Flying Pig Half Marathon Weekend!!
So, I survived! Not only that, but I had an amazing time!
Friday night, we dropped the dog off at Mike's parents' for the weekend. It's like going to doggy camp for him...he gets to run around and play with all the other dogs for a couple of days. Plus, Mike's mom was planning to groom him for us. Which was a good thing, because he was starting to look like a ragamuffin. As soon as we got there, he took off playing with the others. We stayed and chatted with them for a bit, then headed home. Spent the evening doing one last load of laundry and packing up some stuff, then passed out.
Saturday, my alarm went off at 6:30. Ick. I got up and showered, then woke up Mike. He went and got McDonald's breakfast for us (my first indulgence in a week...I ate mostly un-processed food and definitely avoided junk and fast food). Yummy. We packed up the rest of our stuff and got on the road by 8:00. Driving through Ohio takes forever, but we had a good time. We only had to stop a couple of times, but it was nice to get out of the car and stretch my legs for a few minutes. After we passed Dayton, I called Luis and he gave me directions to the expo in Cincinnati.
Once there, we picked up my packet and met up with him. He went off to find a few more of the forum members, and we continued through the expo. They activated my timing chip, then we wandered through and got my bag, poster, and t-shirt (yay for free swag!). We met up with everyone back at the front doors, and sorted out who was riding with who back to Luis' house. Jenny (who is like a legend on the forum...this chick runs 100 mile weeks for fun) ended up with us. She is awesome! She's so laid back, and we joked about how we both wanted ponies and chatted away the entire ride. I like her a lot. She's fabulous. It felt like I had known her for years, and she eventually commented that she felt the same later on. We hung out at Luis' for a few hours with him and his daughter (Jordan, who was pretty cool), Xanthe, Kevin, Chris, Bill, and Jenny. Luis lives about 10 minutes outside of Cincy, in Kentucky, and it was absolutely beautiful out there. We all got ourselves together and headed back into the city for the big forum dinner at Buca di Beppo. While waiting outside for everyone, we met Lee (another well-known forumite). Our group took up three long tables, and we parked ourselves at the end of the first one. We were joined by Dan (who is also awesome). We dubbed ourselves the "smart ass table". Mike, Lee, and Dan were cracking jokes and had me laughing so hard I cried. Dinner was amazing. We ordered several dishes for the whole table, and just split them. I ended up eating ravioli and spaghetti, and even had a piece of salmon. Good pre-race dinner. Yum. It was cool to finally put faces and personalities to the forum names. After dinner, Mike and I ended up standing outside talking to Dan for like another hour. We got back to Luis', where we sat around the dining room table with him, Jordan, Lee, Jenny, and Jennifer (another forumite who was staying there). We chatted it up until about 10:30, when we finally decided bed would be a good idea. It was hard to say goodnight, because we were having so much fun talking and getting to know each other. We finally got to bed and I think I fell asleep a little after 11. I woke up several times during the night (I had been drinking plenty of water and Gatorade to hydrate).
Sunday morning, my alarm went off at 4:20. I set it for 10 minutes earlier so that I could hit the snooze, but once it went off I was wide awake. I got up, brushed my teeth, and changed. People were slowly getting up and wandering into the kitchen. I ate a banana (we were trying to leave as close to 5 as possible, and I didn't want to cram too much into my tummy), then finished getting ready. Packed a bag with stuff for the race and clothes for afterwards (pants, sweatshirt, body glide, etc.), attached my timing chip to my shoe, and threw on my running jacket. It was almost 60 degrees, with a light rain. Nothing too bad. Jenny opted to stay at the house (she wasn't racing, she just came for the weekend to meet everyone and cheer us on), since standing in the rain for a few hours wasn't really appealing (I don't blame her). So we said goodbye to her and piled into cars to take off for the city. We parked on the Kentucky side of the river and crossed one of the huge bridges to meet up with everyone. Took a few pictures, then I attached my bib (race number) to my shorts. Jennifer and I debated about whether to ditch our jackets, but opted to keep them on since it was still drizzling. We trooped on down to the starting area, and decided to make a pit stop at the port-a-potties. I said goodbye to Mike, and he wished me luck.
I lost Jennifer at the potty stop, so I just waded my way into the massive crowd:
(Mike took these by climbing on a wall, taking the first one toward the starting line - you can see the arch of balloons up in the distance - then turning and taking the second one toward the back....and these don't even show everyone.)
The gun went off at 6:30 on the dot. There were so many people that it took over 7 minutes to cross the starting line mats (the mats are what read the chip on your shoe). As we neared the start, everyone finally started running slowly. The interesting this is that at no time did I really feel nervous. I thought I'd be all jittery and anxious before it started, but I never was. I was so far back in the pack that I spent the first couple of miles weaving my way around slower runners and walkers (though I heard that people pretty far up front also had to work their way around plenty of walkers, which is weird because those people are supposed to start toward the back). We wound our way through the streets, then crossed over one of the huge bridges. The rain had stopped just before the start, and I ended up taking off my jacket shortly after the first mile. It was still overcast, but warm (and humid) enough to comfortably run in shorts and a singlet. I had decided to carry a water bottle, at least for the beginning of the race, because Luis had warned us that the first couple of water stops were always quite a clusterfuck. This paid off, because I could sip at will, and got to skip the madness. We trotted our way through the streets of Kentucky, then crossed back over another HUGE bridge into Ohio. I could actually feel the bridge moving under me from the force of thousands of pounding feet. It was so weird.
There were some minor hills at the beginning (the Pig is known for its wicked hills), but mile 6 is the start of a serious 3 mile climb. Somewhere just after mile 7, I looked at a guy next to me and said "Screw this hill". He started laughing and offered me a Gu, saying "Here, take this. It'll help. I have a bunch of them.". I thanked him and pushed on ahead, debating whether to actually take it. One of the main rules of racing is that you do not wear or ingest anything you did not during training (i.e. no brand new outfit that comes out on race day for the first time...if you drank water and Gatorade, don't pick up a Powerade during the race, etc.), and I had never tried Gu. We had a whole conversation about it the night before, and Jenny made the comment that she hates it because it has the consistency of snot. Well, I was fading a little, so I decided to try half of the packet (the packets are surprisingly big!). I ripped it open, put my thumb about halfway down, and squeezed the contents into my mouth. Then I spent about 30 seconds trying to decide whether to spit it out or swallow it and risk throwing up. Jenny was right!! It was disgusting!! I think it was a combination of the the consistency (jelly like, but just viscous enough to really be similar to snot, I swear), the definite saltiness, and the flavor (lemon...blech). I ended up swallowing it and chugged half my water bottle. Once it was down, it was fine. But the next water stop, I did grab a cup of Gatorade to get the awful taste out of my mouth. From there on out, I was fine. It worked..the Gu pepped me up and helped...but oh man. Blech.
Somewhere in that mile, I also saw Elvis. I don't remember what he was singing, but he was definitely the, uh, chubby Elvis version. Just before mile 8, we swung out to the Overlook, which gives a gorgeous view of the city. We could see the river, and all the houses and buildings in the side of the massive hills across it. Beautiful. It made the climb worth it. Right around mile 9, we split off from the marathoners. They ducked off to the right, and we continued down and around a curve. Finally, the endless climb was done, and the road suddenly dropped off into a huge downhill. I joked with some nearby women about tripping and taking out many runners rolling down the hill. One of them was running at about my pace, so we ended up chatting as we trotted down the hill. Her name was Deena and she was a med student in TN. She was super nice, and we ended up running and talking until we hit the 12 mile marker. She could tell I was ready to push the pace a little, and told me to go on ahead. We wished each other good luck, then I took off through the final mile. I glanced at my Garmin a few time and was easily pushing a sub-8 minute/mile pace. They made us go down and make a final right turn....then there was a small hill. Damn!!! I pushed through that...and Finish Swine (the Pig version of a finish line) appeared up ahead. Glorious!! It was the most beautiful sight in the world.
I crossed the line, unsure of what my finishing time was. I had forgotten to stop my Garmin, and the official clock was counting from gun time. Since I had started over 7 minutes after gun time, I wasn't sure what they would clock for me. One of the race director guys was standing just past the finish, and he shook my hand and congratulated me. A nice lady handed me my finisher's medal, and another handed me a mylar blanket (which was great because after that much effort, stopping made me feel pretty cold). I wandered my way through the chute, getting a cup of Gatorade and a cup of water, then a full bottle of water. I stopped and put my foot up on a milk crate, and the kid sitting there clipped off my timing chip and threw it into a box. The chute continued, until we were outside. Either side was lined with tables. First they had more bottles of water, then fruits (apples, bananas, orange slices), then bags of chips, then bagels. There might have been more, but I was lost in a haze at that point.
After wandering aimlessly for a while, I finally spotted Mike. He was disappointed that he had missed seeing me cross the finish, but was super proud of me for finishing.
The fabulous thing about this medal is that the front side is the piggy's face...and the back side is the piggy's butt!!
We went down to the riverfront, where they had booths set up selling odds and ends. Mike stopped and bought some hot dogs (no way could I eat so soon), then we bough me a Flying Pig zip-up hoodie. I wobbled my way around (pretty much my knees did not want to bend anymore), and we met up with some of the others. Then we headed back to Luis'.
I chatted with Jenny for a bit after we returned, while Mike ran to the store. Then I jumped in the shower. Nothing feels better after a hard race effort, when you return feeling sweaty and gritty, than a hot shower. I found that I had a welt on my chest from my sports bra. Apparently the bottom band was rubbing against my skin, but I never felt any pain or discomfort. I had no idea it was there. Then the hot water hit it. Ow!!! I got clean, put on fresh clothes, and went to hang out with the others. Several runners came by Luis' for the post-race party, and we had a great time talking and eating. After one last picture, it was time to get in the car for the long drive home.
The drive home was long, and we stopped a couple of times so I could stretch my achy, tight legs. The hills made my knees hurt something fierce. But I felt good. I was pretty much floating for the rest of the day. We picked up Neo (who looks great with his new haircut) and chatted with his parents for a bit. They both told me how proud they were of me, and Mike's dad had even printed off my results from online for me. We came home and relaxed for a bit....then it was bed time. A good night's sleep did wonders, and I felt much better when I got up yesterday. My legs are still a little tight today, but I'm going to stretch them and go for a very easy, gentle run here in a few.
Oh yea....my finishing time? 2:16:11
(P.S. For those who don't know, a half marathon is 13.1 miles.)
Woo!!!
So there you have it. My weekend...in a long, yet still brief, nutshell. I hope you all had an amazing weekend, too.
Love!
Friday night, we dropped the dog off at Mike's parents' for the weekend. It's like going to doggy camp for him...he gets to run around and play with all the other dogs for a couple of days. Plus, Mike's mom was planning to groom him for us. Which was a good thing, because he was starting to look like a ragamuffin. As soon as we got there, he took off playing with the others. We stayed and chatted with them for a bit, then headed home. Spent the evening doing one last load of laundry and packing up some stuff, then passed out.
Saturday, my alarm went off at 6:30. Ick. I got up and showered, then woke up Mike. He went and got McDonald's breakfast for us (my first indulgence in a week...I ate mostly un-processed food and definitely avoided junk and fast food). Yummy. We packed up the rest of our stuff and got on the road by 8:00. Driving through Ohio takes forever, but we had a good time. We only had to stop a couple of times, but it was nice to get out of the car and stretch my legs for a few minutes. After we passed Dayton, I called Luis and he gave me directions to the expo in Cincinnati.
Once there, we picked up my packet and met up with him. He went off to find a few more of the forum members, and we continued through the expo. They activated my timing chip, then we wandered through and got my bag, poster, and t-shirt (yay for free swag!). We met up with everyone back at the front doors, and sorted out who was riding with who back to Luis' house. Jenny (who is like a legend on the forum...this chick runs 100 mile weeks for fun) ended up with us. She is awesome! She's so laid back, and we joked about how we both wanted ponies and chatted away the entire ride. I like her a lot. She's fabulous. It felt like I had known her for years, and she eventually commented that she felt the same later on. We hung out at Luis' for a few hours with him and his daughter (Jordan, who was pretty cool), Xanthe, Kevin, Chris, Bill, and Jenny. Luis lives about 10 minutes outside of Cincy, in Kentucky, and it was absolutely beautiful out there. We all got ourselves together and headed back into the city for the big forum dinner at Buca di Beppo. While waiting outside for everyone, we met Lee (another well-known forumite). Our group took up three long tables, and we parked ourselves at the end of the first one. We were joined by Dan (who is also awesome). We dubbed ourselves the "smart ass table". Mike, Lee, and Dan were cracking jokes and had me laughing so hard I cried. Dinner was amazing. We ordered several dishes for the whole table, and just split them. I ended up eating ravioli and spaghetti, and even had a piece of salmon. Good pre-race dinner. Yum. It was cool to finally put faces and personalities to the forum names. After dinner, Mike and I ended up standing outside talking to Dan for like another hour. We got back to Luis', where we sat around the dining room table with him, Jordan, Lee, Jenny, and Jennifer (another forumite who was staying there). We chatted it up until about 10:30, when we finally decided bed would be a good idea. It was hard to say goodnight, because we were having so much fun talking and getting to know each other. We finally got to bed and I think I fell asleep a little after 11. I woke up several times during the night (I had been drinking plenty of water and Gatorade to hydrate).
Sunday morning, my alarm went off at 4:20. I set it for 10 minutes earlier so that I could hit the snooze, but once it went off I was wide awake. I got up, brushed my teeth, and changed. People were slowly getting up and wandering into the kitchen. I ate a banana (we were trying to leave as close to 5 as possible, and I didn't want to cram too much into my tummy), then finished getting ready. Packed a bag with stuff for the race and clothes for afterwards (pants, sweatshirt, body glide, etc.), attached my timing chip to my shoe, and threw on my running jacket. It was almost 60 degrees, with a light rain. Nothing too bad. Jenny opted to stay at the house (she wasn't racing, she just came for the weekend to meet everyone and cheer us on), since standing in the rain for a few hours wasn't really appealing (I don't blame her). So we said goodbye to her and piled into cars to take off for the city. We parked on the Kentucky side of the river and crossed one of the huge bridges to meet up with everyone. Took a few pictures, then I attached my bib (race number) to my shorts. Jennifer and I debated about whether to ditch our jackets, but opted to keep them on since it was still drizzling. We trooped on down to the starting area, and decided to make a pit stop at the port-a-potties. I said goodbye to Mike, and he wished me luck.
I lost Jennifer at the potty stop, so I just waded my way into the massive crowd:
(Mike took these by climbing on a wall, taking the first one toward the starting line - you can see the arch of balloons up in the distance - then turning and taking the second one toward the back....and these don't even show everyone.)
The gun went off at 6:30 on the dot. There were so many people that it took over 7 minutes to cross the starting line mats (the mats are what read the chip on your shoe). As we neared the start, everyone finally started running slowly. The interesting this is that at no time did I really feel nervous. I thought I'd be all jittery and anxious before it started, but I never was. I was so far back in the pack that I spent the first couple of miles weaving my way around slower runners and walkers (though I heard that people pretty far up front also had to work their way around plenty of walkers, which is weird because those people are supposed to start toward the back). We wound our way through the streets, then crossed over one of the huge bridges. The rain had stopped just before the start, and I ended up taking off my jacket shortly after the first mile. It was still overcast, but warm (and humid) enough to comfortably run in shorts and a singlet. I had decided to carry a water bottle, at least for the beginning of the race, because Luis had warned us that the first couple of water stops were always quite a clusterfuck. This paid off, because I could sip at will, and got to skip the madness. We trotted our way through the streets of Kentucky, then crossed back over another HUGE bridge into Ohio. I could actually feel the bridge moving under me from the force of thousands of pounding feet. It was so weird.
There were some minor hills at the beginning (the Pig is known for its wicked hills), but mile 6 is the start of a serious 3 mile climb. Somewhere just after mile 7, I looked at a guy next to me and said "Screw this hill". He started laughing and offered me a Gu, saying "Here, take this. It'll help. I have a bunch of them.". I thanked him and pushed on ahead, debating whether to actually take it. One of the main rules of racing is that you do not wear or ingest anything you did not during training (i.e. no brand new outfit that comes out on race day for the first time...if you drank water and Gatorade, don't pick up a Powerade during the race, etc.), and I had never tried Gu. We had a whole conversation about it the night before, and Jenny made the comment that she hates it because it has the consistency of snot. Well, I was fading a little, so I decided to try half of the packet (the packets are surprisingly big!). I ripped it open, put my thumb about halfway down, and squeezed the contents into my mouth. Then I spent about 30 seconds trying to decide whether to spit it out or swallow it and risk throwing up. Jenny was right!! It was disgusting!! I think it was a combination of the the consistency (jelly like, but just viscous enough to really be similar to snot, I swear), the definite saltiness, and the flavor (lemon...blech). I ended up swallowing it and chugged half my water bottle. Once it was down, it was fine. But the next water stop, I did grab a cup of Gatorade to get the awful taste out of my mouth. From there on out, I was fine. It worked..the Gu pepped me up and helped...but oh man. Blech.
Somewhere in that mile, I also saw Elvis. I don't remember what he was singing, but he was definitely the, uh, chubby Elvis version. Just before mile 8, we swung out to the Overlook, which gives a gorgeous view of the city. We could see the river, and all the houses and buildings in the side of the massive hills across it. Beautiful. It made the climb worth it. Right around mile 9, we split off from the marathoners. They ducked off to the right, and we continued down and around a curve. Finally, the endless climb was done, and the road suddenly dropped off into a huge downhill. I joked with some nearby women about tripping and taking out many runners rolling down the hill. One of them was running at about my pace, so we ended up chatting as we trotted down the hill. Her name was Deena and she was a med student in TN. She was super nice, and we ended up running and talking until we hit the 12 mile marker. She could tell I was ready to push the pace a little, and told me to go on ahead. We wished each other good luck, then I took off through the final mile. I glanced at my Garmin a few time and was easily pushing a sub-8 minute/mile pace. They made us go down and make a final right turn....then there was a small hill. Damn!!! I pushed through that...and Finish Swine (the Pig version of a finish line) appeared up ahead. Glorious!! It was the most beautiful sight in the world.
I crossed the line, unsure of what my finishing time was. I had forgotten to stop my Garmin, and the official clock was counting from gun time. Since I had started over 7 minutes after gun time, I wasn't sure what they would clock for me. One of the race director guys was standing just past the finish, and he shook my hand and congratulated me. A nice lady handed me my finisher's medal, and another handed me a mylar blanket (which was great because after that much effort, stopping made me feel pretty cold). I wandered my way through the chute, getting a cup of Gatorade and a cup of water, then a full bottle of water. I stopped and put my foot up on a milk crate, and the kid sitting there clipped off my timing chip and threw it into a box. The chute continued, until we were outside. Either side was lined with tables. First they had more bottles of water, then fruits (apples, bananas, orange slices), then bags of chips, then bagels. There might have been more, but I was lost in a haze at that point.
After wandering aimlessly for a while, I finally spotted Mike. He was disappointed that he had missed seeing me cross the finish, but was super proud of me for finishing.
The fabulous thing about this medal is that the front side is the piggy's face...and the back side is the piggy's butt!!
We went down to the riverfront, where they had booths set up selling odds and ends. Mike stopped and bought some hot dogs (no way could I eat so soon), then we bough me a Flying Pig zip-up hoodie. I wobbled my way around (pretty much my knees did not want to bend anymore), and we met up with some of the others. Then we headed back to Luis'.
I chatted with Jenny for a bit after we returned, while Mike ran to the store. Then I jumped in the shower. Nothing feels better after a hard race effort, when you return feeling sweaty and gritty, than a hot shower. I found that I had a welt on my chest from my sports bra. Apparently the bottom band was rubbing against my skin, but I never felt any pain or discomfort. I had no idea it was there. Then the hot water hit it. Ow!!! I got clean, put on fresh clothes, and went to hang out with the others. Several runners came by Luis' for the post-race party, and we had a great time talking and eating. After one last picture, it was time to get in the car for the long drive home.
The drive home was long, and we stopped a couple of times so I could stretch my achy, tight legs. The hills made my knees hurt something fierce. But I felt good. I was pretty much floating for the rest of the day. We picked up Neo (who looks great with his new haircut) and chatted with his parents for a bit. They both told me how proud they were of me, and Mike's dad had even printed off my results from online for me. We came home and relaxed for a bit....then it was bed time. A good night's sleep did wonders, and I felt much better when I got up yesterday. My legs are still a little tight today, but I'm going to stretch them and go for a very easy, gentle run here in a few.
Oh yea....my finishing time? 2:16:11
(P.S. For those who don't know, a half marathon is 13.1 miles.)
Woo!!!
So there you have it. My weekend...in a long, yet still brief, nutshell. I hope you all had an amazing weekend, too.
Love!