Bill Snyder Highway Half Marathon: It may have been a bad idea, but I'd probably do it again!

The short:

I readjusted my goals for this race after being diagnosed with bronchitis about 44 hours before it.  I knew I wouldn't be able to run the PR I'd hoped for while wheezing and taking antibiotics, plus it ended up being 72-80 degrees and 90% humidity during the race.  I hoped I could go for the overall female win, and I was able to accomplish that with a 1:23:32 half marathon, which bettered my previous on-antibiotics-PR of 1:28 -- you've gotta take the PRs you can get, right?!  I was happy with this for the circumstances, but, as I think I've said many times, I'll be back to chase that real PR!

The long:

I ran this race last year, and it again fell 4 weeks before Grandma's Marathon, so I thought it was the perfect checkpoint to see how my fitness stacked up to where I was at last year at this point in time.  Just like last year, I planned to train through the race (no taper), but I also hoped to go for a PR and to run about 2 minutes faster than I'd run at the 2018 event.  A week before the race, I was feeling strong and hopeful since I'd been hitting solid tempo workouts just under 6:00 pace running alone.

6 days before the race, I started wheezing, especially when laying down.  I had a slight cough and minor congestion, but no other symptoms.  I didn't feel sick and wasn't weak.  Since I felt fine, I was sure it was just allergies and continued on with my week.  4 days before the race, I had a sub-par workout, but I blamed it on being just a few days off of a 24 miler; I have never nailed a workout soon after a 24 miler.  3 days before the race, I started getting more concerned, because although I still felt fine, my wheezing wasn't going anywhere.  2 days before the race, I want to the doctor and was diagnosed with bronchitis and started on Z-pack antibiotics and an Albuterol inhaler.  I asked my doctor about racing, and she said if I felt up for it I would probably be okay run it, considering I'd been training normally all week.  Since we had two days of family fun planned in Manhattan along with the race, I decided to go ahead and run it, but I also knew my performance wouldn't be my best.  I had an outside kernel of hope that I'd wake up race morning miraculously cured, but, alas, that did not come to fruition.  At least there was no pressure!

Race morning ended up being very steamy, already 70 degrees with a dew point of 68 when I left my phone with Jon just before 5:30 a.m.  He dropped me off for the buses that drove us to the start of the point-to-point course.  I felt somewhat weak on my 3 mile warm-up, but not terrible.  I reasoned that if I ran a mediocre workout on Tuesday while wheezing, I could run a mediocre race.  My coach had mentioned trying to run it at marathon goal pace, but that seemed a little ambitious, so I decided I would mainly try to place as high as I could and just see how I felt once I got going.

The temperature was rising quickly, and the sun was out in full force for the 7:00 a.m. start.  As we were off, I found myself in third overall female position, but the two women in front of me had been standing with the 1:30 pacer on the starting line, so I wondered if they were going out too fast.  One of them fell back fairly quickly, and I decided I'd pace behind the other who remained.  She looked like a fast runner - I hate when people surmise running ability based on looks, but she had great form and was running smoothly, in addition to being lean and muscular.  We were running in the 6:20s, and I thought that was probably reasonable for me for the conditions (I was planning to aim for 6:00-6:05 healthy and in good weather).  But I also didn't feel very strong and was coughing, so I had several moments where I worried I was getting in over my head by sticking with her.

By mile 3, my doubts faded when I began to feel better and she began to slow significantly enough that I decided to go on around her.  From about 3-10, I felt pretty decent, although still coughing sporadically, and I focused on pulling in men in front of me.  I didn't look at my watch after the first 3 miles, plus splits in this race aren't that meaningful due to the elevation - miles 1 and 6 have major drops, miles 11 and 12 have climbs, and the rest has some gentle inclines and declines but is mostly flat.

I took water at every aid station, usually two cups, and sipped some before pouring the rest on me.  I also took a gel, sucking it down slowly between about miles 5-8.  I usually don't take gels during halves, but antibiotics seem to make my blood sugar low and I thought it would help with that, plus some more practice running hard with them in my stomach before my marathon can't hurt.  Around mile 9 I passed a friend of a friend who I'd been planning to pace with for a 1:18-1:19 before my bronchitis debacle, and he said the heat was really getting to him.

In the final 5K, I was also getting very hot and the two climbs that didn't seem that bad last year felt like mountains.  Whenever I'm not at 100% strength, I seem to struggle much more on uphills than I do on flats.  I'd passed a man around mile 10 who was fading worse than I was, and the next man was out of reach, plus from spectators' comments I knew I had the female win secured, so with all of these factors together I had a hard time pushing.  Really the whole race, I never felt like I was running all-out, but I also felt like I sure couldn't run any faster!

Not my best pacing, even grade-adjusted

I was happy to see the stadium in the final mile, and managed a finishing kick as I ran in to finish on the 50 yard line.  The finish on the turf was a great touch that was new this year for the race.  The announcer was extremely enthusiastic and announced that I was the first female finisher, and I came through with a smile on my face.  It is always fun to win a race!  As I walked to find my family, many people stopped to tell me congrats, which was very sweet.  Several minutes later, I realized that they were showing all finishers coming in on the stadium's Jumbotron - another nice touch!

I screenshotted this one from my finishing video!

I swear I was smiling!

The official results are here; scroll down for my finishing video, which might be the only video of myself running that I have ever liked!  Editor's note: the announcer pronounced my last name wrong, it's a short I.

The famed K-State football coach Bill Snyder presented the awards, and my sister-in-law graciously took my plaque to him for an autograph after the ceremony when she got her medal signed.  After I received my award, I was interviewed by a reporter from a Manhattan newspaper (I haven't been able to find the story online) and congratulated by a lady I'd talked to on the bus who exclaimed, "Why didn't you tell me you were an elite?!"  Haha!  Albani played with her cousins on the bounce houses on the infield and enjoyed meeting Willie the Wildcat.

With Bill Snyder

My sis-in-law finished 13.1 & corralled 4
young children all weekend!

Stats, including the sweltering temperature

My time was almost identical to what I ran at Rock the Parkway 6 weeks prior (1:23:35 there), so one thing the race showed me was how much fitness I've gained in 6 weeks.  Conditions were perfect for Rock the Parkway, while quite imperfect for this one; basically, I was happy with my performance under the circumstances but I was unhappy with the circumstances!  But, I don't have a good race-time gauge on where I'm at fitness-wise now, which scares me going into a marathon.  A few days after the race, I realized that I ran a little slower (1:23:53) in a half marathon under similar steamy weather conditions (without bronchitis!) 4 weeks before I ran my 2:47:14 marathon, so that is encouraging.  I will also never forget the death march that was the Dam to Dam half marathon, where I ran a 1:26:19 in similar hot and humid weather while healthy.

I knew that I wouldn't race my best being sick, but what I didn't consider beforehand was how much running hard would take out of me.  I am sure the temperature and the non-stop day of family activities afterward didn't help (I walked over 6 miles on top of the 19 I'd run), but I felt awfully weak the next 2 days, for the first time feeling like I truly had bronchitis.  Based on lessons learned from my last injury, I even took a day off running to recover.  Would I recommend racing when sick to others?  Probably not.  Would I do it again?  Probably so...

After the race we had a fun family weekend in Manhattan as planned!  A few of my favorite photos:

K-State tour

My niece Violet by an agricultural building

Garden tour with Albani & my niece Ivy

Insect Zoo at K-State

It's difficult to get a good photo of 5 children!

K-State water display

Hotel pool is always winning

Up close & personal with a kookaburra

Butterfly area

This kangaroo has a baby in her pouch

This guy was tapping on the glass by the kids

Zoo entrance

This is how we all felt at the end of this trip!

Rock the Parkway 2019: Post-injury improvements feel almost like PRs!

I really enjoy the Rock the Parkway half marathon, and it's one of the few events I run year after year:  2015, 2017, 2018, and now 2019 (I wanted to run it in 2016 too, but it didn't work out that year)!  This year I planned to wait until the last minute to commit to running it, since it was 3 weeks after the Chisholm Trail Marathon and because I wasn't running well enough to be competitive until fairly recently. The marathon went well enough that I thought I could run a half time that would be in contention for a top 5 female finish at Rock the Parkway, and my recovery went very well too, so I was in.  It helped that I received an email from the race director inviting me back to build this year's elite field!

I didn't taper for this race (78 mile week), but I felt fairly fresh going into it.  I figured that I was in shape to run about 1:24 on the hilly course, but initially my main goals were to be competitive and to negative split (having fun is a given!).  However, the day before the race I read my 2018 race recap, which reminded me that I'd set a Missouri state record for females age 37 in the race last year, which quickly turned into me looking up the record for age 38.  It was 1:24:58, so my secret goal because to beat the record.  I thought it would be pretty close, because I was pretty confident I was in 1:24 shape, and perhaps a little arrogant about the accuracy of my race predictions after I'd predicted my marathon pace exactly and also remembered the time I made a marathon pace band that was 2 seconds off my actual finishing time.  I knew I wasn't in PR form, but I felt confident I was going to have a good race for my current fitness level, although I don't really know why.  My realist husband thought that a 1:25 would be a really good day, but I didn't let that sway my 1:24 feeling.

Preview, because I wanted this to be the featured photo

Race morning came, bringing great racing weather - high-30s and sunny.  My friend Jessi and I carpooled over to the race from my sister's house, which is less than a 10 minute drive.  Due to a road closure, I had to drive a different route to the race than I usually take, and it threw off my parking plan, so we ended up sitting in a traffic jam of runners' vehicles until I decided to park on a side street that I figured was about a half mile away from the race.  We wanted to run at least 2 miles to warm up anyway, so it worked - plus if I'd waited it would have cut into our warm up time.  Between the parking fiasco, chatting with Jessi, finding a bathroom, sorting gear, and getting in about a perfect warm up (2.5 miles + strides and drills), I never really even thought about the race.  No pressure!

On the starting line, I saw two fast women who I knew could currently beat me, Pasca and Raquel.  I also knew that Jessi was much more fit than me, but I didn't see anyone else I knew would be faster.  I hoped I could take 4th.  After the gun, I was immediately in 4th behind those three.  There were several men around and in front of me, but no one to settle in with.

I made the start photos

I'd decided prior to the race that I wasn't going to look at my watch at all.  This course is too hilly to run an even pace even if you are watching it, I'd run it mostly without looking last year, plus after my recent marathon went so well with no watch-watching I've become even more committed to not doing it in races.  Mile 1 felt like the perfect pace for 13.1 miles at my current fitness.  Miles 2 and 3 are pretty much all uphill, and I kept telling myself to be very conservative and hold back on the climb.  By then the field had thinned out more and I could see several men I wanted to chase down, but I made myself be patient.  I maintained effort through mile 4, then I gave myself permission to up the effort a little bit, because I was getting into a groove and feeling good!

This is why you shouldn't run even pace in this race

Based on a little almost switch-back turn between miles 5-6, I knew I had a very solid 4th female, and baring disaster it was unlikely I was going to move up or be passed.  I wanted to see where my fitness was, so I kept time trialing and pressing ahead, picking off men as I could.  Fun note:  after the race sorted out in the first couple of miles, I didn't get passed by anyone.

This race always makes me a little nervous during miles 6-7, because I can tell there is a lot more downhill than uphill as it rolls through some neighborhoods and by one side of a park.  I enjoy the downs, but I know I'll have to run back up them in the next couple of miles.  There is a climb in mile 8, and it's funny how that hill seems so much worse some years than others!  This year it did not seem too bad, and I continued to pursue and pass men who were ahead of me.  Really, the course as a whole seems much more hilly some years than others, and this year it felt less hilly (in 2017 it felt mountainous).

Cruising along solo + tucked my gloves
into my sports bra around mile 4

Somewhere between miles 8-9, I felt like I had enough gas left in the tank to push a little more for the remaining distance, so I did.  I also decided I was going to look at my total time on my watch at the mile 12 mark to know if I'd have a chance at the state record time.  This gave me a checkpoint to look forward to before the finish line!

Around mile 10, I caught up with a man and encouraged him to push ahead with me.  He'd been running pretty steady and it had taken me many miles to gradually pull him in, so I figured we could help each other to a stronger finish.  We ran side by side for about 1.5 miles, which was nice after having no one to run with for most of the race.  He then fell back a little bit, and I pressed on, feeling strong and frequently thinking, "I feel better here than I ever have at this point", "That hill was much worse 2 years ago", etc.

When I hit the mile 12 sign, I took a look at my watch, and I knew I was going to get the record and probably run in the 1:23s, so I pushed to finish it up at fast as I could.  I had a side ache during the last mile, which made it seem longer than any other mile of the race, but it's also a fast mile (downhill).  It was my first sub-6:00 mile post-injury, in 5:55!  Grade adjusted it was only 6:09, but I'm still counting it (although I have since run a sub-6:00 mile in training, at the end of a tempo workout).  Miles 11 and 12 were also faster than I'd run any other miles post-injury, at 6:09 and 6:07.  My final 5K was 18:48, which I was ecstatic about because I wouldn't have even thought I could run an open 5K in that time right now (and maybe I can't, I need 10 miles at tempo to warm up!).  I finished in 1:23:35 with a smile on my face that was even caught in some finishing pictures!

Run happy!

I am smiling & not stopping my watch, but
I still managed a weird photo with my
mittens tucked under my sports bra strap &
weird arm swing...future goals to correct!

Splits

Splits on left/grade-adjusted splits on right

The women's race was pretty anticlimactic competition-wise; the top 4 women were in the same positions from 200 meters in.  5th finished 4:01 behind me, and 3rd was 1:39 ahead of me (although I think she was farther ahead earlier on), so nothing was close.  Jessi finished in 2nd in a blazing PR of 1:17:25, and I was so happy for her (hi, Jessi, if you're reading this!)!  For me, getting the age 38 state record was my personal victory, and running faster than I expected was really exciting.  Although I was incorrect on my time prediction, I nailed my 4th place female prediction, haha.

While I ran faster on this course in 2017 and 2018 (1:23:15 and 1:22:42), my time wasn't drastically slower this year, and my final 5K this year was the fastest final 5K I've ever run here!  Although I've run several halves faster than this (I'm not even going to count how many, probably 8+), this almost felt like a PR because it was by far my best performance thus far post-injury.  A couple of months ago I couldn't even run a 3 mile tempo in 6:23 pace!  The post-injury break-throughs are really sweet.  I felt the same way after the Chisholm Trail Marathon (nowhere near a PR but celebration for a post-injury best).  I guess that although I've run these paces before, I certainly don't take for granted that I will ever do them again, or even that I'll train or compete again.  Throughout the race I thanked God that I was out there racing so many times!

Official results are here.  My new state record can be seen here.

Jessi & I waiting for the awards

I ran into my college friend Codi after the race -
I hadn't seen her in over 10 years & was so pumped!

After the race, Jessi, Raquel (3rd female) and I ran the worst cool down course ever (about 100 ft elevation gain in 0.8 to get to the car).  Jessi and I changed our shoes and grabbed jackets from the car, then we all made our way back to the finish line area.  The announcer was calling our names and saying we needed to go to the awards stage for awards that were about to start.  We cut our cool down short to go to the awards, which we then waited 40 minutes for.  The overall awards ceremony was also hilarious because no one was actually watching it.  I cheered as loud as I could for Jessi and took pictures of her receiving her trophy, and she did the same for me, but we were each others only fans, haha!  We then finished the rest of our cool down mileage holding our trophies, back up the 100 ft climb to the car.  Oof!

Poorly attended awards ceremony

My new coach (more to come about that!) was really optimistic about my performance 3 weeks after a marathon and building towards my next marathon in 10 weeks.  I'm excited to keep putting in the work!  I'll get to see Jessi's marathon debut in person at Grandma's Marathon in 10 weeks too!

"Their trust should be in God, who richly gives all we need for our enjoyment." - 1 Timothy 6:17b

Chisholm Trail Marathon Race Review

I thought I was being pretty brave by running a small inaugural marathon.  I wouldn't have tried this one had I been in top shape, partially because I figured that with it being a first year event something major would go wrong.  But nothing did, and I was really glad I gave it a go!

You can read my personal race recap here.  In this post I will give an overview of the event to help others decide if it's the right marathon for them.

As a whole, it was clear the race was designed by runners for runners.  A 12-person board, including 3 friends of mine, organized the event.  I didn't meet everyone on the board, but I know 4 of the members are competitive runners, and I am betting that the other 8 are as well!

The expo was small but enjoyable, and we even picked up some free items, which is becoming more and more rare at race expos.  My daughter and niece got free balloon animals, and there was also face painting available for kids.  It had the usual vendor offerings centered on running gear, gadgets, shoes, and fuel.  Packet pick up was fast and the race tech t-shirt was one I'll wear.  If you like to get in and out at expos, you'd love this; if you want to spend hours at the expo, this is not for you.

Expo at the Wichita Indian Center

Expo photo op area

The course is two laps of 13.1 miles.  The event also offers a half marathon if you'd like to run just one of those laps.  The course was basically a big narrow rectangle, with only 12 total turns in the full (6 in the half).  If you've read many of my race reports, you know that for me the fewer turns, the better!  I always lose momentum turning, plus it's easy to pick up extra distance if you don't/can't run the tangents.  My Garmin measured the certified and sanctioned course at 26.11 miles - it's usually short on straight courses, and I had about the same reading for the Phoenix Marathon (my standard disclaimer on GPS watches:  the certified race course is correct and your Garmin is wrong when they don't match).  Other runner's Stravas that I creeped on referenced had the course at 26.36, 26.29, 26.39, and 26.29 miles - all very close, especially considering that in marathons with turns a lot of people will get readings of 26.5 miles.  I didn't at all mind running the same course twice, but if you really need to lie to yourself about how close you are to finished in the later miles, you might think twice about this one.

The course

A potential downside to any course with few turns is that if it is windy (which is always a possibility in Wichita!), you'll have long stretches of running into the wind.  In 2019 it was nearly calm at the start, and the first time I felt the west wind was in the final couple miles of the first loop.  I again felt the headwind in the final 10K of the race, but for Wichita it wasn't bad (15 mph or so). Some people dislike long straights because you can see so far ahead on the course, but I like that!  I don't pay attention to the scenery and sights, so can't comment on that, but it is Wichita so you're not going to have ocean or canyon views...

The weather anywhere in the Midwest in the spring is a complete roll of the dice, but we had a great race day in 2019.  It was around 45 degrees at the start.  As I mentioned, the wind picked up some towards the end of the race, but the temperature didn't rise much above 50 degrees by the time I finished at 10:27 a.m.  I think we all know that any race day can bring any weather, so it's just about playing the weather odds.  If you're going to run a marathon in Kansas, the best times to do it are probably late March and late October to early November, so they picked a good time of year for this one!

The course is not pancake flat, and my Strava measured it as having 451 feet of elevation gain.  Other runner's Stravas that I creeped on referenced were very close to that, at 505, 466, 467, and 465 feet gain.  Most of the gain is between miles 2-3.5 on the first lap and miles 15-16.5 on the second lap.  There is a gradual decline on the other side of the course, I believe in mile 10 and mile 23.  Compared to where I live and train, it's all flat!  When you do encounter the inclines, you're still feeling good, so they aren't a big deal, in my opinion.

This looks worse than it was

I received an elite entry for the race, which required a previous sub-3:00 marathon for women and a previous sub-2:30 marathon for men.  As part of this, I received a VIP wristband, which gave me access to an indoor area, including indoor bathrooms, right next to the starting line.  We also had a separate gear check and light food and drink available pre-and post race.  If it had been super cold or raining, this indoor area would be very helpful!  I wouldn't pay $25 extra for it (I am super cheap though!), but I enjoyed the access I was given.  After the race I picked up my bag very quickly, although the bags were not secured (e.g., I walked up to a table that my bag was sitting on and grabbed it; I could have grabbed 10 others had I been so inclined).  I would advise against bag checking valuables at any race, but definitely don't do it at this one.

The half marathon and full marathon started 0.1 apart so they could share a finish line (since the marathoners didn't go back on the little tail of the course to the start/finish before starting the second loop).  The full marathon started 1-2 minutes before the half.  They started the full and then when the full leaders came even-ish with the half start, they started the half runners.  The road was divided for the first bit, and the finish line had two clocks.  At my pace there were no problems with merging the two races down the road, but other paces may have been crowded.

Further, I was never crowded on the course, and in this race you are more likely to have the opposite problem (no one to run with).  There were significant gaps between the top several finishers.  The top man finished in 2:21 and I was 10th overall runner in 2:57, so only 8 people came in within those 36 minutes, and the top 3 women were within less than a minute and a half (so the spread from 2:21-2:55:59 was pretty major).  Looking at the results, most marathoners probably didn't have a lot of company out on the course for the second loop.  The half was larger so you'd be more likely to have others to run with at that distance.  I was worried about passing the back of the pack of half runners in the final miles of the marathon, and this did occur, but wasn't as big of an issue as it has been in some other marathons I've run.  It would be nice to have the road divided for the final 3 miles or so to prevent this in the future, but this year it wouldn't have been possible due to road construction in some of that area that had the course quite narrow as it was, and also made for uneven footing on the roads in that area.

Not crowded/running solo

The one error on the course was with the mile marker flags.  There was one set of flags used for both laps of the course (e.g., reading mile 1/mile 14, mile 5/mile 18, etc.), but when running a 13.1 mile course twice, the mile markers don't line up like that (e.g., mile 1 and mile 14 are not in the same place).  I think they were correct for the half marathoners on their first lap, and correct for the full marathoners on our second lap.  Since I didn't run by my watch, I'm not really sure if they were right or not, but early in the race some marathoners were talking about being concerned by how far their Garmins were off so early, and I pointed out that mile 3 and mile 16 would not be in the same location, so perhaps that flag was mile 3.1 and 16 instead for us.  This answer seemed to make them happy, so I assume they were 0.1 off.  This is something that would be nice for runners to know about in advance (on the race website or via a pre-race email), because I imagine several marathons were concerned on the first lap.

The race had pace groups for many different paces in the full and half marathons.  I did not run with a group, so I am not sure on their strategies, although I did pass the 1:30 half pacers around the 10K mark. My 10K split was 42:04 (6:46 pace), so they were a bit fast (1:30:00 = 6:51.9 pace - although everyone in that group probably wanted 1:29:5X).  The race course was not lined with spectators, although there were many enthusiastic ones out in spots.  If you are someone who needs crowds to run in and/or by, this race is not for you, though!

The race had course clocks and timing mats at the 10K, half (13.1 mile), and 19.1 mile marks.  The 19.1 was because that was the 10K mark on the first lap.  I wasn't clock watching during this race, so wasn't too worried about these, but it might be nice to have one at mile 20.  There were cones lining the whole race course, and in general it was easy to follow, but in some places the cones curved in odd ways, probably due to how they were blocking traffic.  On the final loop I almost turned left a mile too early (on Rock Rd instead of Woodlawn) because of this, but the officer stopping traffic redirected me.  The intersections were well-controlled, with police at all of the busy crossings.

The announcers called everyone's name as they were coming in, and also did a great job mentioning placings and awards.  The race gathered a lot of publicity from local news stations, newspapers, etc. and was active on social media.

The finisher medals were really cute, and for age group awards the race gave free entries into next year's event for 1st place, and discounted entries for 2nd and 3rd (I believe 75% and 50% off), which I thought were fantastic awards.  They offered a quick awards ceremony next to the finish line for the top 3 overall male and female finishers in both races.  My award was a check, which is my favorite type!  If you love a plaque or trophy, these awards would leave you disappointed - or if you run this as a one and done marathon but win a free entry for next year (although, who really follows through on that one and done marathon thing?!).

Awards ceremony, wearing the race shirt

Shirt & finishers medal

I grabbed a banana and bottled water after the race, but didn't pay too much attention to the refueling options because I had to go to the media tent and awards quickly, so someone else will have to review those!  There was also a post-race party I didn't take part in.  During the race there was some entertainment for spectators who were waiting at the finish line, such as an Indian dance and maybe live music?

As far as lodging, I stayed with my parents who live just outside of Wichita, but there are plenty of hotels in the area.  Parking was easy as well, although keep in mind I was with people who know the area very well and I know it fairly well.  Wichita is not a huge city or major vacation destination like Houston or New York, but it is large enough to have things to do and any food you'd want.

The race didn't offer free photos like many are now doing, but I wasn't too worried because all of mine looked like this.  I blame my abbreviated training cycle/shortage of workouts, but you can't say I wasn't working for it at the end!

#dyingsohard

If you have any specific questions about this race (or about any other race I've run!), I would be happy to answer them!

Chisholm Trail Marathon: I've been faster, I've been slower, but I've never been more thankful!

The short:

I love running marathons!  On March 24, I finished the Wichita Chisholm Trail Marathon in 2:57:18 (6:45 average pace), placed 3rd overall female, and extended my sub-3:00 marathon streak to 7 in a row.  And as always, I grew as a person during those 26.2 miles.  The person who finishes a marathon is never the same person who started it!

Official results are here.

Requisite clock shot!

The long:

It's been years since I've trained for a marathon without a specific time goal that my workouts are targeted at and my mind is focused on.  After I returned from 8 weeks off with an injury in October-November 2018, I had some rocky training in January and February 2019, and started to wonder if I'd ever get fit or feel strong running again.  It seems like some people bounce right back from time off, but that has not been the case for me!  I got in 3 solid workouts in March (details coming in my March recap), and a 20 miler and 23 miler; based on of those 5 runs I figured I was in shape to run about 6:45 pace for a marathon, although it sounds kind of ludicrous when I write it like that, because we all know that 5 runs does not a solid marathon make!  My main goals were to run evenly and by effort, to place as high as I could in the women's field, and to smile while doing it.

Race morning brought sunny skies and 45 degrees.  I was so pumped to run another marathon I could hardly contain myself and could barely sleep the night before the race due to excitement!  From the gun, I had to really restrain myself not to go out too fast, which is actually rare for me.  My goal for the first mile was to not run any faster than 6:50, and I hit it in exactly 6:50.  That was the only time I looked at my watch during the race.  I ran by feel and by the field of runners around me.  I used to really micro-manage my splits in races, but I think I'm more successful when I don't monitor them.

I was in 4th female from the gun.  The leader went out pretty fast (I'd guess under 6:20), and I could see two women running together between the leader and me (I'd guess 6:35 for their first mile).  It's hard not to chase when you're running for place and feel so good so early, but I knew it was a bad idea and that if any of them could maintain that pace I couldn't stick with them anyhow, and I wouldn't get the best out of myself if I tried.  No one ever won a marathon in the first 10K, but many have lost them!

After the field thinned out I found myself running with a man, Leroy, who I've done some training with when visiting my parents for holidays.  We ran side by side and caught up a little from mile 1 until almost 6.  He'd recently dealt with an injury as well, and wasn't quite sure what to expect from the race.  Around mile 6 he told me he was going to drop back a bit, and I was eyeing the two ladies in front of me, so I focused on gradually pulling them in.  Miles 2-6 were 6:47, 6:54 (incline), 6:46, 6:45, 6:41, and my 10K course split was 42:04.  There was a clock on the course at the 10K, so I saw my split but I wasn't sure what pace that was, aside from sub-7:00.

With Leroy around mile 5

I was passing quite a few half marathon runners, including the 1:30 pace group, and feeling good.  I was dying to reel in the two women in my sights, but told myself to be patient and not accelerate just to catch them so early in the race.  I decided to try to pull up on them gradually, and then fall into pace with them.  The female leader was so far ahead I didn't think catching her was realistic, so I figured those two were my biggest competition.  Miles 7-10 were 6:38, 6:48, 6:41, 6:44.  I pulled up with the ladies and a man who'd been running with them (who I had also met at the start through a mutual friend, so I knew he was Victor who was aiming for 2:58).  The women asked if I was another half runner, since a couple had just gone by them, and I told them I was in the full as I settled in with them.

I recognized one of the women as Jalayne, a friend of my friend Amber.  Amber had mentioned Jalayne to me after I ran against Jalayne in the Bill Snyder half last year, and again mentioned that Jalayne was running this marathon.  Since I'd only beat her by about 40 seconds at Bill Snyder, I knew she would be tough to beat in this race because I was nowhere nearly as fit currently.  I am generally really good at gauging what I have to give, and the pace we were at felt sustainable for 26.2, plus having a group to run with usually helps me run faster.  Miles 11-13 were 6:35 (decline), 6:53, 6:50, and my course half split was 1:28:26.  Like at the 10K, there was a course clock, so I knew my half split and figured I was on track for a high 2:56 or low 2:57, which I was happy about because as much as I tried to push it out of my mind, I wanted to keep my sub-3:00 streak alive and knew it could go either way in this one!

Julie, guy in blue I didn't know was there, Jalayne, me, Victor

I nearly died laughing at this picture because all 4 of us look like
we are in terrible pain (this was just before the half, so we weren't)

Jalayne and I officially introduced ourselves, and I met the other women in the group, Julie.  Julie and Jalayne said they had been training together like crazy for 20 weeks for a 2:55 marathon, and learning that wasn't exactly confidence-boosting when I considered that they started their training cycle when I wasn't running at all.  But, I was running within myself and hoped I could draw on my mileage and past experience to make up for my abbreviated cycle and shortage of workouts and long long runs.

I stayed with Jalayne, Julie, and Victor, and around mile 15 another man named Damien joined us.  It was great having a group to run with, especially because the last time I ran a marathon in Wichita it was essentially a time trial from the 10K to the end!  Miles 14-18 were 6:41, 6:49, 7:02 (incline), 6:42, 6:37.  I could tell that Jalayne and Damien were both feeling really good, and the three of us were pushing the pace a bit, while Julie and Victor didn't seem as perky.  Damien pushed ahead slightly just before mile 18, and I told myself to go with him, putting myself into second place female.  My family was cheering on the course around that time, and told me that the leader had about 1:30 on me and looked like she was really hurting.  Mile 19 was 6:31 and my course split at 19.1 was 2:08:50 (random, but it was a two lap course so it had been the 10K timing mat on the first lap).

Damien taking off with me trying to follow around 18

Just before mile 20 we turned west into the wind for the final 10K.  On the first lap the wind hadn't been too bad, but it picked up a lot during the race.  The only drawback of straight marathon courses is the potential for long stretches against the wind.  I tried to draft off Damien, but he was feeling really good and I couldn't hang on (I later saw on Strava that he ran his final 5 miles between 6:05-6:20 pace!).  Being out there solo after having others to run with for so long was tough, but I kept reminding myself that anything can happen at the end of the marathon and if the leader was really struggling I might be able to catch her.  I also knew that the other two women could very well come back for me.  Miles 20-22 were 6:45, 6:56, 6:47.

Around mile 22-23 I really started to feel my shortage of workouts and really long runs.  Around 18-20 I thought I'd have a lot left and really be able to throw down the final 10K, but by 22 I was having much more trouble getting my legs to keep turning over.  I think my endurance is really good from all of the easy mileage I ran, but there is certainly a reason you need both mileage and workouts!  I knew that keeping on to the finish would be no problem, but my legs sure wanted to slow down, and the headwind wasn't helping.  Spectators kept telling me that I looked stronger than the leader and to "go get her", and at mile 20 I was really working on that, but by mile 23 I was just trying to hang on. Miles 23-25 were 6:53, 6:44, 7:07, although they felt like about 9:00 pace!  After I passed 25 I reminded myself I could do anything for a mile.  I heard someone coming up behind me and just hoped it was a man, because I didn't feel confident my legs had any fight left in them.

It wasn't a man, it was Jalayne.  She pulled up next to me and we encouraged each other, and then ran side by side for a half mile or so.  Her training consistency trumped my "unique" cycle, and as I fought with all I had she pulled away.  By the time we were nearing the 26 mile mark, I knew she had me, although I didn't give up because anything can happen.  I couldn't will my legs to go any faster though!  Mile 26 was 6:58 and my final kick was 6:19.

You can barely see me, but I love my parents taking
pictures/videos and Albani standing on the course!

The announcer called my name as the third female finisher, after announcing Jalayne in second.  I stumbled through the finish chute ecstatic to be comfortably under 3:00 after all I've been through in the past 6 months, but of course wishing I would have had a little more to hold onto 2nd, or a 6:30ish pace final 10K to take over 1st, who finished in 2:55:59.  I'm not there yet, but I'm closer than I was!

Before the race, one of my friends was considering pacing me (which did not work out), and he asked what pace I thought I'd run.  I told him 6:45, and low and behold I ran exactly 6:45 pace per the course!  I was almost more excited about my accurate prediction than the actual marathon!  It was kind of like when I wore a pace band targeted at 2:58:51 and ran 2:58:53!

Post-race I found my family, was interviewed by the local news station (clip can be seen here - my dad and I are each in it twice!), and attended the overall awards ceremony.  My dad, David Major, was also interviewed here.  My time was the 9th fastest marathon ever run by a female in the state of Kansas, which is funny because before this race I had the 9th fastest marathon with a 2:58:53 at Prairie Fire 2016.  I moved up two in the rankings with this 2:57 but the two ladies who finished in front of me in this race evened it out.  I also held steady with the 3rd fastest marathon run in Kansas by a female ages 35-39, improving my time by 1:33 on that list.

Media tent

I'd like to thank Goodr sunglasses for hiding my face as much as possible!

State of KS all time female marathon list (gun times)

State of KS age group 35-39 all time marathon list

I had a wonderful experience and plan to write more about the event and my post-race thoughts soon (this post was brought to you by post-marathon insomnia)!  [Follow up:  I wrote a review of the event here].  Not long ago I did not think that I'd be able to run this marathon at all, and even a month ago I sure didn't think I'd be able to run it at 6:45 pace.  We make plans, then God makes better ones, right?

"Run in such a way as to get the prize." - 1 Corinthians 9:24b

Family shot/Albani's distracted

I couldn't do any of it without him!

My mom bought Albani this shirt & I love it!

3 x sub-3s

Official results & course splits

It's not every day you cover 30 miles on foot!

Taperness

I guess I am in full blown taper mode for the Chisholm Trail Marathon!  I tried to find balance in my running plan for this phase; remembering I want to have fresh legs on race day, but also being mindful that I have 14 weeks until a bigger goal marathon and need every bit of fitness I can gain between now and then.  I know I can't have it all, but sometimes I try!

I am currently making my own training plan, which I admit historically hasn't been the optimal situation for me, but in February it was what I really needed, then I kept rolling with it from there.  For awhile I was just running whatever I wanted to every day, but once I began writing down a schedule I started being less likely to be crazy over-do it and I have enjoyed the flexibility.  For example, I may decide I'm going to run two 4 mile doubles during a week, but then I can do them whatever days work best vs. having them set.  I also plan my workouts on specific days, but if I am just not feeling it, I can move them (this hasn't happened yet, but I like knowing it's an option).  This is pretty ironic because historically I've also been super rigid about training schedules.  Bringing this all back to my taper, the actual topic of this post:  I have a taper plan but it can be somewhat fluid based on how I'm feeling!

As with most tapers, I am ready to just get it over with and fast forward to race day!  Often when I'm marathon tapering I look back over my training cycle and try to "do the math" on what my workouts, long runs, and mileage have been, and how they might equate to certain race times.  While I looked at my mileage this time, I don't feel like I can compare it to anything because of how unique this build was.  However, often my most recent running most colors my opinion of my current abilities.  Sometimes when I'm running well it seems like I will always keep running well; when I am running poorly I feel like I will always run poorly.  Neither is true, and I know that cognitively but still fall victim to the trap.  This time, it's a good thing because I've been feeling really good on my runs lately and my fitness seems to be making a comeback.  I'm not delusional enough to think that a few solid weeks can replace months of consistent training, but I sure feel better about this race than I did a month ago!  I hope I am not being overly optimistic, but worst case scenario I will learn for next time.  I am also hopeful that this will jump start my build for Grandma's Marathon!

Here's to a week of checking the race morning forecast every few hours, feeling like I'm running nothing (despite running more than I ever used to), and double-checking that I've packed everything!

Cue slacker status:  I ran 12 miles on March 16
& Amy ran 22!

Snowbusted

I wrote this about a March 2 event but forgot to hit publish until now!

My friend Dave puts together a Snowbuster Pikermi virtual event every year.  I always enter, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually run a hard 13.1 miles for it.  I typically take the longest or best run that I have within that date range and enter it.  This year the weekend fell 3 weeks before my next marathon, so I had my longest long run of this cycle planned – a 23 miler!

After a really rough patch in January, I took 8 days off running and decided I wasn’t going to run my March marathon after all.  It’s an inaugural race near where my parents live (where I grew up).  All along I was planning to run it completely for fun (without a time goal) and as a stepping stone en route to hopefully a PR attempt at Grandma’s Marathon in June.  At the end of January, I was feeling terrible and getting slower by the day, so I figured there was no point in running my for fun race when running wasn’t fun!

However, I guess those 8 days off plus another week easy was exactly what I needed.  Once I started running again (sans training schedule) I felt the best I have in months and was improving.  I was running quite a bit of mileage simply because I felt like it.  On February 23 I decided that if I could run 18 miles that day, then follow it with a 20 miler on March 2 and a 23 miler on March 9, I could do a 2 week taper and run my planned marathon after all – and I passionately wanted to!  February 23 didn’t exactly go as planned; I ran 20 instead of 18 and felt amazing doing it (I'd run an 18 in January so this wasn't completely unreasonable).  That meant I could do my 23 miler on March 2 and still have a 3 week taper in my long run distance, which is my preference, so I decided to run 23 miles on snowbuster day.  This also allowed me to do a long run with a workout on March 9, but that's another post...

I have several training buddies who are also marathon training, and two of them wanted to get in 21-23 miles that day as well, so it worked very nicely.  The weather was great; 32 degrees with a windchill of 26 degrees.  Since my training cycle has been rocky to say the least, I simply wanted 23 steady miles with nothing fast or fancy (i.e., no workout).  I really wanted to finish strong because I really needed a confidence boost to tackle a marathon on fewer long long runs that I typically do. If I bombed this one I couldn't exactly say, "It's okay, my other 23 miler went great!"  I told my friends that I didn’t want to run anything under 7:30 pace during the first half of the run, and that if I felt good I’d be open to dropping the pace later, but I left my watch under my sleeve for the entire run so really didn’t know what we were doing.  I am a big proponent of running by feel, and sometimes ignorance of pace can be bliss!

I started the run with Claudio, Rebecca, and Jack.  Jack is a high school junior who has been running with our group to prepare for track season, and his long run was 8 miles, so we began with an 8 mile loop and dropped him off.  I’d set a small bottle with a gel taped to it on the back of my car and picked it up on the run. I like to practice marathon aid stations like this during long runs; I never stop my watch to drink or fuel because race clocks don’t stop. We then tackled a 13 mile loop because Claudio was aiming for 21-22 miles.  The miles flew by and I felt strong.  The pace never felt hot and we talked non-stop the whole time.  Rebecca had a bit of a rough day and dropped back from us around mile 14.  I've run enough long runs that I can typically tell how things will hold up, and I felt like I was going to finish the 23 strong.

We eat 23 miles for breakfast

At 18 I knew for sure that 23 was going to be no problem at all.  I didn’t really realize we were speeding up, but my splits tell me that we did.  We made it back to our cars at 21 miles, and Claudio said he’d do 22.  I felt fine with finishing up a mile on my own after he stopped, but then he said he’d go to 23 with me, which was even better!

After we finished, he made a comment about our sub-7:00 miles, and I said, “I don't think I ran any miles under 7:00” and he said, "Yeah, yes you did”, which I discovered was true when I uploaded my run.  My last 5 miles were all 6:50-7:05, and my average pace for the entire run was the fastest I’d run a relaxed long run this season.  Before my injury in September 2018, I was running my entire long runs at 6:50-7:05 pace, and while my fitness is not back to that level yet, this was a small glimpse that it’s coming back.

I also set a PR on my rolling 7 days mileage this day!  I was pumped about this volume, but will admit that it was easier than most weeks I've done in the 80s with workouts (I did only one baby workout, a 3 mile tempo run within a 10 miler, plus a couple set of strides - the rest was easy running).

Our forecast called for 5-8 inches of snow overnight on March 2 into the morning of March 3.  I woke up on March 3 to about an inch of snow, and finished off my weekly mileage while it was still coming down.  We ended up getting very little more, so I'm going to say my snowbuster run worked to bust almost all of our snow.

I hope the Snowbuster Race Series continues every winter!  Now come on, spring!

Splits

It wasn't flat either

A Marathon Training Cycle Like No Other

My training cycle for the Chisholm Trail Marathon has been synonymous with Midwest winter weather - up and down and unpredictable!  I am now 2 weeks out from race day, although it doesn't really feel like it.  My body actually feels amazing (not fatigued at all like I usually am at this point in a marathon cycle) - I credit the short cycle with practically no fast running for this.  I am also just starting to taper; I usually do a 3 week taper, and while I did do my longest long run 3 weeks out, I kept the week of March 4-10 high volume because my training was so abbreviated and because Grandma's Marathon in June is a bigger goal.

In December, I decided to run the inaugural Chisholm Trail Marathon for fun.  After not running for 8 weeks in October and November due to an injury, I was able to ramp up my mileage quickly.  My first outside run was 3 miles on November 23, and then the week of November 26 I mixed in a little more outside running with AlterG treadmill miles.  I gradually increased my outside runs while decreasing my runs on the AlterG.  The first week I felt like I could really run again was the week of December 3, then my mileage looked like this:

Dec. 3 - 64.8
Dec. 10 - 72.8
Dec. 17 - 75.7
Dec. 24 - 80.1
Dec. 31 - 73.7 (Dec. 31 was my last run on the AlterG)
Jan. 7 - 76.5
Jan. 14 - 75.1
Jan. 21 - 45.7
Jan. 28- 3
Feb. 4 - 30.4
Feb. 11 - 73.4
Feb. 18 - 85.6
Feb. 25 - 90.3
March 4 - 86.2

While that is 11 weeks of solid mileage, it was nearly all easy running, and the big differences between this cycle and my previous focused marathon builds are:

• I started the build out of shape, whereas I have been already in pretty good shape going into every other recent marathon build.  My endurance came right back post-injury, but my speed still hasn't.
• I didn't have solid consistent running before those 11 weeks; I had 8 weeks of cross-training, which I am just not convinced was very helpful.
• I usually do more like a 20 week build, but in the 22 weeks leading up to this marathon, I'll have 12 weeks of running and 10 weeks off running.
• I did very few workouts; most weeks were all easy running.
• I only had two long long runs, a 20 and a 23.  Usually I do 4-5 runs of 20+.
• I had two weeks of very little running (the second half of the Jan. 21 week through the first half of the Feb. 4 week), during which time I also decided to not run the marathon at all.

But here we are - things turned around and I AM running the marathon!  I am feeling so blessed and thankful for the opportunity to run it.  I'm thankful that God has brought me (almost) to the starting line healthy.  I know that I'm nowhere near PR fitness, but I've been improving and have some really solid mileage behind me - if I take only the 11 solid weeks into account I averaged 77.6 mpw, and I ran over 90 miles in a week for the first time ever.  I have truly let go of any time goals; when I first slated this race as "for fun" I secretly didn't want to run it if I didn't think I could break 3:00, but I've been able to move to the point of "Who cares?!" on that.  I'm running another marathon because I love to run marathons!

As always, I learned.  I learned that winter training can be very hard on my body (take away: next winter I will use the treadmill or take a day off if it's below zero or 33 degrees and pouring).  I learned that I feel fantastic running a lot of miles if they are all easy (take away: skip workouts or replace a real workout with strides if I'm feeling run down).  I yet again learned to keep persisting through rough patches, because my running will come back around, even when it feels like it won't (take away:  keep showing up!).  I was also yet again reminded of how amazing my running buddies all are; their support is unwavering no matter what paces I am running.  I am continuously reminded how much I love to run, also no matter what my paces are.  Of course getting faster and PRing are sure nice, and I hope to get back there, but I've made peace with the possibility that I won't and am super thankful to have running in my life either way!

While I'm cramming a couple more workouts in - mostly to gauge what I should aim for pace-wise on race day - this will be a fun experiment to see how I perform on mileage and very little fast running.  I seem to tolerate mileage really well, but once I throw workouts into the mix I am more apt to get injured.  I had a solid long run workout this morning, and I am pretty excited just to go out there and do my best!  My primary goals are to pace intelligently and by effort, and to finish with a smile on my face - and that would be a win no matter what my time or place!