Tag Archives: race

21 November 2011

Tram Challenge – A Race Recap

By Nicki

I ran a fantastic race while I was out in California. I discovered the Palm Springs Tram Challenge, a 6K run/walk that had a 2000 foot elevation increase, online. Since I would not have a car constantly at my discretion while in the area, I emailed my stepfather – the trip was still a surprise for my mother – to see if he thought it would be okay if I ran it. The weekend of the race was the weekend of my mother’s birthday. Many other people were coming in for the birthday party so I wanted to be sure this would not be a problem.

With the okay from him, I decided I was going to do the race.

Friday afternoon, Tom and I headed to Palm Springs. I have always thought of my mom and step dad as living in the Palm Springs area. I didn’t realize that they were 30 miles away from Palm Springs. Tom had programmed the GPS for the store address that was holding packet pick up. Off we went for me to pick up my bib and then, the two of us where going to the tram area. This would allow me to check out the route and then go up the actual tram.

The story of the tram ride and the subsequent visit to a state park will come in the future. For now, let me say that driving up the road the incline did not seem bad. Yes, it was a bit ominous that there were signs that warned cars to turn off their air conditioning to prevent overheating. Yes, I noticed the sign that indicated 1000 feet in elevation and then 2000 feet in elevation. (Just an FYI, the house where Mom and Tom live is at about 45 feet in elevation.)

News reports were showing that there were over 900 people registered for the race. 824 finished. I estimated, prior to the run, even though it was only 3.7 miles that I would take one hour to finish.

The morning of the race Tom and I set out for Palm Springs before it was light out. He parked in the Carl’s Jr lot as the instructions said to do. I got out and got my heart rate monitor on and made a conscious decision to not run with my phone which was going to be my camera. Tom took a couple photos and I was on the bus, heading to the start.

The sunrise as I was waiting for the race to start was absolutely beautiful. I don’t know if it is the lack of humidity in the desert air or the mountains that we were near but the colors were brilliant and wonderful. I was really annoyed with myself that I had decided to not run with my phone. A photo would have been great.

This year was the 26th running of this particular race. I have to say that it rivals any that I have run as the best organized. Even the day of registration was well organized. There were bags at the registration so if you wanted to shed some clothing and have it taken to the end of the race. The temperature was around 60 that morning when the race started at 8 am. The high for the day was suppose to be over 85. I was concerned about the heat but it was okay.

The first two miles of the race seemed to go by quickly. All of the print materials said to be careful as the beginning was the easy part. The 12% grade didn’t come until closer to mile 3 and the last bit of the race was at a 14% grade. The accent was not the problem with this race. Breathing was. Little did I know that I am most likely allergic to cats. Having spent the last five days in a house with three cats, I could barely breath as I was going up that hill. People often ask if running in the cold causes my lungs to burn. I constantly say no. I have never felt that burning feeling in my lungs until this race. I ended up walking a good portion of the last 1.7 miles. I ran when I could and for that little dip that occurred. I laughed hysterically at the sign that said here come the easy part. At the end of the slight downhill, there was another sign that said easy part is over. As I said to another runner, obviously humor put there by someone driving a car.


I was close to one hour and could see the finish line. I tried my hardest to pick up my pace but the steeper it was, the harder that was. I couldn’t do it. My Garmin’s official finish time one hour and four seconds. The race’s official time one hour and 21 seconds. I am happy with that.

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5 October 2011

Wineglass Marathon – Race Recap II: The Actual Race

By Nicki

Sunday morning dawned – actually pre-dawn – wet and cold. A quick check of the weather web site indicated it was 41F and raining at the start line. Better yet, the wind chill was 36F. Now came the big decisions. Keep the short sleeve shirt? Hope the rain will end? Wear a jacket? I put on my shorts, shirt and shoes and went to the kitchen to make my oatmeal with ground flaxseed in it. I was concerned I wouldn’t want to eat this as it would be too warm out but no chance of that being an issue.

The past two years I have not run but have spectated at Wineglass. Because of this, I have always driven to the start just outside of Bath, New York. This year would be different. Steve and I would drive to Corning, park and take the shuttle bus to Bath. Buses were lined up and filling as we came out of the parking garage. Many had coffee from the $5 breakfast that could be purchased. A race official poked her head in the window. She had an Olympic trial qualifier, actually someone who was trying to hit the time for this, and her pacer. There was a bike involved. Our driver seemed a bit perplexed at first but finally said meet me at the back of the bus with the bike. The bus filled and off we headed. It was still dark and still rainy. Thankfully, the bus had heat.

Here would be my first issue. When we arrived at the Philips facility in Bath, there were only five porta-potties. I knew this must be a mistake. In previous  years, there had been rows of them. Also, on the bus ride, I had sat with a man from outside DC. He had been at the start line on Saturday and said there was a large white tent. No tent was visible at the facility. I opted to use the bathroom while I could. It was still more than an hour before the race start but I was sure I would have to go again. Then, I understood. There was shuttle from the Philips plant to the new start line about 6/10ths of a mile up a side road. The biggest issue in the buses in my mind was that none had any signage. I do seriously believe that a sign in the bus window of those in Corning that indicated whether they were headed to the marathon or the half marathon start and in the shuttle to the start in bath bus would have made a lot of difference. Because there was no signage and no real communication of the fact that the bus from Corning was not dropping runners directly at the start line, there was significant confusion at the start area.

Now, the marathon sold out with a cap of 2,000 runners. There was hardly any place at the start line to keep these people out of the elements. We huddled together under the white tent prior to moving to a garage that someone opened for us as more runners arrived.

Even the Pacers were cold

So cold couldn't hold the camera steady

Binghamton Runners in the Garage

The final decisions were made and I kept my Nike jacket on and a rain poncho like the one Steve has on in the photo above (thanks, Steve, for having an extra around), shed my warm up pants and put my bag into the truck to go to the start line. This truck was not manned by anyone but maybe the organizers didn’t think this was an important item.

About 7:45 am, I headed up the hill to the start. I went past all the pacers as I was going to start at the back.

The 3:05 Pacer

Then, comes complaint number two. Because of the confusion about getting to the start line and the shuttle bus, people were still down at the Philips location – the start for the previous 29 runnings of the Wineglass Marathon. I will say that the start line being different had been well communicated. I realized this point but had not realized the end was different until I got a good look at a map of the course. The start, with a good majority of us standing in the rain getting very wet and cold, was held up for 10-15 minutes due to getting all the runners to the start line. This has to be rectified in future years. Hopefully, the weather will not be as bad in the future but that time in the rain and cold is sure to have put the PRs or qualifying times of many “on ice.”

Eventually, the gun went off and we all started moving. I had partnered up or was close to Dawn. She is from Binghamton and we had run the beginning of two half marathons together in August. I knew she would start out faster than I really should but it is nice to have someone with you.  My plan – weird as it may seem – was to be sure to run two two hour 10 milers and that would leave me an hour and a half to get the last 6.2 miles in. My normal 10K race time is about one hour and 12 minutes. My 10K training time is one hour and 20 minutes. I figured this would work.

As is the norm in a race situation, I went out way too fast. My first five miles had a slow mile (mile 5) of 11:30. I know you all are thinking that is slow but that is about average for me. My first mile was 10:25. Whoa!  I hit five miles in just over 55 minutes. I knew in my mind I was going to pay for this at some point in the day. Even in fast training, my best five miler was 57 minutes. About mile 4 I had gotten so warm that I had peeled off my rain poncho and left it along the side of the road. I tried hard to leave it in a pile with others just so it was less pick up for volunteers later. I am not one to throw my energy gel containers or other things on the ground so this was a hard thing for me to do.

The next five miles were in about 59 minutes. I hit ten miles in under two hours. I had four minutes to spare. The plan was working. I had forgotten the whole “I was going too fast” thing. I was very happy. The only thing I could think at that point in time was I was working my plan.  This was regardless of saying earlier in the race, to Dawn, that I didn’t know whose race I was running but I was pretty sure it wasn’t mine.

The weather these ten miles and at least another four was ugly. The rain would go from a spritz to a downpour. I had on a jacket that was totally soaked through. My arms and core were cold even though I knew the temperature was rising a little. When the wind would blow – and it did, I was downright cold.

Miles 10-13.1 were slowing but I checked my Garmin at the half way point – a part of my spectating the past two years – and I was about 5 minutes faster than my previous half marathon best time. It was 2:33:58. The good news from this is that I do stand a chance of breaking a 2:30 half marathon in the future. My miles were getting slower, though, and I was concerned.

Rain stopped so I could take a photo in race

At the next water stop after the half way point, I ditched my water bottle. I couldn’t stand to hold on to it anymore. Of course, right after that it stopped raining and I wished I had it with me. Miles 13 -20 were tough. I used up that four minutes I banked in the first ten miles and ate up an additional 16 minutes before hitting 20 miles.  I remember passing the 16 mile marking. I had been playing leap frog with a guy and I went past him and said something like only 10 more. That sort of inspired me. I looked at my watch and thought only 10 miles, I can do that. The nagging question in my mind is can I do it in two hours.

Suddenly downhills were starting to hurt. I had to stop and fix my soaking wet sock twice! I was falling apart but was going to finish. About mile 22 I had a small asthma attack. I am not sure what precipitated this. I had not experienced asthma problems since my second half marathon in 2010. This caused me to walk for a quarter of a mile. As I ran under an underpass and onto the bike path, there was a runner sitting in a chair with a volunteer. I was unsure if he was stopping totally or just had some issue he was trying to fix. Trust me, the whole sock issue was easier to fix sitting on the guardrail the second time than trying to balance the first time. He would catch up to me about mile 25. We would urge each other on and he would then head across the final bridge just ahead of me.

Once across the bridge and turning onto Market St, I heard a yell of “Go Nicki.” It was Kristy.  Kristy and Dan had had water and food at about mile six for the TCRC runners. I am so slow I missed them at mile 16 but she was there.  She had rain boots on and still ran a block or two down the street with me. I was so happy to see her.  Just before my family in front of the finish line was Dan with Quinn, his dog. A quick high five to Dan and then realizing my niece Logan had come with my sister and daughter and I will be lucky if there is a picture of me at the finish without tears.

Upon finishing, I was immediately wrapped in an aluminum blanket. This did help me to warm up a bit since I was soaked through every layer I was wearing. Then, the beautiful medal was put over my head and around my neck. This was so much lighter than the medal from my first marathon.

Home, showered and warmer

I am sure I am missing thoughts I had along the race. I know I talked to several other people along the course and I will do some small posts on these people in the future. Good news! While my legs are sore, I am already planning my next races and, yes, my next marathon.

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22 August 2011

Catharine Valley Half – Race Recap

By Nicki

Another weekend, another half marathon! Well, not quite as my last half was on a Thursday evening, exactly ten days prior to the Catharine Valley Half.  Monies raised from this race go to the upkeep of the Catharine Valley Trail and to the Watkins Glen Cross Country team according to this article in the Odessa File.

 

This year the race organizers offered an early start which I gladly took advantage of.  I know that my half marathon time is not less than two and a half hours … yet.  I am working on it but it has  yet to happen.  Maybe during my third full year of racing in 2012 but if not, I am happy that I keep whittling away my time.  There were probably 20-25 of us that took the 8 am start which was one full hour prior to the official 9 am start.  Most early starts that I have done are 30-45 minutes prior to the official start time.

 

About 7:30 or so, the sky started a light rain.  Last year this race was run in a monsoon-like wind and rain combination that left puddles across the trail and the last turn on the high school track before the finish line under inches of water.  I was okay with a light rain as it was rather warm out, close to 70F already.  Not sure I wanted it to rain much harder than it was, though.  Unfortunately, the rain maker didn’t listen to what I wanted.  Good news is that the trail is well-covered so it was mostly dry.

 

My legs love running on this cinder-covered trail.  The little bit of road that we ran on did not make my legs very happy.  The trail made me and my legs much happier.

 

The long and the short of this half is that I took ten minutes and 35 seconds off the time I ran this course last year.  I took an additional two minutes and seven seconds off my best half marathon time (just ten days prior) to date.  I was very happy that I ran this race according to the plan that I had set up in my mind prior to the race – five minutes of running and 45 seconds of walking.  The only thing I learned really important is I need more than water and Gatorade during a race of this distance.  Oops! I didn’t have time to get to the store and was out of energy gels and chews.

 

All the photos in the slideshow were taken post race.  It is an amazing lift to turn the corner in Montour Falls and see the falls somewhere in mile 10 (I think, it might be in mile 9).  It was also a huge boost to my running to see those runners who started at the 9 am start passing as I was running.

 

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15 August 2011

Tromptown Half Marathon – Race Recap

By Nicki

I really love running half marathons.  That, along with 15K and 20K races, seem to be my ideal distances.  I can run a full marathon and I can run a 5K but I get the most out of a half.

Last Thursday evening, I ran the Tromptown Half.  This was my first time running this particular race, not an odd statement since I haven’t been racing a full two years yet and who can run every race in the first year.  This particular race was full of lessons for me.  Lessons are good since I am less than two months from my second full marathon.

The first lesson learned was about nutrition.  When I have a race in the morning, it is easy.  I get up with enough time to eat, get to the race, etc.  With the race starting at 6:15 – reality is I took the early start at 5:30 so I was across the finish line prior to dark, I was unsure when to eat.  I had gotten up in the morning as usual and done some work and errands.  My son was getting ready to head back to college so there was running around in the car.  The problem was I was starved by 1 and trying to hold off eating until later.  I didn’t do too good a job with that as I hungry mid-race.

The other nutrition was about in-race nutrition.  I have found what I think is perfect for long races.  I bought some Honey Stinger chews a few weeks back in Pomegranate Passion.  These are not too big – an issue I have had with other chews – and not too sweet – always a problem.  I started with one every 25 minutes or so and this worked until about mile 8 when, without proper planning, I ran out.  Will try this same plan for my next half.

I was concerned and carried a water bottle with me.  The reason for this was that the early start was new for this race, in its first year.  The race director did say that he was not sure the water stops at miles two and three or four would be set up yet when we got to that point.  I do understand logistics and was okay as I had seen this warning on the web site so came prepared.  Many either didn’t see it or didn’t care to heed the warning.

And just so you know that races do not go perfect for me, I want to say I had a race plan.  I did.  I was going to run this race with a 5 minute run/1 minute walk ratio that I have been using in my training.  I would also slow to a walk for water stops when they were needed.  Unfortunately, I did what I always do at a race.  I went out too fast.  I ran mile 1 in 10:20.  I didn’t take my walk breaks.  I ran mile 2 in 11:30 – more my pace but still only one walk break.  I ran 17 minutes before I took my first walk break.  I do not think this is a bad thing.  It is just not my original race plan.  I also am okay with changing the race plan during the race to some extent.  That being said, the not taking a walk break until 17 minutes is okay.  The getting caught up in it being a race and going out too fast is not okay as it wears me down towards the end.

I am working on getting a camera – a point and shoot – so I can take photos during my races.  I did not have a camera with me this past Thursday so no photos of mine.  I am going to point you to two sites to see the area and the actual race photos.

Tromptown Races

Bob Brock Images from the race 

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12 August 2011

Women’s Distance Festival – Binghamton

By Nicki

I have to admit that I have been woefully neglectful of my blog this summer.  I have been running – literally and figuratively – around a lot this summer so I am going to try and catch up these next few weeks as the kids, not quite sure why I still use plural as I only have one high school child left at home, get ready for the first day of school.

 

Back in July, I had originally had plans to run two different Women’s Distance Festival runs – one in Dryden at the beginning of the month and one in Binghamton at the end of the month.  The Dryden run did not happen for any number of reasons but there was a great opportunity that was taken advantage of instead.

 

July 29th, the day of the Binghamton run, rolled around and was in the middle of some of the hottest weather we had had in ages.  The race was not scheduled until 6:30 pm which was okay with me, even though I tend to run earlier rather than later.  I made zucchini brownies to take those with me for after the race.  The spread that is out after all the Triple Cities Runners’ Club events is always amazing.

 

About 3 pm, the area had a horrible thunderstorm.  Evidently, everyone was concerned.  My only thought was that the park would have water issues.  If that didn’t happen, it would be all good and the run would go on as planned.  Rain wouldn’t stop the run but the thunder and lightning might postpone it.  Luckily by 6:30, there was sun again.

 

A group of four of us met up to ride to the park together.  Two of the women have always been walkers.  The third was going to walk today because she had not been able to train during the summer like she would have liked and to support one of the other walkers.  When we got to the park, I found Carrie.  We had started other races together and hung out to start this one together.  I know that I am not as fast as Carrie but I can run one mile with her and pace her at the beginning.

 

The race was fantastic.  I hit a personal best for a 5K.  I do not tend to run a lot of 5Ks.  I am more a distance runner, no doubt about it.  I do, though, enjoy the 5K before and after – the camaraderie.

 

Since getting my DSLR, I can’t run with it so I have no photos of this race.  I will point you to this Facebook video and hope you can get to it - http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150272348536380&comments&set=t.501500406&type=1

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31 March 2011

Forks XV – Race Recap

By Nicki

When I first started racing, I was all about races I had heard about, that friends had run.  Since my running friend pool was not all that local, these races were here and there.  I missed some of the great local races last year in my first year of running races.  This year I am trying to rectify that by running local races over others.

 

On Sunday, March 27, I ran my first Forks XV.  I have to admit I was on the fence about running the race.  First, and I know it is an old record, but I am not sure I have totally recovered from the marathon.  I still get extremely tired when I race or after long runs – of which nine miles is the longest I have run so far.  Sunday dawned with sunny weather but cold and my legs felt good so as I was praying in church, I committed myself to run the race.  Second reason I was on that fence was that I had, until that point, only run nine miles once since the marathon.  That once was a hard run.  The run was actually 9.45 and I ended up walking the .45 as I could not run any further.  The third reason was that I had only run a 15K race once before and that was July of 2010.  I put all my excuses behind me and headed to the race.

 

I know a lot of local runners so friends of mine were running registration.  I talked with both of them for a few minutes, took my tee-shirt to the car and stood outside trying to realize that my first 15K had been in 80F plus weather and this second one would be in below freezing temps with a wind chill  of much lower.  I was still setting a goal to PR. I wanted to get the race done in one hour and 45 minutes.  That would be seven minutes plus off my first 15K.

 

I did not realize just how tough this course would be.  I did, though, as I almost always do when offered the chance,  take the early start.  I would rather be passed by all the leaders than not finish with everyone else.  I did not take off in the start as the fastest.  For a brief period I ran with another woman who was making her first attempt at this distance.  At a little past mile 1, I handed my jacket to the course marshal.  He’s a neighbor so I knew if he was not still around when I finished, I could stop by the house and pick up the jacket.  I slowly started passing other early starters.  Unfortunately, this would mean I would run most of the race alone.  I like to talk to others during my races.

 

At mile 4.5, the first on-time starters passed.  A little later, a couple more went by.  I was happy that the half hour early start had gotten me to this point before starters passed me.  Somewhere near mile 6, the pain in my foot that I had during the marathon reoccurred.  I seriously thought I was going to take my first DNF it hurt so bad for about a half mile.  Then, miles 7, 8 and 9 were all over 12 minute miles.  This is where the hills started and seemed to keep coming.   Even with breaks for water, I had not had a mile over 12 minutes prior to this point in the race.  I knew by the last big hill that I would finish.  The question just became whether or not I would make it in the time I had set for myself.

 

I crossed the finish line with  personal record, a PR.  Was it the PR I wanted? No but it was better than I had ever run a 15K race before this one.  Was I happy? You bet!

 

I hung around for a little bit and spoke with friends.  The after race spread of food was wonderful: bananas, oranges, pizza, cookies, breads.  There was also water and coffee.  A lot of hard work goes into these smaller,  local races – probably as much or more than into a large sponsored races – so thank you to Triple Cities Runners’ Club and all the volunteers at the Forks XV.

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21 September 2010

Race Recap – Ithaca 5 & 10

By Nicki

I admit I took a hiatus from writing this summer.  I was outside a lot and ran a lot of races.  I was inside a bit visiting with family who live on the West Coast and I get to see all too seldom.  So a little over a week ago, I ran a 10 mile race in Ithaca, New York.  As much as I love Ithaca, I live about 40 miles southeast of the city so I had to figure travel time into the race schedule.

This race is one lap of five miles if you are doing the five and two laps if you are doing the ten.  I loved the lap that we took from the Ithaca High School down into the center of the city, then out to Stewart Park and past Cayuga Lake, one of the Finger Lakes.  I was very concerned about the race at first as, regardless of all the hills in Ithaca, this course is basically flat.  The only inclines my legs felt were going up bridge inclines.

This was basically my birthday run.  My birthday was Sept 11 and the race on the 12th.  I looked down at that race bib and noticed the new number in the age area.  It was a very odd feeling.

The goal here was to finish the ten miles in less than two hours.  I finished in 1:57 so am very happy.  Below are a few pictures of the scenery that we runners got to take in that day.  These were all taken after the race and the post-race massage.

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25 August 2010

Race Recap – Catharine Valley Half Marathon

By Nicki

Me, Steve, Evelyn, Jeanne, Jamie (E's son)

This particular race was a challenge, not in the course but in the weather.  If you look at the pavement we are on, it is very wet.  We may have been in a slight sprinkling period as it was taken but there were torrential downpours throughout the race.  I was thinking we would be on a trail – a cinder paved in most places trail but a trail none the less – so I was hoping that the rain would be absorbed by most of the trees overhead.

The Catharine Valley Half Marathon started and ended at the Watkins Glen High School.  I was thinking that the finish would be good as it included a 3/4 lap of the track at the high school.  Unfortunately, the end of the track it was as if we were running a steeplechase as the track itself was covered with a couple inches of water.  You can find additional photos of the race at The Odessa File.

I ran on Sunday in honor of MCM Mama as she turns 40 August 25.  While this may not seem like a big deal, she is celebrating with gusto by sponsoring a virtual race.  The suggested lengths were shorter than my half (with the exception of the 40K) but I thought honoring her with a race would be great.

The weather does not deter me from running.  I had done a long run the Sunday before the race in a torrential downpour here at home.  That particular day I had pieced together some local routes that constantly circled by my home so as to be close to shelter if it should happen to thunder or lightning.  This race had none of those safety features.  Thankfully, the storms were forecast for later in the day.

As is usually, those that I knew who were running the race all ran much faster than I did so I was off on my own.  I was treating this as not only the honoring of a friend’s birthday but as a long training run.  I chatted with some friends along the route but settled on following these two people who were running together.  They were behind me for about three miles and then just in front of me for a couple.  On the one uphill on the trail – I really didn’t think there was a lot of long uphill like some, I decided I was going to run hard up the hill.  I went past the couple again but soon they were in front of me.  I got close to them at about six miles and asked what they thought their pace was.  Since he thought it was about 11:30, I decided they were the people that I was going to stick to like glue (I have been listening to a lot of Sugarland lately).  Eventually, Denise went off on her own and PJ and I continued to run together until about mile 12.  I knew we had slowed down and I wanted to pick up the pace there – even knowing I had a huge puddle to go through – to finish strong.

I will definitely try this race again next year.  Loved it and knowing others that were there.  Hopefully, next year will be slightly dry.  You can find out more about the trail by visiting the two links below.

Friends of the Catharine Valley Trail

NYS Parks

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12 July 2010

Boilermaker 15K – Race Recap

By Nicki

I am not even sure I can find the words to describe the race yesterday.  I traveled with friends to Utica for the Boilermaker 15K.  Yesterday’s 33rd running of the race held its largest field ever and the largest number of finishers.  This makes it the largest 15K road race in the United States, although the field was very international.

The winners – both the male and the female – set course records.  The male winner had a time of 42:46.  For those who do not know, 15K is 9.3 miles.  That is one fast runner!!  The female winner had a time of 47:57.  I am amazed as this is not a flat course in the least.  These people were flying.

We arrived in Utica about 6:25 am on Sunday for an 8 am race start.  All three of us still needed to pick up our packets and then warm-up.  Hydrating while we were waiting was high on the list also.  With hydration comes the natural need to relieve one’s self.  Well, plan ahead.

Porta-John lines at 7:30 am

The start line is amazing.  I could not even get on the main street that the race started on for start position – not that it mattered.  I was still surrounded by people.  There was a trumpeter who played “The Star Spangled Banner.”  The audio on the speakers kept going in and out along with some issues on the musician hitting some notes.  Not a problem as we sang along and the tears came to my eyes.  Then, there was an invocation.  Then, once the gun went off, it took the people I was near and myself eight minutes to get to the start line.

Waiting in the start corral

There were some hills in the race but I have to say none were very big.  The profile that is on the web site scared me more than the actual course did.  I had no issues with the hills.  The downhills were great as they were more sloping than I usually run.  I could easily let loose and really get moving on the downhill.  Unfortunately, I am still not use to running on flats.  I do not have a lot of flat places around were I live to run so I tend to loose time on flats.  Give me rolling hills anyday.

I ran almost even splits at 5K, 10K and the finish.  When I looked at the splits on the web site, I was impressed I didn’t seem to get a lot more tired at the end of the race.  My first 5K was in 37:37; the second in 37:44; and the final in 38:09.  The final 5K could have been faster.  There were many reasons for the slowdown.  All of these could have been prevented but I wouldn’t change them at all.

What amazed me most – other than the shear number of racers – were the crowds.  I can remember back decades when Utica was a booming city.  It has suffered a lot in that twenty years.  Yet, there were crowds everywhere.  I do not recall a single spot along the entire 9.3 miles where there was not someone on the edge of the road cheering for the runners.  There were at least 20 bands, dj’s, musical acts along the course so there was no need for mp3 players.  The music was live and varied.  The Utica Zoo was out about mile 5.5 (not totally sure of where but that seems about the right spot) with animals you could pet – a little alligator I think it was but I was not touching it….LOL!

Kelly’s Popsicle Stand was amazing!  These people had family and volunteers along the race and they handed out more than 3,000 popsicles to runners.  It had never crossed my mind that I would want to eat a popsicle as I ran but … Boy! was that lime green popsicle good in the humidity.

The Military Mile, starting at mile seven, had me in tears.  I frequently will cry at various points during longer races.  The tears can be brought on by lots of things – realizing I am going to do it – finish, a sign along the way, someone else slowing to my pace to keep me company for a while.  Seeing those who are serving out cheering on us runners brought me to tears as much as “The Star Spangled Banner” did prior to the start.

I ran with a girl – young woman – about mile 6 who had slowed considerably.  She  had a blister on the bottom of her foot causing her considerable pain.  When I left her, I wished her luck and hope her foot heals quickly.

I ran, towards the end, with a man who had a pulled tendon/ligament – I can never remember which – in the bottom of his foot.  I know the pain having stretched mine last August.  He was excited to be finishing!  So was I!!

At mile 9 – yup, just three-tenths of a mile from the end – I saw EMTs loading someone onto a stretcher and the a golf cart to get reach more medical attention.  The person looked out of it, totally, and so close to the finish line.  I pray he is okay.

The downhill finish is something I think all races should have.  I had evidently not given it my all as I hit the downhill finish hard and went by many people.  I loved it!!  I was also totally prepared for the winding way to pins, water, lunch, oranges and goody bags.  I needed these city blocks to compose myself.  I was in tears upon finishing – not because it was hard though it was, not because I was hurt because I was not – because I had done just that.  I had finished.  I had finished strong.  I had finished in under the time I was reaching for as a time.

After getting all these items, I made my way to the beer line.  I called my friends who had already finished.  They were just about to call me as they were concerned.  I got my beers and went in search of them.  They were next to the massage tent.  No, I did not wait for a massage.  I changed out of the sweat soaked sports bra and tech shirt and we headed to the party.  I ate my lunch and drank Saranac beers while listening to Nik and the Nice Guys.

Random Photo of Party

13 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Fitness, Just my Thoughts

10 July 2010

Nerves

By Nicki

Yup!  I have them at the moment.  It is Wednesday morning – though you all won’t see this until Saturday by which time I should have a full blown case  of nerves.

Back near the end of February and beginning of March, I started getting nervous.  I had made this huge goal – a race a month – and I had registered for a half marathon.  I had never run more than a 5K before and only two of those.  I was worried about a lot of things with that half marathon but the one thing that did not even cross my mind was how many other people were running with me.  I knew I was taking the early start.  It was, after all, my first half.  I knew that the race was not bad compared to where I train.  The race director’s sister is a friend of mine.  My first 5K had about a thousand people running it so I was set for a half marathon that had a start at one time for walkers, an hour later for early start and a half hour after that for the regular half marathon.

Now, I set here getting ready to run my first really big race.  The Mountain Goat in Syracuse in May was a big race.  It had somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 runners in the 10 mile race.  I didn’t really think of the numbers at that race either.  I met up with  my cousin before hand and he was with a group of colleagues.  I was put at ease by them.  They were all younger than I am by about 15 years but they didn’t mind my hanging pre and post race with them.

This weekend, actually Sunday, July 11th – while my family is most likely arguing over how the Tour de France stage went, the first big Alps stage, and watching the World Cup Soccer Championship – I will be running the Boilermaker 15K.  This race is huge.  The information on the web site said they were cutting off entrants at 11,000.  I have a friend who has run it before and I believe he told me that last year it took him between eight and ten minutes to reach the start line.  So my nerves have started!!

I am cautiously watching extended forecasts.  We are, of course, in the middle of our first big heatwave – record-breaking temps throughout the area – so last minute training is draining.  I am checking the local newspaper’s web site for the city the race is in on a daily basis.  I am also traveling so am thinking packing and what needs to be taken.

Just so you don’t think I only obsess over running, I am also, as I sit typing this, nine and a half hours  away from my first official board meeting.  Oh the nerves!!

14 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Board of Education, Fitness, Just my Thoughts

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