New Half PR, Sub 1:30!!, EWEB Run to Stay Warm

This is my third attempt posting. Blogger is not happy with me. Sorry if i confused anyone :)!!
100% mental
I was a little unsure of whether or not to race this week, due to some unavoidable life-junk. But on the way to the race, I tried to stay focused on the fact that only I can control if I have a good race...

It's all about perspective.

Who decides for you whether you will have a successful race? Control the mind and you have the game won. I decided, while in the car, that I would make the best of it.  Regardless of how the numbers turned out, I would choose to be satisfied with my best effort. It would be a waste of a day, otherwise.

Pre-race
Pre-race I ate oatmeal and had coffee with milk and sugar, and an hour before the race I *drank about 6 ounces of Gatorade. I had about 4 hours of sleep due to kiddos (do all parents have one kid that insists on sleeping on your head?), but had a VERY restful week leading up to the race with tons of sleep- (6 days of 8 hours a night). I had also tanked up on hot liquids and cold liquids all week, including chicken broth the day before.

I arrived at EWEB (Eugene Water and Electric Board) at about 7:30 for the 9 AM race. This race is a fundraiser for EWEB's "Customer Care" program, making sure that people with financial hardship can have power to their homes. It was featured as a "Race of the Month" in Runner'sWorld magazine, November 2011. This was my third year doing the Run to Stay warm half, which also hosts a 10k and 5k.

The packet pick-up was well organized and I was able to get my packet and use the porta-pots several times. I also spent some time in my car with the engine running to stay warm, listening to music, praying and doing some self-talk.

At about 8:15 I went for a warm up of less than a mile. I am glad I did this because it took forever to get my Garmin to find the satellites, and it also showed me that I might get warm enough to go down to a singlet (which I did). There was no snow, but we would definitely be running to stay warm today!

The one thing I wanted- truly not in my control- was a friend to see at the race--someone to visit with and enjoy the pre/post-race fun. I was thrilled when I ran into someone I knew! I spotted a friend who I had met at the Eugene Celebration Mile. Perfect. We were both on our own and now had a buddy! We talked goals, froze our butts off in the near-freezing temps, and warmed up (just a little more) with a mini-run.

We both had a great race!!

Shortly after finding Emily, we headed to the race start, which was in a new location this year. I didn't line up in front, since I didn't see any other women.

And we're off!
When the race started, we wound around and back through the courtyard/fountain area, and then on to the paved bike path. Most of the race follows the Willamette River, and is also part of the Eugene Marathon course.

Things began to stretch out a bit and I saw a few faster ladies taking their places ahead of me. I checked my watch and noticed my pace just under 6:50- right where I wanted to be.

My goals, besides just enjoying the race, were

• To be consistent in pacing (no 5k starts). (I wore 2 pace bands)
• Hydrate, if necessary, with the geetah straw- I planned to do this twice.
• Take gels if I felt like I was flagging
• Run the tangents and keep the course as short as I could
• Finish faster than 1:30 if possible, if not, PR if possible..if not that...enjoy knowing I did my BEST.

Mile 1  6:49

We crossed the footbridge and steered right. There are many options for paths here, and there was a course marshal to direct traffic. It got little confusing in other stretches, though. Most of the turns had some white chalk arrows.

Mile 2  6:57

Here, I noticed that my pace had dropped, so I worked to get back into that pace I had before. I never really felt like my rhythm was "clicking" perfectly though, as I do sometimes on my long runs.

As milepost 3 approached, my watch beeped about 20 yards early. Not sure if this was due to misplaced flags, or me not hitting the tangents. There were several turns, but not much traffic.  After this, all the flags were about 20-30 yards after my watch auto-lapped.

Mile 3  6:53

There was also a hairpin turn and a loop near mile 3, after this, I saw all the other racers coming my way. Emily spotted me! We slapped hands as we ran past, and hollered, at each other. Both of us wore BIG smiles!

Around mile 4, the half marathon merged in with the 10K and 5k course, (races started 15 minutes after the half). This got kind of messy.

To add to the confusion of merging paces, racers and strollers, this was also in the same area where there were multiple path options. There was one course marshal I could see, and lots and lots of 10k racers, and very few (if any) half marathoners. I had to trust my gut and go with the flow of traffic, resurrecting memories from the race last year to guide me.

Mile 4  6:48

After getting past the 10k/5k crowd, things thinned out again to virtually nobody. I could hear someone behind me and was curious, but didn't look back. I took some water from a cup (with my straw), without stopping. At this point I was passed by a man in a red shirt. He stopped for water, but I KNEW he would catch me again. I was acting as his pacer, by coincidence.

Mile 5 6:45

The rest of the course I saw very few other racers. I played yo-yo with the guy in the red shirt a few times at the water stops, but I didn't pass anyone again until mile 9 or 10. No one else passed me either.

I spent a lot of time thinking, and giving thanks for the blessings I have.
   I also thought about several people in my life who inspire me.
   I thought about my husband at home, sick.
   I thought about my mom and dad watching my boys for me. Thank you Mom and Dad!!
   I thought about a few other runners, 
   friends with cancer, 
   friends whose kids have medical issues that require surgery. 
   I am incredibly blessed to be healthy and able to run, and I gave thanks for that too.
   And, I thought about trying to catch the guy in the red shirt. 

Mile 6 6:48-Took a Powerbar vanilla gel
Mile 7 6:51
Mile 8 6:48
Mile 9 6:50- passing a water stop
Mile 10 6:42
Mile 11 6:50
Mile 12 6:47 Here I knew I had to pull out any reserve I had left, and surprisingly I had some!
Mile 13 6:42
last .17 5:56 pace

Final: 
1:29:30 official (6:50 avg pace., 6:48 by the watch)
43/453 overall
6th female (first female finished in 1:16:XX)
1st of 39 in age group

Post Race
There were finisher medals this year, and a generous spread for post-race goodies: bagels and cream cheese, bottled drinks, bananas, hot coffee. A raffle was made simple by putting the winning numbers on a board at a hosted snack table.

Why aren't my pants legs the same length?

Awards went out quickly, with medals for male and female age group winners (top 3),  and some gift certificates to the overall top 3 in each gender. I watched as an 8 year-old boy got a medal for finishing under 2 hours in the half, his first, which he ran in some 5-finger type shoes!

There was also an after-party with free lunch at The Cooler, but I didn't go since I remembered The Cooler as a pub, and it was Sunday, and pubs just aren't my scene these days, anyway. :)

A few other thoughts for those interested in doing this race

• Last year this course was certified, but with the change in the start location, I wonder if it was this year.
• The course changes were done "so that all three races will have a common start that doesn’t go out onto the road. The 10k and 5k were long in past years." Now all three races should be accurate.
• The course is supposed to change again, just a bit, next year due to some construction finishing.
• The RD did an excellent job of making things simple and taking care of the registration/packet problems from last year.
• Many faster runners were at this event (The top two females finished in 1:16:xx, 1:17:xx).
• This is a really, really fast, fun course. I like it a LOT, but I don't need crowd support or other people to run with to enjoy a race (though I do like company before and afterwards!!).
• I hope to run this race again, or even the 5k or 10k, but an email I received from Shelly Stephenson at EWEB stated, "Unfortunately, the race will have to continue to be on Sunday because of future home duck games. Next year’s game is a home game again. To keep things consistent, we will keep the event on Sunday." I will have to weigh that out for the future, as I would rather not miss church for a race.

As you can imagine, I am thrilled with a new PR at the half marathon distance! This was a success for me on many levels: 

• I met a time goal
• Executed my race plan well
• Kept positive, and took charge of the MENTAL side of racing
• Came close to the Vdot calculator prediction from my most recent race (40:14 10k). This gives me some hope that I might get close to the predicted marathon time. Ha. Someday...

Special thanks to family and friends who emailed (or texted) encouragements, and helped in a variety of ways over the weekend.  I am honored to have such special people in my life.

EWEB half Race Report & Kamikazi Running Lesson: Take 1

Spoiler alert:
I have to admit it is my habit to skip right to the finish time when reading race reports...but I always go back and read the details, because I love a good story!

Overall winners:
MALE
1/462 John Ngigi 31 M 1/32  Glide OR 1:13:19 1:13:20 5:36
2 Timothy Pillow  19 M 1/13  Eugene OR 1:15:23 1:15:23 5:46
3 Leo Alapont 34 M 2/32  Eugene OR 1:16:22 1:16:23 5:50

FEMALE
1 (9 overall) Clare Taylor 40  1/28  Marcola OR 1:22:04 1:22:06 6:16
2 (17 overall)  Stephanie Snyder 41  2/28  Salem OR 1:24:48 1:24:49 6:29
3 (27 overall) Tonya Lutz 33  1/48  Salem OR 1:27:33 1:27:34 6:42

My FEMALE AGE GROUP:
1 *Me*   1:31:XX 7:xx  
2 Gretchen Parker  1:41:31 7:45
3 Heather Leonard  1:48:48 8:19

Race apparel included gloves, paceband and shortie "geetah" straw.

It was pretty chilly when I rolled into Eugene at 8 am. The race was to start at 9 and that meant I had an hour to get ready. That could be an all-time record for race preparedness for me! I came wearing tights and long sleeves over a lycra tank. I also wore gloves and my trusty Brooks running hat, and kept on a down jacket until race time.

We were slated for cold rain, with a "real feel" of something in the mid 30's. We would be blessed with a break in all precipitation until almost noon, giving us cool weather with some clouds and even a few sun rays.
I met up with Kim, Laurie and FruitFly- a few other blogger runners. Such nice ladies!! And we all chatted, took photos with Kim's friend Ken, and then I went to get my packet. Total chaos.

Blogger meetup!!! It was so fun to meet Laurie and Kim!

And FruitFly...but where was she? In the line to get packets, where I should have been.

The packet pickup was a mess, even for those pre-registered.

Warning! They could work out some kinks there.

We were supposed to be silly here, or so I thought...
For some reason I was the only one. :] 

After the pre-race stuff was settled, I took my place in line for the porta-potties and while I waited I read an inspirational letter. My friend Cathy (an non-running musician) penned it. It helped me bring things into focus. I knew I was still sick, but had trained well. I would do my best, see how things went and adjust as necessary. Above all else, I would try to conduct myself with honor (not always natural to me!!) during and after the race.

When the gun fired, I quickly realized I had put myself in the wrong place for the start. I jockeyed around a few people and found a good position. I passed many people in the first mile and found myself comfortable running right behind a shorter woman in a black skirt and crazy knee socks. She must have twice the cadence I do! She was consistent and strong. We passed the first mile marker at around 7:10. A little fast- but close to my original 7:15 goal.

I am not sure what happened between miles 1-2. It felt fast, but good, and Crazy Socks and I passed many people. Things thinned out. I removed my long sleeve shirt and tied it to my waist.

I passed Crazy Socks and a few others just before mile 2 and when I checked my watch it had been a 6:29 mile! Maybe we really went that fast, but I heard someone behind me ask, "Was that in the right place?" I shouted back "I don't have a Garmin, but that last mile was 6:29 by my watch." I think that crazy socks and I were chatting with each other.

The third mile was finished in 7:29- so maybe the markers got back on track here -or we slowed down- but I decided to take my first gel on the way to mile 4. I washed down some water with my straw from a cup that I was handed, and put the straw back under my watch band. For the next mile or so, there were few runners to be seen.

Near mile 6, I felt my right quad start to burn a little.  I also heard footsteps and realized that someone was right behind me. It was crazy socks! She passed me near mile 7 and I tried to catch her. She kept an even pace and I tried and tried to catch back up with her. At this point I felt like I was starting to flag, so I took another gel and kept my eye open for the next water stop.

Near mile 8 or 9  there was a turn-around point and we watched as the lead women passed with some faster men, (my guess is that the lead men had already crossed the river). I got a nod from a few men and a gal too. Then it was over the last footbridge and back upriver. I noticed that I gained the most ground on Crazy Socks when we were going up bridges or hills, but just not enough.

One of my goals in this race was to try to run the tangents (making the course as short as possible, while staying on the course). I feel very successful in this effort! It was clear as I watched other runners that this is not what everyone focuses on. I passed another man near mile 10. Then I almost caught Crazy Socks when she stopped for water.

I had taken my last of 2 gels and had some water earlier, and felt no need. I couldn't believe I was staying right at or above the 1:32 pace I had optimistically written for a "lucky stars" scenario on the pace band --right next to the 1:34 paces I had projected, based on the McMillan Calculator, given my recent 5K. *(more on that later..)

Still, I wanted to catch Crazy Socks, whatever pace she was running, but she had paced herself well and I was running way faster than I thought capable. I just kept thinking..."How long can I hold this out?" as she got further and further ahead of me. And that's when it happened.

Somehow, in my intense focus and attempt to shear the course, I ran right into a garbage can! Not just a garbage can, a park garbage can with a wooden enclosure. A stationary object. It did not yield and I took maybe 4 or 6 very unbalanced steps and almost went skidding on my stomach! Some walker saw it and had a good laugh. I, on the other hand, was not amused. In fact a 4 letter word escaped my mouth. Then I remembered my goal- to be honorable. I let it go.

Surely Crazy Socks gained some ground during that debacle. I tried to regain the fastest possible pace with only a couple of short miles left. I knew I was right on for 1:32 and hoped to hold it. Past the rose gardens I was passed by a guy who had beefy legs.

He said to me "Dig deep!".

I said "Yeah, you too." ? But I was thinking, "I am digging as deep as I can buddy!" And, "If you have that much left in your legs, why didn't you use it earlier?" And..."Can I have some of your quad strength? I could really use it!"

A short while later, I could see the Alton Baker Park footbridge and knew we were getting close. I was very focused on the tangents- maybe too focused. There was a woman walking on the left side in my direction, and a man running also on her side. I thought to myself, "I can get right between them." to get my tangent...I got nearer and the guy stepped sideways.

We both apologized, but I kept running to go between him and the woman. He was indecisive and I was running right for my tangent! He moved the other way, and blam-O! We hit. A second later I was on my way again. I have no idea what he thinks right now, but I kind of feel a little bad.  I probably should have just gone around him. :/

Lesson learned: Run the tangents, but watch out for moving and stationary objects.

A few minutes later I could hear the finish line announcers and I rounded the last corner. It felt AWESOME to hear my name called out and also hear that the finishers for the half marathon coming in are running about a 7 minute pace!

I crossed the line in 1:31:XX, received my mug and had my chip taken off. Once off the mat I thanked God for my race and met with my parents. Then I saw Crazy Socks, congratulated her- Kristi- and introduced myself.

With my arms strategically placed to make it look like I am wearing a unitard/singlet, with shirt wrapped around waist!

Note: perhaps contrasting color for top next time might be a better choice. ha.

A little while later I found Laurie (who PRd) and Kim (who ran better than she had expected) and we went to see the results. They were kind enough to go to the awards ceremony with me and take photos (THANK YOU , ladies!)

Getting the AG medal. (I wore pigtails. I think they might make me faster.) 

All the medals look the same- without engraving. Still, they are cool!

And this photo is a good example of how BIG my feet are...

Not likely to blow over in a wind storm! He he.

All Cheese! Thanks for taking the photos, girls :)

It was a pretty good day! I went to mom and dad's where my dad had scheduled an athletic massage as my late birthday present. First time with a professional massage- I am sold!!

* Now...about the pace band. Someone said something about me sandbagging :) ...and I just have to say, that in my best case scenario I had expected a 1:34, but being that I was sick and it got worse for Thursday/Friday, I had no idea what to expect. Even meeting my old PR seemed like it might be far-fetched. You just never know! Always, always do your best. Sometimes things go your way, even if there might be a few things in the way.