Yes! I joined [a different] lot of us

I last left the ol' blog with a question: should I join the running group I checked out? That decision, and the conversations I had with a few of you about it, have set off a series of possibly-great-but-definitely-terrifying decisions, which I will present in order of least to most terrifying.

Least Terrifying Decision
They said come join the lot of us, and I said....    (btw, this line is from But Not the Hippopotamus, which you should read whether you have small children or not)

I said, I should come join a running group. Yes. But...not that one. Per Jodi's suggestion, I met up with the group a second time, this time for a regular Saturday run. It just didn't click for me. I think the issue was two-fold. One, despite having a dazzling array of pace-themed training groups& coaches, and the frighteningly low number of people in my training group, the "group" (a term I have to use loosely because I'm not sure it was anyone other than the coach and his son) took off for a distance appropriate for full marathon training, leaving me more or less on my own. Second, and as a result of the first point, I was the fastest person among those left behind by a fairly wide margin, and, isn't avoiding solo long runs the whole point of joining a group?

In an effort to find an alternative, I scouted out other local options and struck upon a Saturday-only training group run by the Salt Lake Running Company. Having missed the kick-off and having spoken to no one about it, I signed up. It was now or never. It's only 4 months, I told myself. Wait, 4 months? Not 6? Yes...because this group is training for the Salt Lake Marathon & Half in April, which leads me to Decision #2.

Second Least Terrifying Decision
So, I registered not only for the running group, but the Salt Lake Half, to be held in April. Since it's only 11 weeks out, I planned to use my trusty old RW sub-2 half training plan. I've used it several times before. I know I can do it, and I know it will bring me over the finish line in the anticipated time frame. No biggie. I didn't anticipate training so early in the year, but it will be good for me.

But then I thought...I have some pretty specific goals for the Top of Utah Marathon in September. Specifically, to not Fuel Fail a la Cleveland. And with appropriate fueling, turn in a shiny new PR. And if I wanted to do that, I would need to up my training.

immediately post-fuel fail at Cleveland, with the aforementioned Jodi (center, right)

Which brought me to...

Decidedly Terrifying Decision #1
...registering for the Utah Valley Half in June and [gulp] buying the sub-1:45 RW training plan for it. Now, before you jump all over me, yes, I know that dropping 10 minutes off my PR is probably too much. But I do think it's time for a new PR, and this is the next step up in training. It's time. Plus, it will help me to accomplish that last goal...

Terrifying Decision #2
...to attempt to sub-4 Top of Utah in September. I've long said that it would take me another 2 marathons to break that barrier. But, I'm going for it. Unapologetically, and fully aware that it's entirely possible that it won't happen. I bought the RW sub-4 marathon training schedule and it's in my handy dandy Excel training spreadsheet.

The net effect of this is that I'm scheduled to run about 1,000 miles between now and late September, when I've never done more than 850 in a year, and I'm asking myself to set 2 new PRs over the course of 3 races. I've bitten off a lot. Especially considering that the rest of life is CRAZY, but we won't get into that.

I told all of this to a good friend a few days ago and I thought her response was apt. Remember that time you called, enormously pregnant, and told me you were about to stand on a ladder and use power tools? This might be similar. 

Pretty much. Except that this time, it isn't going to end with said friend installing curtain hardware while I sit in a rocking chair. Ready. Set. Go.

They said, come join the lot of us. And I said, I just don't know.

I have a big decision to make. Is this the right time to join a running group? And, have I found the right group for me?

A few weeks ago my neighbor invited me to attend an info session for our local chapter of USA Fit. I dutifully checked them out online. The registration fee is $110, which gives you group runs on Saturdays for about 4 months, with pace group coaches, and a 1-year membership to the Olympic Oval (indoor track that's 3.5 laps to a mile--love!!). This past Saturday we headed to the Oval to hear all about it.

After the obligatory greetings and info sharing, we did time trials. This I did not anticipate. Honestly, I had no idea what was happening for a while. The coaches led us in a half-ish mile warm-up then stepped off the track, leaving us to do our time trial. What did that mean? Our fastest 2 miles? Race pace for some distance? An easy run? Tempo pace? I had no idea, so I just let loose and ran. After a few minutes I was running alongside a guy I'd guess was about 20, and clearly we were both having fun and neither of us was going to blink first. So....we ran. We ran 2 miles in 15 minutes flat. Uhhh...was I supposed to do that? I still honestly don't know, but I'm guessing not.

Why? Because the coach came up to me after and told me I should aim for a 3:30 marathon. I laughed out loud. I told him that I'm hoping to sub-4 in my next marathon or 2, and have no ambition to run a 3:30. Like I said, uhhhhh. Huh.

Aside from setting them straight on pacing if I do join, I just have a lot of questions. More reasons for and against joining come to mind, but I'm keeping it to the top 3 of each.

Reasons to join:
1. We are still pretty new here, and while we've made some real progress on finding friends and starting to get involved in the community, we still have a long way to go before this place feels like home. Joining the group would be an opportunity to make new friends.

2. It would motivate me to sign up for a late spring half, which would be healthy. Without a training plan, and with winter weather happening, I've found it a little harder than usual to find motivation to run. A concrete goal would help.

3. The coach seems like someone who could push me to the next level. I may be able to do this on my own to some extent, but a group never hurts.

Reasons not to join: 
1. The coach seems to have some delusion about my potential race pace. This sort of intimidates me.

2. I realize this somewhat contradicts the above point, but the group seems to be geared more toward beginners. I'm a little concerned about ending up in a very small pace group and not getting to know the larger group, since they have different coaches.

3. As it turns out, my neighbor can't join this season, so I'd be going in solo.


So, what do I do? How do you know if you've found the right training group? Should I just go for it? It's only 1 season, right?

2013 in Review

Hello hello, and welcome to 2014!! I realize this recap post is a bit late. December turned out to be a wee bit on the crazy side, so I decided to give myself some time away from the blog. I'm excited to be back and have lots of stuff planned to share with you over the coming month or so.

Where was I the last month? The wee crazy was also lots of fun. There was a lot of travel, which was kicked off with a Thanksgiving trip to Florida (see here), then back to my beloved St. Louis for a perfect weekend (here, it was a work trip for my hubby and the rest of us happily tagged along for a very abbreviated weekend). Then the following weekend I was off to Detroit solo to meet up with ODP, Kdot, my neices, Big Pete and Pepper for ODP's graduation. (idea: I should add a tab to my blog that gives the cast of characters. That would be fun to put together!! Yes! This is happening. For the time being, see the footnote on this post if you're not familiar with my peeps) I seriously could not be prouder of my big brother, or more thankful for Kdot for being his rock through the whole adventure. Love you guys!!

My parents (Big Pete and Pepper) flew back to SLC with me that weekend. They stayed through the New Year and while Christmas was lovely, and I made great strides toward learning to sew, and our bathroom remodel Part 1 was completed, the real headline was that Pepper managed to wreck two cars while seated in the back seat of my Prius. I really wish I were kidding. GAME: I'll give you two images of the damage and you try to figure out what happened. Leave it in the comments. The more outrageous detail, the better. 

Shortly after the accident, it was NYE and time to summarize another year of running (not my best segue, I know. Leave it alone). Here are the basic stats:

Total miles: 737. I'm pleased with this. I ran a grand total of 281 in 2012 (had a baby people, quit gawking!) and estimated that I'd cover about 700 in 2013. 

Total other workouts: I honestly don't know because I didn't track most of them, but I'm really pleased with my yoga work this past year. I went to several great classes with my good friend LW back in STL, and I attended at least 1 class per week from early August through early November, then a few after that. I enjoyed it so much that I signed up for another class that runs through May. 

Types of run workouts: Every year I post a graph like this. I love these. 

I joined the hundo club twice in 2013 (woot!!) and built in a good variety of workouts in both of my training cycles. July's dip in mileage isn't surprising considering the cross-country move that happened that month!

Races: As anticipated and planned for, I completed 2 half-marathons in 2013. First up was the Lincoln Presidential Half-Marathon in early April (race recap here). My goal was to come in under 2 hours and I just barely did. I ran the whole thing with a smile on my face, SO THANKFUL to be out there racing.

My BRFF and I ran the Raleigh City of Oaks Half in early November (race recap here). The course was a bit hillier than we anticipated, but 6.5 years after setting our goal to sub-2 together, we finally did. SO proud of how we ran this race, and even happier that we got to run it together.

Acclimating: As I said, we moved across the country in July, and to a climate unlike places we'd lived before, and at an elevation I haven't lived at in many years. For longer than I'd care to admit, I was sucking wind while running, but eventually my body did adapt to the dry, thin air. Now that I'm used to it, I see it as a training benefit of living here. Racing at sea level should feel great! Acclimating is more than that, though. It also means settling into life here. We've slowly started to make new friends. We've made some investments in making this place our home by buying bikes, finding other outdoor gear, and renovating large parts of our new house. I'm even checking out a running group with my neighbor this weekend! Here's to expanding my circle of running buddies in 2014.

Looking forward: I have big goals for 2014. Two very specific ones, to be exact. I want to set new PRs in both the half and full marathon. Admittedly, I'm way more committed to the idea of a new marathon PR, as I still, badly, want to avenge my last 26.2 (Cleveland 2011--I know it's been a while. I had a baby, people!). I'm strongly considering registering for a half in the late spring/early summer, and it seems like PRing that would lay good groundwork for PRing the full in September. 

I'd also like to set a new mileage PR in 2014. After digging around my blog, it looks like that PR stands at 830 (and I was pregnant for half of that year?!??!!), which might be tough to top! I will plan to train for my races, and if that means posting a new annual mileage number, wonderful, but I'm not going to stress over it. 

How did your 2013 shape up? Did you hit your goals? Did you get inspired to set new goals? 

Cast of Characters:

ODP: my brother

Kdot: my sister-in-law, ODP's wife

Big Pete: my Dad

Pepper: my Mom

Mr. Joanna: my husband

BRFF: Best Running Friend Forever, Meg

Salt (not appearing in this post): my MIL

Um...Monday?

I feel torn about this Monday. On the one hand, we had an absolutely perfect weekend visiting friends in STL. On the other hand, it's nearing the end of the semester and I'm grumpy and stressed. So you're going to get both sides.

BIG BIG RUNNING ANNOUNCEMENT
I did it. I signed up for Marathon #4: Top of Utah marathon, September 2014 in Logan, UT. The first half of it is a 2% downhill grade as you run down a canyon. I've heard that the course is gorgeous and I'll get to stay with a dear friend and colleague who lives up there. Training is set to start in June!

Question: are the RW training plans worth the $30? I've used the sub-2 training schedule several times, each time successfully, but I tore it out of an issue of RW. I didn't actually pay for it separately.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS, I HATE GIGANTIC LUXURY SUVS
I absolutely adore my baby's daycare. His teachers are great. The directors are delightful. And some, some of the other parents make my days happier ones. But some of them are entitled a-holes. On any given day, morning or afternoon--take your pick, I am greeted by at least one gigantic luxury SUV parked in at least 2 of the following 3 things simultaneously:

• a space reserved for handicapped drivers
• a second parking space
• a striped-off loading area for the handicapped spaces

One day I had to put my son in his car seat through the opposite side of the car, because the gigantic luxury SUV parked next to me was, naturally, in their space and mine. The owner, who approached as I was doing this, stood on the sidewalk and waited for me to back out so they could comfortably get it. Then she put her hands to her face and started shrieking because she thought I might touch the side of her gigantic luxury SUV with my side mirror as I backed out. That was the last straw. I opened my door and calmly explained to her that neither my mirror nor my need to put a toddler in his car seat through the opposite side door would have been an issue had she parked in 1 parking space. Her response: it wasn't her fault. 

OUR COMPLETELY PERFECT WEEKEND

We spent this past weekend in STL, primarily for my hubba-love's company Christmas party, but also to see our friends. While flying with small children is not the easiest thing ever done, so many complete strangers were so incredibly kind to us, and helpful, along the way. 

I started out the weekend at a cupcake happy hour with some of my favorite people. 

That night we dropped the kids off with some friends and headed to the Christmas party in our fancy clothes. I think I enjoy the party more than the actual employees do. :)

At the Kemp Auto Museum for the party--keeping it classy!

Friday night Mr. Joanna's company put us up at Union Station. I'd never been in the hotel part of it before and have to say, it's completely gorgeous. The picture only sort of does it justice!

Atrium of the Union Station hotel

Saturday we enjoyed breakfast with another friend, then headed to Springfield, IL to visit the Lincoln Presidential Museum with my dear, dear friend (and our boys' Godmother) MJ and her kids. The museum impressed me. The displays were very well done, the building organized in a way that made sense, and they had just the right mix of kid and adult-oriented content. I'd always heard it was worth the visit and it is!

plus, the Lincolns had great taste in wallpaper

Saturday evening we enjoyed some gooooood local pizza (read: NOT Imo's!) with friends. Sunday morning we had breakfast with our old neighbors, then headed for the airport for the long flight home. Icing on the cake, and a sure sign of a great trip? The rental car had WV plates. 

HIT ME WITH A BOARD OF BROKEN NAILS

I guess we haven't really broadcast it too widely, but we are waist deep in a fairly large renovation project. Phase 1 involved gutting the kids' bathroom and remaking it and part of a useless hallway-to-nowhere into a nice bathroom and laundry room. It's mostly been a lot of fun to see the project come together. Not fun? Coming home to difficult-to-move BOARDS WITH NAILS STICKING OUT OF THEM sitting face up right in front of my younger son's bedroom door (did I mention that he's ONE?). Or coming home to find ladders left set up on the stairs to the upstairs, leaving no safe way whatsoever to get kids to bed without moving the contractor's stuff. Or, for variety, coming home to find building supplies strewn all over the front yard. The new space will be great when finished, but in the meantime, #Annoying.

Lemme hear it. What crazy contractor stories do you have? 

YOGA LOVE

This week is the last week of my semester-long yoga class. This class=huge blessing. The instructor is excellent, plus I have little doubt that going helped to minimize the hip pain I was experiencing while training for Raleigh. I'm trying to decide if I have enough time to get from the spring class to the academic class I will be teaching. If not, I'll have to find some alternative for next semester, which is fine; there are a million yoga studios in this earth-loving city. 

That's it for this week's installment of Mondays. This week I'm going to try to find a running route clear enough of ice and snow to attempt. I'm pretty sure most of the country is in that quest with me this week. Stay warm, stay safe, and run strong my friends!

Mondays in Love: Potpourri

It's ThanksUkkahMas! In our house this means:

• new placemats for children to utterly destroy in under 1 month
• finding the box to return the fall paraphernalia to the basement 
• trying to remember which wrapping paper is "Santa's Paper Not To Be Used On Gifts From Parents Under Any Circumstance"
• Raking leaves and wondering how long either the City or our neighbors can stand to see the pile of bags before caving in and picking them up despite, apparently, there not being any city leaf collection
• Starting to plan holiday outings that include both small children and senior citizens, both groups of which have unyielding demands for cookies and drinks along the way.

But you know what else it's time for? Outrageous holiday catalogs! Want to pay $47 for pumpkin spice potpourri? Sure! Or read about other people making fun of crazy crap. 

All this is just a lengthy preamble to a Potpourri of Running post. Because I'm a week overdue for a post, and because 'tis the season to be crazy. Oh, and because I do what I want. 

First up, my Turkey Trot. The plan was to participate in the Orlando Turkey Trot, which benefits a senior citizens social services group. However, by age 8 I was the only person in my house awake on a weekend before about 11am. So, dragging anyone away from slumberland to join me proved difficult, so my Mom and I decided to make a donation to the charity then cover the distance later in the day. 

The good: It was adorable. My nieces (3 and 5 years old) joined us for the first half mile. My Mom headed inside with foot issues after about 1.5 miles. And my lovely SIL, Kdot finished out the 5k walk with me. It was really nice to just spend some time one-on-one with her (which we also did while shopping on Wednesday for pretty things)

yes, I am completely over-geared for walking 3 miles. Whatever. It was what I had on hand!

While away for Thanksgiving, we also got to continue one of my favorite traditions, the middle generation Christmas Martini. I love, love, love these evenings out with these people. 

Kdot, ODP, me, Mr. Joanna

And a brief November recap: it was a little light on miles after my race. I enjoyed every one of these miles. 

Miles: 44.9

Best run: easily the Raleigh City of Oaks Half-Marathon (race recap here). 

New shoes broken in: the week leading up to the race

New gear: I picked up a pair of Moving Comfort capris--my first pair of capris. Do you have these yet? If not, go now. Buy a pair. I love them. They are soft. The waistband is perfect. Love. 

Unexpected change: Both the Army ROTC and the National Guard have started showing up to train in my park before dawn, though not on the same days. 

Around now-ish, I've been meeting lots of runners, and have several leads on some running groups/running buddies that might work out. I am so in love with the outdoorsy lifestyle of this place!!

What's in store for December? 

• for starters, I intend to sign up for....wait for it....a full marathon for 2014!!! 
• Snow. That angry looking snow blob on the weather map? Yeah. That's us. 
• Too. much. travel. And we're not even going anywhere for Christmas. But we are getting to spend lots of great time with friends and family. 

How was your November? Did you do a Turkey Trot? What's in store for your December?

Central Illinois Tornado Recovery: Please Help

Not so long ago, we lived in Central Illinois. As you may have seen in the news, the area was pummeled by severe weather yesterday. Some family friends and friends of friends suffered huge material losses including homes, but thankfully got through it alive. If you can help, please do. The town of Gifford has a long road to recovery ahead of them. Information can be found here. Thank you.

Mondays in Love: For the First Time!

When and where was your first time? Mine was in Detroit in October of 2009. Maybe for some of you it was much longer ago. Maybe you're a marathon virgin (of course this is about running! Geez people!). There is nothing else on earth like your first marathon finish line. I really do think it changes a person. Today I am very pleased to bring you into the world of a first time marathoner, to give you a glimpse of the experience or take you back to your first marathon memories.

Let me introduce our first time marathoner, Jessica. Jess and I go way back (1998!!) to West Virginia. We met at Spruce Knob when we were both Scholars in the (now defunct) West Virginia Scholars Academy--an experience as formative and awesome as it is difficult to explain. We spent a month writing 75+ page autobiographical theses and learning about the socioeconomic landscape of WV. This involved a lot of hiking, camping, spelunking, writing and eating amazing food. It was an experience that changed my life, forever, and that holds a special place in both our hearts.

at the 2011 annual reunion at Spruce

Some basic stats: 

• Jess ran the Columbus Marathon on October 20. Her goal time was: finish, but from her training runs she anticipated something around a 5:15. Actual time: 5:15:40.
• Previous running resume: the Parkersburg Half in 2011 (2:51:44), 2012 (2:47:23) and 2013 (2:32:45) and the Columbus Half (put on in conjunction with the marathon) in 2011 (2:37:42)

I had originally planned to shorten this post, but I want to let Jessica give her experience fully and in her own words. So much of this interview rang true for me, and it took me right back to that first 26.2 training cycle and race. I honestly got a little choked up reading it. Enjoy!

How did you pick your race? Location, the course itself, date?

I picked the Columbus Marathon because I live here, and thought it would be the easiest to start with - no travel, hotels, etc.  Also, being familiar with the city, made me feel a little more confident, and it was easy to order my family and friends around to be at certain rally points to cheer for me.  Finally, the course is relatively flat, so I thought that would help, and October would be cooler, so I liked that as well.    

How long did you train? 

I started "training" in one way or another at the beginning of the year.  I had wanted to run a marathon last year, but life threw a wrench in that plan and it didn't happen.  So when I decided to do it this year, I knew there were a few things I wanted to do.

First, I wanted to drop about 20 extra pounds or so that I was carrying around.  I figured the extra weight would be hard on my joints.  So from January through June, I watched my calories and lost about 15 of the pounds.  I really wasn't running too often (maybe one or twice a week for a few miles) and was just doing some light indoor exercising (yoga, aerobics-like workout videos, etc.). After June, I stopped monitoring my exact calorie intake, but ended up losing about another 10 pounds from June through October, mostly because of the increased physical activity.

Second, I wanted to incorporate strength training into my routine.  In previous years when I trained, I just followed a beginner or intermediate schedule I found online that just has you running your average pace four times a week and then resting or cross-training the other three days.  Even though it would say to run the short ones at a slightly faster pace and the long runs at a slow, comfortable pace, my goal was always just to get the miles in anyway I could.  And I always used CT days as rest days.  But I really wanted to do as much as I could to make the task easier on my body.  So I hired a personal trainer in July.  I worked out with him about once a week and he gave me "homework" training sessions to do on my other CT days.  I was sore a lot, but I could really tell a difference in how I felt physically by the end.  I really feel like it helped a lot.

What was your training like? 

When I actually started the running training, I found a beginner schedule online.  As with years before, I really wasn't too cognizant of the different recommended paces.  I just tried to get the miles in.  Towards the end, I did try to push myself more on the short runs with the pace, but it wasn't something I focused on.  So I didn't do any speedwork.

I trained mostly alone.  Occasionally I would do a short run with friends or family, but the majority of them ran at a slower pace than I did, so I really felt like I was doing it more for them than for me.  Also, I found that on the few occasions when I was scheduled to do a long run, but someone wanted to accompany me for the first few miles, running at a much slower pace than I wanted to actually hurt my performance for the rest of the long run after my partners would drop off.

I did go running once a few weeks before the marathon with a friend who runs at a faster pace than I do.  What I realized was that I could definitely keep up with her pretty easily and that I probably needed to try to push my own pace in future training years.  I think I'm probably capable of a lot more, but I just haven't figured out how to do that alone.  I might try to find some pace groups or something in future years, but my problem has always been that I have an extremely irregular schedule and it's hard to keep any sort of plan or schedule with other people.

My longest scheduled runs were 14, 16, 18, and 20 miles.  I substituted a half marathon for the 14 mile run.  The goal was to finish that half in under 2:30.  The two weeks before the race, I had extended family members visiting and had been traveling a lot, which meant my running, eating, and sleeping suffered.  I didn't make that goal, and I was upset about it, because it was totally possible, but I just couldn't pull it off that day.  Then the 16 and 18 mile runs did not go well at all.  I ran the first few miles of the 16 mile run with someone else, and I felt more tired than normal and ended up walking a lot.  I also hadn't planned well for hydration and found myself looking for water off my course.  Plus I wasn't in a good place in my head that day due to some stress at work.  So that was also a set back.  The 18 mile run I tried to do a day earlier than originally planned and it also went pretty horribly.  Around mile 12 I started having severe stomach and intestinal distress.  I gave up at mile 16 after walking probably three of the last four miles.  Again, pretty disappointing and it made me fear I wouldn't be able to do it.

So the 20 mile run felt like a make-or-break moment to me.  I tried not to put too much pressure on myself, but it was important to me to do well.  I was doing well and around mile 11.5, I realized that if I pushed my pace for mile 12, I could finish 13.1 in under 2:30.  I had a bit of an internal debate about whether that was a good idea - what if I ran out of steam at the end because of doing a big push in the middle?  I decided to do it, and I think it helped with my confidence a bit.  The last seven miles went pretty well.  My legs cramped up a bit, but I finished in under four hours, which was my goal.  I also didn't feel totally wiped out at the end, so that was good.  I was happy with that run and felt like I would be fine for the marathon.

What were your thoughts in the days before the race?

I was really trying to focus on myself and what I thought was best for me physically and mentally.  I know in theory that that is something to strive for all the time, but I frequently ignore my needs for others, as many women do.  I was very concerned about my stomach.  I didn't want to eat something that would make me sick or upset my body, so I only ate where I wanted, when I wanted, etc.  I told my family and others that I couldn't do things they wanted me to.  It was a little intimidating to think that I was going to run 6 more miles on the day of the marathon than I had ever run at once in my life.  My 20 mile run had gone well, so that helped, but I was worried about the unknown that might come up in the last 6 miles.  Also, as with most runners, I was obsessed with checking the weather.  While I really hate running in high heat and humidity, I am also not a fan of running in really cold weather.  It looked like it would be in the mid-30s when the race started, and end up maybe getting to 50 degrees.  I was worried about being cold.  Plus, my nose always runs when I run in the cold and then I can't breathe through my nose and I just struggle a bit more.

Also, I was worried about psyching myself out of doing well.  One thing running has helped me with is to keep my over-thinking tendencies in check.  But that doesn't mean I don't still obsess about things too much sometimes.  Unfortunately for me, my family, who wanted to come and cheer me on, actually is somewhat detrimental to my mental health at times.  I was worried about whether they would distract me or take something away from the experience.  But I had some friends who really believed in me and I just kept in mind that I was really prepared for it and I would be fine.

How did you feel at the start line? 

The start line was a little crazy.  There were 20,000 runners registered and many thousands more spectators.  I decided not to have any of my family or supporters come to the start line to cheer me on.  I figured that I was sufficiently motivated to get myself across the start line.  :)  So, that meant I had to drive myself downtown and park and get to the start area.  The parking area was about a mile from the start line, but unlike the previous time I ran in Columbus in 2011, traffic was absolutely insane this time.  The race was supposed to start at 7:30am, but they said the corrals were only open from 6-7.  I figured that was their scare tactic to get people there early, but I was afraid they may not let me in if I was late with all the increased security this year.  I didn't get parked until 7:15, so I ran the mile to the start line, which actually ended up being a nice warm-up, but it was stressful.  I couldn't really get in my corral and just ended up in the very back of the 20,000 runner pack.  All of the rushing around and the time-crunch meant that I didn't have time to get nervous or really over-think things too much.  

Tell me about the 26.2 miles. What were the highlights and lowlights? What went well? What went wrong? 

I didn't get across the start line until about 25 minutes after the first gun.  So I was a little worried about my scheduled rally point meet-ups with my family and friends because my ETA for those places was going to be way off.  After the first two miles of dodging people and random clothing strewn about the course, I settled in.  The first 6 miles were really congested and I would sometimes get bumped or have to maneuver around others, so that was commanding most of my attention rather than my run or my pace.

This was the first race I remember where I felt like there were tons of spectators along the first part of the course.  Also, they put your name on your bib, and people would yell out your name as they cheered for you.  At first I was confused until I realized my name was on the bib, and then I just thought it was absolutely awesome.  So much support from total strangers was really amazing and I think I fed off of it.  I usually listen to music when I run, but I couldn't even hear it over all the cheering!

The overwhelming support was one factor that contributed to the most surprising and unexpected part of the race for me - I was super-emotional most of the race!  I frequently got choked up and wanted to cry.  I think it was partly because of the awesome support, which was very touching, especially given that I didn't always get that kind of support from others.  Another part of it was because of the sponsors of the race.  It was sponsored by Nationwide Children's hospital.  Every mile had a "patient champion," and in the race packet had been a description of the kids and what illness/condition the hospital had helped to treat.  Some of these children were amazingly brave and had been through so much in their short lives.  Many of them were there at their mile marker to cheer us on.  One of them had passed away a few weeks before the race, so they had a memorial at his mile-marker.  The last reason for my emotional state was because I was so proud of myself and it was the culmination of almost 10 months of hard work.   But I hadn't been prepared for the emotions that welled-up during the run.

Mile 11 my family showed up, and I was feeling pretty good.  It had been a little chilly, but not as cold as I had feared, so I was ok.  I finished the first 13.1 in 2:24 and briefly entertained the idea of possibly finishing ahead of my estimated 5:15 time.  But, the crowd (both spectators and runners), thinned drastically after passing the half and suddenly, I felt alone for the first time in the race.  According to my Garmin, I walked a lot of mile 15, which I don't really remember doing, but I remember drinking more than I should have and feeling more tired than I wanted to feel.  There was a stretch of a few miles that went right past my alma mater (OSU) and actually through the Horseshoe (football stadium), and it was the section of the race with the fewest spectators. I'm not sure if I was spending too much time remembering good and bad things about every part of campus or what, but I was a little unfocused for those miles, plus the energy from the crowd that previously fed me was gone, so I just floundered a bit.

As I approached mile 20, which was the second rally point for my family, I was doing better.  After getting a bit of a morale boost from the family, I embarked on the unknown part of the run - miles 21-26.2!  The number of spectators picked back up and my fellow runners at that point were super friendly and collegial.  As I passed people or they passed me, we would encourage each other or joke about things.  I was tired, but still doing ok.  Until mile 23.  It was mostly downhill, but then there was a steep one block hill.  A friend of mine who lived near mile 23 had said he would try to be out to cheer for me, but I wasn't sure he would show, especially given that my start time had been so delayed and I was arriving at mile 23 right at the end of the window that I had given him.  He wasn't there and I was somewhat disappointed because I was starting to hurt physically.  My knees and hips were hurting, but my joints had never really given me too many problems before, so it was uncomfortable.  As I walked up that little hill, I thought I might have to walk the last three miles because I was in pain.  I sucked it up though, thinking that I could crawl the last three if I really had to.

As I got to mile 25, I felt better anticipating the end and maybe it was just the adrenaline, but my pain subsided a bit.  As I hit mile 26 and rounded the corner to the finish line, I wanted to cry, but I told myself I could cry when it was over.  I finished relatively strongly, and I was happy.  I didn't cry like I thought I had wanted to, but I was very proud of myself.  

My joints were still achy, but overall, I didn't feel too horrible.  I could walk normally.  I went out to eat with my family later and wore my finishers medal.  There were other runners there (not sure if they ran the half or the full), and they were walking very gingerly and looked wiped out.  I was pretty pleased that I had been well-prepared enough to not have the physical problems they were experiencing.  I was a little sore on Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday I was 100% back to normal.  

What did you learn about yourself in this process? 

I learned that I am stronger and more capable than I had previously thought.  I learned that I can set a goal, work hard, and achieve it in a more organized/methodical way than I had ever done before.  I learned that it's ok to do things for yourself and take care of yourself, and that that doesn't make you selfish.  I learned that I actually really like weight training because it makes me feel stronger both physically and emotionally.  I learned that people saw me as an inspiration and a role-model.  I had friends, co-workers, acquaintances tell me that they were so impressed with my accomplishment that they had signed up for a Pilates class, or a 5K, or a half-marathon and that felt wonderful.  I don't think I had ever been called an inspiration before.  I learned that I can get support from other places when I can't get it from where I want or expect to get it.  I learned that I was part of a larger community of runners and that I belonged, even if I am a slow runner.  I had sort of learned that before with halfs, but now I feel it more strongly than before.   

Do you plan to go 26.2 again? What would you do differently next time?

I do plan on doing a marathon again.  I'm not sure if I will do one next year or take a year off, just due to the sheer time commitment involved in a full training as opposed to a half.  I will definitely keep doing half-marathons - my hometown half is a definite one, with maybe one or two others next year if I decide not to do a marathon.  I would like to do a whole half without taking walking breaks as well, so that will be the goal for next year's half in Parkersburg.  Next time I also plan on trying to push myself more during training.  I will try a different, more advanced training schedule.  I will probably pay more attention to my pace during training runs.  I can't say that I will make bettering my pace during all runs my main goal with running, because it's also about running being a relaxing outlet for me, so lots of pressure wouldn't necessarily make it fun.