Long Branch Half – RR
Each time I run long I learn a lot about how I should NOT do things. The LBH 13.1 was no exception.
Mistake #1 - the week leading up to this race was literally one my busiest this year. I should have foreseen the nuttiness or picked a different weekend to race. I mean, grades were due at my school Monday, I wrote a paper Tuesday and presented it Wednesday, then drove 2 hrs RT to audition for a play (successfully, it turns outJ), all while working FT and dealing with a head cold (mine) and two stomach viruses in the house (not mine, mercifully). DH was not home the Fri night or Sat before the race, so both kids were with me all day & night with no real chance to prepare for the race. I probably went to bed around 10:30 on race eve. By the time the weekend arrived I was wiped out! But man, did I hydrate all day Saturday, that was a good thing.
I got up at 3 am Sunday morning to drink coffee & eat something and let it settle before I had to leave at 5. Arrived at the race at 6:15 for a 7:30 start. Mistake #2 – I let way too much time lapse between the fluids I took in at home and the race. I started the race not having drunk anything in over four hours!
Race started 15 min late, it was about 58, overcast, breezy. Less sun and cooler than I had anticipated, but really perfect weather for a run with 6000 of my closest buddiesJ
Mistake #3 – Despite me telling myself to slow the heck down, I went out too fast in Miles 1 & 2.
The cool thing was, as I passed each mile, I texted my husband the mile number. This became so motivating to me—I couldn’t wait to get to the next mile marker to send him another text while running (hey, I wasn’t driving a car, texting while running should be ok, right??). He was en route with the kiddos (whom we were not willing to yank out of bed at 5 am to drive down with me).
Mistakes 1 & 2 were about to start joining forces in Mile 3, as my bladder was feeling like it needed a break. It was at this moment that race focus became about where the next porto was. Not what I was planning to focus on!
By Mile 5, I found a shorter line at a portopotty. I was encouraged because the 5:30 marathon pacer (whom I had run with on the course a few weeks back in my Long Branch HM course training run) was a few people in front of me on line. That meant I was still running a decent time. I got portopotty stage fright. Hmmm. In hindsight, that makes perfect sense since by that time it had been probably 5 ½ hrs without real fluids (except the obligatory sips as I went through each water/Gatorade station). I gulped a gel, took a few swigs of H2O and moved on.
By Mile 8 I was not a happy camper. My tummy hurt. Boo hoo. But then I ran into Larry the Lighthouse, whom I had met a few weeks back when I ran the course with his NJRRC a few weeks back. He encouraged me, told me I was looking good, I was doing great and just really lifted my spirits a whole lot. Plus, every time we passed spectators, they all cheered for him, so that helped me a bunch, too. Plus, he was wearing a lighthouse for goodness sake, and he was doing just fine AND would be going around the two loop course again for the full marathon. How bad could my whiney problems be? I ran with Larry for a mile but I lost him when I had to make portopotty stop numero 3 around Mile 9 or so.
Then I got hunger pangs. Oh no. That can’t be good. Actual growling stomach.
Around Mile 10 the straightaway parallel to the Atlantic Ocean begins. I texted my dh “10-tummyache.” I was still hanging in, but was walking more frequently than my initial R9/W1 strategy, which had got me through to now. I was doing more like R4/W1. But I was in the home stretch, I knew I was going to finish somehow.
I walked most of Miles 11 and 12L All I could think was “What was I thinking doing a HM? There is no WAY I could ever do double this distance. Maybe I was meant for 5 and 10Ks and not this…” But let myself eavesdrop some of the motivational stuff the nearby TNT coach was telling her team. Then--yippee--my dh texted “We’re here at the finish line!” and I got a second wind in the last mile, I knew I was going to see them in a few minutesJ
I started running a little more for the last mile on the boardwalk along the ocean. I wanted to finish strong, and the extended walk break helped me regain a little strength. I must have looked like I was not having the greatest day, because the spectators along that mile yelled my name and said “You’re almost there, Go Rutgers, You can do it, You look great,” etc. Man, what a heartwarming, uplifting experience—strangers lifting me out of the doldrums to get me to that finish line and to my family. I tripped as the boardwalk changed to sidewalk, but I didn’t go down, just kind of checked my balance and continued on.
I saw my kids & husband about 50 yards from the finish line. My husband took a few photos, but my 5 year old was turned away from me for some reason—found out later my dh was holding him back, he wanted to jump in to finish with me…My 2 year old smiled when he saw me, they all did. I was thrilled!!!
Crossed the finish line, put my arms up and did the sign for “I love you” in sign language with both hands---right as a marathoner passed me on the left, thunking into my arm, I apologized, I felt so badly, but he was cool with it. The clock time was 3:07, chip was 3:02. I hugged my family, then excused myself to the host hotel bathroomL We got some chow, we drove our separate cars the hour home, and then I was basically incapacitated for about 3 hours. Legs felt fine, my stomach was a disaster. All these stomach woes, plus the fact that I stupidly stopped hydrating way to long before the race lead me to believe that I was actually dehydrated. Ugh. Awful. I felt a little better around 5 that night, had some Lipton’s Noodle Soup and got kids’ lunches ready for Monday morning. Thoughts of taking another crack at the HM were already in my head—and still are, four days later.
So much learned in hindsight, but getting more rest and drinking more beforehand are, I believe, the biggies for me on this day. I insisted on keeping the day as happy as possible, thanking the many volunteers at the plentiful water stops, smiling at the photogs, spectators, and the folks yelling “GO RUTGERS!” I have worn my HM finisher’s pin all week and put my 13.1 magnet on my car. I did it. I could not run 60 seconds 11 months ago, but now, somehow, I am a half marathoner.
- Mile 1 – 11:50
- Mile 2 – 11:51
- Mile 3 – 12:30
- Mile 4 – 12:51
- Mile 5 – 13:08
- Mile 6 – 13:12
- Mile 7 – 13:48
- Mile 8 – 13:12
- Mile 9 – 13:03
- Mile 10 – 13:02
- Mile 11 – 14:33 (walking mostly)
- Mile 12 – 14:08 (walking mostly)
- Mile 13 – 14:30
