My First Marathon

To give you an idea of my luck, here is my Facebook post from the morning of the Akron Marathon:

Just like before the Rite Aid Cleveland Half Marathon, I watched my carefully laid plans blow up one by one.  This is my life.

I was surprisingly calm during taper and just before the race, but my stomach was churning.  I took lots of pre-race selfies with The Ohio Runner's Network and with my running partners, Shelby and Megan.

Shelby and I are at the expo.

TORN in the morn

Megan, me, and Shelby pre-race

The corral line up was very smooth, and though we were worried we were going to have to dodge walkers, there were enough corrals that we had nothing to worry about. Corral C is for me!

The first twelve miles were fine.  Megan, Shelby, and I had great conversation while trying to slow down our pace.  We met some interesting people.  When the split off came for the half and the full, I thought I would be upset, but I really wasn't.  At that point I made up a game: I planned to stop at any restaurant that was open rather than finish the race, but since it was early, I had to keep going until I hit the next restaurant. This kept me going for quite a while, and Shelby and Megan were happy to play along.

I had the best surprise around mile 16.  My friend and colleague, Rob,  lives on the blue line, and he threw a party in which he invited our mutual friends and colleagues for the race.  I passed them at mile 16, and I screamed, "I f----king got this!!!!" while I high-fived all of my friends.  I felt awesome.

Fabulous signs!

I came pretty close to my house around mile 18, and I contemplated just running to my house to nap and eat, but Shelby told me I would never forgive myself and that I would have to run this marathon again, so I forged on.  At mile 19 I saw my fellow Cleveland Ambassador Melissa, who, even though I was sweaty and salty and disgusting, gave me a huge hug.  I really needed her then, and that hug kept me going.

Running through Stan Hywet Gardens

Smiling in West Akron

At mile 22 I was ready to call it a day.  It didn't matter that I "only" had 4.2 miles to go; I didn't care.  I hated my life, and I hated the race.  That was when Jess and Erin showed up to "run me to the party" as I was passing Rob's house again.  As we ran together, I said, "This is so f--king hard, guys.  I don't know if I can do this." Erin and Jess told me I was strong and I was going to finish and if it was hard it was because it was worth it.  I kept going to the party where I saw everyone cheering for me.  As I ran away from my friends, I was crying.

I know this is sappy, but I have rarely counted on anyone to ever know or care what is going on in my life.  My training for the marathon was barely a blip on my family's radar because I made sure it didn't inconvenience them in the slightest.  People don't watch me finish races. I am usually the person who takes the pictures of others when they finish. I try not to talk too much about training on social media; I save it for this blog so people can choose to know or not know.  I realize that I am often a pain in the ass at work and in my basically-nonexistent social life, and people tend to tune me out.  You can understand then why this was a big deal to me.  I NEVER in my life thought I would ever have someone travel any distance at all to see me.  I cried because this was a moment where I felt someone cared about me.  It's a big deal, Peeps.

I have the best friends ever. Jess, Katie, Sharon, Erin, and Sherri

Anyway, I have to tell you about someone else who cared enough to keep me going.  Sheila, the head of The Ohio Runner's Network (and Shelby's sister) came out on her bike around mile 16 and followed us for a few miles, ringing a cowbell, blowing a bird whistle, and cheering.  She was a great bright spot.  I especially enjoyed watching Megan's reaction, as she had never met Sheila before, and she didn't know what it meant to cheer as a T0RN SUPERFAN.  Megan told me she thought Sheila was amazing, and I agree with her.

Sheila reappeared at the "party block" and followed us to the end.  There were hills.  Lots of hills.  There were many times between mile 22 and the end where I felt like I would just walk the rest. . . but I didn't.  As soon as we hit route 18, Shelby was "smelling the barn," and she wanted in the worst way to pull ahead.  I told her to go, but she held back.  Sheila knows me, and she shouted at me as she rode next to me, telling me to get out of my head and just concentrate on my legs.

This may be my favorite photo of the race:

I'm going to finish this race.  I got this.

See Sheila in the pink?  I couldn't have continued without her. I love this photo because I think it accurately depicts the struggle I had to finish.  You can see that I'm battling demons, both physical and psychological, and you can see Sheila is helping me.  I also like my legs in this pic.  By the way, the pink is my FlipBelt. My husband pointed out that it looks like I was wearing saggy shorts.  I wasn't.

I made it to the finish, and I managed to smile for the cameras when I saw that my friend and fellow Cleveland Marathon Ambassador Andrew was waiting for me at the chute. . .holding out a beer.

Andrew is in the blue and the sunglasses. Notice I did NOT take the beer.

Andrew has been giving me a lot of flack about refusing the beer, saying it would have been the best finish line pic ever.  I still think it's pretty damned awesome.  Andrew ran the half, so he was waiting a LONG time for me to come in, and I really appreciate it.  When I crossed the finish, I felt awful; I didn't know if I wanted to vomit or cry or walk or collapse.  I hugged Shelby and Megan, and I followed Andrew away from the finish, where he walked with me to the food tent and got me settled on the lawn so I could stretch.  I am not a fast runner, and this was my first marathon, so I really appreciate Andrew waiting for me.  It must have been super difficult drinking tons of cheap beer in the sunshine.

Shelby and Megan caught up to me after getting their food, and we sat together for a while.  I thought  I would feel victorious and euphoric and giddy, but I really just felt drained and sweaty and stinky.  Running a marathon was the most difficult thing I have ever done.  It was more difficult (and took more time!) than birthing both of my kids.  It took physical effort, but it took a whole lot more mental/psychological effort.  I am glad I did it, but I really didn't feel that way right after the race.  I ate lunch with TORN, but I wasn't really feeling that either, so I went home in time to help my daughter with her Homecoming preparations.

I learned a lot during these four months of training.  I learned that I like marathon training--more than I like marathon running.  I learned that I am physically very strong, and I learned that mentally I am much stronger than I often believe.  I learned that I have people who care about me, and sometimes I can relax and rely on friends.  Old friends are awesome (Shelby, I love you, man; you rock), but it's always possible to make new friends (Thank you, Megan, for running this race with us), even when you don't like people in general.  Hey, you had to know that I wasn't going to keep this sappy.  I gotta be me.

Will I run another marathon?  Hmmmm. . .

This is EXACTLY how I look after running a marathon.

That is something I'll have to decide later when the race amnesia sets in a little more.  Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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A Snapping Turtle Meaner than Me

Megan and I ran 13 miles on the Towpath last Sunday.  The weather was perfect, but the run seemed difficult because we were both wondering how we were going to DOUBLE that mileage and then add .2 FREAKING miles in a few weeks.  Shelby tells me not to think about it, but it's hard to turn off the crazy, you know what I'm saying?

The monster snapping turtle helped distract us from our angst:

Seriously, he was YUGE!

He was blocking half of the Towpath, and we were afraid to cross in front of him because snapping turtles have those long, snakelike necks AND we thought he might lunge for us.  It was an existential problem, too: Can I really run faster than a turtle?

I was too afraid to find out.

Then, a man ran past us, totally in the zone with his earbuds, didn't even look at the turtle, and ran right in front of him.  Nada.  He left with all his toes intact.  So, after some nervous squealing, we ran as fast as we could past the turtle.  He looked pissed, but he didn't try to bite us.

Stephani and Megan: 1, Turtle: 0

We began our run with members of TORN (The Ohio Runners Network), and I caught up with them at Szalay's later when I bought some corn.

Notice that I am the blogger, but I am the ONLY ONE who never knows where the camera is.

Other fun surprises:

My Ragnar belt buckle arrived!  It is so heavy!

Also, I know you never see me without a Bondi Band (Click here to order from them and use my code, TroubleRun, for a discount), so here is a recent picture when the Kabyle Chef actually took a night off and we had dinner out:

My hair is purplish-pink now!  I love it!

Speaking of dinner, I really need to regain control of my eating.  I've stopped my nightly glass of wine with dinner (since the Chef isn't there to enjoy it with me), but I've replaced it with ice cream.

Alas.

I fear the taper will not help this situation.

How is your taper going, Peeps?  Ready to kill anyone yet?  Have you eaten all your kids' candy bars?  No? Just me, huh?

Well, I hope you do better than I traditionally do.  Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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Recap: Ohio Outdoor Series Race #2

After a week of Parent/Teacher Conferences and a presentation in Columbus, I ran the second race in the Ohio Outside Trail Series in Munroe Falls. I am really, really tired, Peeps.  I was in bed by 8:30 on Friday night to wake up at 6:30 for the race.

I really wasn't feeling it much.  I dragged my butt around the house until I HAD to get in the car, and I arrived at 8:05 for an 8:30 start.  As I walked quickly to the bathroom (only one person waiting in the women's line!), a woman who was walking next to me looked at me and RAN AHEAD so she could be in the line ahead of me.  Seriously.  Now I was miffed.  Then she wanted to make general conversation while waiting, but I wasn't having it.  I collected my bib and my beer glass and went back to my warm car to wait it out.  No socializing for me.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I don't want to get out of my warm car.

I lined up at the very last second.  Right next to me was Tracy, who told me that she hadn't decided whether she was going to run or race, which was exactly my dilemma, too.  When we took off, I decided that the chilly air actually felt really good for racing, and so I made my decision.  The trail was swept clean of leaves, and the packed dirt was perfect for running.  I especially liked the downhill parts this time because I didn't see a lot of rocks and roots, and I allowed myself to open up. Just like last time, the finish came quicker than I expected (weird GPS stuff going on), so I was pleased to see the steps that led to the flat sprint at the finish.

Pretty finish along the lake

I actually shaved over a minute off my time from the first race in the series!

This is EXACTLY how I look when I shave over a minute off my time.

I attribute it to the cold weather (lower forties/upper thirties seem to be the best racing temperatures for me) and the fact that I know the course a little better.  I was able to push myself on the hills because I knew the downhills were coming shortly after.  In any case, I'm happy with my time, and I'm super happy with the two carrot cookies I shoved in my pie-hole immediately after the race.  Seriously, they are that good.

Today I ran ten miles with Mandy, who is great at picking new spots for us.  We started at the Mustill Store in downtown Akron, and we turned around about a half-mile past the Wilbeth Road Trailhead.  This took us past Summit Lake, which I had never seen before.

Summit Lake

We had all different surfaces to run: pavement, road, soft track, dirt.  We even ran across a few bridges:

See the birds?  Mandy was freaked, but I felt like they were our honor guards.

The best part was running the last mile completely downhill.  I forgot that I was sore and tired and hungry, and I let it all go.  Totally worth climbing that hill in the first mile.

Our reward was the potluck dinner for The Ohio Runners Network, which will be the subject of next week's post.  Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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Race Recap: Akron Half Marathon

I was more horrified than excited about running the Akron Half Marathon this year.  On Expo day, the text messages and Facebook posts were flying around.  When Peeps asked me how I was feeling, this was my post:

Stuck at work, no cardio today, and I just realized I'm running 13.1 tomorrow!

 I didn't have time to linger at the Expo because I had my kids with me, and they were registered for the Fun Run, but I did get a burst of anticipation from being there:

This was my third time running the Akron Half Marathon.  It is part of the new Rubber City Series, and both the marathon and half marathon routes are completely different.

Holy Hills!

When I ran the Blue Line practice event, sponsored by Vertical Runner, I wasn't impressed with the half marathon route.  It seemed deserted and ugly.  I had written in my review post that I hoped Akron could fill up that route with some interesting bands because I didn't think the crowds would be there.  I was partially correct.

I still think the route was mostly boring and ugly.  Some people didn't like the hills, but I didn't mind them until I got to mile 10, and then I was toast.  More on that later.  There were some highlights to the half marathon part of the route:

Starting line before we lined up

The start to the race was awesome.  There was some really exciting music with an inspirational speech as we walked toward the line.  Normally I'm pretty cynical about that kind of stuff, but I got super-emotional as I listened to it.

Before the start, I met up with as many of my Peeps as I could find:

Some of my fellow Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Ambassadors

The Ohio Runners Network

Jen and me.  No, we are not sideways.  You are imagining it.

How did I get assigned to Corral A?  What am I doing here???

I felt great during the first eight miles of the course.  That should have been a sign that things weren't going to go my way later, but honestly, when I checked my pace, I was usually between 8:49 and 9:01.  I did lose it a bit at miles 6 and 7, but I was never slower than 9:23 for those miles, and I regrouped for miles 8 and 9.  I didn't even stop for the Milkshake Mile or this guy:

Mile 3: The Beer Mile!

One of the many pluses of the race series is the volunteers.  They were enthusiastic and LOUD, which is what all runners need.  Thank you, all volunteers, for giving your time for us.  In many places of the course, the volunteers outnumbered and out-shouted the spectators, even in some residential areas.  God, I miss Firestone Park.

This next part is a little difficult to write:  

When I got to mile 10, I had had enough.  I couldn't take ONE. MORE. HILL. and I suspected/half-remembered that there were more to come.  I had done a good job of getting my act together in previous miles by counting my breaths (in, in, in, out, out) and chanting (relax-er, runner, easier, runner, I am strong, runner, I feel strong, runner), but I just couldn't seem to do it.  I started to call on my father for strength, and then I realized that my father isn't strong; he's dead.  I know that sounds weird, but remember that I have been avoiding dealing with this for exactly three months (on the day of the race).  I started to cry, and then I promised myself a good, long, cleansing cry as soon as I crossed the finish line IF I made my time goal.  I sucked it up and moved on, but the times got longer as more hills arrived, and I felt pain in my legs for the first time in months.  My worst mile was 12 with a 9:43; I looked at my watch and I lost hope.  I went back to 9:17 for mile 13, and I even did an 8:45 pace for the last .21 miles (even on the stupid blanket on the field), but I knew I didn't make it.

I didn't even make my time from last year.

I'm not gonna lie: I'm disappointed, but deep down I know that I didn't do the speedwork I should have done.  I had a lot to deal with this summer, and I let it interfere with my training.  I'm going to give myself a break and remind myself that the course was much more difficult than last year's course.  I did the best I could with what I had in me.

The after-party was fabulous.  My fellow CLEMarathon Ambassador Andrew and I stretched, ate some recovery food, and scarfed up non-drinkers' beer tickets while we waited for the rest of our friends to finish.  Did you know that four Michelob Ultras are only 384 calories?  At least Michelob Ultra has that going for it.  

How many beers in was this? I dunno.  Erin isn't counting either.

Shout outs go to fellow CLEMarathon Ambassador Jamie and TORN friend Shelby who both ran their first road marathons.  They both had strong finishes; I am proud and jealous.

All in all, the Rubber City Series is definitely worth running.  Just because I didn't like the course doesn't mean that there aren't others who do.  The race directors planned a quality experience for the runners from the expo to all the volunteers to the finish line party.  I plan to run the series next year, but I think the Universe has been telling me that I need to pursue a new goal: next year the marathon.  Gulp.

I'm looking forward to some easy, relaxed runs as soon as my leg stops cramping. Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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Running with Friends

In my going-on-four-years of Running away from Trouble, I've learned that running friends can not only help you run away from trouble, but they also can keep you out of trouble in the first place.

I started my running journey with the Towpath Turtles, a group dedicated to preparing new runners to run the Akron Half Marathon.  From them, I learned how to pace myself so I could run farther than two miles at a time.  With their gentle encouragement, and with the sometimes not-so-gentle-encouragement of our coach, Sheila, I ran my first half marathon in September 2012.  Read about my time as a Turtle here.

The Towpath Turtles at the Lyndhurst Perfect 10-Miler in 2012

I graduated from running with the Turtles to running any time and distance I liked with fellow members of The Ohio Runner's Network.  Through the years, I have come to depend on these Peeps for my Sunday long, slow distance runs and for camaraderie in races.  These are just a few of the many memory shots I have with my TORN Peeps:

Shelby, Me, and Jen, looking into the sunlight

TORN runners at the 2014 Tryptophan Run 

Towpath Turtles at the 2013 Mother's Day 5k

Heather and I run the 2015 Shamrock.

Renee and I are trail running!

Joy and I are warming up before the 2015 Canton Gold Jacket 5k.

Shelby and I set a goal for the half marathon.

TORN at 2014 Lyndhurst Perfect 10-Miler

TORN at 2014 Medina Half Marathon

Bay Days 2014

I'll tell you a little secret, and you may find it shocking: I don't really like people much.  Wait, why are you laughing?

I think it's because I spent sixteen years in the food service industry, which I was really good at, but it REALLY made me hate people.  Oddly enough, I love my job, which is teaching teenagers.  Teens are awesome; at any moment your average sixteen year old is feeling more hormonal than I am on my worst day.  I'm not being ironic when I say I really enjoy working with teenagers, their drama, their sincerity, their craziness; however, because of the amount of energy I spend at work, it takes a conscious effort for me to make sure I don't have Resting Bitch Face when I am around people.  I decided a long time ago that I didn't need new friends; I'm just fine with the friends who have decided to stick with me.

Until now.

As a Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Ambassador, I was able to connect with other bloggers/runners who were so different from me (and from each other) and yet so familiar.  I have been following their blogs for almost a year now (some longer than that), and we all got to know each other through our writing and later in person.  What I found was an additional support group, something I didn't know I needed or wanted.

Each Ambassador has an interesting story to share, and I enjoyed meeting them in person after reading all about them.  When my performance in the half marathon was disappointing at best, especially when I compared my results to their fabulous PR's, the group seemed to know what to say and what to post to make me feel less angry and sulky.  I think the funniest post in our Facebook group was from Andrew (@andrewrunsalot), who posted a race pic of himself in genuine agony and invited us to caption it.

At our first meet-up

Start of the race

VIP reception

 It turns out that I can still meet new friends, and these friends have so much to teach me.  I look forward to following them in their pursuit of their goals, and I look forward to future races and meet-ups together.  Thank you, Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, for giving me this opportunity!

To my "old" friends: Thank you for sticking by me, even when I insist on running alone.  To my "new" friends:  Thank you for being so positive and such great role models for me.  This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

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Pro Football HOF Relay and a Giveaway!

Beast Mode 5 got the job done on Sunday, 4/26, the day of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Relay.  It was my first experience with a relay, and I'm glad it was this particular race.

I was a bit worried about running my 10k leg (#1) because I had run the Gold Jacket 5k the day before, and I ran it hard enough to just miss a PR.

I know I had written that I was going to go bright and early to Belden Village to take the shuttle, but Michael (Leg 3) lives just across the park from the starting line, so we parked at his house and I used the park as a warm up.

This is Michael.  He saved us from shivering in a parking lot at 4:00 AM.

We met the other members of The Ohio Runners Network (TORN) on the Hall of Fame steps for a photo op:

We are fresh and ready!

And then we got a special Beast Mode 5 pic:

Check out the headbands. Beast Mode 5: Does the name scare you?  NO????

After that we waited for the start.  And waited.  Unfortunately, the lines for the shuttle were super long, and rather than start without all of those people, Jim chose to give them another ten minutes.  I think that's a really difficult call for a race director to make because you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.  Some people were really cold, but I felt ok because the sun was coming out and I was crammed next to a bunch of runners in the corral.  Plus, I was excited.

If you read my post about the Gold Jacket 5k, you know that I was irritated that I couldn't get around the walkers in the first mile of the race.  I was really worried that I would have the same problem, and because I was the first leg of the relay I didn't want to screw up our team by having a slow start.  Luckily, starting in the 9:00/mile corral was exactly what I needed; I was able to get into my groove soon after crossing the starting gate.

I felt great running my 10k leg.  The course had a few small hills, but nothing a Beast Mode 5 team member couldn't handle.  I stayed at a pace I thought I could handle for six miles and still push myself at the end, and as a result, I PR'd the 10k by over three minutes!  Unfortuately, my time isn't officially recorded because even though I crossed a finish mat,  the slap bracelet I was wearing didn't register my individual leg--just the overall time of the team.  I'm disappointed, but at least I know what I can do for my next 10k (Akron Rubber City Series).

The exchange points were really well-organized, but that didn't stop Beast Mode 5 from screwing it up right away.  I lost at least 30 seconds, maybe a minute, because I couldn't find Brad.  I suspect he was in the Port a Potty, but I would never say that publicly.  Oh wait. . .

I guess I did say that publicly. Way to go, Brad!

Anyway, Brad, Michael, and Mandy were awesomely speedy in running their legs, but I still had a few hours to wait for Joy to come in.  The day was beautifully bright, but there was a cold, cold wind blowing.  Luckily, I had brought a change of pants and I already had my amazing finisher's blanket, which I immediately wrapped around myself while I huddled on the field and ate some food.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I'm huddling on the field with a blanket and a hoodie.

Great food, by the way:  Subway sandwich, spicy rice chips, Caveman bar, bananas, chocolate milk.  Yum!

When it was time for Joy to come in, we were waiting for her at the entrance to the stadium for our relay team finish, and it was fabulous!  We loved running in together while the announcer called our team name.

Beast Mode 5 races in.  What you don't know is that my pants were falling down here.  What a dork.

We collected our medals and posed for our post-race pic:

Tired, dirty, and happy

Would I do this again?  Yep!  I loved running with a team, and this was a fun race to try.  The pluses: the course (challenging, some nice residential parts), the medals (sooo awesome), the food, the finisher's blanket (soft and warm!).  The minuses:  the unexpected wait at the start, no record of times on individual legs.  I think these could be easy fixes when Jim gets together with his team to plan for next year.  I do have one more suggestion that would have made the cold wind, the wait, and the lack of an individual finish time much more bearable: BEER.  Michael, Brad, and I agreed that beer would have really helped us feel better about waiting in the cold wind for Mandy and Joy, but it certainly isn't a deal breaker as there are a lot more positives than negatives about the race.  Maybe I'll bring a deck of cards while I'm waiting next time.  And a space heater.

I'd like to thank Jim Chaney for giving me the opportunity to blog for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon, Half Marathon, and Relay.  I hope this is only the beginning of our partnership, and I intend to continue blogging about the Gold Jacket 5k when I run another one.  Would you like to run one with me?  You have a few more days left in my Giveaway.  Enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


This week I ran my last long run until the Rite Aid Cleveland Half Marathon.  Eleven miles (eight of them on the trails), and I'm ready to collapse.  My taper starts. . . NOW.


Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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