Hartford half: the recap

Meet my newest bling.

Spoiler alert! I didn't PR but I finished and it was a pretty good race, despite some stomach cramping issues. (Official time: 2:40)

The morning started out pretty cold. It took four miles for my toes to thaw and for me to drop my gloves. In hindsight it probably would have been better if my toes had stayed numb because toward the end my feet were up to their normal antics and the balls (haha balls) of my feet were in pain.

Alyssa doing her best baked potato impression.

The crowd support at the race was amazing, as was the race course. We ran mostly through neighborhood streets in Hartford and there were very few hills. My kinda race!

Things seen during the race:

• A girl wearing underwear that said "LOVE PINK" across the butt. The only reason I know this? I could see them through her tights.

I hope she was getting paid to advertise.

• A sign meant to show drivers what speed they're driving clocking runners' speeds.

You'll be happy to know no one was caught speeding.

• Lots of spectators with dogs, which I really appreciated.

• A dude running dressed in a full Flash costume—mask and all.

There was a ton of music along the course, including bagpipers! I listened to my music for most of the race until the end and I was amazed by the number of runners who talk to themselves while running. As usual there were people all through the course yelling that we were "almost done." It's a good thing we were busy running or those people were dangerously close to getting gut-punched. No, at mile six, we are nowhere close to being done!

I had a side stitch for most of the race, which I attribute to feeling like crap the day before the race and probably not fueling efficiently. I was able to push past it until about mile 10 when my stomach cramped up and running or walking upright was a challenge. I did a lot of walking for the majority of the last three miles and knew a PR just wasn't in the cards for me for this race. I was ok with that.

I've decided my mentality around running is that I am running for, and against, myself. Feeling inadequate to others is just a huge waste of energy. Yes, I want to improve and that's my overall goal but I'm also not going to beat myself up over falling short of my goal, whatever that may be at the time. There's always tomorrow.

Third half marathon? Done!

 
After the race Kari's friend, who is a massage therapist, came over and gave us all 20-minute massages. That was, by far, my favorite part of the day. She addressed the recurring pain in my lower back and asked why I haven't been seeing a chiropractor. It looks like it's time to loosen the purse strings and just make an appointment. Today most of the pain is in my calves. Walking down stairs today is a special kind of torture.

I've already been hooked into running another next month, which is close to home so a PR should be in the cards.

I'm so easily influenced.

Never again

...will I run two races less than a week apart.

I've learned in my short time in this sport to never say never, but seriously. Never.

On to the Tar Heel 10-miler recap. That's why you're here anyway, right?

The race started in the UNC-Chapel Hill football stadium. This was a big marketing point for this race, although I actually think it was a terrible idea.

That line of people extending from the START line all the way around the stadium? Yeah, it kept going. I lined up behind the 10-minute mile pacers and was basically all the way across from the start line, with many more people behind me. Once the gun went off, I didn't actually start moving for what seemed like years and by the time I got to the start line, the clock was already at almost 9 minutes. And that's where I started to freak out for the first time during the race. I think the stadium start could have been a good idea had this been a much smaller race.

The temperature for the race wasn't bad (60 degrees) but the humidity had to be hanging around 100%. My plan was to stick close behind the 10-minute pacers, but after about the second mile at an average of 9-minute miles, I couldn't even see the pacers anymore because they were so far ahead of me. What's the point of even having the pacers?! Really really frustrating.

The first 4-ish miles I felt like we were repeating the same route over and over, which was basically hill after hill after hill. Around mile 4 I was already drenched in sweat and frustrated at the route and was so ready to quit. A DNF didn't sound so awful at that point. Around mile 5 I passed a woman vomiting up all her hydration stores and realized that I was ok and things could be worse! I finally was able to get some sports drink and it gave me back a bunch of motivation (it's the little things in life).

It wasn't until after I passed the water station that I realized that was the station with GU and that I just screwed up and didn't get any. Frustration returning.

The next 3/4 of a mile was entirely downhill and was so amazing...until we turned another corner into another hilly neighborhood. I did a lot of walking the next couple of miles. My quads were tight and I was out of water and wishing I'd had that GU. At the mile 8 water station (yes, two miles before the finish line), I was able to grab a GU and more water. Why did I do this so close to the finish line? I knew what was coming.

Entrance to Hell.

It's probably a good thing this wasn't closer to the beginning of the race or pulling a DNF probably would have been even more tempting. The best part of it was about halfway up, there was a dude cheering us on in a bathrobe and slippers.

Fast forward to the finish, aka-where everything kind of fell apart.

As I was approaching the finish line, the announcer was yelling for people to hurry to section 301 (I'm making up this number because I don't remember what the actual number was) in the bleachers for their medal and food. All I wanted at this point was a sports drink or water. I *think* I was handed a sports drink (or else I picked it up. I don't remember that either), and had to ask a random stranger if she'd mind opening it for me. All I wanted to do was down it but was being shooed up into the bleachers.

Mike and my new friend (actually his friend, whom I just met after the race. I make strangers my friends if they come highly recommended by my actual friends :), Nicole found me and showed me the dude handing out medals. Up in the bleachers. Strangest thing ever. He didn't even put it around our necks. Also, they look pretty cheap compared to the ones from last year. But I digress.

Purple. I know, you're all shocked.

Once I felt like I was hydrated enough to form sentences again, we went in search of food. After a trek around the outside of the stadium, the only food to be found was banana halves. So I ate one and tried to imagine it was a bag of chips or a bagel. To no avail.

As with every race, the volunteers and police support were awesome and I was pleasantly surprised by all of the people in the neighborhoods who came out to cheer for us.

Unfortunately the cons outweighed the pros for me in this race. There were far too many people for the starting venue and the finish felt haphazard and poorly planned. Mike said this was his best race so far, which is awesome! Will I run this race again next year? Probably not. But I'm glad I did it this time.

At least it didn't rain

While the race on Saturday did not go at all smoothly, I had decided early on that I was just going to run it for fun and that my only goals were to finish, and to take notes for my half marathon in February. I was able to accomplish both goals.

Eye on the prize.

Not only did the race experience not really go as planned, neither did my feelings on race morning. I woke up nauseous, which wasn't improved at all by the long drive in the backseat of a minivan to the race. I was in such a rush to get in the car after my alarm didn't go off, that I accidentally left the bagel that Kara had so awesomely smothered in peanut butter for me, on her counter. When we stopped at a Wawa to meet the rest of our group and to get some other breakfast items, all I could stomach was a soda AND I had forgotten my wallet, so Kara had to front me the money. I'm such a horrible person when I'm rushed.

Upon arriving at the race (and thanking the good lord that I was finally on solid ground for a while), I grabbed a banana, with hopes that I would soon be able to eat it without wanting to barf. All I could stomach was half of it, so that's all I was being fueled by for 9 miles. Oh and I also had..umm..."cha cha cha" issues. Kara and Kari had suggested that I grab Gatorade at the water stations, which was my plan, until the water stations were all empty when I got to them.


To break it down:


Mile 1.5: I dropped my gloves and, accidentally, my hat. This is also where I lost the rest of my "team"

Kara, I did not Photoshop this one. You're welcome.

Mile 3: My legs were not cooperating and I had to switch to run/walk intervals. A lady came up behind me and yelled, "Go sexy bitch. You can do this!" Unfortunately she was running way faster than me or I would have tried to stick with her for a while for the motivation.

Mile 6ish: Cramps in both my sides and hips. I actually stopped to stretch a couple of times. By this point I knew my time was going to be crap anyway.


Mile 7: I was ready to drop out. I was so incredibly close to not finishing. I think "pissed off" is a good way to describe it.


Mile 8: I finally pushed through the wall and was feeling great. I never thought this would happen. By the time I got to the mile 9 marker, I took off.


I ended up with a 1:39 time (10:41 pace. horrible!), but I know for a fact that I can do better than that. Next time around I plan on actually eating before the race and hopefully feeling a lot better. Oh, and also running a much better race with a much faster course (The terrain for my half in February is basically entirely flat :).


Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of our control, Kara and I weren't able to get our chocolate after the race. Seriously...WORST. RACE. EVER.

I hear lots of these were given out. I'm in mourning.

One good thing to come out of this race: meeting "in real life" three awesome people that I already considered friends. (Kara and I had previously met in college. We go way back).

Oh, and my mom and I went to a local running store on Sunday to see if they had "15k" car magnets. The lady behind the counter said, "I'm sorry, we don't, but boy do you deserve it after yesterday!" Umm...yes, we do deserve it, and so I created one.

I found the website Stickylife.com and went to town. After I created it, using their online template, I couldn't help but order a few. After I receive them, it sounds like I may need to order more due to the positive response. I think it'll be an awesome new addition to my back bumper :)


I promise tomorrow's post will be about the epic "blogger sleepover" Friday night. Be prepared to be very jealous.