Women Rock Half Marathon Recap 9-28-2014



This year I completed my first and second half marathon with my friend Kelly. Unfortunately I do not have a lot of pictures because I thought they would have professional photographers at the race but they really did not. So no race pictures of me were captured :(.

We got up super early and headed to our parking garage on Webster. It was super easy to find and we paid we via ParkWiz so we headed right in and got a spot. The lot was a 10 minute walk to the start line, which was not bad at all. We skipped by the first line of porto potties to find the second group with a shorter line. The line to verify 21 and older was WAY long so I figured I'll get my wristband at the end.

We headed to the start line, which kind stunk because there was no corrals. So we guessed where we should stand and got in a spot. Once the race took off we headed out towards the tunnel under lakeshore drive up to the lake front path.

There were some pros and a lot of cons to this race. I some how managed to PR given the circumstance and was extremely happy. Kelly had a harder time and finished about 15 min after me. We met up, had some chocolate milk, drank Champaign (yuck), and had to use the phones GPS to find the car. We then took the long journey back home. Next year I think I will do the 10k because you still get the necklace, jacket, and can buy the medal.

Pros:

Nice stained glass medal... for purchase
Nice necklace, I wear mine a lot
Nice jacket

Cons:
Only 4 water stations for 13 miles, it was hot and I am glad I brought my own water.
You share the path with people training for the marathon, bikers, dog walkers, rollerblades...etc
Low race support
Rough terrain
High cost

I Guess I'm Only Half Crazy Now...13.1 Done That!

Flat Emily for my half, I love bibs with my name on it!

 

Saturday the 14th I finally ran my first half marathon, the Rock N Sole Half in Milwaukee. My friend Kelly from work decided to participate in the half with me, it would be her first also. I got up at 4:15am that morning and headed over the Kelly's house, we would car pool from there in her car up to Milwaukee. The drive up was pretty smooth until we got about 1 mile from the parking area, where traffic was dead stop. Of course I had to use the bathroom really bad! Kelly pulled some fast maneuvers and got us out of traffic and to a close parking lot. We were able to go in the Italian Center to use the bathroom, thank goodness for a real bathroom!

 

After that we decided to make our way to the start area, the race started promptly at 7am. They had photo people everywhere, which was really fun. My goal was to finish in less than 3:15:00, I was so nervous I would be picked up my the slow bus. I just did not want to slip to 3:30:00.

Love the building for lease sign in the background!

I am hoping we get a coupon for the photos soon as I really want to buy them. We took one more trip to the facilities, where Kelly had a quick panic moment where we thought her ear bud went missing. I found it and saved the day!

 

 

 Finding the corrals was easy, I was in M and Kelly in L. Thankfully my corral was not the last! I met some nice ladies at the start who warned me about mile 9 and assured  GU and was really to go! It only took us 5 minutes to get from our corral to the start once the gun went off. I had some phone issues but then everything seemed to fall into place.

 

Once we started going I found myself getting a little chocked up, I guess I was just emotional from the race! We headed out on the course and I felt good. There were lots of bands playing on the course and tons of people. It was nice because the 10k people and the half people were together for the first 5 miles or so. I just took my time, running the first 2 miles. I enjoyed the sites and the experience.

 

 

Mile 3 is when we started the long, steep climb up the Hoan bridge. I just stuck to the strict run/walk combo I programed into my phone and made my way up. Once I made it up it was a nice quick steady decent where I ran the whole way down. It way great experiencing the bridge, but I was so glad it was done! Once we were over, the 10kers split and headed towards the end. The half continued up to the north. I finally had to stop and use a porto potty, thankfully with the 10k crew gone that really thinned out the crowd. I was in and out in 15 seconds I think. I took a GU and went on my way.

 

 

After that I kept heading up the road when I finally got to the last huge hill which was mile 8. I had to walk up it. I started getting some bad toe pain in my right foot about mile 7. My toes felt broke but I continued on. After making it over mile 8.5 some people yelled "It's all downhill!". I was like yeah right, but they were actually right. Miles 9-11 were pretty much downhill and other than the toe pain, were pretty enjoyable. Mile 10 I looked at my watch and saw I was about 2 hours in and I thought to myself  hey I am going to be under 3 hours for sure! The sites of Lake Michigan were just beautiful! The weather was gorgeous with temps starting in the high 50s and climbed to about the high 60s with a great breeze. Around mile 11 I filled up one of my water bottles from an aid station and only took water to pour on my head after that.

 

Mile 12 was all along a path along the water and beach. There were lots of people and musicians. It was a little deceiving and hard to see the finish but there were signs telling you how much distance was left. I rounded a corner to the SummerFest fair ground and through the finish. I had done it and I felt great, minus the toe pain! I finished in 2:44:49, I was so happy!

I'm a half marathoner!

 I found Kelly almost immediately after the race and we had a few more pictures taken.

 



Close up of medals, we got the one on the right

 I called Justin and found him and L. They were both very proud of my accomplishment. We walked around some to keep the legs moving and then sat down a bit.

Kelly finish only a few minutes before me



Awesome new medal!

Once we finally changed and headed on our way, I put on my new Pro Compression socks. We went to Denny's for lunch and then to Walmart for grocery shopping. I totally forgot I left my car at Kelly's so we had to go get it at 5pm. I found her mowing the lawn, crazy lady! I went home and took a Epson salt bath and relaxed. I hurt some but not as bad as I thought. Oh and so much for the finishers tees, all they had was xl and 2xl left.

 

All in all I loved the half distance and would love to do it again. I loved this course and hope to run this one again in 2016. Well in fact I am running another half this year. I signed up for my second half in late September. I am looking to train harder and shave minutes off my time.

 

 



My First LONG Run- 10 Miles Down

In Sept of 2013 I thought I would be ambitious and sign up for my first half marathon after completing my first 10k (Brewers 10k). Well almost 8 months later, we are less than one month away to that race: the Rock N Sole Half Marathon. Where I hope to make it to the finish and earn this:

I'm going for the big blue one to the right.

 

So up until now I have not followed any training plan. Most weeks I have intended to run more than once, but something always came up. The furthest I had ever run was 6.35 straight and no offense but 6.35 is no where near 13.1. So this weekend I had to suck it up and finally smash 6.35 and go the distance, literally.

 

Sat morning I got up around 8:15 and totally was dragging, how would I ever run more than 6 miles thing morning, let alone 1 mile. But I knew I could not cop out, this was my last chance to see what I could do. I was so scared I would not make it 13.1 I was panicking this past week. Seriously, Friday I was wondering if I should drop down to the quarter marathon. But I was like NO, you signed up for the half, no excuses. I decided to try out my Salted Caramel GU, I would be close to home incase there was any stomach issues. I strapped on my water belt and headed out.

 

I decided to just run the neighborhood, there were so many people outside mowing the lawn I never felt alone. Just so you know my neighborhood is kind of small. I would say a big circle around it, without the side streets, is 1.5 miles tops. The day before I plotted out 8 miles on map my run, yeah totally did not stick to that at all. I headed through my neighborhood and could feel the GU kick in, I was feeling good. This was also my first attempt at Galloway method and I was doing 2 minutes run/ 1 minute walk. As I was running through the neighborhood I started getting toe pain about mile 4, which I think was due to my laces being too tight. I was seriously doubting I was going to make it 4 more miles! Some how I just kept going and going. Finally at 8 I said I would stop at 9, but then at 9 I just wanted to walk 10 to see what my pace would be, incase I had to walk at the half and needed to avoid getting picked up by the slow bus by walking less than a 16 min mile. I finished in 2:19:00, not too bad I thought.

 

 

Well I felt pretty good when it was over, that I finally did it! I walked in the door and "L" wanted to hug me, I stunk and hurt so that was not a good idea. First word out of my mouth was "Does it smell like pee in here?" Well I guess it was me, prob not pee but you get the drift. I also realized you see some odd things when you run the neighborhood like 15 times. I saw a house with a weird trail of bagels in the driveway. About 15 bagels all lined up, not sure what that was all about but they looked like perfectly good bagels. So when all is said and done I think I will make it 13.1 next month, come hell or high water I am trucking it over those hills and making it upright to the finish. I hope to run the first 2 miles then kick the Galloway into gear once the crowds have cleared.

 

Have you finished a distance run using the Galloway method? Any advice?

 



Running Forward- What's Next??

 

 

It's been 5 months since my first 5k and I am surprisingly still going! I have managed to run one to two races a month, a goal I set back in May. I have completed in 1 mud run, 4 5ks, and 1 10k since May. I have 2 more runs planned for the end of the year and still need to pick my December race.

 

So what's next on the horizon? Well Oct 20th I am doing a very cool run, World's Largest Corn Maze 5k where you run through the corn maze I went to on Sept 20th. I am very excited for this one and got some new shoes last night to wear during it. I got some Asics Scram 2.

They felt really comfortable and got good reviews so hopefully they will help me zoom through the maze.

After that I will be running the Veterans Day 10k in Kenosha, WI. I am running that one with my friend Paula. I look forward to doing another 10k, I really liked that distance when I did the one two weeks ago. So what's next?? Well I have been really thinking lately about how far I want to go with running and decided I want to keep going. I did join my local running club, I have not had a chance to run with them but home to soon.

 

 Last night I made the leap and committed to the next step... a 1/2 marathon. I signed up for the Rock and Sole Half Marathon in Milwaukee, WI for June.

Does it make me nervous, a little. But I know with continuous training I can do it. Again it is never the distance that scares me, but it's coming in last :). I am hoping some people I know might do this one with me, but if not I'll be prepared to pound the pavement alone! Who knows what runs I will do between now and then. I am hoping to fine a 15K or a 10 Miler. Not sure where I will go after that run either. I am hoping I will enjoy 1/2 and can keep doing them for awhile before contemplating a further distance, we'll see what the future brings.