PERFECT temperature!
I actually heard about this race via a few of my clients. One of the accounts I work with is a pharmaceutical company (big pharma goes against my healthy beliefs, so I just coach their employees, don't take their drugs) Anyway, Kzoo is a hub for their veterinary medicinal branch, so quite a few of my clients live in that area and were training for the 1/2 marathon.
I figured it would be neat to meet some of the people I've been working with for a year but have not yet met, plus it fit nicely to make day 2 of my first double header!! Kalamazoo it is!
A few hours after our Wisconsin 1/2 we were on the road heading to KZOO- only a 4 hour drive, so time went by pretty quickly- thank goodness.
We check in at our hotel, unpack, then head to the expo for packet pickup. Nothing too exciting at expo- mainly local businesses and a few retailers. B and I decided to head to the 'artsy' part of their downtown for lunch and decided on a trendy cabaret & grille, The Union. Hit the spot perfectly.
Unfortunately there wasn't anything too exciting to do in the city, so my highlight was getting a new phone, Droid Incredible, since my normal droid failed a few days back (nothing more annoying than having a working phone but black screen- I cringed everytime I heard the text chime because I was unable to read it) We tried again to find a GoodWill for our pre race deal finding, but everything was closed :(
Get back to hotel, lay our race outfits out for the morning, and lights out by 9pm....
Up at 4:30am! I was pretty tight so I did more than my usual stretching and foam rolling to loosen up.We had the half fanatic photo meet up at 6:50am, so we made sure to leave hotel by 5:50, go to designated parking lot and shuttled to the start line and we were good to go at 6:20am.
B and I had some difficulty finding the meeting spot, so we just started stretching and talking to people at one of the many buildings on Borgess' Nazareth Campus. In the process of standing around passing time, a guy came up to me asking if I was Lisa---
***little backstory- I sent all my members that were racing in Kzoo a picture of what I looked like and what I would be wearing so they could find me if they wanted***
The guy ended up being one of my members Greg- he introduced me to his wife, son, and daughter, and we chatted for a minutes then said we would see eachother on the course. So far this is starting out to be a great day- weather is perfect, my legs don't feel as bad as anticipated, already met one of my members, and I set ZERO goals for what to expect with this race so I had nothing to worry about. (except where the heck the building is that we're supposed to meet for half fanatics pic)
After stopping many race officials to ask for directions, we FINALLY come across our meeting spot for group photo. Its so funny how there is never that much representation for half fanatics- me, B, and Jeff were the only 3 for Cincy Flying Pig as well- at least this time we had one more there. B was laughing hysterically because she was significantly shorter than all of us- heck I was short for once too!!
Turns out Jeff is from Indy and since I'm racing there in 2 weeks for the Geist 1/2, he invited me for their pre race pasta carb load dinner- how nice!!
We departed MM / HF group and went off to stretch a bit ... in the meantime I saw what I consider my good luck charm- FLEUR DE LIS. My fascination started with fleur de lis sometime during my 1.5 year living in Louisville, Ky- they're all over the city. That time period is when I truly "found myself" and came into my own- thus a constant reminder of how far I've come mentally.
Unfortunately there wasn't anything too exciting to do in the city, so my highlight was getting a new phone, Droid Incredible, since my normal droid failed a few days back (nothing more annoying than having a working phone but black screen- I cringed everytime I heard the text chime because I was unable to read it) We tried again to find a GoodWill for our pre race deal finding, but everything was closed :(
Get back to hotel, lay our race outfits out for the morning, and lights out by 9pm....
Up at 4:30am! I was pretty tight so I did more than my usual stretching and foam rolling to loosen up.We had the half fanatic photo meet up at 6:50am, so we made sure to leave hotel by 5:50, go to designated parking lot and shuttled to the start line and we were good to go at 6:20am.
B and I had some difficulty finding the meeting spot, so we just started stretching and talking to people at one of the many buildings on Borgess' Nazareth Campus. In the process of standing around passing time, a guy came up to me asking if I was Lisa---
***little backstory- I sent all my members that were racing in Kzoo a picture of what I looked like and what I would be wearing so they could find me if they wanted***
The guy ended up being one of my members Greg- he introduced me to his wife, son, and daughter, and we chatted for a minutes then said we would see eachother on the course. So far this is starting out to be a great day- weather is perfect, my legs don't feel as bad as anticipated, already met one of my members, and I set ZERO goals for what to expect with this race so I had nothing to worry about. (except where the heck the building is that we're supposed to meet for half fanatics pic)
After stopping many race officials to ask for directions, we FINALLY come across our meeting spot for group photo. Its so funny how there is never that much representation for half fanatics- me, B, and Jeff were the only 3 for Cincy Flying Pig as well- at least this time we had one more there. B was laughing hysterically because she was significantly shorter than all of us- heck I was short for once too!!
Turns out Jeff is from Indy and since I'm racing there in 2 weeks for the Geist 1/2, he invited me for their pre race pasta carb load dinner- how nice!!
All maniacs + half fanatics- there were quite a few more maniacs I saw on the course that were unable to get to the photo in time. We had some time to kill, so we all goofed off for a little bit.
Had our first photo with the infamous Dave Mari- if you haven't met him yet, he organizes the MM or HF photos at every race he goes to and is known for taking photos all along the course, cheering on others, and eating whatever food he can find along the way. Plus he has an infectious personality that just makes you want to be around him.
 |
| gearing up to run!!! |
B and I part ways into our "corrals" until race time. There is no organization to the start line, people were just lining up near the pacer of their goal time- quite congested.
I actually started by the 2:10 pacer- mainly because I didn't really care where I started, but also I knew that I was going to need to go out SLOW to warm my legs up.
Miles 1-2
1st mile was HARD. I felt like I was going in S-L-O-W M-O-T- I-O-N. My quads were super tight and I just couldn't move, getting passed left and right. I figured I'd just listen to my body and if it wanted me to go slow or fast, I'd just listen. With one mile down, my legs finally felt loose, and just in luck for large downhills to let my legs carry me.
Miles 3-7
Shortly into the 2nd mile, Greg came up from behind me and we ran together for a little bit. I'm horrible at running and talking, so I let him do most of the talking. I asked him what his goal was (how health coach of me hehe) and he said to break 1:50- I assured him he wouldn't do that if he continued at my pace, so I wished him well and he took off.
I kept the same 3 screen setting on my garmin as I did for the Wisconsin 1/2- so again I couldn't see my total time, but I knew I was going much faster than I actually had planned for. Finally half way into the 5th mile I hit my wall and I started slowing down. They were giving out gu shortly after mile 5 so I took it and saved the one I brought for later. I haven't used 2 gus in a race for a LONG time, but I knew I would need it. I'm not sure if it helped, because I still was tired, but psychologically I think it prepared me a little better.
Around mile 6.5 we ran on a long wooden bridge which bounced up and propelled you a little bit due to all the runners on it- makes my job that much easier. As soon as we were done on the bridge I heard my name being shouted- there was one of my favorite members I coach- Jeri! I had no idea what she looked like until earlier that morning when I checked my email... she had attached a photo of her and her family so I could recognize her. It was awesome to be in a foreign place and have someone there cheering specifically FOR ME!! I smiled and waved - shouting "Thanks so much Jeri!!!"- that little moment gave me an energy boost for about a mile.
Miles 8-finish
Shortly after mile 8 I went into walk mode again- bah stupid legs. Cardiovascular wise, I was great... muscle wise, I was sore, tight, and feeling heavy. During my walk some girl came up to me and tried to grab my hand while saying "Lisa you can't walk now, you're over 1/2 way done".... um who is this??? how does she know my name?? It dawned on me after a few seconds- one of my members, Nicole, is part of a huge running group who happen to be fans of plaid. When I told her I would be wearing a purple plaid skirt, she got excited and told her whole group to look out for me... I wonder if she told them to grab my hand as well because I kid you not, the SAME EXACT THING happened at 10.2 miles (according to Garmin). Wow, Michigan people are a little toooo friendly for me.
I'm not going to lie, although I was slightly annoyed, it felt good to have people sort of know me and want to help me out. I trotted, yes trotted along until shortly after mile 11. We entered these gorgeous trails and I stopped to take some photos, but my camera was blurry from my body heat, so they didn't turn out. Sure enough while I was walking again I had ANOTHER girl come up from behind me and this time she grabbed my arm and dragged me with her saying "we're almost done, I know you're tired but we're almost there"- yes she was right that I was EXHAUSTED, and we were almost done, but walking just feels so good right now haha.
I told her to go on and I would see her at the finish line. I enter "the fun zone" which was some crazy fans with balloon arches, streamers, gummy bears, and music to pump everyone up- that definitely helped. Last mile was a blur until about 12.8 miles- we're near the home stretch, fans lined the streets, and in the distance I saw petite little Jeri jumping up and down with her cowbell screaming my name- shes AWESOME! I shouted to her I would see her shortly and began kicking it in.
Generally I don't have much of a kick, but today I was so excited to be done that I started earlier than normal and passed quite a few girls who appeared to be in my age group- YES!!! As I turned the corner and saw the race clock it say 1:56 and change- Wow I thought I would surely go over 2 hours today- awesome!!!
Immediately after crossing the finish line I close out my run and open it back up so I can see my final time on my garmin- 1:55:47- how is that possible?!?! Have I really gotten that much faster over the past month that even when I feel like crap and walk a ton I can still get a decent time??? I realized its my stubbornness and desire to better myself that carries me vs. actual training (something I need to work on in the future)
Within a minute of finishing, Greg comes up to me, congratulates me on my double and exclaimed he met his goal of breaking 1:50- ran a 1:43... more like creamed his goal. His daughter Abby appeared and apologized if she scared me- she was the arm grabber at 11.5 miles trying to get me to not walk haha.
B meets up at the tent after shes done, we do our "after photo" together, then say goodbye to everyone and grab a shuttle to our car so we can shower and hit the road.
Mile1- 8:24
Mile2- 7:52 (downhill action)
Mile3- 8:17
Mile4- 8:18
Mile5- 8:55 (first gu)
Mile6- 8:47
Mile7- 8:49
Mile8- 8:50
Mile9- 9:45 (more walking than usual)
Mile10- 9:39
Mile11- 8:59
Mile12- 9:44
Mile13- 9:16
Mile .1- 7:42
Although I wasn't able to thoroughly enjoy the race due to being miserable, I did have a great time: the scenery was beautiful, only 2 major hills to tackle, plenty of 'support for Lisa' on the course, ample aide stations, and of course meeting 2 of my members I talk to on a monthly basis- great times.
State # 15- done!
First double header- success
Official time: 1:55:47
Age group 30/201
Wow! A double header and you still pulled out a great time!!! You have earned a hot shower!! Great job!
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