2012 Olympic Trials Marathon: The Race

Goal:
Give it All I've Got
Placer greater than 72nd
2:41:53 or faster

Actual:
Gave it All I Had
66th Place in 2:44:04 (guessing the half split around 1:20:33, 2nd half 1:23:27)
Results here

Thirty-six hours after the race of a lifetime, I can confidently tell you that I gave my best effort.  Even if my best effort on Saturday was not my personal record or the highest place, it was the best I could bring out of myself, my body, my mind that day.  I am proud of my journey to the Olympic Trials.   I am proud to have toed the line without any injuries.  I am proud for finishing a race where almost a fifth of the field dropped out - a testament to the grueling nature of the marathon.

Race morning dawned perfectly calm and clear, with temperatures in the high 40s, and predicted to reach the mid-to-upper 50s by the end of the race.  My sister Vanessa and I woke up around 5:15am to get ready for the morning's events; while she got all dolled up for the cheering party, I performed my pre-race feeding rituals of Trader Joe's oatmeal and a PB Bonk Breaker.  I recognized that temperatures in the upper 50s would feel way too hot to me, so I alternated drinking between water, Gatorade and Nuun to ensure I would be hydrated enough to survive 26.2 miles with the sun beating down on my pale skin.

By 630AM, Jordan, Meagan, and Garrett had arrived in the room to begin our trek over to the GRB Convention Center, where the athletes would have access to bathrooms and indoor warm up facilities.  Before heading out, I put Meagan's number on her chest and back and, to be honest, I was quite honored that she chose me to pin the bib on her instead of Jordan.   Perhaps it's a girl thing, or maybe it further cemented our commitment to work together during the race. After we had used the hotel bathroom one last time, I said my farewell to Vanessa, grabbed my sunscreen, and headed out the door with the crew.

Unlike the Army Ten Miler, where Meagan and I barely had enough time to gulp down some water, there was plenty of time to situate ourselves in a hall and to take multiple bathroom breaks in the Convention Center.  Meagan and I just sat together with a calm confidence, while I randomly voiced our game plan out loud. Ben and Megan Hovis stopped by before Megan went off for a warm up.  Mark Hadley spotted us as well and came by every now and then to provide support.

In the meantime, Garrett and Jordan came to us intermittently to check in and to see if we needed anything from them.  I can only imagine what they were doing when they weren't with us.  I'm assuming that Jordan was talking to people he knew or just tweeting on his iPhone while Garrett was scoping out the food options in case he needed a second breakfast to tide him over through 140 minutes of cheering.  The guys disappeared to give us the space they knew we needed to perform our typical mental preparations in the final hour before the race.  After seeing so many friends, it was clear to me that this Charlotte crew had so many people here that believed in us and our goals.

The hour seemed to go by slowly, and I utilized the hour to envision the race plan and to repeat to myself words of affirmation about the training I've put in and the workouts I've completed to prepare me for this race.  Emotionally and mentally, I knew that I was ready to run this race.

By 7:40, the women were gathered near the exit of our warm up room.  It was time to head down to the holding area on the street and to say goodbye to our Athlete Support people / significant others.  Meagan, Megan, and Allison Macsas (Meagan's roommate from the 2011 Houston Marathon who had the same goal as us) grouped together to ensure that we didn't lose each other on the way.

The bubble of excitement burst into a nervous frenzy just as doors to the Convention Center opened, exposing the men in the midst of their final preparations for their race.  It felt as though at that very moment, time began moving very, very fast and all the women reacted with the same panicked motions to prepare - dropping our bags haphazardly on the sidewalk, frantically looking for water, rushing to the port-a-cans (that's what they call them in Texas).  Within a minute, however, the excitement died down as everyone realized we had another fifteen minutes to jog around and get that calm back again.  During this time, our crew split apart as each performed our own unique drills and strides.   I jogged a couple of laps, re-tied my shoelaces four times, and performed my final drills and strides before stripping down.

I'm the girl in the middle of the picture in the blue jacket 

The next five minutes were a blur as we were herded to the start corral.  All I know is that when they let us loose, I did a stride but seemed to be the only other person that decided to take a fast stride with the Olympic hopefuls.  Meagan and I situated ourselves near the right side of the course and waited for the command.  The gun sounded at an unknown time, signaling the beginning of what I hoped would be a memorable journey through the streets of downtown Houston with 200 women who were just as good  as me or better.  In case you don't know - the course started with a 2.2 mile loop downtown, then featured three identical 8-mile loops that incorporated the 2.2 downtown loop.

If you look closely on the left, you'll find Meagan and I

I settled into a comfortable pace with Meagan and Allison right beside me.  There were probably 150 women surrounding us and the pace felt like it was crawling.  Fortunately for us, the lead pack had gone out at a snail's pace, which forced the 2:35-2:40 runners to go out right on pace.  Somehow Meagan, Allison and I managed to stick together as we navigated our way through the sea of runners in the first downtown loop.  Not only was this loop of the race packed with runners, but the streets were cluttered with friends, family, and super running fans who were cheering their hearts out for all of us.  It would be an understatement to say it was crazy; it was a blur!  The crowd was electric, but somehow I managed to hear my own cheering squad - Mom, Dad, Vanessa, Ben, Rebecca, Holda, Jamie Dodge.  What an incredible way to start a marathon.

My Garmin was completely inaccurate during the downtown segments, and it claimed that our current pace was 5:45 for the first mile, which was entirely false.  Unfortunately, there was a clock positioned before the mile marker, so there was a brief panic as everyone thought we had shot out in 5:15 pace. We came through the mile in 6:19, and my Garmin was horribly off so I decided to ignore it since it was presenting an inaccurate measure of my performance after only 6 minutes into the race.

The first 10 miles of the race went by surprisingly quickly as Meagan, Allison and I found a small pack to run with once we exited the downtown fan frenzy.  At first, Meagan locked in with a girl from the BAA - Brett Ely - and took us through the 5th mile in 601.  In the middle of that mile, I hung back a little because I was worried about hitting too quick of a pace too early on.  After we passed the split, Meagan said almost sheepishly, "that was a little too quick" and fell back into step with me.  After that, we locked in at a comfortable clip of 6:07.

leading the pack

During this segment, Meagan and I probably shouldn't have lead as much as we did.  Meagan and I did a lot of the work for the group during that first loop as we ran stride for stride alongside each other.  Every now and then we exchanged words of encouragement for the group.  Fans during the outer loop told us that our pack was strong.  Looking at the pictures, we were strong.  All of us look so relaxed and comfortable at the pace.  Those first 10 miles passed almost effortlessly as I had little thinking to do and just ran based on what my body (and the pack) was telling me to do. During the outer section, Jordan, Holda, Shane, Jill, Garrett and Matt had scattered throughout the park to cheer us on, which helped tremendously.

Effortless Running While Chewing Gum

As expected, the race thinned out quite a bit once we began the second loop (miles 10-18).  We caught some people during this segment, and they either attached themselves to us or faded slowly back to a different pack.  At this point, our group included about 6-8 people, with either Allison, Meagan or myself leading.  Finally, a girl told Meagan and I to step back and let her do the work.  While I appreciated her teamwork, we went through in one of slowest splits of the day - 6:21 - and as soon as we saw that split, the trio burst ahead, with Allison taking the lead to get the pace back on track.

Side View

At mile 14 during the race, my body began to feel the first signs of fatigue and pain.  Blisters on my feet were throbbing and parts of my foot felt numb from the concrete.  Every single physical weakness I've ever had awakened out of hibernation and clawed at my body.  My achilles, IT Band, hip flexors all were on fire.  Suddenly I felt like a mechanical engine that was beginning to rust.  I needed oil to keep my gears going, but that wasn't an option.  Simply put, the presence of Meagan and Allison was invaluable during miles 15-18.  While my body was faltering, my mind contemplated the possibilities.  I had two options:  (1) Drop off the pace at mile 15 and struggle for 11+ miles alone or (2) fight my way to mile 18 with Meagan and company and see what I can do for the final 8 miles.  Rather than give in to my deteriorating body too quickly, I chose option (2).    The discomfort was made easier knowing that I had a pack of women surrounding me.  During these miles, I would drop off the pack slightly, but then find the resolve to pick it back up to tuck back in right behind Meagan.  Meagan checked back twice to see where I was going, and those checks gave me the strength to push forward again.  In the picture below, I'm struggling to stay tucked in with this pack, but I made it to 18 and then began to fade slowly.

My final strides with the pack of Meagan and Allison

After 18.2, the pack slowly began to pull away from me, and I struggled to ignore my blisters and aching body.  I was alone for the next 4 miles, and the strength of the pack was evident in my slipping times; all alone, I didn't have nearly as much motivation to keep my pace strong.  As I doubted my own physical ability to finish the race, my legs slowed.  18 - 6:09, 19 - 6:16, 20 - 6:24, 21 - 6:29, 22 - 6:43. I was completely and totally alone, and it was all I could do within my own willpower to keep going.  My body was shutting down and my mind was fighting so hard to keep it going.

During these miles, I realized the true meaning of hitting the wall.  Ironically enough, I never once thought of why I was feeling that way.  I didn't question my training leading up to the race, or the fact that I had been sick, or that I had missed two weeks of higher mileage due to low iron.  I just accepted it as my reality right then and there.  I just thought about what I needed to do to finish, not about what was causing this terrible physical weakness.  During mile 23, I decided walking through a water stop was what I needed to do in order to finish.

I'll tell you right now - the Gallowalk method is extremely successful.  Jeff Galloway should receive a Nobel Prize for this ingenious invention because it gave me just the rest I needed to get back on track.  When I walked for 20 meters, the pressure from my blisters disappeared, and I began to run again and the pain stayed away for the next mile, which I was able to bring back down to 6:28. For the final water stop - at mile 24.6 - I walked through again, but apparently I had already mastered the Walk/Run method, because my split for this mile (6:42) was considerably faster than the other mile I had walked (6:55).  I should also note that I planned my walks at the perfect moments, which were when the crowds were thin and, therefore, less intimidating.  I didn't want to walk when I was in downtown Houston for fear of seeing someone I knew.  Fortunately, the water stop volunteers clapped and told me that I could do it.  And I did!

Somehow only one girl had managed to pass me during my walk, but I passed her right back once I started running again.  By the completion of mile 25, I only had 1.2 more miles, so I pressed on, in hopes of looking somewhat fast for the finish.  As we rounded a turn, my blisters probably burst puss and blood into my sock, but I ignored it because someone just shouted to another girl that she was in 72nd place.  I need to place higher than 70th, so I got my rear in gear.  There were 5 girls ahead of me, and they were fading fast.  I forced my blisters to cooperate, and passed all 5 of them, and then some more with a split of 6:16 for my final mile.  The crowd in the final 400 meters was deafening, and I made my last turn toward the finish line with a grimace on my face.  I decided I might as well make it look like I'm just fine and so happy to be finishing my very first Olympic Trials Marathon, so I smiled in the final straightaway.

I crossed through the line, and Meagan was waiting for me.  She waited three whole minutes to see me finish (she finished in an amazing 49th place in 2:41:04), and I couldn't cry sentimental tears of gratitude because I didn't have enough energy to muster them.  I walked just enough to not break 2:44, but I ran just enough to finish well under the Trials qualifying time.

Meagan giving me a high five after the race

Meagan and I walked through the crowd of supporters, where I guzzled a bottle of water thoughtlessly and mumbled sweet nothings to Meagan that she probably missed.  I went from feeling relieved and alive to immediately feeling weak and numb.  I was conscious enough to register that Garrett's parents should be in the crowd, waiting for me, to give me a hug. I was seeking them out, searching the crowd.  Nothing.  Instead, Meagan's parents hopped out of the crowd and escorted her and I to the second floor.  In the two escalator rides, my energy levels faded fast.

After Meagan's parents were asked to leave because they didn't have a credential, I started sputtering and Meagan started leading.  She held onto me and asked volunteers to get medical.  Medical was all the way back down stairs, so she got me gatorade instead, which seemed to do the trick.  Megan and Ben came up and informed me that she unfortunately had to drop out due to stomach cramps.  I was proud of her for gutting it out and putting herself out there.

Soon, Garrett came up to the elite area and I didn't realize how empty my tank was until he informed me that apparently his mom spoke to me right after the race.  She even put her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes and talked to me, face to face.  That interaction never registered in my brain because I still don't have a recollection of ever seeing her.  After that interaction, she called Garrett immediately and told him to get to me as soon as reasonably possible.  I blacked out?  Not sure.  I was out of it.

Afterwards was a blur as I waited in line for the massage and Garrett held me up.  I was very appreciative of his large, muscular frame after the race because I felt really safe and secure.  I knew that if I passed out, he would make sure that my skull didn't hit the floor by catching me in his arms.  In my dazed state, he already wanted to analyze my race and hear my perspective on why I wasn't able maintain a pace with Meagan or why I had to resort to walking.  Even right now, I am not entirely certain if there is a reason.

On Saturday, I learned how to hurt.  I learned how to persevere through pain and weakness.  I learned how to finish with heart.  Most importantly, I learned how to love even more - my parents, my soon-to-be future in-laws, my coaches (past and present), my running partners in Charlotte, my fellow Demon Deacons, and all those people who have believed in me over the past 12 months and whose support has helped me realize this dream.  I did it - but with the help of so many countless others along the way and for that I am eternally grateful and humbled.

Of course, the perfectionist in me wishes that I had stayed with Meagan so that I could have at least had to option to hold hands with her through the finish line.  I've got a lot more marathons in my future, which are just opportunities for me to continue to perfect my marathon running skills to better prepare me for 2016.  Two days later, it seems surreal that it's over now, but I'm already looking ahead for 2016 and thinking about what I need to do to place in the top 30.  I'm excited to plan a marathon - perhaps with Meagan - with the goal of breaking 2:40 in the months or years to come.  Regardless, I'm proud to have had this opportunity to race with some of the best marathoners in the country and to be part of a historic event.  Now, it's time to take some time off from doing anything remotely active.

Many thanks to my Official Fan Club for making the trip!!

And that is my tale of pain, glory, and sweat.  There is a lot to be happy about and I forever cherish this memory.  I am an Olympic Trials Finisher!

Mile	Split	Total Time	Average
1	0:06:19	0:06:19	0:06:19
2	0:06:00	0:12:19	0:06:09
3	0:06:05	0:18:24	0:06:08
4	0:06:04	0:24:28	0:06:07
5	0:06:01	0:30:29	0:06:06
6	0:06:12	0:36:41	0:06:07
7	0:06:11	0:42:52	0:06:07
8	0:06:01	0:48:53	0:06:07
9	0:06:08	0:55:01	0:06:07
10	0:06:07	1:01:08	0:06:07
11	0:06:07	1:07:15	0:06:07
12	0:06:08	1:13:23	0:06:07
13	0:06:08	1:19:31	0:06:07
14	0:06:21	1:25:52	0:06:08
15	0:06:14	1:32:06	0:06:08
16	0:06:05	1:38:11	0:06:08
17	0:06:12	1:44:23	0:06:08
18	0:06:09	1:50:32	0:06:08
19	0:06:16	1:56:48	0:06:09
20	0:06:24	2:03:12	0:06:10
21	0:06:29	2:09:41	0:06:11
22	0:06:43	2:16:24	0:06:12
23	0:06:55	2:23:19	0:06:14
24	0:06:28	2:29:47	0:06:14
25	0:06:42	2:36:29	0:06:16
26	0:06:16	2:42:45	0:06:16
26.2	0:01:15	2:44:00	0:06:16
	2:44:00	0:06:16

2012 Olympic Trials Marathon: Friday

35 Minutes of Running for 4.4-ish miles
Strides + Drills

If you haven't noticed, there's been a common theme for each of these days leading up to the Trials...as each day passes, the flurry of activity increases dramatically. On Friday, there was not much down time as there was a lot of information that the Houston Marathon Committee had to share with us and there was a lot of food to be consumed. As I walked to the lobby to meet Jordan and Meagan for a run, there was a certain buzz of excitement that you could feel in the air. Lots of runners were also making their way onto the streets in their warmup gear, to simulate the start of the race at 8 or 8:15AM.

We ran through the first mile of the course before jumping on the greenway in the park outside of the city. My legs felt great, and I could tell that my nasal congestion had improved from yesterday. The head still felt heavy, but I figured it wouldn't affect me too much in the race tomorrow. Meagan and Jordan went on to run a bit further, so I turned around early and ran into Esther Erb and Alissa McKaig from Zap Fitness. I really like Esther and enjoyed the time running with her. She sang the national anthem before the race on Saturday!

The three of the Charlotte women met in the Massage Room in the late morning to get our final rub down before the big day. It's the little things that count, and these massages were the best 20 minutes of rubbing that I've ever had!

The rest of the day was spent trying to eat the right portions of food, the right amount of water, and getting the right amount of time off of my feet. I also wanted to spend some time with my support crew, so I opted out of the free lunch to dine with my crew at Whole Foods. My brother Ben surprised me and flew in to watch at the Trials, so when I went to my parents room to leave, he jumped out of the bathroom. I was very happy he came to watch since we didn't see each other over Christmas. It was also nice to enjoy lunch with the people who spent time and money to make this trip to support me. In fact, I felt bad because the days' events didn't allow for much time with family and friends, so I tried my best to be with my supporters as much as possible.

In the afternoon, all 300 of the runners, plus their athlete support person, crowded into a conference room of the George R. Brown Convention Center to attend the Elite Technical Meeting. A lot of information was shared during this meeting, but fortunately the Houston Marathon Committee did a lot of work (and explaining) to ensure that everything was manageable.

A woman presented to us with a PowerPoint Deck related to the pre-race information (be at the warmup area no later than 7AM), the water bottle stops (don't grab two water bottles, but you can grab one water bottle and share it with runners), the holding area logistics (women are to start as soon as the last man runs through the start line), the u-turn (there is cattle fencing there, so don't cut yourself), and the bag check (you get two bags, make sure to put your bag check number on the bag). The questions asked were comical - "How many ounces of water are in the cups?" "Do you have extra numbers so if I want to shed clothing, I can?"

During the presentation, everything seemed so real, especially the feeling of nervous excitement that just had amplified. Fortunately, Meagan and Megan were sitting right beside me, and I knew they were probably sharing the same feeling as me. After the hour of information overload, all of the runners crammed to the back of the room to pick up our bibs and chips. It definitely was not a very organized method of pick up since the lines were haphazardly formed, zig-zagging past chairs that were in the way, and cutting into the lines for a person with a different last name. Either way, we were all able to get our bibs eventually. 



After some slight down time with my sister Vanessa, I explored the Trials Town on the lawn outside of the Hilton with Matt and Garrett. There was an Opening Ceremonies for the Olympic Trials, which I naturally avoided because I wanted to eat dinner at 530PM. Any misgivings about not attending the Opening Ceremony were immediately dissolved when I walked into the Elite Dining Tent and saw Kara and Shalane eating early. Further affirming my decision not to attend was the fact that at 6PM, all of the athletes who had attended the Ceremony all arrived in the Dining Tent at the same time and had to wait almost 30 minutes in line for food. Jordan, Meagan, Garrett and I all ate while they stood waiting.

After dinner, Vanessa braided Megan's hair and then mine. Ben chatted with Garrett in the room while Garrett rolled out his IT and Quads with the Trigger Point Performance Quadroller. It was relaxing to get the hair braided, ready to shine tomorrow morning.

The Sign before the Elite Dining Tent

Where we Buy our Gear

Matt Jaskot and I

Dream Big, right?

2012 Olympic Trials Marathon: Thursday

39 Minutes of Running for 5-ish Miles

5 Strides

Compared to Wednesday, Thursday was much livelier and action packed because over 300 elite marathoners finally arrived in Houston to participate in the pre-race festivities. During an early morning breakfast, the Hospitality Suite was buzzing with all sorts of energy, and runners continued to come in, eager to eat. Obviously, I had been impressed with the Houston Marathon Committee from the treatment I received yesterday, but today showed just how much hard work and dedication these people committed to make this event one to remember for the athletes.  The food was always stocked full and there was always enough water and gatorade to feed a small army.

Since my entourage of support had yet to arrive and since Megan and Meagan were both on later flights, I had the morning to myself.  To pass the time, I settled myself at the hotel room desk, creating a makeshift workstation to finalize the decorations on my water bottles for the big race. I utilized the CRC stickers, hello kitty valentine stickers, and silver wands with stars on the end. As you can see, the final result came out much more "girly" than I actually am, but at least I won't confuse my bottle with the other 206 out there on the course.

By 10am, it was time for my massage and I was lucky enough to land the same guy who massaged me last year, Ed. He massaged my body for 45 minutes and it was quite possibly the best 45 minute massage I've ever gotten. I encouraged him to open his own practice so that he could solely work on athletes, which is where his true passion lies. I think that if I come back next year, he will have done so!

By eleven, my parents and high school coach Holda had completed their all night, fourteen hour drive from Carbondale, Illinois to the Hilton Americas Houston. I rushed them into dressing for a run with Rebecca and I, and we were out the door by 11:45am to run a couple of laps around Minute Maid Park and then for the first 2.2 miles of the course. Since Sunday, I'd been dealing with a sore throat and a nasty cold, but the run made me feel much better than when I had woken up, where my head just felt heavy and congested. The snot rockets I shot out of my nose during the run helped clear my system slightly, but my head was still heavy.

After my run, I didn't shower. Instead, I went to lunch, ran into Ruth at the very end, but had to leave her much too soon to meet Rebecca in the official merchandise tent. Rebecca and Corbett joined me while I bought a sweet Nike jacket and shirt with the Trials logo on it. Completely worth the $120 spent because I can show my grandkids in thirty years, and they will think I am much cooler than I actually am.

Mom and I in the hotel room, with the view of the Finish Line

Afterwards, since my parents and Holda were napping to gain some of the hours of sleep back that they had lost, the Thomasons and I plopped ourselves in the lobby to catch up...and to people watch / try not to stare at running celebrities like Kara, Desi, and Shalane. We admired their tiny, muscled legs and I debated whether or not my body could ever look that fit, and decided that it was unlikely, but was perfectly content with my conclusion. I'm here, after all. I may not be as fast as the stars, but I earned a spot to participate in Houston too and, as I realized this sitting in the lobby with Rebecca, an immense feeling of pride overcame me.  Pride not only for myself, but for all the other men and women who put in the hard work and dedication to be here this weekend.  Obviously, the majority of the people here are on a different level of elite than I am, but no matter where I finish tomorrow, it puts me on a list of the top US Marathoners for 2012.

By later afternoon, Meagan and Jordan still hadn't arrived, so Megan, Ben, Garrett, Mark Hadley and I all made our way over to the Elite Dining Tent to get some grub.  After parting ways with Rebecca, Athletes were only allowed to bring one guest to dinner, so my entourage of my family, Garrett's family and Holda had to dine without me.

The elite dining tent was a runners dream. There was a salad bar, followed by fifteen trays of heated food varying from quinoa, brown rice, white rice, steamed vegetables, black beans, whole wheat pasta, marinara sauce, meat sauce, and then your standard selection of meats. Once you moved past the heated food, you found an assortment of rolls, along with Udi's brand of gluten free breads.  Then there was a cookie stand, along with all bottled drinks except for alcohol (they are saving that for Saturday night).

Garrett and I at dinner

Megan and Ben at Dinner

The Charlotte crew of Megan, Ben, Mark, Garrett and I enjoyed conversation ranging from standard runner gossip to the latest updates in the CRC. I even waited around extra long to ensure that Meagan and Jordan arrived in time for food. If they hadn't, I was planning on filling up two plates with food to deliver to them.  Fortunately for them, they arrived in the nick of time.

After dinner, Garrett massaged Meagan's sore foot on my hotel bed before calling it a night.  We discussed our race strategy as we waited for Jordan to return from his run in the Mexican Barrio.  All in all, Meagan and I had to same race plan.  I figured if we didn't, then one of us would have compromised and met in the middle anyways.  Meagan even stated that no matter what, the plan should be for us to stick together through at least 18, and after that, it's every women for herself.

All in all, it was definitely a successful day, full of positive energy and countless reunions with other phenomenal runners. I've already seen so many women that I met along the way, and it was so inspiring to see them here, with the exact same excitement gleaming in their eyes as my own. I cannot express how grateful I was to have two close friends here to share the entire experience with because it makes it that much less intimidating and that much more exciting to share some of the same memories.

Week in Review

70 Miles

7 Runs

15.2 Mile Long Run to pace Allen to a 1:29:20 Half

10 Hours of Driving

3 CRC Champions and 1 Runner-Up at Myrtle Beach

Wow, a lot happened this week! This week started off with a great workout and ended with a great weekend spent with friends. I couldn't have asked for more. Earlier this week, I read Allen's blog post about wanting to run a sub-1:30 Half Marathon at Myrtle Beach. I immediately texted him and told him that if he gave me a cookie, I would pace him to a PR in his half. He graciously accepted my offer (Side note: I never got a cookie, but I carelessly lost his 2009 race bib, so we're even).

After picking John up from school at 3:15PM, we set off in the Redbirdmobile, with Myrtle Beach in our (far) sights. While I had examined the map before getting in the car, I did not realize until we were four hours into the drive how much it really was going to suck. Back roads, stop lights, slow moving tractors, and the South Carolina low country do not make for a pleasant or speedy drive. By the time we were 20 minutes outside of Myrtle, John commented that I definitely was not made for road trips. Not at all. I'm a jet kind of girl; jump on the plane and get to LA in five hours. Wham, bam, done. Get in a car, use a tank of gas and stop at 1923 stoplights and arrive at the Myrtle Villas, where John was staying with Ben and Megan Hovis.

In the end, the drive was worth it. I got to spend three days in SC with Garrett and some of my greatest friends and watch them all accomplish their goals. Since Allen recaps his race in his blog, I won't go into any detail regarding that. However, the after-race experience is noteworthy. After I made it back to the finish chute, where Allen was wearing his medal, I was thanked by six people for being so encouraging throughout the race. They told me that my comments helped them achieve their goals and that they were so grateful for my positive presence. It was a great feeling to know that I had not only helped Allen, but several other runners of whom share the exact same passion for running as I do.

After that, I found out that not only had my roomate John Compton won his first ever Half Marathon, but that Alice Rogers had won in the women's race and that Megan Hovis had followed close behind. Ben Hovis placed sixth overall, which is pretty impressive considering he is only running four or five days a week right now. Allen Strickland broke his own PR and qualified (I think?) for the NYC Half Marathon. I'm sure there were other Charlotte Running Club members in the half marathon, and I applaud their efforts as well. It was a great day for CRC!

The success didn't just stop there. After we changed our clothes, I was able to watch a woman run 2:40 to win the Myrtle Beach Marathon, with Billy following behind. I was able to capture a photo of his finish below. Scott Helms finished the marathon as well, falling just short of his goal due to the heat and some hurt legs!

After Billy's race, we headed over to the HM awards ceremony, where Alice and John were bombarded by questions from a reporter for the Sun Times. After they received their awards, we made our way back to the Hovis' place to pretty up and eat cupcakes before lunch. We meandered over to Margaritaville and enjoyed a "team" lunch with Garrett, Allen, John, and the Hovii. In a celebration of Ben's birthday, we played a 18-hole round of putt-putt and enjoyed the 70+ degrees. Despite John's terrible golfing form, he was able to hit three hole-in-ones, propelling his team to victory over myself, Garrett and Allen.

All in all, it was an amazing few days to be in Myrtle Beach. Everyone who competed in these races ran their little hearts out and deserve to be recognized. Most importantly, they should all be commended for their comraderie and their sportsmanship that was showcased. John cooled down with the guy who got second in the Half, Billy congratulated Kathleen Castles for her outstanding effort to win the entire marathon, and the entire group cheered in the marathoners. When I ran at Wake, I was proud to be a Demon Deacon and I feel that same pride in my city of Charlotte because of the intricate web of runners who support each other. Let's keep up the great work!

"Long" Run with Megan

Goal:
12-13 miles

Actual:
12 miles at 7:10 pace

Today, Megan Hovis was kind enough to drive all the way from her home near McAlpine to join me for a long run (medium run for her!) on the concrete sidewalks of uptown and Myers Park. She had just come off a solid tempo run with Bill Shires and I had just come off a solid day of absolutely no running. However, my weak marathoner body was still sore from my weight lifting session with Mark Kane, where he gave me a lifting regime to do 2 times a week. I can barely get below my hips when doing a squat and we determined it stemmed from a weakness in my abs! If you stop by Pura Vida Fitness, you'll see me doing "stir the pot" and "inch worms." Gotta love the names of exercises.

Back to my long run this morning, Megan and I both agreed that we needed to take it easy, which we did for the first mile: 7:46. After our legs woke up, we began rolling at 6:50s-7:00s the rest of the way home. The conversation was so good that I never even looked at my watch to see what kind of pace we were going. Before I knew it, we had already passed through the entire Sugar Creek Greenway and covered the 3 mile Booty Loop!

I was most happy with how easy and relaxed running 7:00 min pace felt for 12 miles. The goal for the next three months will be to increase this pace for some of my steady state long runs and, based on today's effort, I don't believe I will have any problem accomplishing that. Overall, it was great to catch up with Megan and to hear about how her training is going. As always, she is peppy and ready to run many miles in 2011!

On another note, I found out that both Megan AND Ruth will be running the USA 25k Champs in May. Now I just need to convince Meagan Nedlo to skip the track season and meet us on the roads. Regardless, it looks like the three of us will have a lot of fun racing in Grand Rapids, Michigan in just 3 months!

7 Mile Tempo at McAlpine

Goal:

60 Min Tempo at 6:15-6:25 Pace (adjusted due to surface)

Actual:

7 Mile Tempo for 44:09 at 6:18 pace

After visiting my Physical Therapist, Angela, at Carolinas Rehabilitation on Thursday, I had developed a large bruise 7 inches long on my IT Band after a Scraping therapy session. Angela used the Graston tool to scrape along my IT Band 9 times. While I was warned of bruising, I will admit that it made foam rolling a bit more painful. The morning of this tempo, I was flaunting the awesome bruise below. Good thing it is winter so I didn't scare any people away with my discolored leg.

I had been warned that the cold would make it harder for my IT Band to feel good, so I took the necessary precaution and warmed my leg during my drive to Mcalpine to meet Stephen and Megan. The temps at the start of our run were in the upper teens, which did not bode well for me. Megan and I met at the main entrance and ran to meet Stephen halfway on the way to Old Bell. After catching up with some good conversation (I hadn't seen Stephen or Megan in over a month), we started our tempo.

With the start of the tempo, I didn't feel too bad. I was glad that my knee actually was pain free, and I wondered if it was due to the IT Band Wrap I was wearing that has been endorsed by Scott Jurek. Stephen was our fearless leader as he lead me through the first three miles in a 615 pace average.

Once we got onto the asphault portion of the trail, however, every good thing unraveled. Little did we know that the next two miles of aspault would be covered with black ice, making it very difficult to go fast. This also put much more wear and tear on my IT Bands and I could feel them getting more and more fatigued with each slippery step. I told Stephen that they were getting tired, and we kept trucking along. We ran our slowest mile here (6:27) and I didn't want the rest of the miles to be that slow. At the 4 mile turnaround, I made a very conscious effort to pick it back up to a respectable pace, which we did. However, I felt like I had spent every ounce of my energy on those two miles of ice, and my legs were working much harder than they should be.

After 6 miles, I informed Stephen that I would be ending early, at the 7 mile mark. He was a good trooper and when we stopped, he informed me that I didn't feel too good on my last tempo before Twin Cities and still ran a sub-2:42. I think that Stephen and I both work well together because we know how to listen to our bodies and minds to know when enough is enough. We also know that it is pointless to spend too much time talking or thinking about a workout that was below our own expectations. The best thing to do is to recognize a weakness for the day and to move on. I know that I ran 26.2 miles 8 seconds faster than I did in this tempo today, but the important thing is that I did get a good effort in. I hope that I can run 6 min pace or faster at Houston, but the key will be to get my IT Band feeling normal again.

I enjoyed a long 4 mile cool down with both Stephen and Megan, where I learned more about Stephen got into running. He went from a 2:42 to a 2:38 to a 2:32! That's pretty much amazing. Megan is less than 100 days from the Boston Marathon, where she will revisit the city where she ran a blazing 2:37:xx marathon at the 2008 Olympic Trials. I believe that all the hard work she's been putting in will definitely pay off come April.

Splits:
616
611
620
627
618
619
614

Friday and Saturday Cherry Blossom Prep

This past weekend I competed at the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler as part of the Charlotte Running Club Open Women's Team. Essentially, this weekend served as the culmination of all of my training since December of 2009.

Of course, the race was defintiely fun, but the entire trip in itself was a great time, so I'm going to fill you in on the whole thing!

On Friday, Matt Jaskot, John Compton and I all met up at my house to start our road trip to Richmond, where we would stay at Matt's parent's house to split up the driving. Matt and I switched off driving throughout the trip, so it went by pretty fast. John served as our reliable co-pilot, ensuring that we always had good tunes playing through the speakers. We arrived at the Jaskots' house around 1015pm and shared some small talk with Matt's parents. John and I were ridiculously tired, so we said our good nights pretty soon after our arrival.

The next morning, I jumped on Matt and John in their separate bedrooms to wake them up for our morning run together. After they groggily got out of bed, the three of us ran an easy four miles, spotted some white squirrels, and did some light strides. Matt's dad made us some delicious waffles, which I topped with some yogurt and fruit. Once we all cleaned up, we were back on the road, heading towards DC.

Of course, we ran into some traffic, and I don't like driving in traffic. Once we made it to DC, we had Matt giving me directions, John repeating what the GPS was telling us to do, and me pissed that we were still in traffic. Overall, it made for an interesting interaction amongst the three of us, but we finally found our hotel and safely parked the car on the side of the street. John used his patience that he must use on the freshmen high school students he teaches as he was navigating us through DC.

Once we got to the hotel, we began our trek to the expo, where we would meet up with the rest of our Charlotte Running Club team Ben, Megan, Danielle, Chad, and Mike. The walk was not far at all so we decided to grab a subway sandwich before we made our way in. Once we arrived at the National Building Museum, we were directed to the packet pickup. I spotted Joan Benoit Samuelson but was too scared to ask her for pictures because she looked like she was ready to leave. Megan and I did try on some crowns though. Not quite sure why they were being sold at an expo for a ten miler, but whatever.


After the expo, Matt, John, and I went to China Town so that Matt could get some authentic Kung Pao Tofu. While he got his food, John and I sat on a stoop and people-watched. I saw a man with a beard all the way down to his shins and with one huge dreadlock down to his thighs. I wish I had gotten a picture. I also ate a huge chocolate chip cookie because I was hungry. I hadn't had a cookie in forever, and I decided it wouldn't be THAT bad if I ate it less than 16 hours before my big race. HA!

Once we returned from China Town, we relaxed in the hotel room by watching "Saving Private Ryan." Then we made it down to the hotel restaurant to enjoy a nice pre-race meal with Megan, Ben, Dan, Val, Mike, Andrea, John, and Matt. I had spaghetti and a big romaine salad. Afterwards, we all felt like we had gorged ourselves on spaghetti and decided it would be a good idea to take a walk. I got a great picture of the Capitol!


After dinner, Megan and I discussed our race strategy and how we could work together. We figured that we would probably end up going out in 550 pace, which would be fine, and then try to hang on from there on out. Once we had that conversation, I met Jordan to give him his packet, and waited for my mom to arrive at the hotel.

I crawled in bed around 9pm, and fell asleep around 930. However, my mom arrived around 1030pm, so from that point forward, my sleep was on and off. Matt also came into the room a little bit later, and I had to open up the door for him. I wasn't too worried about my lack of sleep though because I felt pretty lively once I awoke the next morning.