Route 66 Half Marathon

All week leading up to the race Ty and I were both checking the weather predictions for the weekend hoping the temperatures would warm up. No such luck. Sunday morning when we left the house for the race it was 31 degrees and felt like 25 degrees with the wind chill. I was dressed in tights which meant I would be running my first half marathon in tights. I guess I've always lucked out in that I've never run a half marathon in below 35 degree temps. I wavered back and forth but finally decided shorts would be too darn cold. I have a thinner pair of tights and went with them paired with a spandex top, a long sleeved tech shirt, gloves, and a headband. Since Ty would be using the belt I normally take my Gu in, I had tried out different short options on long runs so I wouldn't encounter the chaffing I received during the Prairie Fire run from wearing my Gu in my sports bra. All that preparation was for naught, but what can you do. It made me a bit nervous the temperature was so cold since the coldest I've run in so far this fall was last week at the Run to the Lights 5k when it was 43 degrees.

We got a bit later start heading to the race than we had hoped. We circled around for a while looking for parking and eventfully parked in a parking garage. We were in a hurry to get to the start as we only had 10 minutes until the gun would be fired. Once they fired the gun we would not be allowed to enter our corral, corral A, we would be redirected to corral D. As we stepped out of the parking garage we were greeted with a freezing blast of wind. Thomas said, "Why did none of the people we saw walking to the start look like they were freezing?!" I was shivering and my teeth were chattering. We made our way into the corral and dad and Thomas waited in the back for Jeremy who had headed back to the car to put his sweatpants away. I weaved my way toward the front and lined up behind the 1:45 pace group. With how cold it was I had lost some of the excitement for running the race. My goal going into the race was to break 1:40 but as I walked out into the freezing temperatures I slowly began to abandon hope. I had told my dad that morning I'd be a lot more excited about the race if it were 15 degrees warmer. As I stood in the corral, listening to the announcer talk about it being the 10th year I started getting really excited. We cheered on the wheelchair competitors as they started 2 minutes before us and then it was the countdown to the race. As they shot the starting gun, confetti rained down and it was awesome. I was so pumped up and was excited to reach the start line so I could take off. 

The race wasn't too congested where I started and I was able to swing out to the left in order to pass runners. My plan had been to run the first mile around 7:40-7:50 pace. With how cold it was I knew it would take a while for my legs to warm up and I didn't want to be discouraged about my pace so I left my watch covered up by my shirt. As we approached the first mile marker there was a race clock and I saw it ticking down to 7:00 minutes. I became alarmed and saw my mile split pop up as 7:02 on my watch. I felt really comfortable and figured my 2nd mile would slow down to at least 7:30 pace. I left my watch covered because I wanted to run off feel. My 2nd mile was 7:19. I decided I was either going to have an amazing race or I was going to burn out and run 9:00 pace for the second half of the race. I assumed I'd run around 7:20 pace for the rest of the time but went through mile 3 in 7:10. I felt comfortable and have had a lot of success running tempo runs while only looking at my watch for mile splits rather than checking my pace during miles, so I decided to keep rolling with it. Since I'm still nursing Elise I made sure to take water at every water stop. During the first water stop I grabbed a cup which was filled all the way to the top so the water splashed out onto my tights and all over my gloves. I was ready to take my gloves off anyway so I just pulled them off and tucked then in the band of my tights. The community support in the neighborhoods was amazing. There were so many people out in their yards cheering us on, playing loud music, and offering free beer and treats. The spectators really make the race amazing.

The miles were really just flying by. It helped that there were water stops every 2 miles. It broke the race up really well. I enjoyed all the signs along the course. The art museum we ran by had signs saying "You are a masterpiece" and "Members run 50% faster". I saw Jeremy ahead of me around mile 4 and talked to him for a little bit as I pulled up beside him before he took off. Miles 4-6 were 7:20, 7:16, and 7:08. I was still only looking at my mile splits and not checking my pace in between miles. I felt great and was really excited because I knew I was on pace to run faster than my postpartum PR from when Carter was 11 months old which was 7:21 pace. I was cruising along and enjoying the race so much I forgot to eat my Gu until I saw them passing out free ones at the 7 mile water stop. At that point I went ahead and ate my Gu which was a different consistency than I'm used to because it was so cold. I had zipped it in a side pocket of my tights. Before the race I was able to slowly eat a bar which gave me around 200 calories going into the race and I didn't even feel hungry like I normally do. I usually really look forward to eating my Gu and get a huge pick me up after doing so. 

During mile 8 we headed out onto Riverside where Ty and I run a lot. It was fun to run on such a familiar road. We headed up a decent sized hill and I was feeling so good I hardly noticed it. Miles 7-9 were 7:10, 7:22, and 7:15. Somewhere in these miles I saw a man dressed as Waldo from "Where's Waldo" with a sign that said "You found me," which I found highly entertaining since we always read those books with my mom as a kid. Mile 10 greeted us with some of the biggest hills in the race. A couple were tough enough that my thighs were starting to burn as we crested the top. That was my slowest mile of the race in 7:38 which I was pleased was only 4 seconds over my goal pace despite all the difficult hills! Going into the last 3 miles I kept telling myself just a 5k to go. I was starting to get tired and the race had thinned out. I had caught all the runners close to me and was running a decent distance back from the closest runners to me. I went through mile 11 in 7:16 and started to catch up to a female runner ahead of me. 

As we headed into the last 2 miles we were running on part of the Jingle Bell 5k course. With a mile and a half to go the marathoners turned to the right and we continued on straight. I was so thankful that I was so near the finish rather than almost half way done! I went through mile 12 in 7:20 and my goal was to get my last mile back under 7:20. I remembered from the elevation chart on the bottom of the course map there would be a couple doozies of hills during that last mile. I caught up to a woman running ahead of me and as I passed her she cheered me on. I kept trying to push the pace as much as I could. From what I had seen for my elapsed time at mile 11 I knew if I ran my last 2 miles really strong I could break into 1:35. I hit mile 13 in 7:14 and took off in high gear toward the finish. I heard them announce Jeremy finishing as I turned toward the finish with about a quarter mile or so to go. Then they announced my name as I crossed the line and saw I had just squeaked in under 1:36 for my gun time. I stopped my watch and saw I had run 13.19 miles, good for an average of 7:15 pace and a finishing time of 1:35:43. I was pumped with my time and was proud of how I ran. I walked through the chute, receiving my medal, water, and Gatorade. I saw Jeremy ahead of me and caught up to him where they were taking finisher photos with your medal. We walked through the chute together and then when I turned around I didn't see him so I headed out to watch dad, Thomas, and Ty finish by myself. I had turned down the wraps they were passing out at the finish because I was so hot but regretted it as I stood in the shade shivering in my sweaty sports bra and spandex shirt watching for everyone else to finish.

I watched dad and Thomas come running up together. Thomas took off sprinting and dad maintained pace. I couldn't see the finishing clock very well but I could tell they were under 2 hours. The finish area was blocked off extremely well so I didn't have much choice but to stand in the shade which was really cold. After dad and Thomas finished I knew I had about 10 minutes until Ty came by so I walked down around one blocked off area and back up so I could stand in the sun to watch Ty finish. This positioned me right in front of the 13 mile mark and there was a clock next to the 13 mile marker so I could tell what the elapsed time was. I saw Ty turn the corner toward me and filled with excitement, yelling and cheering for him. Then I looked at the clock and saw he was around 2:06 with just a tenth of a mile to go and jumped up and down with excitement. He said he couldn't hear me since he was using his headphones but he saw me jump and that spurred him forward as he thought to himself he might as well shave off a few more seconds. It was the first time I had ever seen him kick it in at the end of a race!

This is how packed the finish area was!

The race was organized differently than in previous years when we ran. They had a long finish chute completely blocked off. They gave you a finisher's medal, water, and Gatorade initially. Then you walked a bit further and they had the finisher's food. So it took quite a while to get out of the chute and once you were out you could not go back in. That was a bit of a bummer because I wasn't hungry right after the race but knew I would be later so I picked up the spaghetti they were passing out. By the time I was ready to eat it, it was super cold! Ty finished right in the thick of the race so the chute was really congested. I knew the only way to ensure I would make it back to the car was to find Ty. So even though I wanted to watch for some friends to finish, I headed to the exit of the chute to wait for Ty. Otherwise I had no idea how I would find him. We stopped off at the results table to get print outs of our finish time and splits. Then as we headed out to find everyone else we lucked out, running into dad and Thomas. Ty and Thomas claimed their beer tickets as dad and I went to find some covers to wrap around us as we were both freezing but had chosen not to take them where they were offered because we were still so hot from finishing the race. Big mistake on my part with how long I was standing around sweaty. We found Jeremy and by that time I was seeing spots and getting a migraine. I think it was due to being cold and sweaty for so long. My body was all hunched up, making my muscles tight.

The race course was different this year in that you started and finished in different places. Ty thought ahead and had us park closer to the finish and walk to the race start. The only problem was that since we were running late no one thought to check to see what street we had parked on or drop a pin on a phone so we could find our way back. We left the finish area around 11:00 thinking we'd be able to find it. After walking what seemed like circles up and down hills around downtown, googling parking garages, and asking for help from pedestrians, Thomas finally came up with the idea of using an app on Ty's phone to locate his phone which was in the car. Finally at noon after over 27,000 steps including the race and searching for the car, we were headed back to the house. When we made it home I took a shower and then napped for about an hour. When I woke up my head was feeling much better!

Finally returning home!

One of the nice things about such a big race is that the race results are posted so quickly. It was nice to get on that afternoon to see our times and how we had placed. Jeremy finished in 1:34:17 which put him 10th out of 290 in his age group and 61st out of 7,347 total runners! I ran 1:35:43. I was 3rd out of 565 in my age group, the 12th female finisher, and 78th overall! I was so proud of my time, beating my fastest half-marathon from after Carter was born! When Carter was 11 months old I ran 1:36:51 which was a 7:21 average mile pace. I ran 6 seconds per mile faster 8 months after Elise was born! Thomas finished next in 1:57:00, good for 76th out of 248 in his age group and 896th overall. Dad was right behind him in 1:57:12, 32nd out of 175 in his age group and 910th overall. Ty ran a new PR, finishing in 2:08:03, besting his time of 2:10:24 by over 2 minutes! He was 116th in his age group and 1,749th overall. He maintained a 9:47 per mile pace average even with stopping to drink free beer being passed out by spectators! We all had a great time and I am looking forward to possibly running another half marathon in the spring! Thanks to my mom who stayed home with the kids so Ty and I could both run! It was awesome to both PR and know the kids were warm at home with their Oma!

Thank you mom!