Trenton Half Marathon Race Report

It was Trenton's first inaugrual half marathon and 10k....you may be thinking - "Geez Heather, what is it about you and your ghetto running...first Camden, now Trenton"  - For the few of my followers that are not familiar with the state of New Jersey - these are some of the top crime rated cities...I am saying this like I am proud or something.  For your information - Camden, NJ has a crime rating of 3 and Trenton, NJ a rating of 11.  What does that mean?  Camden is safer than 3% of the cities in the US and Trenton safer than 11% of the cities in the US.

Trivia and humor aside, it was a really nice course and did not go through the "sketchy" areas.  The logistics and spectator view of it was a rating of 15 - maybe 15% better than other races....meaning no bueno.  However, the spectators were able to see each runner from the stadium as we ran into Trenton Thunder Stadium and it was great for photographers Mike.

I think they are trying to make it better for next year, and probably something I would consider doing again since it really was a nice course with a good mix of flats, bridges and some hills.

As for me, as you saw in the last post I was suffering from severe off-seasonitis....I wanted it to be over and I just really wasn't mentally into it.  When you aren't mentally into it, it's NOT going to go well.  It wasn't my worse race but it was not my best.  The lack of training or what I may call fake training really had an impact.  I don't think I was ever so ill-prepared from the running side to bad nutrition, it was just awful and I just want to put my head down because I did not RESPECT the race, the distance, none of it.

The week before I ran Bridge run 10K and felt good, THIS did not feel good.  I'll share the story now...

Twas two nights before the race, I had too much to drink - scratch that I had 3 very very strong beers and felt like ass the next day, which I think just set me up for disaster.  I don't normally drink very much the week leading up to a race and this had a definite impact.  My eating was off all day on Friday, I drank maybe two glasses of water and sipped on a bottle of Nuun...after work we were going with some friends to check out some space for Brewtal - more on that later and I asked Mike what we were going to do about dinner.  Oh, we are having pizza, so I  thought oh okay we are going somewhere for pizza, and I could probably order some chicken and salad and I thought I would be okay.  Nope they were BRINGING pizza, so I am very religious about what I eat the night before and this was not that.  At this point, I was like f it and had a beer and continued sipping some water.  I went to bed too late at midnight, and had to wake up by 5:30...Then I wasn't quite sure about clothing, it was going to be 30 degrees, I thought I would wear a skirt and twin it with Yasi but when she came in my house bundled up I ran up and changed.  Again, not prepared.  The other hard part was I didn't have my normal breakfast, I had no banana and I barely ate a rice cake with some almond butter.

To top it off I brought only 1 gu with me.  Nicole, Yasi and I get to the race site and park and met up with Matt and Bub and Meg (who did her first 10K).  I ate something at 6 and the race did not start until 8:30...not to mention I didn't eat enough at all.  I was thirsty, and my stomach was rumbling which is not a good sign.  The race had a 45 min delay so it was a double whammy.    So we start - FAST...I looked at my Garmin and it said 7:54...SLOW the F DOWN!!  I then felt good and clocked in some 9 and 9:20 min miles...I saw our friend Lisa at Mile 4 on the Pennsylvania side and at that point felt awesome...and the thought crossed my mind that if I can stay in around 9:10 I can PR from AC!  

AS you see above it looked decent, THEN it started falling apart...

 I still felt okay at 6 and 7 but felt a little niggle in my calve, so I stopped and walked the water break and then tried to sip on my one and only GU.  Mile 8 was when the little hilly area came and that's when the calve cramp that has not reared it head in quite a while showed up for the party...uninvited...at Mile 10 I decided I was going to relax my calve with my mind...I don't know what I was thinking but I assumed it I took deep yoga breaths and breathed into that area it will loosen.  Just so you know it is mentally exhausting to try this.  I felt like things were picking up at mile 10 and I could at least hold that pace in.  Then mile 11 happened and it traveled to my achilles....and the calf was balling up, which then signified my toes to start curling like it did in DC!  So basically miles 11-13 were a shit show of pain.  I want to spare you the pictures that the race took, it looked like I was dying a slow death.  At one point this older gentleman said - "are you okay?"  I was standing in the middle of the highway trying to push my toes flat..."um, yes, just trying to flatten the toes..."  No amount of electrolytes and salt were curing this...

Anyway, I started a run walk strategy and just tried to make it in, I was running with some man and he said he wished he was faster and how glad he was to see the finish line.  I told him, I was just glad that we are fortunate enough to be able to do this in the first place.  Then I said to him, we are almost there what do you say we fake run it in together - we got this!  I think that was the point where I saw my dad, which always makes me happy.  I ran around the bases and made pretend I was not in pain when in fact the cramping was really bad but I refused to not look good at the finish!  So I made it in and saw Mike at the finish with his camera, my mom, sister and my friends that finished the 10K.

 Without my husband and family and phenomenal group of friends this wouldn't be worth a damn thing.  I love them all and truly appreciate them being there!  Oh and the beer breakfast that followed it!!

As much as this was a shit show of running, I learned that nutrition and training are that important, it was a great learning experience.  AND I got to witness two people finishing their first 10K and ready for a Half-marathon - congrats Megan and Mahlet!!  AND I was able to run with my two friends Yasi and Nicole!

Now it's time for off-season and celebrate this EPIC year of accomplishments!

9 years later, finally a PR....

9 years ago in 2003 (in case you had trouble with math), I was 27 years old and decided to do my first half-marathon after taking a fairly long sabbatical to running from high school track...(I am not counting playing field hockey in college).  I ran a 2:02:21 at the Ceaser Rodney Half Marathon in Delaware.  I ran one more that year and did a 2:03:05 at the formerly called Philadelphia Distance Run and then I took yet another sabbatical of running any longer than a 5k and went back to kick-boxing and weights and other activities.

When I took up triathlons in 2008, I became addicted to the bike and improving in the swim.  Let's face it, I was hit with one issue after another with my legs and feet that I was faced with the feeling that I was doomed to be a 10min/mile runner in anything over 10 miles.  I did a couple half-marathons and 10 mile Broad Street runs and it was constant....

2009 Philadelphia Half-marathon - 2:12:42
2011 NOLA Half-marathon - 2:11:17

I dropped out of a 1/2 in 2010 but my debut in 1/2 Ironman that year proved another cursed 10 minute miler...it was getting to the point where I only signed up for these things in the hopes of not doing it, because I was tired of not doing anything any better than seeing the 10:xx flash before  me.  This year, you heard (or read) me talk about how I changed my foot strike and have been working on my gait.  This change has led me to (knock on wood) NO calf cramps which was the demise of any of my half-marathons around mile 9 or 10 during the running races or during a half-ironman.

My last report was the DC 1/2 marathon which I had a small PR (since 2009) and did a 2:10 (yes, another 10min/mile - however the Garmin SAID 9:50).  I had a couple small issues, but I also had a "not-so secret goal" for Atlantic City.  This was an area where I not only spent most of my childhood days at the Jersey Shore walking the boardwalk, but also a recent family shore house (sister-in-law).  I am used to running the course the opposite direction at least 3-4 times a year during the summer while training on vacation.  Oh yeah, and it is flat....

My only negative thought on PR'ing was that A, I was 2 weeks after the last half and I never went on a recovery week, I was still in my Build phase for the 1/2 ironman plan which meant getting in about 15 hours before Sunday.  However, I have been feeling extremely healthy and recovering remarkably well after hard workouts. 

It helps when you have plenty of good food...

good beer and friends....

and making beer...(this is another post for another time)

Our cherry bourbon stout we are kegging....

The day before was a 3.5 hr trainer ride while "stalking" my favorite peeps in Oceanside which watching some flicks...

We left later that night to pick up the packs and stay over at my ever so generous sister-in-law's awesome home so we could sleep in....Best part of race day morning?  The fact that we could use casino bathrooms instead of port-a-potties...not so good for the casino goers with 1000 runners vying for the toilets and well you know how it rolls race morning...

Our biggest supporter, my sister!

Myself, Christine and Nicole with the beach in the back...

The race started and looked at my Garmin 8:47, we know what happens when I start out like this so I kept a 9:20 -9:30 pace depending on water stops.  As I waited for something bad to happen, I kept going, my heart rate was in check, I felt good, it was nice seeing the ocean and reminiscing in various areas.  At mile 8 I saw my Garmin say 1:33...which even if I did 10 min miles for the last 5 miles I would PR.  What this meant to me was if I got a cramp I can still pull this off....but I wanted to keep going and kept the same pace, no cramps, no elevated heart rate, nope just steady....and then I saw my mom on the side lines and my sister and dad and reeled it in.

Clock time 2:01:35 (9:22 min/mile)

I think this sums up the race!

FINALLY A PR from 9 years ago...at this point I feel better than I have in a while, and completely excited about the next 9 weeks of training for Mooseman!

America F$%k Yeah - Washington DC RnR Race Report

Yeah!  That's kind of what I was humming to myself as I ran past the Washington Monument....
For those who are entirely confused, this is a picture of Team America and America F$%kYeah is a song...

Anyway, let's rewind, I went into this race with a couple goals:

1. Use this run as a training run - considering I have another 1/2 marathon in 2 weeks (that's not a typo) and Mooseman 70.3 in June.  I did not want to hurt myself since you all know my fabulous running history with injuries.
2. Have fun!

Woo hoo!  I accomplished that goals and a minor PR (according to the Garmin which said I ran 3.48 miles...).  But otherwise it was the same time as other races.  And I should preface that the PR is in the 30-40 year old decade of my life, I still haven't been able to get what I had in my 20's....

Before leaving, Mike had a Project Runway moment and helped me make some snazzy arm warmers from my St. Patty Day socks I had...

 
Nicole and I got in DC on Friday night to drop off my sister at my aunts house so they can join in the craziness of the finish line together the next day and we went to the expo to pick up the race pack.

I wasn't impressed like I was for NOLA RnR, I think they should have blew it up a little since it was St. Patty Day weekend.  We ate a quick healthy dinner and relaxed...er, drank some wine before bed.

 We took the metro and made some friends...

Ironically, the girl on the right was named Heather - they dug the HGRC shirts

Caroline and Allison were awesome in their tutus!

 In our usual manner, we are running late, missed the corral and stood in line for the port-a-potties and ended up in one of the last corrals. I think this happens every race, part of which is we never give a shit because it isn't like I am winning a half-marathon or anything.

Rocking the HGRC - Metal Chicks Tri Harder Shirts!!

 I felt really good, I kept the heart rate in check trying to stay roughly between Z2-3 and not try to blow up since this had to be a training run no matter how excited I was getting.

My splits looked good up, and I tried to keep within hte 9:30-9:50 range, I sped up at mile 6, I think I had some good song selections (my sister helped with that...it was probably a showtune or it could have been Iron Maiden, "Run to the Hills" very random on the ipod) or maybe it was the surge of  taking a Gu with 2x caffeine, not quite sure the rationale there.  Problem with the race was the lack of water/gatorade stations.  I didn't realize it would be a every other mile thing and absent-mindedly took a gu at mile 5 and didn't get water till mile 7....
Mile 7 I did a mid run walk during the running station did a quick stretch as I was feeling tight after the 3 mile hill extravaganza.  Why didn't I realize DC had hills....they were lingering long hills - like mile 4-7...and then these random under-passes (yes under-passes).  At mile 10, I started having the toe claw issue...my toes cramped into a little claw...it felt really awesome...that took a little time to flatten them out and run, so that happened at mile 10, 11 and 12.5.  I think it made me slow down substantially, because I didn't know if speed would make it happen again. 

Even with all that complaining, I feel like I had a really good day!  The actual clock gave me my usual 10 min miles for 13.1 while my garmin showed a 9:50 pace but I probably let it go for a little after I crossed the finish line.

To top it off we had our cheerleaders at the finish line!  

I got to meet up with a friend I met in the pain cave (i.e. Vineman run portion) who just moved to DC and celebrate finishing with beers and fro-yo!

Sunday, we tooled around the city in achy legs and saw the typical touristy thing and was able to get over to Brassiere Beck (see my blog post for Brewtal Beer here on the restaurant and beers).  Mike and I went there before and they have a fantastic beer list.  We had brunch and celebrated my sister's bday with beer and blackberry crisp. 

We then hit the Newseum which is awesome, a must see in DC, the exhibit for 9/11 was a great memorial.  
All in all a pretty fantastic weekend.  I healed pretty good so far this week starting off with a great 3000m swim, an outside bike today and some plyo strength training...I have a pretty high volume training week on the books for this week and next including the Atlantic City 1/2 marathon!!

 I am not sure what will happen with AC, not sure if the shoes are the issue or if the toe thing was a fluke, but I kind of think I am on a not so secretive PR mission.  It is on a course that I run every summer while training and in a city that makes me smile and think of my Grandmom Nero and my childhood memories in Atlantic City.  Oh yeah, AND I got a free tutu for entering....

Not quite sure if that was food or a scanner problem on my nose....