My Chicago Marathon Super Fans

I remind my family quite frequently that I had nobody watching me in my very first marathon in Columbus of 2010.  My parents (and all the other aunts and uncles) had a 50th wedding anniversary party to go to that weekend and Columbus is about a 6 hour drive from Chicago.

But they all made up for it at this year's Chicago Marathon!  I didn't expect so many family members to come, but my family sure does love running.  (We even have our own marathon, 2 years strong.)

I'm not 100% sure, but I think they all planned to wear red on purpose.  I knew to look for my family around mile 4.5 first and was told Aunt Mary Ellen would have a red Elmo balloon.  Sure enough, I spotted them all.  I hope they weren't too bored while waiting, but it seems like that got some good family photos in the meantime.  (And obviously they didn't have to wait too long since I was RIGHT behind the Kenyans, duh.)

 They all had really great signs too!

Besides my family, I also had a lot of friends come out and cheer too!  Catherine and Matt were at miles 3.5 and 16.5.

Wondering what a TIGER BODYSLAM is?  Catherine's main track event in high school was the 2 mile race.  If you've ever been to a track meet, distance events aren't nearly as fun to watch as sprints and given the longer distance, the field of competition is pretty spread out.  A lot of times, the slower runners end up getting lapped by the faster runners.  To take care of this problem, at one meet the 2 mile race was called "Tiger takes the Tail" where the runner in last place after each lap of the 2 mile race would be stopped and not allowed to finish the race.

So basically, we decided that for this to happen, the tiger mascot person would body slam the person in last place and not let them finish. I'm glad I didn't get tiger bodyslammed during the marathon.

Steph and Danny were around mile 17-18 I think?  I don't remember that clearly, but Steph was jumping up and down with her sign.

Christina and Jim were around mile 6 with a big pirate balloon and n awesome sign that said "Your feet hurt because you're kickin' butt!"

I tried to remember other good signs, but my brain was kind of fried while running.  One said "Run quietly, I'm hungover" and then all the standard ones like "Worst Parade Ever."

But back to my fans...

I think the most mobile group of fans was Uncle Ron, Uncle Rob, and Jessica.  They were at 16, 18, and 20...as well as the earlier miles 4 and 10.  They used a car, which proved a better strategy than the other group who walked and barely missed me at 17.

Another perk of having fans at the race is that they can take pictures and I don't have to pay for the professional ones if I wanted a picture.  However, this does not improve the quality of how I look while I run.

I really loved my headband...I don't know if I can give enough plugs for how awesome those Sweaty Bands work to hold my hair back and are also glittery and thus, awesome.

I also spotted a few other people I knew along the course which was good to see.  And of course, the other 1.7 million strangers were great to see as well.  So thank you to everyone who was able to come out and cheer!

And also thank you to my fans who were not physically there, but texted me throughout the days leading up to the race and afterwards.  Some of my friends even made signs, took pictures of themselves holding the signs, and then mailed me the pictures.  :)

Race Recap: CHICAGO MARATHON 2013

Well, the Chicago Marathon is over!  I have so much to say about it and don't know where to start, so this will probably end up a little scattered, but I'll do my best.  And I'll also probably have a post every day this week on various events of race weekend (the expo, the pasta party, the recovery, etc.) but I'll try to keep this one to the actual race recap.

Summary/spoiler alert: I finished in 3:23:15!  A PR by close to 6 minutes and Boston Qualifier!

My parents dropped off Angela, Olivia, and I as close as they could to the starting area and we made our way through the security checkpoints.  The weather turned out to be absolutely perfect for marathon running, but the morning was rather chilly.  We were wearing clothes that we could discard at the start line and never see again - to be donated to a homeless shelter in Chicago.  Angela and I discarded our clothes right before entering the corral and a man with a vest that said "Clothing Donations" was on his walkie talkie saying "we are going to need way more bins."  There were mountains of sweatpants and sweatshirts all around.

We also waited in a really long porta-potty line...but glad we did so before the race.  Once we got settled in a spot in the corral, it was time to go within about 5-10 minutes.

The first 8 miles of the race flew by.  It was definitely the easiest/most fun hour-ish of running I've ever done.  Our goal was to start at 8 minute pace for 4 miles and then pick it up to 7:30-7:40.  I don't remember splits exactly, but I think the first mile was 7:49 so we said we could ease up a bit.  The problem was that we were stuck behind the 3:30 pace group which was huge and taking up a lot of space all running together.  So over the next 3 miles, we were still doing about 7:45-7:50 working our way up and around that 3:30 group, but still not trying to go too fast.

We saw so many people throughout the course - the first being Catherine and Matt around mile 3.  I almost missed them but luckily they saw us and called out...and I heard them over my awesome playlist of music which will be a whole separate post because obviously you need to know exactly what I listened to for 26.2 miles.

 

I think I could also write a decent amount on all my spectators and signs, so I will save that for later, but the important thing right now is that I saw my family around mile 4.5 for the first time and I was STARVING (I'll explain why when I write about the pasta party...do you like all my cliffhangers?) so I yelled to my mom to buy me a bagel.

Sure enough, when I saw them again around mile 11, my dad had the bagel for me so I grabbed half and ate it while running.  I took water at every water stop, and Gatorade at I think only 2 during the first half and every station the 2nd half.  Apparently when you lose a lot of sodium, your body essentially starts producing salt, so I had a white ring around my face when I finished.  I also took GU Energy Gel 3 times throughout the race - around miles 9, 16, and 22.

Angela and I didn't talk much throughout the race, but when we did, the conversation went like this:

*Pass a mile marker*

"7:32"

"We should slow down a little and save it for later"

"Yeah, we should"

*Pass a mile marker*

"7:26"

"We should slow down"

"Yeah, we should"

*Pass a mile marker*

"7:34"

"This is comfortable, but we should maybe slow down a little more"

"Yeah, we should"

But we did not slow down.  I personally am glad we did not...hopefully Angela feels OK about it.  I know it is best to run negative or even splits (or even slightly positive splits at the marathon distance since negative/even splits are extremely difficult at that distance), but I also knew that by the time we were at mile 9, I needed to just go with it while I felt good.  And I did feel really good.  Angela decided to ease up a little and dropped back from me around mile 15-16.

(professional photo by MarathonFoto)

Around mile 19, Mac magically appeared.  I was very surprised because he had passed Angela and I around mile 10, but apparently he made a bathroom pit stop somewhere along the way.  He and I ran together for about the next 2 miles until he started to fade back a little.

I was actually pleasantly surprised with how even my pacing was for all of the race.  Yes, I died off the last 10k, but not nearly as much as I could have (or did during my previous marathons).  I ran it pretty exactly according to my plan.  Since I knew I wanted to beat my time from the Columbus Marathon in 2010 and I knew my splits from that race at the 10k, half, and 20 mile marks, that's what I was comparing myself to.  I was 1:40 ahead of pace at the 10k, which worried me a little because I was afraid maybe we did go out a little too fast.  But actually, I remember thinking I was only 40 seconds ahead...not a minute and 40 seconds.

(professional photo by MarathonFoto) 

And it's a good thing I did think that because at the half, I was 58 seconds ahead of my first half of Columbus.  And knowing myself, if I would've thought that I went from being 1:40 ahead of pace to only 0:58 ahead of pace, that might've mentally screwed me up a bit...but what you don't know can't hurt you.

After we hit the halfway mark, my plan was just to make it to 20 as fast as I could, knowing that no matter what, the last 10k was going to be miserable.  I wanted to/thought I could be at mile 20 between 2:31 and 2:34.  My brain was shut down at this time, but I think I remember being there right around 2:32:00 - 2:32:30, which was 2 to 2 and a half minutes ahead of my Columbus pace.  I didn't mentally put that split into my head though because I thought they recorded a 20 mile split with the chip so I figured I'd look later, but I guess not.

(professional photo by MarathonFoto)

Where I started to really struggle was around mile 18.  I knew I had about an hour or so to go and knew I could do it, but that's where I did start to experience some mental doubt in how fast I could realistically do those last 8 miles...I went from feeling pretty awesome to not so great pretty darn quickly.  I made the decision to walk through the next water stop I saw and that I'd walk through each one after that, which is also exactly what I did in Columbus.

So I would run all the way to the very last Gatorade person at each water station, take that cup, and start walking while I drank it and then take one of the very first cups of water, drink what I could, and make myself start running.  I imagine each stop was about 30 seconds, but really I had no concept of time.  I once again surprised myself with the fact that I really did make myself start running ASAP after drinking my liquids.

The last mile was pretty much the worst thing ever, especially "Mt. Roosevelt," the small hill within in the final 400 meters of the course. By this point I really knew I was going to finish in a great time though, so that made me push throug that final mile. And I saw Aunt Bernadette  saying "you're doing it!" Because she knew I would PR.

And then I finished!!

 (professional photo by MarathonFoto)

So I have a lot more details I could share and want to share, but those will come later this week because I've done enough rambling for now.  Basically, the race went as perfect as it could have and my pacing was better (more even...not quite as much dying at the end) than I could've ever expected from myself.

Green Lake - I Ran and I Wave Ran

I really like this whole writing silly poems thing. (See my last post for the poem about this past weekend's long run.) So I've decided to write a few Haikus about our 3 days in Green Lake.

First and foremost, my running for the past 2 days:

Four point eight miles

On Sunday. Then on Monday,

Four point five miles.

Aunt Bernadette and I went out Sunday evening for a run around the country roads. It felt good and we just chatted a bit and saw some of the Smith cousins' and Great Aunt Rosemary's lake houses. That's how we found out about this nice lake/area of Wisconsin.

I can't even remember the last time I ran in a cotton t-shirt. And I hope to not do it again anytime soon, or ever.

On Monday morning, we all woke up and decided to do the 7 minute workout, twice. Basically it is a bunch of basic exercises (planks, crunches, jumping jacks, wall sits, etc.) for 30 seconds and then a 10 second break/transition. It was a fun way to start the morning.

After that workout, Aunt Bernadette and I went out for our run while Mom and Aunt Mary Ellen walked. The ladies don't like pictures of them working out, so here's a nice dinner picture from Saturday night:

And here's some of the fun stuff we did (in more haikus and pictures...but not all the haikus coordinate with the picture below them...I tried my best, but I just don't have pictures of everything.)

Exploring the town

Of small Green Lake, Wisconsin

Lunch - Hot dogs and brats.

Time to go tubing

Katie and I together

A little painful

That's Shannon, Michael, and Katie on the wave runner. I went out on it a few times also. I got to drive a little under Uncle Joe's supervision but I went pretty slow and no sharp turns. It was scary when Michael drove with me and Katie on the back because I had no idea what he was going to do next!  My life was in the hands of a 17 year old boy.

Happy hour fun

Chips, salsa, drinks, and convos,

All outside in sun

Nighttime campfires

With s'mores, games, and laughing,

Don't forget bug spray

Saturday night we went to dinner at a bar down the street. They had free popcorn. And I had an amazing BLT sandwich with sweet potato fries and a mango margarita.

Sunday was chilly

Sucked it up and went skiing

Arm and leg workout

That's me skiing. The last time I skied was the last time we went to Pennellwood 7 years ago. I have to use 2 skis, but Katie (and all the Colmones) are really good and just do one ski.

Overall it was a lot of fun family time. Besides the outdoor activities, we also did some indoor board games and playing cards. My pictures and poems don't even capture all that we did. Right now I'm sitting out in the sun on the dock as I write this :) So now I think I'll get back to my sun-bathing until I have to get back to real life tomorrow.

16 Miles and Learning to Play Piano

This morning I did my longest run so far in this round of marathon training!  It was actually my longest run since the Chicago Marathon in 2011.  On Coach Brendan's schedule for today was a 16 mile "cascading" run of 9 miles at long slow distance pace, 6 miles at 10 seconds faster per mile, and 1 mile cool down.

I did not meet the running group this morning, but set out to do it on my own.  I brought the Garmin so I could track my distance and speed.  Total time was 2:09:10, which is an average of 8:04 pace.  Mile splits were: 7:53, 7:50, 8:08, 8:15, 8:08, 8:14, 8:07, 8:19, 8:05, 7:56, 7:40, 7:53, 8:21, 8:16, 8:05, 7:50.

I should go treat myself to a manicure this afternoon I guess...

So I did the first 2 miles a little faster than I intended to, but then slowed myself down.  I did miles 9, 10, and 11 under 8 minute pace again, but then wasn't feeling super so I slowed back down and then pushed the last mile.  So technically I did do 6 miles at an under-8 minute pace, just not all in a row.

I ran past the J. Smith's house and Ryan was playing baseball in the yard, so I stopped to say hi to him and Aunt Mary Jayne for a few minutes.  Then I continued on and stopped at the Colmone's house where Katie and Kelly were waiting for me to arrive with water so I could take my Gu.  It was my first time trying the Tri-Berry flavor.  I think I'll add that to flavors I like, now joining Strawberry Banana and Chocolate in that category.

After the run, I was NOT feeling good.  But after a shower, quick stretch, and a lot of water, I felt a little better.  Then I got to have lunch with Aunt Bernadette, Katie, and Kelly at Panera because Katie is home for 2 weeks!!!

Since I had to get to bed at a decent time last night to do the long run this morning and wasn't planning to go out, I had to come up with something to occupy myself.  I decided to use YouTube to try to teach myself some songs on the piano.  At the suggestion of a friend, I started with Mad World but it was kind of hard and I decided to go with a more fun song that I could get into - Teenage Dream.  I just tried to upload a video of my skills (VERY loose term), but the upload failed.  I'll have to play around with that more later because I am proud of what I have learned...although it may not seem like much yet.  I can't seem to get down playing with 2 hands at once...way too much coordination involved in that.

Another awesome thing: Angela is coming to Chicago next weekend!!  So we will get to do a long run together - I'm thinking 18 miles!  That should be perfect to have her to run with after doing today's long run alone.

Have you ever tried to learn something new on a whim?

What is the best part of your weekend?

How do you treat yourself after a long run or hard workout?

The 2nd Annual Joe Marathon

Today was The 2nd Annual Joe Marathon!  Just like last year, it was a success even though this year was slightly different because we did it as a relay.

Uncle Joe started running at 5:30am from his house.  Grandma, Grandpa, and some members of his family were up to see him off and follow him by car, but not many of the rest of us were even up yet.  Jessica joined in at mile 8.

Aunt Terry also joined by bike and after about 2 hours from the starting time, they arrived at the halfway point of the marathon course.  We stopped for a quick picture of course and then I set out on my way.

I was running from mile 13.1 to mile 20. I was the only runner during my leg, but after Uncle Joe took a few minutes to recover from his birthday morning half marathon, he caught up with me on bike so I would have someone with me.  I was also trying out mom's Garmin to see if I want to get one for myself. It was nice to have, but also felt like I was looking at it a lot. And as Uncle Rob said, it takes the fun out of doing calculations in your head while you're running. I'll keep trying it this week though.

I finished my 6.9 miles in 55:10 so right at 8 minute pace which I was happy with especially after yesterday's long run.  Since I had the Garmin, I can see my splits and they were: 8:01, 8:09, 8:01, 8:00, 7:59, 7:49, then 7:03 for the last .9.  I was glad the splits were relatively consistent/got slightly faster rather than slower.  This will be fun to use the Garmin and analyze my runs...I think I might over-analyze though.  I was wiped out when I finished my run.  It would probably make me run a lot faster on my normal runs to know I have 10 people anxiously awaiting my arrival and with water and Gatorade.

It was nice to have a little cheering section waiting for me approximately every mile and a half along my route.  They would find a little strip mall or parking lot to stop in, wait for me to run by, cheer, and offer water.  That was hard work too, especially so early in the morning.  But you can all sleep in tomorrow since you're on summer vacation!

Aunt Bernadette was part of the group waiting at mile 20 so that she could take over as runner. She was so excited to get going and set out to finish the last 10k. She had 3 bikers with her - Uncle Joe, cousin Joe, and Uncle Ron. They seemed to be having a good time and the Muellers showed up to cheer during these last couple miles too.

Aunt Bernadette successfully finished The Joe Marathon as our anchor leg! Everyone was proud of the accomplishments of the day and happy to be a part of it. We sang happy birthday to Uncle Joe again and all went inside to celebrate with bagels, donuts, fruit, etc.

North Shore Half Marathon

This morning I ran the North Shore Half Marathon in Highland Park in a time of 1:37:39!  I had pretty much NO idea how it was going to go.  I hadn't done a half marathon since last May and June and neither of those went quite how I would've liked them to.  The Green Bay Half in May of 2012 was a lot of fun running with Rachel, wearing our matching Bears and Packers race outfits, but my time was not nearly as fast as I would've liked; I don't even remember what it was, but I know it was right under 2 hours.  Then in June of 2012, the Chicago Women's Half Marathon was a complete mental disaster for me.  My time would've been over 2 hours and I refused to even cross the finish line.  After that, I pretty much swore of racing ever again.  However, I obviously decided to get it back together and train for the Chicago Marathon this fall.

Aunt Bernadette convinced me to sign up for the North Shore Half Marathon and I thought it would be a good idea as an easy way to get a long run in, to see kind of where I'm at as I start training, and I was pretty sure I could at least go faster than a 1:49, which would be what I'd need to move up to Corral C for the CM.  I ended up being able to get into Corral B with my time!  Angela is also eligible for Corral B, so that works out perfectly and now I don't need to stress over doing (or pay for) another race to try to get into that one!  My best half marathon ever was the Columbus Half Marathon in the fall of 2008, when I was a junior in college and ran a 1:37:10.   I was so close to that time today, but I can't really be upset about not getting there because this is definitely the best I've ever ran since college.  So here's some details of the race morning:

Uncle Ron, always a strong supporter at all of our races, drove Aunt Bernadette and I (and Kelly, also a super race fan) to the start area.  There was a minor crisis for a few minutes when Aunt B realized she forgot her Garmin.  Joe woke up and came to the rescue!  The skies still looked clear and I checked my phone for the weather in Highland Park, IL and confirmed that it said 0% chance of precipitation for the entire morning.  The temperature was perfect in the 50s.  Unfortunately, about 5 minutes getting out of the car...rain.  It was light rain it first, but it made it so cold just standing in my tank and shorts!  We lined up for the start and the rain got heavier and lasted for the first mile or 2.  There was still drizzle/mist the entire race, but not as bad as the very beginning.

I started out the first mile in 7:11.  I thought "Uh oh, I definitely started too fast."  I was planning to go for a 7:45 pace and hold that pretty steadily as long as I could to hopefully end up under 1:45 total time.  But right at that first mile mark, I was with 3 older guys and decided to stick with them.  They were doing about a 7:00-7:05 pace very consistently so I figured I tried to stay with them, which last until just after the 10k mark.  During the 7th mile was a HUGE hill.  I almost stopped and walked when I got to the top, but managed to keep going... miles 8 and 9 were probably the toughest.  Once I got to mile 10, I knew I could break 1:40 without a problem.  And once I hit 11 and 12, I knew if I could really pick it up for the last 1-2 miles, I could possibly PR.  Aunt B finished in just over 1:51, so she also did very well for her age group!

I made an awesome playlist for the race.  Obviously I kicked off with Teenage Dream.  I didn't change the music the entire time, but once I knew I had about 4 minutes left, I put Teenage Dream on again.  Also, I had left my armband at my apartment in the city, so I put the iPod in my sports bra the whole time, which worked surprisingly well.

Here are my race splits:

5k - 22:08 - 7:08 pace

10k - 44:26 - 7:10 pace (7:11 pace for the 5k between)

15k - 1:08:12 - 7:20 pace (7:39 pace for the 5k between)

Finish - 1:37:39 - 7:27 pace (7:48 pace for the ~6k between)