much for traffic. I actually lucked out and didn’t hit any traffic at the crossroads. Matt ran with me for the first 5 miles, and my goal was to run no faster than an 8:13 pace for the first half of the run. Matt helped keep me under control whenever I started to go a little too fast. I managed to keep a very consistent pace, hitting somewhere around 8:16-8:18 for much of the first half of the run. My legs felt tired around 4 or 5 miles and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep it up, but luckily the tired feeling faded. I figured that I would conserve my energy for the first half, and give it whatever I had left for the second half. If that was still marathon pace, I’d be happy. If I could actually get going faster, that would be great too since the schedule called for a race. I took a few Honey Stinger chews after the halfway point and sped up with the added benefit of the slight decline heading south on the trail. My 7th mile was just under an 8-minute pace, and I gradually sped up as I went. It was a hard effort, but I just ran based on feel. I was surprised to see that I ended the last full mile in 7:33 – just above my 10K pace. This run was a great success and I ended up finishing a bit faster than my current half PR! The Fifth Third River Bank Run 25K in May was the first time I successfully executed a race using this method. Running conservatively early and kicking in later seems to lead to great results for me. Based on this run, the McMillan calculator estimates a 3:41 marathon time for me. Considering how this was run in the middle of marathon training with no taper, I’m really happy with that estimate.

Sunday: 9 miles on the bike. Since my schedule allowed for two rest days this week, I chose to take today off of running. After yesterday’s effort, I wanted to be careful. I actually ended up feeling pretty good and it doesn’t feel like I just put in a race effort. What a relief. I kept my legs moving a little bit at least by riding 9 easy miles on the bike.

Totals for the week: 36 miles of running, strength once, and 18 miles on the bike.

This was another great week for me, and I’m hoping it keeps up for the second half of training. This is probably the last time I will run less than 40 miles in a week until I hit the taper period. It’s going to be challenging, but I’m feeling good about the challenge after this week.

Another cool thing from this week is that I got a medal in the mail from 3 Disciplines. I was not listed in the top three in my age group when awards were given out for the Village Triathlon in Clarkston last month, but the online results said that I placed third. After contacting them, I got this in the mail.

Very cool medal from The Village Triathlon!

Pretty cool. Well, onto the second half of marathon training and another challenging week of squeezing everything in!

– Janet

I’m another week closer to the Grand Rapids Marathon! Here’s how my 8th week of training went:

Monday: Swam 2,000 meters, followed by 3 easy miles on the treadmill. I’m not real consistent with swimming lately, so it was nice to get this in. The treadmill run was my first with my latest pair of shoes – Brooks Launch. It’s my second pair of the Launch and I’m extremely thankful Brooks decided not to retire this model like they had planned. This is probably the pair I will use for my marathon.

Tuesday: 35 minutes of strength training, followed by a 7-mile tempo run. I added a mile for warm up and a mile for cool down, so the tempo part of my run was really the 5 miles in between. I’ve done my last few tempo runs on the treadmill, which makes it easy to lock in and stick with a pace. I did this tempo run on the trail, and it was a bit tough. I cut my pace by about 10 seconds each mile for a few miles, then gradually slowed down. I’m not good at keeping a consistent pace, so I tend to start too fast, have to slow down, then speed back up. I always struggle more on the way up the trail, which has just the slightest incline, and I speed up on the way back down. I probably ran a bit harder than I should have, and my right ankle/shin felt messed up at the end. I iced it right away and luckily I was fine the next day.

Wednesday: Ran 4 easy miles. Nothing exciting about this easy trail run.

Thursday: Ran 8 miles. Now that I’m running so much, I feel the need to mix things up now and then and run some different routes. I didn’t map anything out ahead of time, but decided to just wander some neighborhood roads that I don’t usually hit. It was nice to change things up and see some different scenery.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: Ran 8 miles. Looking for more new scenery, Matt and I went to Riverbends Park in Shelby Township for a run. I’ve done a couple 5Ks there, but hadn’t really explored the park. I didn’t know the bike trails went for such a long stretch. We pretty much stuck to the paved trails and it was a peaceful and pretty run.

Riverbends Park

Riverbends Park

Riverbends Park

Sunday: Ran 17 miles. I ran up the Paint Creek Trail to Lake Orion, added a couple miles around town, then headed back down the trail. I’ve ridden my bike up to Lake Orion a ton of times, but have never done a run that long. This run went really well, and I even had enough left in the tank at the end to pick up my pace a little for the last few miles. It definitely boosts my confidence when these long runs go well.

Totals for the week: 47 miles of running, strength once, and 2,000 meters of swimming.

This marathon training business is tiring! My habit of not getting enough sleep on a regular basis isn’t going so well with all of these miles. I really need to work on that. Aside from being really tired and a bit sore, things are going well so far. On to week 9!

– Janet

It was another busy week of training as I prepare for the Grand Rapids marathon. Here’s what the week looked like:

Monday: 45 minutes of strength training followed by an easy 3-mile run. I had done the Clarkston triathlon the day before, and during the day on Monday, my left shin began to throb. I’ve struggled with shin pain for about 2 years now and have finally gotten the pain under control thanks to the help of a chiropractor. My shin pain has dropped off a great deal, but it hasn’t completely gone away. The throbbing I felt as I walked around work on Monday was the worst I’ve had for quite a while. I was practically limping at times. I figured I’d skip my run to let it rest. By the time I got to the gym after work, the pain had gone away. I chose to give it a shot on the treadmill to see how it went, and I had no problems. I kept my pace slow and got through 3 miles without any pain during or after.

Tuesday: 5 hill repeats – 6.5 miles total. I ran about 2 miles to warm up and 2 to cool down, with 5 hill repeats in between. I ran my usual hill in our neighborhood and wasn’t too excited that a family was out on their porch at the top of the hill, probably wondering why I was torturing myself. They had a small dog who barked during a couple of my repeats, and it took off after me as I headed down the hill following my final repeat. Luckily it never actually got close to me, but it did follow me down the street for a bit. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a car came along. It really pissed me off to think that the dog could have been hit. I can only hope that it was enough to teach the people to keep the dog on a leash.

I used my ankle resistance bands for about 10 minutes of exercises after this run. I’ve been feeling my hips a bit lately and need to keep doing some exercises to work them.

Wednesday: 4 easy miles. This is when the ridiculous part of my week began. Thursday was going to be really busy for me after work, so I’d have to run in the morning that day. I didn’t feel like running 4 miles Wednesday night followed by 8 early the next morning, so I ran the 4 easy miles early on Wednesday morning. Tuesday night’s hill workout didn’t wipe me out too much, so it wasn’t a problem. I headed out with my headlamp, and it was actually pretty nice and peaceful, aside from my encounter with a skunk. Luckily it didn’t spray!

Thursday: 7.5 miles on the treadmill. I had 8 miles on the schedule and didn’t want to attempt to run that much in the dark so crazy early in the morning. Since our gym is open 24/7, I thought I’d finally take advantage of that perk. Less than 10 other people were crazy enough to get there even earlier than me. I’ve never seen the gym so quiet! I listened to a podcast to keep distracted, and made it through 7.5 miles on the treadmill before I thought I’d better stop to get ready for work. This worked out pretty well, aside from the sleep deprivation factor. We went to a concert Thursday night and I didn’t get to bed until just before midnight, so it made for a really long day, and a very tiring Friday.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 8 miles. This was the day of the AdvoKate 10K, and I ran 1.8 miles prior to the race. My schedule called for 8 miles at marathon pace, and I kept below the pace for the warm up, and way below the pace for the 10K. My pace is supposed to be 8:13 and I ended up running around a 7:45 pace. My recap of the race is posted here.

At the AdvoKate race

Sunday: 16 miles. I had 16 on the schedule, which was the most I’d ever run. I was pretty worried after running a bit too hard the day before. I took it nice and easy and actually felt pretty good. I ran from our place to Oakland University, where I ran a loop around the campus. I ran through Rochester Hills and hit a portion of the Clinton River Trail, followed by a small stretch of downtown Rochester. As I waited at a crosswalk, I saw Matt across the street! He was not running 16 miles, so we did different runs. I hadn’t mapped out anything specific, so he didn’t really know where I’d be. We just happened to luck out and hit the same spot at the same time! At that point, I had 2 miles to go and it was great to have his company. By the end of the run, I still felt fine. The nice and easy pace certainly helped, as well as the beautiful and cool weather.

I did about 20 minutes of exercises with my ankle resistance bands right after the run. After cleaning up, we went to the Rochester Diner & Grill to reload some carbs. They have great breakfast food at a really reasonable price. The soreness began to hit eventually and got worse as the day progressed, but otherwise, I’m really happy with how this run went.

Totals for the week: 45 miles of running, and strength once. No swimming or biking this week. The lack of sleep and craziness of my schedule this week made it difficult to squeeze in much else.

I will probably cut back on the biking and swimming quite a bit from here on out. I don’t think I’ll do any more triathlons this summer, and it’s hard to fit everything into the schedule. I’ll do some when I can, but won’t worry about it if I don’t have time. Marathon training alone is quite a handful.

– Janet

Like most of my recent races, I chose to run the AdvoKate 10K at the last minute. Earlier in the week, I thought about how I had 8 miles to run at marathon pace and I would probably run those miles on the Paint Creek Trail. I realized the AdvoKate race would use the trail for part of the course, so why not just run the race? The race environment would certainly help me hit the pace. It’s a race that Matt and I have considered running for several years now, but it never worked out. We either had something else going on, or we opted not to do it based on hot/humid weather. The weather was due to be perfect this year, so Matt and I decided to sign up.

This was the 7th year for the AdvoKate run, which raises money for St. Jude’s in honor of Kate Hrischuk, a 6-year-old who lost her battle against a tumor in her brain stem. We were happy to support this great cause. Packet pickup and new registrations took place the day before the race at Runnin’ Gear, so I went there to sign up. The packet included a cotton t-shirt, as well as a thin Gatorade towel. I’ve never received a towel in my packet, so that was something new and cool.

The race t-shirt

The weather was perfect the morning of the race – in the low 60s and clear. The race began in Rochester Municipal Park, which is an easy jog from where we live. With 8 miles on my schedule, Matt and I chose to run down to the park, allowing me to get 1.8 miles in before the race. We got there with about 15 minutes to spare and found a pretty large crowd scattered throughout the park. Around 600 people took part in the race.

People gathered near the start

The 5K and 10K started at the same time. We lined up at the front, just behind a big group of kids. As I’ve learned from past races, the younger kids tend to have a major burst of energy at the start that fades pretty quickly. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before I was trying to navigate around a group that was probably 8-wide across the street. It was awesome to see so many kids taking part in the race, and hopefully they saved some of their energy for later in the race! As the course took us out of the park, the hilly climb began.

The elevation according to my Garmin

There are some pretty good hills on this route for a couple miles, followed by a large downhill drop on the way to the Paint Creek Trail. At that point, the 5K runners headed back towards the park while the 10K runners ran up the trail in the opposite direction.  My goal was to use this race to hit my marathon pace and not race it all out. I knew I’d probably go faster than marathon pace (8:13), so I figured I should aim for an 8-minute pace. No such luck – I definitely went faster than I should have.

My splits – so much for that 8-minute pace

I was pretty consistent, but unfortunately that meant I was consistently too fast! I knew I’d struggle to keep myself disciplined.

I enjoyed the trail portion of the race because as the leaders hit the turnaround point, we got to see them coming back down the trail. It was fun to root for people, and Matt and I exchanged a high-five as he came by. I liked watching out for the people I knew, and it made for a good distraction.

As my splits show above, I ended up with 6.16 for my total distance. I ran about 20 seconds slower than my 10K PR pace, and I’m not sure I could have gone a whole lot faster if I had tried. My time was good enough to earn me a second place finish in my age group! Matt did great and won his age group.

Matt got a picture as I finished

By the finish line

There was a great variety of food in the pavilion area after the race. Bananas, donut holes, mini cookies, bags of mini muffins, bagels, and Clif granola bars. I think I definitely made up for all of the calories I’d just burned! Matt and I met our Twitter friend Laura (see her blog The Rum Runner), and caught up with some old friends as well.

People hanging out in the park after the race

Everyone gathered around the pavilion for the announcement of the overall race winners. Prizes were not awarded in age groups, but they had a TON of raffle prizes. I’d been hoping we’d win a prize from Rockin’ Cupcakes or Cookies By Design, but no such luck.

Gathering around the pavilion

After catching up with friends, we took a nice walk through the park and back up the trail towards home.

Rochester Park

We had a great experience with this race and would definitely run it again. My only concern is that pushing my pace may make my 16-mile run tomorrow pretty rough!

– Janet