Random Photo from Austin Marathon 2010

I love this picture that Robert took as Shelly and I walked towards the start line.

Austin Marathon 2010 Race Report

Just a few steps from the finish line.

Short version:
We did it! 4:46:21 was my time. I'm proud of us!

Long version:

Ever since our first attempt at the Austin marathon (any marathon) last year, Shelly and I have been haunted by the results (or lack thereof). That might sound dramatic, but it's true; failing to meet our goal last year has been in the back of my mind for a year. On Sunday, Shelly and I were able to put the past away and celebrate a new triumph. We finished the marathon running, smiling, and (most importantly) in a respectable amount of time.

Training
We came into the race after following the same training plan as last year (Hal Higdon's Novice program). The difference was that at the start of our training this winter, Shelly and I had just wrapped up an amazing first triathlon season and lost 15 pounds. We entered winter marathon training with mental toughness and determination that we didn't have last year. We had something to prove.

Throughout our winter marathon training, Shelly and I kept up our bike and swim skills as much as we could. We tried to bike twice a week and swim once a week. I think that the extra cross training helped maintain our core strength as we transitioned into the higher-mileage running weeks.

On our long runs, we did our best to simulate the Austin marathon course: up 3 miles of hill, down 3 miles of hill. Hills in the middle. Downhill to the end. We ran in all kinds of weather: warm, humid, cold, really cold, sleet, rain, fog, wind, bright hot sun. When race day came, we were sure that we had done everything to prepare. But I was still unsure about the mental stamina that it would take to finish the last 6 miles.

Race Report
Race morning came and the weather was perfect: 42 degrees. Because we were in line for porta potties when the race started, we ended up starting the race 10 minutes after the gun went off. We took off at an 11 minute/mile, and vowed to follow our strict race plan to the end (don't go out too fast, be conservative, don't change anything until after mile 20).

The first 10 miles felt really, really good. We laughed and joked with each other, chatted with other runners, high-fived spectators, and generally had a jolly time. We saw Shelly's family at mile 2 and Robert and Angel at mile 6. We ran past a guy holding a sign that said, "Dear running, thank you for giving my fiancee a great ass. Love, me." We passed a group of college students who were beyond drunk and singing karaoke ("Wake Me Up Before You Go Go") in their driveway. We saw a woman in a cow costume who said, "Keep on mooooovin'!" as we ran by. We saw a guy in a gorilla suit. We heard "Eye of the Tiger" 3 times.

Dad had given us a strategy that paid off: start late, and you'll get to pass a bunch of other runners, which will give you a mental boost. I don't know how many people we passed, but the results show that in the first 10 miles, we passed 500 marathoners.

After the course split at mile 10.5, Shelly had an emotional moment as we moved into "Marathon only" territory. It was the same feeling I had last year, but this year she was passing the course split and feeling good instead of sick. We celebrated as we ran up the hill at mile 11 and saw my parents for the first time, which provided another boost.

Up the hill at mile 11. Still smiling.

We were on track with our pace and our fueling. We both felt good as we passed the half-marathon mark. I knew we'd have to stop to use the bathroom at some point, and we started to look for a porta potty with a short line. We found one at mile 15. As we ran on after the bathroom, we both were feeling tired, but okay.

Around mile 16, my left foot started to hurt. I found out later that I had 3 big blisters, but at the time I didn't know what the problem was. I just knew that I wanted the race to be over, and we still had 10 miles left. We carried on to mile 20, passing my parents again at 18. At this point, I started to notice that a lot of people were walking. I thought, "That was us last year!" Throughout the race, people had been on the sides of the road stretching, walking, and even throwing up, but around mile 20, the majority of people were walking, not running. We stopped twice to fill our water bottles, but each time we stepped back on the course and continued running.

Mile 18. At this point, most people around us were walking.

I knew the last 6 miles would be tough, but I didn't know how tough. Shelly and I had been checking our Garmins to make sure we were on pace. At mile 20, we were supposed to reevaluate, and we'd be allowed to run 10:15 if we wanted to. After mile 21, I called out our pace, "10:19, it's okay to run that now" to Shelly. She replied, "I don't want to." She told me that she was starting to feel sick. I was happy to back off the pace and settle back in around 10:30-10:45.

The things that go through your mind in the last 6 miles of a marathon are not good. What if I hit the wall? What does that feel like? What if I fail again? What if I have to walk the last 2 miles? What if I get hurt? What if they have to carry me off the course? What if my quad muscles pop out and I'm in excruciating pain on the side of the road? What if I have a stress fracture and running these next few miles breaks my leg? My shin hurts. Why does my shin hurt? What does that mean? What if I get hurt and can't run for 2 months? What if I'm supposed to stop now and if I don't it will ruin my whole tri season ahead?

I started chanting in my head, "Pain for an hour, pride for a year. Pain for an hour, pride is forever." I thought, if I am going to have to think about this race for a year, it better be with no regrets. Even with that kind of thought process going on, it was impossible to stop myself from walking 3 times, for a total of about 2 minutes.

The other thing that happened in the last 6 miles is that Shelly and I stopped talking to each other. We ran side by side in silence for an hour. We were both just too exhausted to speak. At one point, another runner came up behind us and asked to join us. She said she'd been latching onto runners just to help her complete the race. Just having her next to me was exhausting. It was hard enough to carry myself to the finish line. We eventually left her behind. At some point, it seemed that everyone around us was walking. The race results show that to be correct - we passed another 500 people in the last 10 miles of the race.

On the last hill of the race, I stopped to walk and Shelly kept running. I started running again, but we ran the last half mile separately. She was just ahead of me, and I tried to catch up with her, but we ended up finishing 3 seconds apart. She said that she didn't know I was right behind her, and that she wishes she had waited so we could cross the line together, but I think it's better the way that it happened. This way, both of us know that we did our very best on race day.

Seeing the crowds at the finish was a boost. People were yelling my name and telling me to go, and and I kicked it in to the finish. Passing the Capitol was cool. Seeing Shelly in the chute was emotional. We hugged and had our picture taken and felt the greatest overwhelming pride.

My chip time was 4:46:21. The Garmin says that we had spent 5 of those minutes in the bathroom or refilling water bottles. Finishing this marathon strong was amazing and one of the best feelings of my life. I'm still high from it 3 days later. And I can't wait to go back next year and do it again! Always learning, always striving to do better. I love running.

Brr

Shelly and I were scheduled to run 18 miles yesterday, and we didn't let the cold weather stop us. Even though the forecast called for the temperature to be in the teens, we headed out to the Scenic Loop at 8 a.m. It was 14 degrees outside! I took a picture of my car thermometer for posterity.

We dressed properly for the temperature - I wore a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt, long pants; 2 pairs of socks (one pair was Robert's wool cycling socks), a beanie, gloves, and a jacket that had built-in mittens. Shelly was outfitted similarly and we took off in style.

The cold was like a punch in the face, and breathing was difficult at times. Otherwise, the run was normal. We remarked at the frozen creeks that we passed, and giggled about how hard core we are for being out there (nobody else was). Then, at mile 3ish, I went to take a sip of water from my fuel belt...and it was frozen! This would be a problem because we needed to drink every 5 miles or so while taking gu.

Our next step was to take our small water bottles and put them down our shirts to warm them before we had to drink. It took about 3 miles to thaw each bottle, but it worked! I felt the cold weather sapping my energy early in the run, though.

In a roundabout way, we got to the Scenic Loop Cafe at mile 11. We decided to go inside and take off our middle layer of shirts in the restroom. As we walked in, the manager asked, "Did your water bottles freeze?" Maybe we weren't their first runner patrons of the day. Shelly texted Robert to tell him we were OK, and he texted back, "We're at the Taqueria. We're OK too." Ha.

We didn't realize it, but we'd had a nice tailwind the whole time we were running out. As we began to head back to our cars, the wind picked up and we struggled against it. Most of the way back was hard, hard, hard. I got a little boost with 3 miles left when Robert and the kids drove up to say hi, but I begged them to just keep driving or else I'd jump in the car.

When we arrived back at the cars, we found that it was 40 degrees outside, much warmer than when we'd started at 8. The higher temperature explained why we had seen runners in shorts and T-shirts heading out while we were on our way back. It was a tough run, but we did it in 3:15, and I'm becoming more confident on the hills and able to visualize finishing the marathon strong. The race is only 5 weeks away.

Hello 2010!

Happy new year!

I'm entering the new year and a new age group - I'll have a "35" written on the back of my left calf for triathlons this year. Gotta love how triathlons determine your age by how old you'll be at the end of the year. My birthday was only a week ago, for goodness' sake.

You may have noticed that I stopped writing here in early fall last year. What happened? Well, I got an iPhone and now I have no need to get on the actual computer at home. But I miss writing this blog, and I resolve to write more in the new year.

I read through this entire blog a few weeks ago - I was looking at the pictures and got sucked in to reading all the posts (not difficult when you're feeling narcissistic and you have an entire volume that you've written about yourself at your fingertips).

I was amazed to see how far I've come - how far Shelly and Robert and I have all come. Usually, the improvements made during a "season" of running aren't so obvious - a new PR here, maybe a new "most miles in a week/month" record there. The fact that I'm thinking in "seasons" at all shows how becoming a triathlete has changed my view on the exercise world. Along with learning tons about triathlon and bicycles, and improving my skill as a swimmer and a cyclist, I've improved as a runner as well. Shelly and I are both better, stronger, faster, smarter, and tougher athletes than we were this time last year. Which we'll need as we head for our first "A" race of 2010 - the Austin Marathon on February 14.

Perfect Run

This is what a perfect run looks like (for me and Shelly).

Benchmark for Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon - SA Fit 12 Miler
Total Time: 1:57:33

Mile 1: 10:30
Mile 2: 10:33
Mile 3: 10:18
Mile 4: 10:32
Mile 5: 10:06
Mile 6: 9:59
Mile 7: 9:39
Mile 8: 9:37
Mile 9: 9:21
Mile 10: 9:28
Mile 11: 8:44
Mile 12: 8:44

Today was the SA Fit benchmark run for the San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half Marathon, which is in one month. The marathon runners ran 21 miles, and the half marathon runners ran 12. The goal was to practice exactly what you would do on race day. Shelly and I haven't been training with the group, but we showed up today for the benchmark.

We had a plan and we stuck to it! The splits above tell the story. Our goal is to finish the race in 2:06. Today, we were on a pace to do it in 2:07. I think if the weather is nice and we stick to our plan on the day of the race, we will have no trouble achieving our goal!

We just have to remember to stick to our pace no matter what.

Related Shenanigans

Last winter, Shelly and I ran on the Scenic Loop every weekend when we were training for the Austin Marathon. Every time we ran it, I would point out a mailbox that is painted with the Texas flag, and I would say, "Hey, you know what would be cool? We should get Robert to take our picture running past that and then submit it to Runner's World as one of those two-page spread photographs of fabulous places to run." And Shelly would agree. And then we would laugh because we always had the same conversation every time we passed that mailbox.

Now, thanks to iPhone technology, I present to you a version of that photograph:



Thanks, Shelly, for taking the photo!

After that ride, we went shopping for a new bike for Shelly. And after she purchased her fabulous new bike (Chloe), we went for a second ride that day, just so she could give it a try.

Here's Shelly and Chloe:

Gator Bait Race Report

Felty* and me in the rain, approaching the finish line.

They don't cancel triathlons due to rain. It rained off and on the entire time yesterday at Gator Bait. All my stuff is still drying out right now.

The official results:
5th out of 22 in my age group
116th overall out of 240 finishers
600 m swim: 13:40 (3/22 in my age group!)
T1: 1:32 (11/22)
4 mile run: 38:36 (13/22; 9:39 min/mi)
T2: 1:19 (6/22)
12.2 mile bike: 43:43 (5/22; 16.7 mph)

I think Shelly and I both had great confidence going into this race because it was held in the same place that we practice every weekend. We swam from a different part of the lake than where we usually train because of the water levels; it was a triangle course around 2 buoys. There were 4 or 5 waves of swimmers and Shelly and I started dead last in our wave. But! We swam pretty much side-by-side the entire time and exited the water together, finishing the swim in the front of our wave. I can't believe I was 3rd place in my age group on the swim! Later, we found out that the swim course was long by 100 extra meters.

Because the swim was in a different section of the lake, we ran next. Shelly and I got to run together too. We pushed each other through a very quick (for us) 4 miles. It started raining on the bike segment. Thankfully, they shortened the course due to wet roads, so we didn't have to do the monster hill at the turnaround. On the way back, I battled it out with another girl in my age group (I knew she was in our group because she passed us on the run...grr). We passed each other a couple times but I picked it up on the way into the park and crossed the finish line first. She finished right behind me, and behind her were 2 other women in my age group. Hooray! It was really weird finishing the race on the bike. We had to dismount and walk across the finish line with our bikes.

We enjoyed post-race sausage wraps, Cheetos, and cookies. And then, to cap a fantastic morning, Shelly won the grand door prize! She got a free pair of Newton shoes from Tri-Sition Area. Even in the rain, it was a wonderful race day.

*Yes, I renamed my bike Felty. It just fit better than Eisenheim the Magnificent.