Little Rock 1/2 marathon (race recap)

Little Rock, Ar- state 9/50
Temp- high 30s and windy- brrrr

B and I woke up around 5:30 so we could have plenty of time to get ready, stretch, find parking in downtown Little Rock, and meet up for the marathon maniacs / half fanatics picture @ 7:00am.
My most favorable race day outfits are a tank of some sort and a running skirt w compression shorts underneath. Due to the less than desirable temperatures in the morning, we had to make a pit stop the night before for some disposable long sleeve gear for the race start

Who doesn't love tie dye?!?! Makes me happy just looking at it.

So even though the race didn't start till 8am, we had to be downtown by 6:45ish for our group picture. Luckily with arriving earlier than other runners, parking was a breeze, and best of all, FREE!!!

We follow directions D gave us for meeting spot- "the little asian house"- then wait around.

B and I in all our tie dye glory!!!

While waiting around we talked to a few fellow marathon maniacs, swapping race stories, as well as watching all the others reconnect with old friends. Its neat to see how running can bring so many people together. 

I'm in top back row on the right

We still had an hour to kill, so we headed for warmth and a bathroom @ the Peabody hotel. Since my last 2 half marathon races have been less than ideal with my right knee, I decided to take extra time to do more stretching in hopes that it will help loosen me up.

After 30 minutes we decide to brave the wind and make the trek to our corrals- B was in corral D, and myself in C, so we parted ways and wished eachother luck. I made way to the port-o-potties and just my luck, chose the absolute slowest line to get in. After 15 minutes of waiting (yes I timed it) it was finally my turn! Afterward I made my way into my corral. Everyone around me was so friendly. This girl, Shelby (who i might add was taller than me- easy 6'0) started talking to me about her bib and what to do with it and how nervous she was etc. A married couple in front of me, Ed & wife (didn't get her name) were decked out in tie dye, so I asked for a pic with them. 

Turns out they are also doing 50 halfs in 50 states and this put them in the mid 20s. We swapped 'bests' and 'worsts' races & courses and wished eachother luck when the gun went off. 

I didn't get a picture, but when you passed the start line they had cannons shooting out constant streams of shredded paper, aka confetti- was pretty cool. As with every race, the first mile was congested and was just bobbing and weaving through people.

Last race I feel that my first few minutes I went out were super fast, thus causing me to die. Since today I had no idea how my body was going to react, I decided to just keep it easy and let my body determine my pace (not my competitive mind) Right away my knee was bothering me, but instead of the sharp shooting pain which it normally is, it was more of a stiff 'caught' feeling as if it just needed to be stretched out. I decided to ignore it and see if it got better by 3rd mile once it would be looser. 

This little trick worked because my first mile was an easy 8:50, 2nd mile 8:27, and by the 3rd mile, 8:35, I had ZERO pain in my knee. I wanted to cry I was so happy!!!

I hate to admit this, but I'm pretty bad about rehab- my rehab consists of just not running at ALL in between races, stretching when I remember, icing when its convenient, and anti inflammatories occassionally. I know there is PLENTY of room for improvement, so I wasn't expecting any type of miracle, but it looks like that might just happen in this race. 

After mile 3 I ditch my tie dye shirt, and even though its not heavy, I feel so much lighter and slowly am speeding up a bit. I started to  notice a tightness a little along my IT band, but more apparent along the greater part of my sartorius. According to my chiropractor, he thinks the major issue is the sartorius being too tight, thus pulling on both my knee and hip- resulting in pain. This was the first time I experienced pain in that area, and I completely agree with his diagnosis. If you haven't noticed from other posts, I'm both competitive and stubborn, so even though I was still in pain, it was much more manageable than what I have been dealing with, so I pushed through. 

Miles 4 and 5 breezed through. For awhile I was running behind the 3:50 pacers, but there was way too much congestion for me, so I had to pick it up so I could pass them and their rather large following. Once I passed the water station for mile 6 I didn't even notice that I haven't taken my gu. I generally always take a gu around the 6 or 6.5 mark, depending on where the station is, so the fact that I wasn't in desperate need of it  and was counting down till I could scarf it down was an awesome feeling. 

Water stations on this course were plentiful- every.single.mile was equipped with either water, gatorade, or both. Mile 7 I pull over, take my Pineapple Roctane Gu, stretch out my quads and IT band, and am good to go. 

The crowd support for this race was pretty great- quite a few clever signs, people on the sidelines dressed up, AND there was a Packer Family, complete with the dad wearing his cheesehead. I saw them 3 separate times, and all 3 times I thought about asking for a photo- I failed.

The one major hill was in between miles 8-9- one of the gradual neverending ones-I would much rather have short and steep and get it over with. My pace dramatically got slower around this point (or at least it felt like it did) and with the slowness, pain was becoming more apparent. Eventually I got re-passed by the 3:50 group, along with their large following, and now I was running without anyone around me. Although I don't feel the need to socialize with the fellow runners surrounding me, it is nice to have people to pace with and keep you accountable and aware of how fast, or slow, you are going. 

Nothing much exciting happened the last few miles. Mile 10 there was a table of mints (never seen that before) so I grabbed one to give me something to focus on, mile 11 we separated from the marathoners for about 2 minutes and then met back up with them. About 3.5 minutes into mile 11, I see the mile 12 marker- this can't be right?!?! My watch had been off a bit with the mile markers all race, but if that truly was mile 12, that means I would run in the 1:40s- pfff I know I'm not going that fast.  I figured it might be the mile 12 marker for marathoners, so to be on the safe side I don't pick up my pace and just keeping going steady. Unfortunately quite a few runners who don't have garmin watches or who didn't notice that mile 11 was only a few minutes back, really started to pick up the pace. One girl flew by me, I almost wanted to say something... almost. 

Sure enough I finally do reach mile 12, but I really don't have much steam left in me. Throughout the race I was so excited to feel somewhat normal during the run, that I really did push myself more than normal while running as well as made sure to stop at every mile and stretch so I wouldn't get too stiff. I was truly tired. My legs were getting heavier and harder to move and I was literally staring at my watch counting down till i was done- at 3 minutes I finally picked it up. Finish line was no where to be seen, AGAIN. This is the 4th race in a row where you have to do all these turns and then suddenly the finish line pops up, I hate that- I just want to be able to see it. 

Get to the final stretch, I pass the girl who 'flew by me earlier' and cross the finish line... completely satisfied!! Its been awhile since I can say that.

Mile 1   8:50

Mile 2   8:27

Mile 3   8:35

Mile 4   8:23

Mile 5   8:40

Mile 6   8:23

Mile 7   8:36

Mile 8   8:55

Mile 9   8:51

Mile 10 9:39 (really long stretch break)

Mile 11 9:28

Mile 12 9:01

Mile 13 8:36

.28       8:22

I grab my medal, get my after race photo, and chow down on a banana and a few little debbie snacks while I wait for B to finish. While waiting for her and stretching, I talk to a few people around -and  share our races experiences- look at me miss social butterfly this race!??!!? (normally keep to myself and speak until spoken to) 

Finally meet up with B, who also had a good race, and we swap stories from the race. Turns out that the girl who owned that tie dye shirt B was wearing, came up to her at mile 2 and asked if she purchased that at Good Will bc she just donated it last week (the last name was on the back of the shirt)- aside from that being random, it was just funny bc earlier that morning B said it would be hilarious if the previous owner happened to be running the race and spotted her- and walah!

don't let this pic fool you, we were FREEZING

Immediately after this pic we make a mad dash for my car (and more importantly warmth) and it was an easy shoot to the highway and we were back at the hotel in 15 minutes- how great is that?!?! 

Naturally spent some quality time in the hot tub, showered and then barely made our checkout time, 12:00pm, before hitting the road and back to Nashville. 

Overall I'm pleased with the Arkansas race, both B and I had a lot of fun just socializing with everyone and not taking the race too seriously. I'm glad to finally have a breather in races and hopefully when I venture to South Carolina for state #10 in 3 weeks, I can have an equally positive experience! 

Arkansas complete and conquered.

Official time 1:56:49

Overall place 543 / 2915

Div Place 28/ 264

Little Rock Expo

B and I left Nashville early this morning (mid monsoon,  glad to get away from that) and arrived in Little Rock a surprising only 5 hours later. Its been awhile since B and I have done a quick 'in & out race' where we don't take the whole weekend and explore- mainly because how exciting can Arkansas possibly be??!?!
Originally I had told B a few weeks back I wasn't going to do this race (despite already paid registration) due to my knee acting up. After much contemplation about not wanting to have to later do an Arkansas 1/2 by myself & the fact that after this race I will have 3 weeks break before next race, I gave in. I have run 2 half marys to completion with my crappy knee, whats one more?!?! < I may regret these words tomorrow>

After check in @ hotel, we head downtown to check out expo held at the State Convention Center (sounds like a jail to me). To be honest, I'm not really sure why the Little Rock 1/2 is a Greek themed race, but if I happen to see people running in togas tomorrow, I won't complain :)

The expo itself was pretty spread out, which after experiencing how packed in / crowded Disney was last week, it was nice to not have to say 'excuse me' every 10 seconds. A lot of great companies there; I swear at every expo I see a new company selling headbands that I hadn't heard of before- maybe I should just quit my job and start my own running head band business?!?! ( I actually do enjoy my job)

Only item I decided to try out was new running socks- exciting I know, but once you start running higher mileage, socks make a huge difference. For almost a year now, I strictly have been running in Dry max socks, and although I do love them, they are starting to wear down and I figured it would be a good idea to try something different. I came across Thorlo running socks, and decided that since they felt great to the touch and they had the Runner's World stamp of approval I would give them a shot. I know you're not supposed to try anything new on race day, but I'm going to be a rebel and wear these bad boys!

After purchasing socks, B and I went over to these posters that had the pacers times and their photos so you could know who to look for with the marathon- the reason why I'm sharing this info with you is because after browsing through some of the people, I point to the 3:30 pacer and said to B "mmm Tony is hot, I'd like to break me off a piece of that!!" ( that is not a typical expression coming from me,  so I'm not sure why I said that) Then I realized what I said and made the comment on how embarrassing it would be if he just popped up behind me. As I'm sure you could guess, that is EXACTLY what happened. He came up next to me, pointed at the picture and said, 'do you recognize me??' Tony was MUCH better looking in person, so couldn't tell if it was him, so i asked if he was Tony and he confirmed. I complimented him on his speediness and wished him well in the race tomorrow. Luckily one of the workers pulled him aside to talk with him, so I walked off. Still don't know if he heard me earlier, but it was hilarious!

2nd memorable part of expo is they were doing free massages, none of that 5 minute crap either, full on 20 minutes. I have to give a special thanks to B for waiting in line with me FOREVER so I could get my massage one- it.was.glorious!

told her to pay special attention to sartorius, IT band, and medial side of knee

After expo we walked down the hall to the Peabody hotel (it was all connected), and for the first time I got to witness the duck march that Peabody is so famous for. It was adorable. 

Duck master handing out an award

ducks left the fountain and are now going down the stairs

working the red carpet!

Before we head to dinner, B really wanted to go to a thrift store to get a cheap throw away sweat shirt due to the predicted cooler temps at the race start. After a few failed attempts / stores closures, we finally reach the thrift store meca- trusty good will. 

After browsing around for awhile, we decided it would be funny to get matching sweat shirts or just something ridiculously ugly- tried on this sweat shirt and B told me I looked more 'hipster' than 'trying to be dorky'.

 I wish wish wish I would have taken a picture, however we found matching capri + zip up terry cloth workout suits- mine was yellow, becca's was pink- I cannot describe how awesome and 'old ladyish' they looked, but we finally decided that they would only be funny if we ran right next to one another, and that hasn't happened in a race yet, so sadly we put them back. What we did decide on were these sweet tie dye shirts- B's selection is one left, mine on right... actually looking forward to wearing this tomorrow (and of course being warmer than anticipated)

Finally we find a restaurant that only had a 30 min wait, Chilli's and decide to get their awesome $20 deal- 1 app+ 2 entrees. Now I don't have the time to write out all the reasons on why dairy just really isn't good for you (yes I realize this may be a touchy subject for many people out there bc its so contradictory to what we're taught, trust me, the research is out there) but I've been wanting to cut it out completely for awhile. I stopped drinking milk a few years back, but cheese and ranch are two of my biggest food vices, so B and I decided that for lent we are giving up all dairy, and then see how it goes after lent is over.
We choose loaded cheese fries w/ ranch as one last hoorah!!

After dinner we retreat back to hotel. I desperately wanted to use the hot tub, but it was invaded by the kiddies, so I settled for watching a few episodes of Tosh.O- if you like comedy, you will LOVE this show. 

Up early to meet up for our half fanatic picture and then hopefully not let the tough course tomorrow give me too much of a beating!

Enjoy rest of your weekend! 

Disney's Princess 1/2 (Race recap)

State #8- Orlando FL

Disney World!!

I have been looking forward to this race for a few reasons

• first time experiencing Disney World!
• pictures with characters along the course, not worrying about my time
• run in a tutu my mom made for me! 
• gorgeous weather
• get to see my good friend Scott from HS who I ran the Ragnar Relay with earlier this year.

Due to Disney wanting the parks to be cleared by normal working hours, the race started UBER early. Originally I was supposed to be in Corral A, but with my faulty knee I started in Corral B with Becca. Even though our start time was at 5:53 (yes that exact), we got up at 3:00 am so we could make it in time for the half fanatic photo (factoring in crowds and traffic) by 4:45 am.

rise and shine princesses!

We had B's parents drop us off at a designated area in Epcot, then we had to walk the trek toward the stage for fanatic photo meet up. 

Epcot ball in background

never seen so many tutus for one race

on the red carpet

practicing my courtsey 

with one of the 'royal guards'

 We're wandering around looking for '4 disney character ballons' that D said would designate the meet up- no balloons in sight, but I did see an asian boy dressed in all pink (his description he told me to look for)- had a mini pic with a few of us early ones, than our bigger picture.

Afterward we dispersed and began our 1 mile (literally) trek toward the start line. One of my biggest pet peeves is a large moving group of slow walkers, so needless to say I was antsy after 20 min. of this. Finally reach our corral, stretch, and wait around for the start.

The Fairy Godmother was brought out to say 'magical words' before the each corral start and then the corrals were release after fireworks.

that was a 'frog prince' in front of me

First mile was extremely congested- by far the most 'bobbing and weaving' i have done in a race thus far. Eventually I had to get off the road (which was the highway) and run on the grass so I could pass people. My knee was bothering me from the get go, so I kept telling myself 'make it one mile before walking' First few miles were still dark outside and uneventful (all highway)so I decided to go faster until I reached my first character I wanted to take  a picture with. I made it to the 3rd mile (waaaaaaaaay farther than I anticipated) before stopping. They had tables with biofreeze pumps on them- I was so excited to lather it up on my knee!

Finally after about 4 miles we reach the first sign of life that we are approaching Disney World- goodbye boring highways, hello Magic Kingdom! 

It was so neat once we entered magic kingdom the level of crowd support. Since our bibs had our names on them you would hear a lot of 'way to go princess <insert name>'- always pumps me up hearing my name called out.  When we entered 'Main Street USA' and turned the corner, it was the first time I had ever laid eyes on Cinderella's castle, I had to capture it. 

Shortly after entering Tomorrowland, around mile 5-6ish I get my first worthy character sighting! BUZZ LIGHTYEAR with no line! I swear I'm really not as tan as I appear in the pics to follow, it was just SO HOT that I just naturally turn redder. 

Queen of hearts- apparently later Alice came out, but I missed her

Weaved around through tomorrow land, enter Fantasy Land and BAM, Cinderella's Castle that we actually get to run through the tunnel. Getting my picture with Cinderella was the longest wait, 2 whole minutes! Well worth the memories. I didn't find this out till after the race, but while I was waiting in line, B passed me at this point in the race and yet I never saw her. 

 Combo of the heat, humidity, running, and stopping for pics was really starting to tire me out, especially to my knee. Unfortunately I forgot to change my garmin out of 'auto pause' mode, so my times and mileage were way off, but I definitely could feel myself already significantly slow down around mile 7, so I took as many stop breaks to get photos with characters as I could.

Frog prince characters

Toy story 3

these were painted all over the course

Pinnochio and Jiminy Crickett- I tower over them both 

Unfortunately He didn't grant me any wishes :(

 I think we were only in Magic Kingdom for 2-3 miles and then again back on boring paved road, only this time there actually was crowd support with fun signs and some characters along the way to spice things up.

Princess Aurora and her prince (sleeping beauty) 

Prob one of my fav photos!

Shortly after all my pics my knee started acting up like back in New Orleans- locking up and getting stiff when trying to transition from walking to running- I passed Beauty and the Beast and even though I REALLY wanted a pic with them, the pain doing that transition wasn't worth it. Passed mile 8 and I'm mentally done with the race in terms of caring how I do- when else am I going to be in DISNEY?!?!? 

I see Pocahontas and since its the first time I've seen her all weekend, I push through pain and stop for a picture- literally right when I pull over the other Becka runs up and suggests we get a photo together (we had met up earlier in morning so made it easy to recognize me with my tutu).

 We ended up running the next 3 miles together, which was nice because I normally don't run with people and it was a great distraction to keep my mind off the pain, push me to keep going and not walk, but also fun to stop off and take a few more photos.

Finally around mile 11.5 I couldn't endure pain any longer, I told B that I needed to walk and good luck finishing the race- she took off and I stopped and walked- ugh 1.5 miles to go. I didn't tell her at the time, but if it weren't for her I don't think I would have pushed myself as much as I did by having someone to run with, so thanks B!! 

I didn't really look at the course map to see where the finish line was, but once I saw the Epcott ball I knew we were getting close! Normally no matter how much pain I'm in, I can always push it a little in the last mile, but for some reason i was so EXHAUSTED.

 Finally enter Epcott Park and there were a ton of opportunities to take pictures with characters, however I didn't recognize half of them or they didn't excite me, but I did make one stop for good old Pluto, ain't he cute?!?!

I'm getting to the point now where a lot of the volunteers and security folk are saying 'almost there' or '400 meters left to go' so I know i'm getting close, however I don't see the finish line still. Turn the corner and I saw the most lovely sight....

I've never been so happy to see mile 13 before! 

Trying to look victorious

I would like to say that I kicked it in and finished strong, but that didn't happen. Instead I stopped, took the above picture, and then just carried on with my normal pace-pathetic I know but I was so tired.

Aside from all the pain (despite 3 different bio freeze stops), and the extreme heat- I did enjoy this race. Since my Garmin crapped out at mile 5 or so I didn't run for time, just ran to finish and take some great shots along the way, which I believe I succeeded in that.
After I crossed the finish line B was waiting around with other B and her sister L. Grabbed some food, took a pic, then made the trek to where Bs parents would pick us up.

since we took a pic here way early in the morning, decided to do an after

B's parents came and got us, went back to our Villa, then showered, ate breakfast and waited for my friend Scottie to come down from Tampa so I could see Epcott with him all day. 

Exhausted but glad I'm finished and ready to see more of Disney World

State #8 completed

Official time 2:16:04 

Again this is the one race I didn't care about my time, but i feel I did pretty well with all things considered. Ladies, if you like to dress up, you'll LOVE LOVE LOVE this race. I'm tempted now to talk with B about doing the Disneyland race this fall in Cali- time (and finances) will tell

Next up- Little Rock Arkansas 3/6/11