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!

Like what you read?  Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!

Recap: Race with Grace 5k

Sunday was the annual Race with Grace 5k in Medina. Last year I ran it with the Kabyle Chef, but I knew that with his crazy hours he wouldn't be getting up early to run or walk 3.1 miles with me on his only day off, so this year I asked my friend Katie if I could run with her.  It was Katie's first race, and well, that's always a special moment.

I got there early so I could put in a few extra miles.  I only had time for two miles because our team had to meet for pictures, but hey--two miles is better than nothing, right?  After all this is taper week.

Did I mention this is taper week?

This is EXACTLY how I look during taper week.

I guess some of my team members saw me running before the race, and somehow a rumor went around that I ran to the race.  From Akron.  Yeah.  I guess there are worse rumors.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I run 13 miles from my house to a race.

Our team consists of high school staff members and their families.  We are called Team Brenda because we run to support Brenda Hufford's fight against cancer.  The race is in honor of Mary Grace, who was an active Medina Community member.  You can read about her struggle with breast cancer and the race's mission here.

Team Brenda 

We had a good showing this year; team Brenda raised over $1,200 for the Mary Grace Foundation.  I am so proud of my colleagues.

The best part of the day was running with Katie for her first race.  I remember my first race; it was the Mother's Day 5k in Munroe Falls. I remember how nervous I was the night before, and I remember how keyed up I was during the race, so I asked Katie if she would like me to run it with her, and she said yes.

To seal the deal, I gave her a running tattoo.  I'm not a tattoo person, but I do believe in war paint, so my tradition is to wear temporary tattoos when I'm racing.

I got this tat from Bondi.  Order yours as well as some headbands (see mine below?).  Make sure to use my code (TroubleRun) for a 10% discount.

Another team member, Jess, joined us, and the three of us chatted while we ran in the sun.  Katie was tough, and she managed to save enough in the tank for a kick to the end, which is always exciting.  I am so proud of her; it's not easy to train for any race, and it's not always fun, but Katie did it with class.  I hope this is just the beginning of her running journey.

Look at this Badass!  She ran a 5k!

After the race, I got a FREE chili cheese dog with my former principal, Paul.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I'm standing in line for a free chili cheese dog in the morning.  I'm on the right, by the way.

All in all, I can say that this race is such a fun experience for me.  The course is nice with just enough incline to make it interesting.  The food and entertainment are amazing for a small-town 5k.  The opportunity to run with my colleagues is even better.  The best part was that Katie allowed me to share the experience of her first race.  Katie, you are amazing.  I hope you had fun, and I hope this is something we can do again in the future.

Next year I want to find someone else who has never run a race.  Who will it be, Peeps?  I'm betting on one of my kids.

This Saturday is the big day: The Akron Marathon.  I am in taper mode, and it is UGLY.  If you want to find me before the race, look in a dark corner where I'll be rocking in the fetal position and crying. Until then, run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read?  Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!

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!

Like what you read?  Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!

Review: SLS3 Socks

This week  Shelby and I ran with a guest.

Meet Megan!

 My friend and fellow Cleveland Ambassador Melissa texted me on Friday night asking if her friend could run with us this weekend as she was training for her first marathon (like me!) and didn't have her training partner with her due to injury.  I said, "Sure, the more, the merrier!" and she met us at the start of our 16 miler on the Bike and Hike.

Megan is quite a bit younger than Shelby and me, so I was worried that our pace would be frustrating for her, but everything was great.  Megan fit right in to our pace and our groove, and she kept up her part in conversation.  We invited her to run with us anytime, including during the Akron Marathon.

I have been experimenting with different kinds of socks and compression gear lately (as if you hadn't noticed), and these past two weeks I have tried out a pair of SLS3 running socks. SLS3 sent them to me for free in exchange for a review, so I wore them on a short run of four miles, a trail run of ten miles, and my long run of sixteen miles.  Does it tell you anything when I write that after the trail run, I immediately went to Amazon and ordered a six pack of the socks?  I love them.  Here are some reasons why:

1.  The color!  These colors are bright and fun.  I usually wear black socks, and I sometimes feel like someone's grandpa when I wear them.  Check out the picture:

Cute, right?

2.  The fit.  I am a size 10 shoe, and I ordered the small.  Perfect!

Happy foot

3.  The wicking.  I sweat a LOT, and these socks didn't chafe or rub at all.  Plus, they felt light and comfortable on my feet.

4.  The price.  While my trial pair was free, I ordered on Amazon, and guess what? They are on sale!
Click here to check it out.  Major update, Peeps:  Use this code for $5.00 off!!!  DKJIJERK Don't ask why the word Jerk is in the code.  I don't want to think about it, honestly.

I even wore the socks for our family day at Cedar Point this weekend.

Of course you can't see the socks, but this picture is so dang cute I couldn't resist.  Look at the evil kid glaring at us over his shoulder.  Priceless.

These will be the socks I rock in the Akron Marathon in a few weeks.  I hope you have good socks for your upcoming races.  Until then, run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read?  Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!

Blue Line 20 Miler!

The moment I have been dreading anticipating had finally arrived this morning: my first 20 mile training run.  I saved this moment for the Vertical Runner/NEOFit Blue Line Run, an annual tradition in Akron where about 300 runners follow a shortened version of the Akron Half or Full Marathon by running the Blue Line painted on the course.

It is literally a blue line painted throughout Akron.

It is really a wonderful event.  Vertical Runner raffles an entry to the Akron Marathon, and NEOFit mans the fluid stations on the course, and it's all free!

I was nervous about this run because the longest run I had done previous to it was 17 miles.  I thought I would feel confident after completing the Ragnar WV Trail Relay, but actually I felt worse because I was worried that I might have jacked up my foot on the trail.  Plus, I had the most exhausting week EVER: three open houses + my daughter's first football game in the marching band.  I didn't go to the game, but I waited up until she got home around midnight.  I don't think I got more than four hours of sleep on any given night this week.  All of these factors combined made for a very anxious Stephani this morning at 7:00.

Do you see me in this picture?  You shouldn't because somehow I missed the photo-opp.

I ran with Shelby and Sydney for the first ten miles.  We took it nice and slow, stopping to fuel at the first NEOFit aid station at 6.5 miles.  We kept up our predicted marathon pace for a while, and at mile 10 Sydney decided to drop back.

Honestly, I felt great up until mile 15; then I started aching, and I could feel a lot chafing in areas where you really don't want to feel anything at all.  It was hot, and the hills were starting.  Shelby could sense that I was shutting down, so she tried to distract me by talking about food, which normally works.  This time, though, I just couldn't concentrate enough to talk or even think about anything.  I needed to "go dark," which is my way of shutting down and concentrating on my breathing and my body.  I told Shelby what I was doing, and luckily she understood.  I just concentrated on making it to the mile 17 aid station, where I would allow myself to fuel and stretch.

One of my goals for the marathon is to only walk during fueling, and today I failed.  There were three short hills in miles 16, 18, and 19 where I just needed to walk a bit.  In mile 16 I needed to stretch my hamstrings, so I walked to take long strides. In miles 18 and 19 I was in a lot of pain and I needed to take some walking breaks.  None of them lasted more than a quarter mile, but there it is.

We finished twenty miles in 3:35:54.  Not bad, really.  I felt terrible when we finished--dizzy, lots of pain in my calves and my chafing areas.  Shelby and I stretched while I drank a protein shake, and then we celebrated with a selfie:

Post 20 miler on the Blue Line with Shelby. Everything hurts and I'm dying. @akronmarathon @verticalrunner03 #akrun

A photo posted by Stephani Itibrout (@itibrout) on Aug 27, 2016 at 9:28am PDT

I would like to say that this run gave me a lot of confidence for the marathon, but it really hasn't.  The whole day I've been wondering how I can possibly do SIX-POINT-TWO MORE MILES than I did today.  Shelby reminded me that the weather will be much better at the end of September, and it is true that my runs are pretty much bound by the weather.  The responses to my social media posts have also shown me that others (who are much more experienced than I am) were in just as much pain, so maybe it isn't just me, and maybe this is a typical experience.  If so, I hope it bodes well for the marathon.

I have spent the day alternating between moving around and resting:

Recovery from my first 20 miler with my @bondi_band compression socks. Want some of your own? Discount with my code TroubleRun.

A photo posted by Stephani Itibrout (@itibrout) on Aug 27, 2016 at 9:23am PDT

And I finished my day with a dirty martini:




I'd like to thank Vertical Runner and NEOFit for a great event.  The volunteers were so great, and the water was cold! Now I'm going to "go dark" and stop analyzing everything I do. I've got four weeks until the race, and I will continue to do my best to train for it.

Until then, run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read?  Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!

Race Recap: Ragnar Trail Relay Appalachians WV

Jen.  She talked me into this, and because of her strength, I completed the race.

Last year in June I ran as part of an 8-person team in the Ragnar Trail Relay Appalachians WV.  There were a few problems, which you can read about here.  I knew that I had to go back and take the whammy off the race, so when the organizers moved the race to August (to avoid the monsoons) I took that as a sign. With Jen's encouragement, I formed an ultra team, the Mudtastic Muthas.

Leigh.  So strong and steady. She is tiny but fierce.

Joy.  She gutted out 29 miles with almost no training.  What a badass!

Ragnar Trail Relays are a bit different than other relay races, and they are especially different from their road relays.  There are three loops: Green (3.5 miles, easy), Yellow (4.5 miles, medium difficulty), and Red (6.5 miles, also called Mother of Crack.  I kid you not.), and each team member takes turns running one of the loops until every team member has run each loop.  We signed up as a 4-member ultra team, so we had to run every loop twice.  We decided to do it by combining loops; for example, my schedule was as follows:

Leg 1: 9:30 AM.  Green + Yellow. 8 miles.

Wait for Joy, Leigh, and Jen to complete two loops each.

Leg 2: 7:30 PM.  Red + Green. 10 miles.

Wait for team members to rotate through the loops.

Leg 3: 8:00 AM. Yellow + Red. 11 miles.

Trail runners know that it takes longer to run trails, especially at night, and especially when there are lots of hills, and boy, were there hills.  So. Many. Hills. In theory we were all supposed to have trained for this, but life got in the way, and none of us felt as prepared as we could have been.  I was pretty confident after my Burning River Relay last week, but I soon learned that this was hubris.

I continued my tradition of idiocy by getting us lost on the way to the campsite.  Just like last year.  We didn't make it there until 9:30 PM, but luckily Jen and Leigh had staked out a good site for us.  They helped us pitch my GINORMOUS tent (which got us a few smirks from the people camping around us).  I don't care.  I love my tent palace.

My tent is the green one.  It looks smaller here, but believe me,  it's the Taj Majal of tents!

We drank a quick beer and then got to bed.  I had the first leg at 8:30 AM, and I wanted to be fresh for it.  At 7:30 AM the skies opened up, and the evil poured down, exactly like last year.  Freaking Ragnar.  Freaking West Virginia.  The storms delayed the race start times by a half hour, and then I managed to delay our start time by another half hour because I was required to watch the safety video before I left.  GRRRRR. (That is my bear impression.)

The first leg (Green + Yellow) was muggy but manageable.  I felt relaxed, and I was really glad that the trail wasn't trashed from the rain.  Running through riverbeds and knee-deep, sucking mud was not my idea of safety last year.  This year is gonna be GREAT, I thought.

My second leg (Red + Green) was at night, and I was really looking forward to it.  I purposely tried to schedule myself for the night run on the Red Loop because I was so horrible and freaked-out about it last year.  I even bought a new headlamp and knuckle lights.  For one glorious moment my knuckle lights lit up the trail, and then they dimmed to a faint glow so I STILL couldn't see a damn thing.  GRRRRR. Getting through the Green Loop that night took everything I had.  And then I had the melt-down.  After handing off my belt to Joy, I told Jen and Leigh (who were kind enough to see me in and send off Joy), "That's it.  I'm done.  I don't know why I thought I could do this.  I can't.  I'm not trained.  I'm not doing my last leg.  I can't.  You guys don't have to even do this anymore.  I'm sorry I brought you into this."

Ok, at least I didn't cry.  I was pretty negative, though.  Jen and Leigh just smiled and told me to stretch out, hydrate, and go to sleep.  They were kind enough to assure me that I didn't drag them there; they were crazy enough to sign up on their own. After they went to bed, I went to the bonfire and ate a smore, watched some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, cocooned myself in a hammock, and thought about my life.  Then I went back to the tent, changed, and fell into an exhausted sleep.

When Leigh woke me to tell me that Jen had left for her leg, I felt better.  I decided that if I didn't finish the race I would never forgive myself.  I reminded myself why I wanted to run this. I decided that I was going to finish and be a badass ultra runner. I ate some breakfast and let it digest, and when Jen came back in, I was waiting for her.

The last leg was hard.  And miserable. And pretty awful.  I had decided to run without music, so it took everything I had to keep the Voices at bay. I fell once, and my Garmin crapped out, but I did it.  I finished the relay.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I'm pleased that I finished the relay.  On a side note, look at the woman over my shoulder.  

Most disgusting photo-bomb ever.

When I left the transition tent, I walked to the nearest shady area (the Salomon's tent), and I burst into tears.  Relief? Pain? Exhaustion? Dehydration?  Yes to all of them.  Then I hosed off, changed my clothes, and ate some food.

Here are some thoughts on the race itself:

Good: Kudos to Ragnar for making some changes to the race.  August was hot, but it was better than the cold rains of June.  Also, the catering company did a great job, and there was plenty of decent coffee and hot chocolate for the whole race. This time the portapotties were emptied sooner, and we never ran out of water.  These were all deal-breakers for me, and Ragnar fixed the problems.

Sign in the middle of Ragnar Village

Better: We all agreed that finishing each loop by running through the ultra-runners' tent city was the best part of each run.  The runners there cheered on every single runner at any time, day or night.  It was really uplifting.  During my last loop, a whole line of ultra runners were handing out shots just before the finish.  I didn't indulge because I didn't want to throw up on one of those kind people.  There was another tent-full of runners who were handing out beer to finishers just before the chute.  I didn't take that either, but I wish I had.  Honestly, the thought of running through the ultra-village was what kept me going each time at the end.  They were awesome!

Also, apparently there was a fabulous laser show in the pine forest on the Yellow Loop at night.  I missed that, but Joy and Leigh said it was cool.

The Pine Forest of the Yellow Loop during the day.  Imagine this at night with a laser show and a disco ball.

Best: The best part is that I met my goals, and I did it with my friends.  Thank you Jen, Joy, and Leigh for running this race with me.  Thank you for encouraging me, and thank you for putting up with my bullshit.  I promise I will never ask you to do this again.  I've scratched that itch.

We are the Mudtastic Muthas, and we ROCK!!!

Now I'm going to find something even tougher and scarier for us to do.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I'm thinking of something tougher and scarier to do.

Like what you read?  Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!

Race Recap: Burning River 8-person 100 Mile Relay

I am writing this post with about three hours sleep.  Last night I ran Leg 7 of the Burning River Relay with the Mother Runners.  The 16.1 mile leg starts at Pine Hollow and finishes at Botzum.  There are lots of hills and stream crossings in between.  So. Many. Hills.

I met many of the Mother Runners at the pasta dinner on Friday night.  They were super-nice and supportive, but that didn't alleviate my anxiety about looking like a rookie.  The margaritas helped, though.

Mother Runners before dinner.  We look like this when we run, too.

Originally we had predicted the start time for my leg to be at 10:17 PM.  I like running at night, and I don't mind trail running at night, so I purposely chose this leg in the relay.  Well, things happen in trail races, and at midnight I was sitting in my car thinking about my life choices:

This is EXACTLY how I look at midnight when I am re-thinking my life choices.

Three of the Mother Runner teams had decided to run together, and this wasn't necessarily a comfort to me.  Could I keep up with these women?  What if I fell? What if I couldn't handle 16 trail miles?

I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself (I'm sure nobody has ever noticed this about me), and I often have to remind myself that NOBODY IS THINKING ABOUT ME AT ALL.  This often helps me to chill out and JUST DO IT.




At 1:00 AM, I was still waiting, and then the drama started: One of the three women with whom I was running Leg 7 lost her mind and punked out on the race.  Just handed me her bib and bailed.

WTF.

I had to text my team captain to let her know.  I felt terrible for her team because they had to take care of it, but my other Leg 7 partner Didi and I agreed that we were glad we wouldn't be running with her for 16.1 miles since she was a piece of work.

Leg 6 runners handed off to Didi and me around 1:10, and we were off.  Didi is just a damned kid, by the way, so I had to tell her to remember that I'm an old lady and rein it in somewhat. She was a fabulous running partner--very kind and very chill.  We kept each others' spirits up, and I think we were BADASSES.  The last 1.5 miles were on the road and Towpath, and we decided to pull out all the stops.  I'm really proud to say that I was running 9:17 miles at the end.  The runner's high was incredible; I think I could have done a few more miles.

This gave me a lot of confidence for my future Akron Marathon and more importantly for next week's Ragnar Trail Relay in West Virginia.  I've been dissecting the run, trying to figure out why I felt so good, and I think I've pinpointed three reasons:

1.  Freaking BADASS and awesomely-zen running partner.

2.  Temps were just right--mid fifties with low humidity.

3.  Since Saturday morning, I had not stopped stuffing my face.  Seriously, I ate EVERYTHING: pasta, zucchini, tomatoes, avocados, cucumbers, green beans, roasted turkey. . .also ice cream. I didn't manage to really take a good nap on Saturday, so I think the food carried me through.  I ate a few cookies and a small triangle of grilled cheese, and I drank ginger ale at the two aid stations, and that fueled me better than GU. I need to remember to eat more at Ragnar; I know I didn't fuel sufficiently last year.

Anyway, this was a wonderful experience, and if the Mother Runners invite me back, I intend to choose Leg 7 again. . .unless I decide to try for a 4-person relay.  What????

Thank you to all the volunteers in this race; you are the soul of the race, and I was so grateful for your cheerfulness (and ginger ale) in the wee hours of the morning.  Thank you to the Mother Runners for including me in this empowering experience.  Thank you Didi, for sticking with me.

To conclude, Peeps, I suggest you take my friend Shia LaBeouf's advice.  You may be surprised at what you can achieve.  Until then, run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read?  Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!