I Had a Plan, 2020 Laughed

 Alright y'all. We're up to 2020. Then, 2020 happened. 

I'll start by backing up (again). I ran marathon #5 in the spring of 2017. You can read about it here, but the short version goes like this: I was trained for a PR. I felt confident. Then, it was something like 87* on race day. It was not a day for PRs. I don't even remember what my time was, but it was not fast. I got a sunburn on my back I could see the lines of for a year. 

By early 2018, when maybe I would have considered picking a fall full, I was trying really hard not to be injured, then of course I was. In early 2019, I was focused on getting back to race shape, which I did. I PRed the half twice in 2019 very happily. After the Indy Monumental, I was feeling it. It was time. I wanted my moment with the 26.2. And I knew where. 

Detroit. 

Detroit was my first. It has stood out as a significant day in my life. I believed something new about myself after I finished that race. It was time to go back. So I registered. I registered January 1, the day registration opened. I wanted it for me. 

* sidebar: there's more of a story here, but for another day 

Then, 2020 laughed at all of us. 

Hermes 10 Miler in April: nope
Towpath Spring: nope
Towpath June: nope
Coronabusters 19k Survivor Virtual Race: yes

Lots and lots of running alone, then cross-training from home. At first, I tried running alone on well-known paths, but there were too many people too unwilling to move over, or not take up the entire path walking in pairs, and it was too much. The cyclists refused to yield when, with nowhere else to go, I'd end up in a bike lane occasionally. Eventually, I opted for smaller neighborhood streets, and settled in. 

In late June, right after we got back from the most socially-distanced vacation ever--to my native West Virginia--the training cycle started. 

• I made one interval workout harder than it needed to be and that was not a good choice. 
• In Week 4, I was scheduled for a sub-46 minute 10k. I need emojis. It was crazy. I ended up about 46:40. In my defense, I was running on pea gravel that did not help. Also, it was stupid hot. I left what I had on the path and called it a win. 
• In Week 6 I had a hill workout. Friendship is texting your friend saying, "hey, remember that hill we ran on like 3 years ago and our other friend drove past us? I don't know what it was called and I need to go run up it ten times at 6am tomorrow. Wanna come?" And they say yes, and they respect your effort to stay socially distanced while doing so. 
• In Week 8 I ran 200s for the first time in years. That is a fun workout. The interval is so short. You fly and by the time you want to die, it's over. 
• Also in Week 8, I was supposed to run a sub-1:50 half marathon, with a slower mile on each end. I don't know what happened. I did it, but it destroyed me. This was this past Sunday actually and I think I'm just now over it. 

To no one's surprise, Detroit went virtual. Sooooooo.......Plan B. 

You guys, Plan B is NOT what I wanted, but it's a pretty great back-up plan. I opted for the Detroit Virtual race. It won't be in Michigan. It won't be officially measured. But it will BE. A lifer friend of mine who lives about 45 minutes away is going to bike with me on race day (at least part of it) to make sure I don't die. My family and a few friends are planning to come cheer, distanced of course.

I'm in Week 9 of training and it's a big one: 45 miles. There are days I wake up and my body hurts. There are days I realize my calves are more muscular than they were 3 months ago. There are days I'm starving. There are many, many days I greet the sunrise from the quiet streets with nothing but joy. This is what training looks like. 

The pandemic has been, well, y'all know how it's been. I've been so thankful for running. Running isn't canceled. Running is a hobby you can do alone. Running has been a safe way to get out of the house. Running-based time to myself has been crucial. Like Fleet Feet says, running changes everything. Running has enriched my life in so many ways, for so long. Especially now. 

OMG, 2020.

It's a title that requires no explanation. The home haircuts. That Ohio allowed us to buy cocktails with our carry out orders. The three day hold-before-opening period many households use for mail. The homeschool learning pods. But none of that is even why I titled this post "OMG, 2020." It's that I haven't posted since the end of 2018. A gap like that is, like everything 2020, new for me. Let's back up a little. 

A Brief Tour of Running in 2019

In August of 2018, I had long been pretending I wasn't injured. Then, in one step at a trail race, I was sidelined. The long version of this is chronicled here. By the end of 2018 I was up to 6 miles. 

I kept pushing, kept building. In early 2019 I started working with a trainer (miss you! mean it!) every other week and started going to yoga or HIIT classes each off week. By April, I was able to run a half-marathon time that told me I was ready to return to training, and later that month I ran the Hermes 10 miler in 1:19:36. I was on fire and had the best time. 

Explosive Sitting at the Gym

With Katie at Towpath Half, Spring 2019

In June I ran the inaugural Sweet and Savory 60 Mile Relay, a benefit for the Cleveland Food Bank. In theory, it was a great race. We started on the west side of Cleveland and ran the Emerald Necklace of the (honest to goodness truly amazing) Metroparks system. The reality was more chaotic, goofy, and raining. It involved pastry. We got lost at least once. I got lost in a parking lot. I learned a lot about managing the logistics of an ultra-distance relay. We laughed a lot. 

Then THE NEXT DAY, I ran the Towpath 10-10, opting for the 10k option because are you insane. It wasn't one of my faster races, but I placed third in my age group and had a great time with friends. 

By early August, I'd buckled down with an actual training plan--my first in, what, two years?! Speed work intimidated me all over again, but I did it anyway. It was on. It was time for my comeback at the half-marathon distance. In October I set a shiny new PR: 1:43:18. This picture is how I felt about it. 

My friend Katie also posted a new PR that day. The ending of that race is one I'll never forget. In the last mile or so she'd told me to go ahead. But I KNEW she's a strong sprinter than I am, and this made no sense. But I went. Then just before the finish line I heard her behind me and she'd caught me and it was all the feelings. 

All along, I'd hedged my bets. If the weather was bad for Towpath, or if I just wasn't feeling it that day, I'd run easy and try again a few weeks later at Indy Monumental. My dear friend and St. Louis BRF Rachel loves this race and we'd planned to meet up for it. She was running the full marathon. I was running the half. We were both bringing friends. It was going to be the kind of runner weekend we live for. 

Erika, me, Leslie, and Rachel post-race brunching

The first few miles were a lot of weaving. I settled in without expectations. Then, the course opened up, my legs started turning over more quickly, and I knew. I went for it. There were a few miles of real effort, but the beast never came. I finished in 1:41:54, 40/716 in my division. Euphoric. Zero doubt in my mind strength training had made this possible. In 2017 I'd fallen out of yoga's half moon pose every single time because my hips were weak and my obliques were weak. By November 2019, I could hold not only half moon, but crow pose. I'd gotten stronger. 

Meanwhile, Erika was getting introduced to the magic of race day--the energy and the rush of it. When the time came, she and I went out to cheer Rachel in. After brunch, Erika and I spent our day enjoying shopping, boozy milkshakes, and a craft distillery before meeting back up with Rachel and her crew for dinner. Five stars. Recommend. 

By the end of 2019, I'd logged 1,256 miles. I had to foam roll religiously. I was still strength training religiously. But I was clearly through the injury and in fighting form. 

I think I'll stop here and write a second post about 2020 and my current training cycle. I'm halfway through it with a lot to say, so stay tuned. 

The Long Road

First, the bad news. I haven't written in some time. I've mentioned on Facebook and Instagram that I've been dealing with an injury. That's putting it mildly. I've been dealing with the worst running injury I've ever had, except maybe the stress fracture I got in 11th grade. It's been awful, insightful, and lengthy.

Then, the good news. Happily, things are looking up after many months. I can easily run 4.5 fast miles, and long runs are back up to 6 miles and climbing.

My PT encouraged me to write about what's happened, if for no other reason than to provide a chronology for future reference. Since this is a running blog, I thought that made sense!

Back in about June of 2017, after the Football Hall of Fame Marathon, I was running on the Towpath with my squad. I remember the day. It was a beautiful day. We were chasing each other back to the parking lot, pushing hard through the last mile. My knee buckled. It felt like if I hadn't twitched just right, it could have given out on me, but also that of course I would twitch right. There wasn't anything else to do. Alternately, I might have described it as feeling like my left knee was going to fly out of the left side of my leg, just for a brief moment.

Over time the buckling happened more frequently. Then, running down bridges got dicey. I figured out that if I took shorter steps and tucked my pelvis in as much as I could, I could reduce the frequency of the buckling. Sometimes it hurt more than other times. I had swelling around my left knee after any run. One day in August 2017, Cathy caught up to me on the Towpath. I was walking the last few miles back to the parking lot at the end of a long run. "What's this?" she said. It was pain. Lots and lots of pain. I foam rolled and stretched and backed off some. By New Years Eve (such a memorable run!) I was running 10 miles with precarious form, a buckling knee, and swelling, but not much pain. I thought I was on the rebound.

NYE 2017

I ran the Hermes 10 Miler with Candice in April. The last few miles were questionable. Then in May I paced Cathy to a sub-2 Cleveland Rite Aid half. By mile 9 my knee was having those moments, but now they hurt. I tucked and tried to ignore the pain. I could push through. It would be fine.

Hermes 10 Miler 2018

I continued more or less in this way until August. But, strangely, over time I noticed that foam rolling was doing less and less for me. There was no pain in my left quad or IT band. I didn't understand it. If my left knee kept swelling, how was foam rolling not helping? Stretching seemed to help, but only for very short periods of time.

In mid-May my massage therapist observed that my left leg appeared to be longer than my right, caused by having a hip out of joint. She was positive this was my problem. She referred me to a holistic well-being PT-ish person. He agreed with the massage therapist's diagnosis and "adjusted" me. My gait seemed to change after that, with my left foot insisting less often on turning out. This seemed to make sense to me, but at the same time, I saw a lot of red flags about this provider. This was late May.

In August I attended the third of a three-part trail race series. The August event was 5.2 miles or so. At almost exactly the half-way point, I stepping up and over a root, and something gave out. Suddenly and completely, I could not run. Even a little. My friend Candice passed me and asked if I was OK. I was not OK. She finished and came back to get me. She encouraged me to run even the last tenth of a mile. I couldn't do it. Very simply, this was the day I broke.

Part of our Full Moon crew, at the June race

I hobbled around for days, and I mean, hobbled. I awoke at night from the pain. My (new) massage therapist nearly bust into tears when she got into my quad a few days later. She wasn't sure if I had been out of joint, but she was sure I was a mess and was at a minimum over-rotating in my left hip. She referred me to a PT in my neighborhood.

*As a brief aside about how broken our medical system is, the PT said her company took my insurance. And they do. Just not my employer's version of that insurance. So I called the insurance's preferred provider to find out how I could be seen. They said it would be 5 weeks before I could be seen by the person who could then refer me to a PT, and no word on how much longer than that it would take to actually be seen by a PT. Not solely for this reason, but in part, I elected to continue to pay privately to see the PT in my neighborhood and not even bother with the insurance. I would see her 5 times before I'd even get a referral through my insurance. That's a broken system.*

My PT saw me for the first time in late August. She later admitted she did not know then what my problem was. There was a lot going on. And, I was really, really weak. She had me sit on the edge of a table and raise my left knee. She pushed down on it and told me to resist. I couldn't. She had me do a series of fairly simple exercises. I couldn't. There was pain and swelling. She gave me exercises to do twice a day everyday. I thought I was making great progress! Only later did she tell me how pathetic those first few visits were.

Complicating all this, I had knee surgery when I was 14, which left me without feeling on the left side of my left knee. There was some concern that because I lacked the nerve endings on the side of my knee, my body and brain had no way of communicating about repair. Just...awesome. And if I'm being super honest, I was terrified that whatever happened when I was 14 happened again, and what if it was something that can't happen twice without ending your running life? I worried about this. A lot.

Weeks of PT focused on my quads, calves, hamstrings, hip abductor and adductor, glutes, lower back, and IT.

In mid-September I tried to run 1.5 miles. It was....weird. Probably it had happened before and I hadn't noticed, but I could feel the tendons rolling all over my left leg. That's right. Tendons rolling. In my leg. While I ran. My IT band was too loose. I didn't know that was possible. Literally never heard of it. This is why foaming rolling did nothing.

My PT told me I could build up, half a mile at a time, after each distance had gone well at least twice. Over time and attempts, I felt the tendons rolling less often. Be early December they had stopped rolling all together. Rebuilding went mostly smoothly. Mostly. One day while attempting 3.5 miles, something in my knee felt like it shifted right, and I was done. It hurt, badly, for several days. Other times I have inconsistent aches and pains, but those worry me less.

By mid-October I was joining friends for short runs again. Candice was really great about it the first time I tried to go and just couldn't. I was so disappointed. But I kept trying, and we got there. 

With Dena and Candice in October

Most disgustingly, through some back and forth between my PT and massage therapist, I learned that at some point, my left quad realized things were going badly. The response? It threw down an extra attachment point. You know, the attachment points at my hip and knee just weren't doing it, so now I got an extra one--three, actually, close together--mid-thigh. Not only is getting these bumps to release difficult, but my muscle between them had atrophied. Just f**g great.

By the time I learned that tasty tidbit, I had a lot of questions. Was my hip ever out of joint? How much work will it take to get my mid-thigh anchor point to release? Have I torn my meniscus in the process? Time will tell. Will I run a full marathon again? I don't know, but I sure hope so.

While recovering, I have joined a gym. It's taken a while, but I am finally getting into something of a routine for strength training. I'm not good at it and I don't enjoy it (there I go sugarcoating), but I need to do it. I've also spectated some races, because if I can't run them, why not cheer?

Cheering on Candice at Autumn Leaves.

As of today, I have built back up to 6 mile long runs and I ran a fast 4.5 earlier this week without pain during or after. I am clearly on my way. I have zero swelling post-run. My knee has not buckled in months. Tendons have stopped rolling around. The extra anchor point is, at least, much smaller, although I'm not sure it's totally gone. I'll take it. This is HUGE progress.

Love these girls. They have been nothing but patient and encouraging as I've slowly rebuilt.

Lessons Learned
Lesson #1. Guys, for the love of all things, cross-train. You know those Runners World videos you see and think "oh that seems great!" and then don't do? Do them. Think, "hey, I've been running for years without cross-training much and it's been fine. Why bother?" Wrong. Do it. Think once a week yoga is enough? It isn't. Really really. Work on strength.

Lesson #2. I used to think Physical Therapists weren't very helpful. Why? After having my first kid I had some lower back pain. I went to a PT who handed me a single Xeroxed page of exercises I could easily have guessed from the Internet. Not. Helpful. This time around, I was lucky to find a great PT who really worked with me to ID the problem and build a plan to fix it. I am eternally grateful to her.

Lesson #3. If you can find a massage therapist and PT who work well together, keep them. This turned out to be helpful. If not, ask your massage therapist for language to give the PT about what they believe is going on, and vice versa.

Lesson #4. Last, but definitely not least, if your squad is willing to encourage you and work with you to rebuild, keep them. They are freaking gold. I really don't know what I would do without my running crew here, from the ones I see every week to those I see once every few months. Nothing but supportive.

I'm not sure what my running goals are for 2019 yet, except to continue to rebuild from this awful setback. I'm signed up for a few races, but am still holding back to see if I think I can really train for something big. I can honestly say right now I'm thankful to be running at all. It makes my heart so happy, and I appreciate it all the more after not knowing what would happen. 

June Recap: I What?!?

I have zero clues how it's July already, but alas. Summer, slow down! (said every academic ever). Welcome to the June recap.

Yeah, guys, June was not like any month in recent history. Even the summary stats show that:
Total miles: 50. Fifty. I don't want to talk about it, but we're going to.

Yoga classes: 3. Still with the hour-long format and loving it.


In early June I continued to experience pain around my left hip. I had visited my sports massage lady in late May, and she'd referred me to a "holistic PT" near here, swearing he was some kind of miracle worker. I scheduled an appointment for June 13.

The appointment took about half an hour. Since he doesn't take insurance this turned out to be a very expensive half hour in which I learned that my pelvis has been out of joint for almost a year. My what? Did what?! The PT took a little too much interest in listing the ways this might have happened and the ways I might avoid it. Some were exactly what you're thinking. One was "did you have big babies?" To which I replied "Yes, but the youngest is six. I've run 5000 miles or so since then. He didn't do this." And I called him an evil son of a bitch when he told me not to run for 2 weeks.

Sidebar--I cannot take seriously anyone who sells a book they wrote about the power of your primal instinct against pain. If writing such a book doesn't already appear in the ways to ruin a date with an academic, it should. So it's possible I didn't entirely believe the running embargo was necessary.

He also told me to avoid anything like lunging or walking on uneven surfaces. I responded by promptly going hiking with my friend Tina.

And then rock climbing in West Virginia for 3 days, which was mind-bendingly amazing, followed by hiking up Spruce Knob. The WV trip was among the best weeks of my life. Absolute magic.

From the summit of the south peak of Seneca Rocks--the highest technical peak in the eastern US

My son at the summit of Spruce Knob, the highest mountain in the state

So, I didn't exactly follow the PT's orders, but I also wasn't about to change up my trip, and I'm not sure how much I believed him. Since this happened I've learned that it's fairly common for runners AND yogis to pop out of joint. I've now heard one story of a runner getting adjusted in the middle of an ultra trail race, and another of being casually put back in joint on a massage table at a race finish line.

I tell you this to say two things:

1. If you hurt and foam rolling doesn't help and massage provides only temporary relief, go see a PT sooner rather than later. I wish I'd seen one six months ago.  Truthfully, a foam roller and/or massage therapist had never failed me. Ever. Until now.
2. It's way more common than you might think. Or at least, way more common than I thought.

In happier running news though, a bunch.

The Big Run in early June

Then, Rachel and I kept our June streak alive. Before the running embargo, my Dad and I planned a very last minute trip to St. Louis for the opera festival. Happily, this was just before Rachel's marathon (WHERE SHE BQ'ED LIKE A BOSS) and I got a few miles in with her. While opera isn't really my jam, the trip was delightful. I got to see dear friends, eat good food, make some memories with my Dad, and soak in a city I so love.

In St. Louis

Soon after, my friend Katie had her baby. We found her walking at the end of our long run today (July 1), and I got to meet the baby. More on that next month, but can I just say how impressed I am that Katie is up and walking two miles already?! Total badass. 

Then just a few days ago, I ran my third ever trail race, which was a mud bath of epic proportions, and a lot of fun. I signed up for a 3-race series with these beauties and a few other mommas who missed the picture. There are after pictures somewhere, but I prefer to just tell you I had to throw my shoes in the washer.

Me, Becky, Candice, and Laurie at the Full Moon Trail Race 3-Miler

Here at the start of July, I still can't run long miles, but when the pain comes, it comes on distinctly differently than before. I'm hoping this means I'm still in joint and my muscles are just adjusting. I'll be going to a less quacky PT in the coming weeks, keeping my fingers crossed, and really working on beefing up my primal instincts. Stay tuned.

May Recap

I started tracking my nutrition again sometime in April, using the app MyFitnessPal. The app offers a lot of functionality. It gives a calorie "budget"--the number I should aim for given my height, weight, gender, and weight goal. The number is based on your standard daily activity level, which it determines based on the type of job you have (on your feet a lot, desk job, etc). You then enter everything you eat. If you exercise, you enter that too, and it adjusts the calorie budget to accommodate the calories you've burned.

This led to my running 5 days a week. I literally ran so I could eat. I'm that lady. 😂😆

This brings me to my total miles for the month: 120.7.
I'm close to 500 for the year and 7000 since I started tracking! I should hit both in June. 

The most memorable runs were certainly the Rite Aid Half and my mid-week run to the West Side Market.

An update on the Rite Aid Half. Remember I reported there was a lot of online complaining about the course and people believing it was as much half a mile too long? I went back and checked my old race data. I learned that I typically run a half (13.1 miles) in 13.19-13.25 miles. I clocked 13.37 at Rite Aid. So, it was a little high for a typical half for me. The race organizers announced later that the turn-around had been misplaced, and the course was 0.18 miles too long. This puts the race right in line with my "normal" GPS error. I respect their effort in double checking and reporting out.

What's weird about it, though, is that they aren't adjusting people's finishing times. The only other time I've seen a mis-measured course, the organizers adjusted everyone's official race time down accordingly. Is there a standard operating protocol for when this happens? What have you seen races do elsewhere in this situation? 

My other memorable run: The West Side Market is an absolute gem in Cleveland. It's a publicly owned food market that dates to 1840 and has operated out of its current building since 1912. (Read more here) One day in May I ran from my town to the market to meet my parents for lunch and some produce shopping. The run was perfect and our visit to the market was wonderful. I bought strawberries and made jam out of them.

I also did my regular long runs on Sundays and met up pretty regularly with Candice, who takes the best silly post-run pictures. The only rule? We never re-take them. One and done.

Outside of running, I went to two yoga classes. The second one was an hour-long class with an instructor I hadn't had in many months. The class was harder than I expected, which I realized is partly due to the fact that I've been doing 45 minute classes all academic year. Welcome change for the summer. I'm really looking forward to getting stronger through the longer class.

Otherwise, summer in Cleveland really is the best. There are festivals, races, concerts, and about anything you can imagine, every weekend, all over the metro region. Here are a few pictures from a recent field trip I chaperoned with my older son.

The Arcade

I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some other events. I think that's just a sign of a great month. How did your May shape up?

Cleveland Rite Aid Half-Marathon Race Report

On Sunday I toed the line at the Rite Aid Half-Marathon. It truly was coming full circle. In 2011 I ran the full. It was the first time I ever visited Cleveland and I had no idea I'd later move here. Seven years later and here we are, back at that same start line. This is one of those times it's hard to wrap my mind around all the places we've lived and the journey through them all. 

Sunday morning I was up at 4:45 to make sure I got all the way through the routine before leaving to catch the train to downtown at 5:20. The train was surprisingly full--I think I counted ~50 people, and I couldn't see all the way to the back of the second car. The train newbies clutch their singles as they board, because on the Rapid (our train system), you pay when you board when going east, and when you exit when going west, and this is totally unclear unless someone tells you. There is something vaguely charming about the quirkiness of it--of the assumption that people understand it.

When I exited the train at Tower City (the central hub), it was raining, harder than you'd like if you plan to wait outside at the start line. Instead, I found my way to the bathrooms, because indoor permanent restroom > port-a-potty. Then, as I was about to leave to head toward the start, my Sunday morning crew messaged me to stay put, that they were coming into Tower City and we'd just meet there. We hung around about as long as we dared before heading to the start.

As we snuck through an opening in the corral gate, moments before the start, I saw my friend Robin who was there as a volunteer, because she's awesome like that.

Moments later, Cathy, Tina and I were off and headed over the start line. The course wound through downtown and, other than going over some metal grate bridges, was a pretty flat, smooth course. The most noteworthy part of the early miles was another runner.

There was a woman running with a Cleveland Indians flag. A full flag, on a pole that was several feet long. It said Indians and had a picture of the mascot. I've seen people run with Marine Corps flags, and that I understand. But the Indians?! Curiosity got the better of me. "Did you lose a bet?" I asked her jokingly. She glared at me. "Just a big fan of the Indians? Why the flag?" She replied that they are getting rid of the Chief as the mascot and she is protesting.

I blankly stared for a moment and moved back away from her. Come again? I thought. You're running in the rain with a generic Indians flag to protest?! Cathy and I just looked at each other. I mean, if you're gonna protest maybe just make it clear what you're protesting? So Cathy and I talked about how people get too wrapped up in things sometimes.

I was trying to keep us at about a 8:57-9:00 pace throughout, with a planned slower start and to make it up in the middle somewhere. We got wrapped up in the energy of the start, but got into our groove pretty quickly. Here are the mile splits:
Mile 1: 8:36

Mile 2: 8:51

Mile 3: 9:09

Mile 4: 8:40 (we had some downhill)

Mile 5: 8:58

Mile 6: 8:52

In the middle of mile 7 we came around a corner to meet, face-to-face, the course's largest hill. I actually laughed at how unexpected it was, just so all of a suddent. According to my Garmin, even including the last few feet of elevation gain that were really past what looked like the top of the hill, this "monster" was 100 feet in elevation gain. About 70 feet of this came in about a quarter mile. I said out loud, "Can we agree not to complain about this later on Facebook?"

No, no we couldn't. I've been struggling with all the complaining lately. After the Hermes 10 Miler in April, people took to the Hermes page, the MRTT page, and their own timelines to complain about a hill. For Rite Aid, people complained about all sorts of things, including this "monster" hill. It was a quarter mile. If you spend more than 4 minutes complaining about it, you have spent longer complaining than you did running/walking it.

People also complained loudly that they thought the course measured long. I find all the casting of aspersions disrespectful to the race organizers. I think they know how to measure a course. If you think the turn-around was wrong, send them a note to double check the placement. My first sub-2 was in a race where the turn-around was misplaced. They acknowledged it and adjusted our finish times. It happens.

But all the online complaining about things that may or may not be valid, that I find difficult. Guys, MapMyRun is not super accurate! It tends to measure long. Cathy and I ran side-by-side and hers clocked the course at 13.7, while my Garmin measured it at 13.37. Also, the very urban environment is hard for GPS accuracy. I recently ran the Hermes 10 miler in vaguely the same part of town. My Garmin under-measured it by a quarter mile, just due to the hills/buildings/overpasses. All this stuff is legit. And if it isn't, and the course was actually long, they will sort it out.

We lost a few seconds at the turn-around, which was a 180* turn, but otherwise stayed reasonably close to mile-to-mile goal times through the second half, adjusting up and down for water stops and slight elevation changes. I enjoyed the on-course music and crowd, and by the second half the rain had stopped. It was just a cool, foggy morning.
Mile 7: 9:09 (the turn-around)
Mile 8: 8:56

Mile 9: 8:47

Mile 10: 8:58

Mile 11: 9:03

Mile 12: 8:49

Cathy was going for her first sub-2 half. I've seen her run sub-2 paced 10 milers almost every Sunday for months. Then she goes to races and psyches herself out! Today would be different. I told her I would make sure she crossed in under 2 hours. Over the last few miles she kept asking me, "Are we going to make it?" "Are we still under 2?" ""How much time before 2 hours?" I kept telling her we were fine, even if Garmin error was insane, we were fine! She had this.

We approached a bridge back into downtown. I reminded her how many times she'd trained over the shorter, steeper bridges on the Towpath, all for this moment. She nailed it. There was a slight incline into the block-long straight-away. We attacked it. She had this. We kicked from about half a mile out.


Mile 13: 8:39

FINISH: 1:58:27.

Katie (our very pregnant race crew/cheering section), Tina, me, and Cathy

I couldn't have been happier to see Cathy reach her goal. She was so well trained and ready for this! I loved getting to be part of it. A runner's first sub-2 is such an achievement!

After, we were all a little chilly, so Cathy and I found a merch tent. I bought a "Run the Land" t-shirt (LOVE!!) and she bought a nice race sweatshirt. They screen printed my shirt on the spot, so it was even warm when I put it on.

We tried a couple places for brunch but due to the race route, we found we couldn't get out of downtown headed in the right direction. We ended up eating on the east side, which worked out well to join up with Candice and her daughter. 

All told, what a great race experience. I'm just so full of gratitude for it all.

March Recap

I know, I'm really late. Life has been busy. You know the deal.

On the running front, soooo much going on in March. Let's start with the big picture numbers:

Total Miles: 103 (Hundo club! Yay!)

Yoga Classes: 3 (I missed a week during spring break)

I had some highlights this month, including a 5-mile race with friends. It was my friend Candice's first race post-injury. It was billed as an obstacle course, which it wasn't. When we arrived no one was feeling it. It was a very cold, very windy day, and we'd be running on the beach of Lake Erie. So....cold wet sand? After a mile we all warmed up and it ended up being a lot of fun. No one was pushing the pace. We were just out to be out and get Candice back out there. We went to brunch after at a place I'd never been. Good food and loved the vibe of the place. 

Afterwards, Laurie went to Fleet Feet and bought three new pairs of shoes because we'd "run on dead fish" during the race. There's a chance she's more focused on clean shoes than I am.

With Candice back, it meant a return to running in the dark with her. I particularly like this post-run selfie. A beautiful sunrise and a goofy friend. That's a wonderful morning.

One Saturday we decided to meet at an intersection where we'd never met. I parked part-way between my house and the meet-up spot and ran to meet her. If there's one thing to know about Candice is that she loathes being late. Loathes it. So when our meet-up time came and went and no Candice, I knew something was up. I waited close to 10 minutes. I considered what might have happened, and just started running in the direction I thought was most likely where she'd ended up. We found each other, ran, and got breakfast at a drop-dead amazing bakery. I drank about 30oz of coffee and ate, then decided I should run back to my car. Don't do that. That's dumb. I did that.

Throughout March, I also continued running about once a week with my neighbor Jake. We've been running together since early last summer. It's been a great way to get to know him, and the accountability of a running buddy is always a good thing. I realized I'd never taken a picture of us.

My long run schedule got rearranged a few times for different reasons. The last day of March this meant running closer to home. I "picked up" Candice for the six middle miles of this run. I had to laugh when she said "what's two miles from your house" and I knew exactly. Only a runner would know down to 0.02 miles the distance to everything.

This run was also something of a wake-up call. I felt this run substantially more than most long runs. Why? Because my usual long run has about 75 total feet of elevation gain. Running closer to home means about 300 feet. Lesson: I need to vary my long runs more. Running on totally flat ground all the time is going to make a hilly race feel a lot harder.

And, we do stuff other than run. Since I realize this is hard to believe, here's a picture. We got together for a glass blowing class on night, then went out for dinner after. We made glass flowers. We got to choose our colors and even the shape of the stem, and the total length (shorter ones if they were ring holders). I would definitely do it again!

I also ran with my usual Sunday morning crew a few times. I enjoy them so much. For some reason this is the only picture I can find at the moment. I will have to correct that for April.