Race Report: Rocket City Marathon, Huntsville, Alabama

Marathon morning found me up at 4:00 am throwing 3 different running tops into a bag, along with ear muffs, two different pairs of gloves, 2 different pairs of socks and a complete change of clothes for afterwards in case the unspeakable happened (in case it rained).

Matt rode down to Huntsville with me, so it was nice to have someone to chat away to for the two hour drive. He's probably regretting this decision however, because he had to hear everything I had to say twice that day.. once in the car and then once again while we were running. Oh well.

Much thought went into race attire. The weather was in the 30s and windy with a slight change of rain. I hemmed and hawed throughout the morning on to bare my legs or cover them with leggings. To wear short sleeves or long sleeves? Eventually I decided to stick with my long sleeve underarmour top and leggings. This turned into a good decision.

We hooked up with Melanie and another one of her friends and took a pre-race photo:

(It's sick to see how happy we can be before running a marathon, I tell ya).

Let me re-cap on my situation and introduce you to Matt's and Melanie's regarding this race.

So... This made the 4th marathon in a row that I didn't specifically train for to PR. I was basically using this marathon as a training run for the 50k in January. I wanted to do well, but I was in no shape to bust my ass at this race.

Matt and Melanie have both ran marathons in the past couple of months. Both had PRed at said marathons. Neither of them were looking to bust their asses on the race course.

So, we banded together and started the run all together.

The first 10 miles or so, I was feeling awesome. We were running an easy pace, we were chatty, we weren't too phased by the wind, we joked about the "hills." It was fun. REALLY fun. By the time we hit the half mark, I was still feeling pretty good... but the wind was starting to get to me. I had moments were I felt like I was freezing and then I had moments were I felt like my wrists were burning me alive (weird, I know... but my wrists kept getting hot and then cold).

The thing about a marathon or a long training run is it's really a battle of cycles. You can literally feel on top of the world one second and then 15 seconds later feel like you are going to die. It's the strangest thing, but it's something that I've learned to accept and just try to battle through. The first 15 miles or so, my bad cycles didn't last that long, I took this as a good sign.

Amazingly enough, the mile markers always seemed to come quick. I'm sure the awesome company helped that, but even if we weren't talking, I was always pleasantly surprised to see the next mile marker. (Instead of stalking the horizon constantly looking for the next mile marker which happens so often).

Mile 5ish I think...

The aid stations were set up every 2 miles and we stopped at just about everyone for a quick gulp or two, before we were off again.

The crowds were great. There weren't loads of people lined up in the cold to spectate, but the ones who were there were AWESOME. They were vocal and encouraging. Most of them used the phrase "almost there," but, I forgave them. It was cold... their brains were probably just numb. There was even a tunnel of students outside of a high school that we all got to run through!

Mile 16, I think?

Around mile 19 or so, I had a quick feeling of stomach grumblings. Luckily, it happened right at an aid station and there was a porta potty. As sad as I was to break off from Matt and Melanie... I KNEW that I had to take advantage of the porta potty right away.

I waited in line and was in and out all in about 3 minutes. Not too bad. I could see Matt's yellow shirt about a quarter of a mile ahead of me and I decided for a few minutes that I would try and catch up. I felt really good right after relieving myself and probably pushed a little too hard. Because not long thereafter I had to slow down significantly.

I knew I was in the home stretch and just continued putting one foot in front of the other (although, some of those footfalls were SLOW ones). After the mile 23 aid station I started to walk a little. During miles 23 and 24 I walked off and on a bit. My legs were sore. Achy sore. I found that they actually hurt less when I ran, so I tried to force myself to keep going.

By the time Mile 25 rolled around, I was feeling better I knew I was going to finish under 4:40 and have my 2nd best marathon time, yet. It was somewhere around here were there were a group of specators outside their house in the driveway and while I really appreciate their effort for being outside in the cold, I really disliked breathing in the smoke from the enormous fire they had going in their fire pit. Like, seriously... there's nothing like inhaling smoke and coughing up a lung for the next half a mile at the end of a marathon. Great decision, guys.

I crossed the finish line in 4:36:20 and for whatever reason, the girl who finished right behind me and I ended up hugging. (It's a weird marathon thing.. I can't explain why you always wanna hug people after you've run 26.2 miles. But, it's nice).

Afterwards, my legs HURT. They were so sore and achy. My back was sore. I stumbled into the lobby and after this photo was taken...

No I didn't lose my left arm in the race, I was such a pansy that I was leaning on the chair behind me.

I sat down on the floor and tried to rub, stretch, and beat my legs with my hands. I've never had such achy legs after a marathon before. I was beginning to worry about the drive home. But magically, after about 20 minutes of sitting and stretching them out..  they started to feel better and didn't bother me anymore.

This marathon was fun. I LOVED running with Matt and Melanie and SOOOO wish that I could have forgone the bathroom stop and stayed with them... if I could have, I dont think I would have walked during 23 or 24 or slowed down as much. They finished with awesome 4:25s. Another neat thing about this race, is that although it was small (only allow 1500 runners) I was never entirely alone during the race. There were ALWAYS people around me.. maybe just one or two, but still... it was nice that the group didn't spread out so much that you felt like you were running solo.

But I did realize one thing... 4 marathons in a row without attempting a PR is kinda boring (and frankly pretty damn lazy). And I felt especially guilty this time, because this course is a perfect PR course. Flat and cold. What more could you ask for?

Anyway... I've got my sights set on my next marathon (the exact marathon is chosen, but still pending a final decision) and my new 18 week training plan actually started yesterday! I'm super excited to go for a PR this next time around and will share my training plan with you this week.

My splits:

Mile 1: 10:04

Mile 2: 9:54

Mile 3: 9:45

Mile 4: 9:43

Mile 5: 9:54

Mile 6: 10:01

Mile 7: 9:48

Mile 8: 10:13

Mile 9: 9:57

Mile 10: 10:06

Mile 11: 9:44

Mile 12: 10:02

Mile 13: 10:13

Half: 2:10:35

Mile 14: 10:17 (I think I shot bloxed here)

Mile 15: 9:50

Mile 16: 10:12

Mile 17: 10:03

Mile 18: 10:19

Mile 19: 10:08

Mile 20: 12:41 (Porta potty immediately after mile 19 marker)

Mile 21: 10:47

Mile 22: 11:22

Mile 23: 13:20 (long water stop and some walking)

Mile 24: 13:38 (walking some)

Mile 25: 11:10 (made a deal with myself to just run slower instead of walking)

Mile 26: 11:05

Mile .2: 1:54 (not accurate, I didn't stop my watch immediately).

**Thanks to Melanie and her Mom for the pictures!!!!

And another one down...

Well, folks. I made it. I finished the Rocket City Marathon on Saturday in 4:36:20. (2nd best marathon time for me).

Here's a little teaser for you... the race shirt (long sleeve, easter egg yellow Nike tech tee that is long enough to belt and wear as a dress. Gender-sized? Maybe, but how many girls do you know that are 7 feet tall?) and a tech hat. Yay for the hat!

Details to come.

How I roll... Pre-marathon.

This week I was all about getting to bed early, eating healthy, no alcohol and taking care of myself.

And then of course I stayed up late the past 3 nights in a row and got shit-faced on wine last night (when I told myself prior to going out that I wasn't drinking any alcohol, and THEN I told myself that I was just having one glass, and THEN I told myself that I was just making sure that the wine really was that good, and THEN I forgot all about the damn marathon on Saturday morning and had 2 more glasses).

Awesome.

Sigh.

I'll never learn, I suppose.

So this morning I'm working and consuming large and possibly dangerous amounts of  detox tea, because that totally erases last night's damage (shhhh... don't you say a word). I'll get my pre-race pizza fix in at lunch and I'm going to leave work early to get things done at home before I crash hopefully around 7/7:30 tonight.

Wake up call in the morning is 4:15 with a ETD of 5:00am.

Huntsville, here I come! :)

I'm sure I'll tweet before and after the race, but full Race Report next week. Have a great weekend everyone!

Goals, or a lack thereof

So, yeah, I'm running the Huntsville Rocket City Marathon on Saturday. When I originally started thinking about this race, it was summer and I was training like a beast (by my standards, at least) in the hot Middle Tennessee sun, running back-2-back long runs. And all I could think about was my perfect marathon equation:

Cold weather + Flat course = Marathon PR.

Hells yeah. So, I signed up and daydreamed about crossing the finish line in Huntsville in under 4:12 (all for the bargain price of $50 bucks. Holla!).

And then the weeks passed... I trained less, my weekly mileage went down, I tapered for a marathon, I ran a marathon, I recovered from said marathon and now I have no clue what to expect Saturday.

On the one hand? My legs are probably as fresh as they've been for a race all year. I've got an awesome high mileage base from the early fall to pull from. And... hellooooo... the race course is supposed to be flat. Like... UBER flat. Race conditions on Saturday look almost perfect: showers with temps in the 40s.

On the otherhand? My fall races this year have been a buffet of disappointing finishes, dead legs, and awful race times. Saturday could very well be the cherry on top of this wretched racing season. If so? No biggie, I'll just move on. There's also the fact that this is a training run for me for the 50k.

Which brings me to goals for this marathon. I've always had goals for marathons. Sometimes it's been as small and lame as... just finish without crashing and burning (Chickamauga), sometimes it's with a specific time in mind (Eugene, St. Louis), othertimes it's been just to survive (Madison). This time around, I have no idea which strategy to take.

It doesn't help that it's become obvious to me in my short time as a runner, that I am the type that cracks under pressure. As much as I wish I had that mentality of putting a "game face" on. I just don't. I'm not mentally tough like that. And that's okay.

So where does that leave me? Well, I can assure you that Saturday is not a PR day. I just haven't done the training for that. Anything in the 4:30s would make me EXTREMELY happy. But, I think the strategy is going to be this... I'm going to wait and see how I feel once the race starts.

All's Quiet...

So, here's the thing. When you're running 2 marathons in less than a month... your training routine is pretty boring.

It's almost like it's been a running vacation for me lately. I've only been logging 30ish mile weeks. I've been sleeping in when it's raining outside. I've been taking 2-3 rest days a week.

WHO HAVE I BECOME?

In all honesty... it's kinda nice. But on the otherhand, I'm itching to get back to a normal training schedule when I can run and run and run and not have to worry about tapering or recovering.

Too bad that won't be the case for yet another month, since I've got that bloody 50k in January. The only good news about that is that I've got a reason to get my ass back into running gear quick after this weekend's marathon.

So, have no fear... things will pick up for Twenty-Six Point Two very soon... Until then.. it's taper time!

Also, side note.. I'm looking for a new training plan for my spring marathon (I love you Coach Higdon, but I need a change)... I'm thinking of following a pfitz's plan this time around... anyone have any experience with those? The Hanson plan is another option...

The Monkey's Revenge

So, yeah, I survived the race. And honestly... I wasn't sore at all after this marathon (which has only happened to me one other time: Grizzly Marathon. Gotta love gravel). I slept in on Monday morning, but stumbled through a quasi-tempo run on Monday night.

I took it fairly easy the rest of the week... Thursday I hiked all over the damn place (up mountains, down mountains, sliding down mountains on my ass) near the ole family homestead and on Friday I hit the trails at Percy Warner to help start breaking in my new trail shoes (love them! huge difference!).

Saturday, Melanie and I had planned on running 12-13 together. She had mentioned she was willing to do the 11.2, but I was aiming for a nice 12-13 on the smyrna greenway. I was sick of the damn hills.

Then sometime Friday afternoon I got this email:

Subject: 11.2
From: Relay teammate, Newbie to my Age Group, Kicks my ass in every race (aka... fast beoytch).


Hey running friends!

I was wondering if any of you would want to show me the way on the 11.2 sometime this weekend. I've never run it before and it's supposed to be great weather at any point during the weekend. Let me know if you're interested and we can plan a time and day.

Thanks,
Fast Beoytch

Well. SHIT. I quickly looked to see if Melanie had been sent the email, as well. And OF COURSE she had. F*CK. I knew I wasn't ready. I had flashbacks to attempting the 11.2 one week after the St. Louis Marathon (you know the time that Vandy-Montana had to leave me for dead on 7 mile hill). But could I turn down a running posse? Even though it wasn't even a WEEK since the Monkey? Hells no.

So, I show up Saturday morning. Thinking... well, two of these people (Melanie brought along a friend, too) hadn't ever ran the 11.2. They'll be slow. I can keep up.

Hahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha.

Yeah. Right.

They pulled wayyyy ahead of me on 3 mile hill. I was huffing and puffing, willing my legs to just keep on moving. They slowed down and allowed me to catch up with them, but by mile 5 I knew I was done with the pace they were running. I needed a slow and steady 10:00/10:30 pace to get me up the hills without dying. So, I ran the last 6 or so by myself. Once I slowed down, it wasn't so bad. But, I'll admit... I did walk up parts of 7 mile and LOTS of 9 mile.

Well played, 11.2. You humbled me yet again you sorry ole bastard.

Race Report: The Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon

Going into this marathon, I knew two things....
1. It was going to be a training run for me.
2. It was going hurt.

And now... two days later I can attest that it was both of those things... but it was also a lot of fun.

Every marathon I've ran has been an interesting experience. I LOVE traveling to new places and exploring them by running through them during the middle of a race. This is why the idea of running a marathon in every state is such an important goal for me. So, in my head... I kind of downplayed this race. No big build-up. Running in the same park I train in a couple times a month... nothing special. Just heading out to the park for a long training run.

I was wrong.

The packet pickup went very smoothly on Saturday afternoon... I picked up my packet and was pleased with the goodies I received for my minimal entry fee (I think it was a $60 race?).

The Loot:

1 long sleeve tech tee with my name printed on the front. No ads, very classy, my favorite race shirt to date! A short sleeve t-shirt (designed by my friend and running buddy, Matt!!) That is a spoof on Star Wars (May the hills be with you). Very cool! And then a monkey sticker, tattoo and some various granola bars and oatmeal from a company with the name Monkey (Monkey Bars= granola bars, Monkey brains=oatmeal). I thought the bibs were really cool. My number, 641, will always be my number now if I decide to run the race again. I loved the black color of the bib.

On my way home from the packet pickup, I stopped and picked up my standard pre-race meal of pizza from a new place in town (Jets Pizza: It was okay. Kinda of a mediocre crust and I didn't like the cheese on the pizza at all. It was like rubbery and gross). And settled in at home to watch the Vandy/UT football game before I retired to my own bed for the evening.

I slept well and woke up around 5:30. Since, I didn't have to leave my house till 7ish, I went ahead and guzzled some water, ate a yogurt and a banana and tried on about 20 different tops. The weather forecast was for perfect race conditions: Overcast, in the high 40s, low 50s, with a SLIGHT possibility of rain. After first deciding on a long sleeve tech tee, then changing into a short sleeve tech tee, I finally decided on a sleeveless top that is kind of thick.

Ahhhh the small race. I pulled up, parked literally about 50 yards from the start/finish line and made my way to the porta potties. There was lots of nervous chatter going on... just like any pre-race. But the best thing... we were all running the same race. And EVERYONE was nervous.

This race definitely carries a hint of mystique to it. It's a hilly course. Remember me always talking about the 11.2? Well, you not only get to run that bitch once during the race... you get to run it twice! In both directions! At least I had a vague idea of what to expect, being a home turf race.  Those poor out of town bastards... I'm sorry for you.

Before the start of the race... they had group pictures for Maniacs and a Running Ahead Forum Group and also for those people who've ran all 4 (now) of the Monkey Marathons (sadly, I missed the Maniacs photo op! boooo!!). After all the pics were taken, it was time to get started...

The first 10 miles of the race, FLEW by. I was consistently keeping around a 9:45/10:00 mile pace. I would pause briefly at water stops (starting around the 3rd mile, I consistently stopped at about every water station for a quick gulp of water or gatorade). Around mile 5ish I heard a guy with a bullhorn saying annoying things like... "it's a beautiful morning." etc. etc. (Annoying because I was in the middle of my least favorite hill in the park (the dreaded 9 mile hill) and the morning didn't feel that damn beautiful). By the time I reached the bullhorn man. I probably gave him a half smile (I did appreciate his enthusiasm) and a half eat shit look (I was wishing I was on the sidelines). A few moments after I passed him I heard him say... Amy?! and he ran up next to me... "Amy?! Twenty-six point two Amy?" Haha. Of course. I just gave one of my readers the stink-eye. Awesome. Anyway... it turned out to be Old Man (which... dude... with that name I was picturing you WAY older)! Thanks for volunteering and talking to me despite the eat-shit look I gave you! I promise, I'm normally a nice girl.

I was feeling good, despite the fact that I was climbing up what I always find to be one of the hardest hills in the park (the first mile if you're doing the 11.2). I was cracking jokes about a kid in a stroller having the right idea (the park was still open to regular folks and traffic). A couple of girls caught up with me... one girl said... "you look familiar." I looked at her.. and we realized that we had met at the Grizzly Marathon back in August! And the girl she was running with, I had met at the Beer Mile! I was secretly stoked to be semi-keeping up with these two fast and accomplished runners... and then I realized they weren't running the race...  ahhhh well. (And, I didn't keep up with them long... they smoked me).

Around mile 11ish (?) I heard someone calling my name as I approached a group of people hanging out a Deep Wells. I kept looking around and couldn't figure out who it was and then I saw someone clapping and yelling and I realized that it was my running pal, Anonymous Commenter! I stopped at the water station for a quick drink and we chatted for a second, before I took off towards one of the worst hills in the park (3 mile hill). Seeing a friendly face definitely helped me get up that beast of a hill.

By the time I saw Matt at mile marker 12, I was still feeling okay... but, I could tell that I was losing some momentum. The miles between 12 and 14 sucked. Really sucked. It's generally one of the least favorite parts of the park for me, AND we ran a special little loop that I normally don't run and not knowing what to expect there and being out of familiar surroundings threw me for a loop.

At the half mark, I was at 2:16.

That's right. I ran a half marathon at Percy Warner Park in 2:16, with.. really... minimal effort. HOT DAMN.

Sadly... that's not the end of the story... it's merely the beginning of the story: wherein the wheels start falling off...

At mile 14, Matt had graciously volunteered (on his own accord!) to run the rest of the race course with me! So, that gave me a much needed spike in adrenaline. I had prepped him earlier in the day... "all bets are off dude. I can't be held responsible for any injuries you might sustain during this... be it physical or emotional. There could be yelling fits filled with expletives, I could hit you, trip you, or push you off the side of a hill if you get on my nerves, and there could be crying... that's right, I might make you cry." He accepted regardless of the warning.

I remember around mile 15 or so, we had a 9:30 mile. Granted it was mostly downhill... but I was kind of like.. whoooaaa nelly. Let's dial it back a bit. By mile 16... I was taking walk breaks. I literally held off as long as I thought I could (though... if maybe I could have made myself just slow down a bit, I might could have lasted longer) because I knew... once I started walking.. it's hard for me to get back into a constant routine of running.

Around mile 18 (at the stone gates) I heard my name being called again... and it was my NashMash teammate Lori!! Again, it was awesome to see a friendly face. It was also at this water station that I got a fistbump from a dude dressed up in a Confederate General Costume and I got hit on the head with a wand by the "endurance fairy." I started up the back side of a tough hill (9 mile) expecting it to not be so bad... it's usually not. That day it was. Then again... I'm not usually running it after running 18 miles.

We walked up the.whole.damn.thing. It was awful. I knew I couldnt maintain any kind of momentum running up the hill, so I just stuck to walking. Part of the problem for me... that I realized in this race... if people around me are walking (particularly late in a marathon) sometimes I feel like I have to walk, too. (Didn't happen in St. Louis, I was trucking it to the finish there). So... everyone's walking... and I'm like... well.. if that dude ahead of me, who looks like a fast runner is walking.. then... I should be walking, too! WRONG.

Anyway.. there was one minor hill towards the top of the hill and I told Matt... I'm running to the top. And I did. And at the top, I could barely jog down because that hill had trashed my legs. Ugh.

At this point in the race, I was probably walking more than I was running.. we had some 13:30 miles. I stopped at water station 23 to chat for a bit with two of my relay team members who were volunteering... and that was awesome. (Some other guy at that water stop tried to tell me that there weren't any more hills. He was lying and I called him out on it. Seriously... I found this race to be the worst about that. The volunteers were AWESOME, but they were all stinking liars about the hills. Luckily, I knew better) :)

I realized that I was going to have a chance to finish in under 5 hours. My main goal. The last 1.2 miles I ran the whole way. Matt was great. He ran a little ahead of me... like a rabbit and I just kept concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other... finally we made the turn off and hit the grass. I knew there was only a 1/3 of mile left at that point... I climbed the last hill and started kicking up any last bit I still had.

Here I am! Note... two relay teammates there!

It kind of sucked, because I didn't feel comfortable looking up and enjoying the finish line (although I did hear and see Lori yelling my name again!!!) because I didn't want to trip and fall (the grass). But I crossed the finish line and as they were tearing off my bib I saw my mom come into the shute followed by my dad! It was the first race that he'd seen me in and I was thrilled to see him at the finish line!

Finished!!

I was emotional. And thirsty. I hugged my parents... fought back the tears and sought out some gatorade. Which was empty, so I had to go to my car to get some. (Luckily I got that SWEET parking spot).

My official time was 4:57:03

I talked to a few people after the race, but was craving my celebratory milkshake so much that I ended up leaving fairly soon after the race.

It was a great race... and I'll tell you why... because of the people. Thanks to all the volunteers (especially the ones I know.. Matt, Grady, and Edward) It was awesome to have friends at water stations to talk to and get encourangement from. Thanks to Old Man for standing out there and encouraging us runners. Thanks to Steve,  Lori, the confederate dress up dude and the endurance fairy. Thanks to Tanya for making me feel like a pansy cause I wasn't pounding the beer like she was (in my defense, she had finished the race an HOUR ahead of me). Thanks to Elly, the Nashville Striders Photographer for always being positioned on a downhill or straightaway.

Thanks to Matt for sticking with me through those last 12 miles. Thanks for not being annoying and making me have to resort to pushing you off the side of Luke Lea.

Thanks to my parents for making it out! It was special to have you both you there!

And thanks to Trent, the race director, for taking the time to make this such a great event!

I have a feeling I'll be back next year!

Side Note: When I walked back into my place on Sunday after the race, I was greeted to this:

This is what trying to figure out what to wear to a marathon on race morning looks like.