Taper Deja Vu

Week of October 24-October 30, 2016

Mileage: 50, with a tempo workout, a set of strides, an impromptu double, a crazy speed workout, a bootcamp, some core work...and two birthdays!

My department is the best - and hilarious!  "Real runners don't age."

Monday - Business as usual with bootcamp (45 min.) + elliptical warm-up (25 min.).  The day before this I'd been zonked from running 3 times in under 24 hours (Saturday 8:00 a.m. shake-out, Saturday 5:00 p.m. 5K, and Sunday 5:30 a.m. 16 miler - see Sunday's notes here), so I decided that if I woke up still feeling exhausted I was going to skip bootcamp, but I woke up feeling great so the extra rest I had on Sunday was just what I needed!  This was my last chance to go to bootcamp before the Bass Pro marathon, so I'm glad it aligned for me to go, and I was also proud of myself for being open to not going if I needed an easier day (e.g., being less obsessive).

Tuesday - 7 base pace (7:20), with Missy and Ashley!  We are deciding on a name for our group - I named the group text "Competitive Women's Group", but Missy suggested "Slow Old Women's Group", which seems more fitting for me this week due to turning another year older.  Missy brought me an early birthday gift, including an amazing Underarmour winter running top, because she is the sweetest.

Wednesday - Happy birthday tempo workout to me!  The workout was 2 miles warm-up, 3 x 2 mile tempos with 0.5 mile recovery jogs between, and 1 mile cool-down.  Missy ran a tempo at the same time as me, although not the same workout, so we weren't together on the repeats, but it was nice to have someone else on the roads with me and we warmed up together and such.  This ended up being a confidence-inspiring workouts, as my 2 mile splits were 12:22 (6:11.5, 6:11.3), 12:11 (6:03.6, 6:07.5), and 12:08 (6:08.1, 5:59.99), and my average pace for all 10 miles even with the 4 miles of easy warm-up, recoveries, and cool-down mixed in was 6:39.  I was supposed to run the tempos at 6:15, and on the first rep that was what I was aiming for, and it felt so easy...well, maybe not easy, but a controlled faster pace, like half marathon pace.

Then the workout just flowed from there!  Towards the end I started thinking that maybe I could close with a sub-6:00 final mile, and I managed to do so by the tiniest of margins (I should have started the push for it a little earlier, because I was going up an incline when I decided to go for it)!  This was my final big tempo push before Bass Pro, and I felt really good about it.  It was brisk but not extremely hard.  It also made me want to race a half and a 10K so badly!  The workout made me feel like I could run 6:20ish pace for a flat half in cool temperatures, and I think I can run a 10K better than my last at 6:14 pace, since that was run at 70 degrees on a hilly course (e.g., conditions that I wasn't going to try for a PR in). 

So I asked my coach about racing the White River half on November 19 if I felt up for it.  I was sure that he'd say it was a bad idea, but he said that if I feel up for it then to go for it, provided that I don't do any more long races until the end of January, per our plan (but a 10K isn't a long race, so I'm thinking I could add one of those, bahahaha!).  So, I might get a go at a half in 2016 after all!  Or I might not even want to or feel like I have it in me after Bass Pro, which is totally okay too.  I am also (kind of) learning patience, and I believe that since my coach got me to this fitness level now, he can do it again in spring 2017 and I can go for a half PR then.  A couple of the ladies I've been training with are doing White River, so might as well ride down with them and go for it if I feel healthy after Bass Pro!

I also did a short core workout at lunch on Wednesday...would that be "Crunch"??  My medal from winning my age group at the Waddell and Reed half came in the mail on my birthday too.  I won my age group in 2015 there as well, and still find it humorous that I ran it as a base run this year and managed to place better overall (details here).

Splits

Because, for some reason Garmin Connect rounded this up, hahaha!

My birthday mail

Thursday - 11.1 total:  7.5 miles with 6 strides in mile 7 (7:31), with Missy and Ashley in the morning.  Happy birthday to Missy run!  We are almost birthday twins!  All three of us had hard Wednesday workouts, so it was nice to get in a relaxed conversational run.  AND it was sports bra running weather again, at least for me!  It's become a running (pun intended) joke that sports bra weather for me is long sleeve weather for Ashley, and on this run that was the case (it was 59 degrees and humid); I wore a shirt driving to meet, but then realized I definitely didn't want it when I got out of my car.

The day was SO beautiful that I did an easy second run in the evening, 3.6 miles (7:52).  This one wasn't on my schedule (sorry coach!!), but I wanted to soak up what will likely be my last chance for an after work run in daylight for a few months (!!!).  I am definitely going to need to schedule some lunch runs over the winter to get more daylight in my life!  

Friday -3.3 mile threasy (7:38) and a 25 minute strength workout focused on upper body and core.  No more leg strength until after Bass Pro!

Saturday - Crazy town 400s again; true deja vu to this taper week Sunday before Prairie Fire.  12 miles total with 2.1 warm-up, 20 x 400 m on the track, 2.2 cool-down. The 400s were run in 5 sets of 4 reps each, with 200 m recovery between reps and 400 m recovery between sets. The goal splits got faster each set, as the purpose of this workout is to generate leg-turn over without getting overly fatigued, and I assume also to practice negative splitting.   

My splits for each set were (I didn't do tenths of a second on each rep, but this is close):

Set 1 (goal 1:30, but I changed it to 1:29): 1:28, 1:28, 1:28, 1:28 - average 1:28

Set 2 (goal 1:28):  1:26, 1:27, 1:27, 1:27 - average 1:26.75

Set 3 (goal 1:27): 1:27, 1:27, 1:26, 1:26 - average 1:26.5

Set 4 (goal 1:26):  1:25, 1:25, 1:26, 1:25 - average 1:25.25

Set 5 (goal 1:25): 1:25, 1:24, 1:25, 1:23 - average 1:24.25
Average for all 20 was 1:26.15

 

For reference, last time I ran this workout, 4 weeks ago, I did (again, didn't do tenths of a second):

Set 1 (goal 1:30): 1:28, 1:30, 1:30, 1:31 - average 1:29.75

Set 2 (goal 1:28): 1:27, 1:28, 1:27, 1:28 - average 1:27.5

Set 3 (goal 1:27): 1:27, 1:26, 1:25, 1:26 - average 1:26

Set 4 (goal 1:26): 1:25, 1:26, 1:25, 1:26 - average 1:25.5

Set 5 (goal 1:25): 1:23, 1:25, 1:24, 1:23 - average 1:23.75
Average for all 20 was 1:26.5

Missy ran the first set beside me, and then rotated in and out of some of the others a few seconds behind me.  This was not her workout day, so it was really sweet of her to come out and help me on this one!  My main take-away is that 200 m recoveries are really short (about 1:00)!  Also I was really pleased to run a little faster than I did this workout 4 weeks ago; I felt that the workout 4 weeks ago was very solid for me, and today I paced all 20 myself (last time Casey led 8 of them) and it was 60 degrees (last time was 45).  I was also nice to check this one off!  I shouldn't have it again until February now!

Sunday - 6.5 miles shake out (7:24 ).  I only had 5 scheduled, but realized that 6.5 would get me to 50 miles for the week, so how could I not?  It was a gorgeous morning!

T-minus 7 days!  I don't think I'll have any taper madness this time (although I know I'll miss the mileage, as I don't run a whole lot next week), because I think this is just all bonus and even if I run a horrible race I'll be glad I tried and again thankful for the journey (and learn something for next time).  Marathon day is important, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that the training block along the way is even better.  I've made so many memories and I know that I'm exactly where God wants me to be.  Did you know that His plans are better than anything we can dream up on our own?!

What else to do 4 weeks after your marathon than run another marathon?!

I planned to run the Bass Pro Marathon as my 2016 B marathon even before I picked my A marathon!  I ran, and won, this marathon in 2015 and 2010, and both times I thoroughly enjoyed the race and running familiar streets.  I love the hometown feel, and there is a lot to be said for sleeping in your own bed the night before a marathon!

This race ended up lining up nicely with Prairie Fire, because being 4 weeks apart I knew I could use Prairie Fire as my longest long run for Bass Pro, I would have long enough to recover between the races, and also I would get a second chance at a sub-3:00 marathon if Prairie Fire didn't go well.  I think that I'll probably run Bass Pro every year I can from here on, but likely never as my A race because it's not a wonderful race for a good time.  The organization is A+++, but being a smaller race you are likely going to be running a lot of the race alone if you're running under probably 3:20ish, and even more so the faster you run.  The course is about as flat as you can get in the Ozarks, but still has around 550 ft of elevation gain, and also a million turns (a friend told me he counted 70-some from the course map!).  I lose rhythm turning so much, and also it's tricky to run all of those tangents so you inevitably pick up extra distance.  The final 2 miles of the race also has a lot of incline, so in those miles where it's already a struggle to stay on pace, you have to fight the elevation as well (even when I ran it as a training run in 2015 or when I've run the half I haven't been able to close with a fantastic final 2 miles; when I raced it in 2010 stayed on pace to the end, but I would have definitely had a better negative split sans inclines).

Since I got my sub-3:00 at Prairie Fire, I considered dropping to the half at Bass Pro, which was also a thought all along.  However, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to run the full.  Although I would like to go for a half PR, the half course is also not amazing and I just had so much fun running this marathon both times I did it that I really want to do it again.  Plus, Prairie Fire wasn't painful enough to scare me away from another 26.2 within a month, so forward I go!

When I signed up for 2016 (with the early registration/first 100 entrants super discount, wahoo!), I also hoped I might have a change to win the race again.  However, our local Olympic Trials qualifier is also running this year, so I don't have a chance for the win.  She is fast, sweet, and humble, and I'm fine with finishing behind her; however, my main disappointment is that I won't have the lead female cyclist with me during the race like I have in the past!  I sure liked those cyclists along during those lonely miles.  But I guess after running about 20 miles alone at Prairie Fire, I know that I can do it again if I have to.  I know a couple of men who should be close to my pace so am going to try to coordinate when them, though.

My biggest excitement about this race is that my coach told me that he worked out the "magic" to get me recovered from Prairie Fire and hopefully hold my peak to try for another sub-3:00 at this one.  After last week's training went really well for me, he said he thinks I will be ready!  It may be greedy to go for this, and with Prairie Fire on my legs it could go really poorly --- but taking no chances means wasting your dreams, right?  So I am planning to give it a go, provided that the weather cooperates and I'm feeling it once I get out conservatively on race day.  I'm not worried about it, because this one is a bonus, but I am ready to have 26.2 miles of fun on November 6!

Finishing stretch photos - must get a similar shot this year

Trick or Trot 5K: Sweet 18s

I finally put together a solid 5K race!  In case you don't want to weed through the details below, the basics are that I tried to run around 10K effort and without looking at my watch, and ended up feeling really good and finished in 18:46 with some left in the tank.  After a very lengthy string of 19:0X 5Ks, even though I'd run under 19 in the second 5K of a 10K, I finally made it official!  The struggle has been real.

The Trick or Trot had a 5:00 p.m. start time.  I haven't done many afternoon/evening races, and the only reason I did this one was because I won a free entry, needed more 5Ks for my running club's Runner of the Year competition, and had a child who was super stoked to wear her Halloween costume early.  Since I've only run three afternoon races as an adult, I'm not sure on best way to handle all of the hours of the day leading up to the race, but this one was a perfect one to experiment with since it was a treated as a workout instead of a race.  5Ks scare me so much that I was thankful that my coach told me not to run it all out (isn't it crazy that 3.1 miles intimidate me more than 26.2?!)!  I was also glad to get the opportunity to give an afternoon race a try under relaxed conditions, as I've always been scared to run one as a goal race since I'm not used to them, but supposedly our bodies do better at running fast in the afternoon than in super early morning.  Even though I ran several second runs in the evenings during my last training cycle, they were all easy runs, so I just wasn't sure how I'd feel.

I slept in until 7:30 a.m. (glorious!), then did a 3 mile shake out run immediately followed by stretching, an electrolyte drink, and a sizable breakfast, taking advantage of that post-run window when your muscles are little sponges ready to soak up nutrients, carbs, and hydration.  I also donned some compression socks, which I wore around all day.  It was a good day for us to relax at home after being on the go the past two weekends (I can't believe the Prairie Fire Marathon was only 2 weeks ago!), which meant a lot of laundry, cleaning, Halloween decorating, etc. but nothing too strenuous and also some reading and legs up the wall time.  With the race starting at 5:00 p.m., I knew I'd start my warm-up 4:15ish, so I knew I didn't want to eat anything much after 1:00ish, and I had a light lunch around that time.  Some of my worry about afternoon races stems from not knowing what to eat/not eat all day leading up to the event, because I don't want to eat too much or too little and have problems because of it.

Albani wore her Darth Vader Halloween costume, so we had a fun time getting dressed!  I wasn't as festive since it was 74 degrees, but I did wear an orange sports bra and black shorts.  I also put my hair in two French braids, which I used to do in high school when I raced but never take the time to do for morning races now.

My sweet Darth Vader

Result of waiting around all day for a race

When we arrived at the race site, I could tell it was going to be teeny tiny, and when I picked up my packet I noted about 15 runners signed up on the registration sheet.  No worries, though!  This was a workout and I hoped it would be a fun run.  I accidentally set our car alarm off when getting water during my warm-up, and had to run over to Jon and Albani who were on the playground about a quarter mile away to get the car key to stop it, while people looked at me perhaps wondering if I was running away following stealing something from a car (once they looked closely at the car it was probably obvious that there was nothing good to be taken from it, however).

You guessed it - during my warm-up, when I take good running pics

When the gun went off, I found myself immediately out front running what I felt like was my 10K pace (6:10-6:15).  A look at my watch around the half mile confirmed that I was at 6:10 pace - perfect.  It looked like it was just going to be me and the lead car, which was kind of what I expected when I saw the small field.  The second half mile had a good amount of decline in it, so that made me speed up and my 1 mile split was 6:02.  This felt nice and 10K pace still, but I figured the rest of my race would be slower because I wouldn't have the decline in any other miles.

The lead car sped ahead of me after taking me around a turn, and I started worrying that the driver had taken me the wrong way or something, but then I saw him get out of the car and put a cone down in the road for the hair pin turn-around.  When I got to the turn-around, I saw that it was marked with a duck, meaning it was the turn-around from the Sertoma Duck Waddle 5K and also meaning the course would be accurate!  This was good news because I'd gone into this one wondering if it would be off.

I kept plugging along to a second mile of 6:01.  Well, at that point it was time to try for a finish in the 18s!  I knew the last mile would be tough to keep at 6:00 pace since I had to go back up the decline, and I was also thinking about how I would be running a 16 mile long run in 12 hours, but I hoped to do it in 6:10-6:15, and I ended up putting down a 6:09.  My finishing kick at 5:46 pace was enough for an official time of 18:46, although I didn't get my watch stopped for a few more seconds.  I won overall by over 5 minutes, which is a first!

Garmin splits

Jon gets the best finishing clock shots -
he told me it's because he "used to race"

Wahoo!

It felt really good to get this done, especially when it wasn't on my radar here!  I was planning to go for a time in the 18s at the Turkey Trot 5K next month, but if I actually try there I will probably run 19:0X, haha!  The downside was that this course wasn't certified, but since my Garmin read exactly 3.10 on the out-and-back course with only a few turns, I'm saying it had to be quite close, as the last time I ran an out-and-back certified 5K it read 3.11.  My all-time PR is 18:25 anyhow (I've done an 18:18 on an un-certified course, and also a 17:58 on one my Garmin had at 2.95 miles), so it's not a question of counting for that or anything.  Just happy to see the 18s as a 35-year-old!

The best part of the event was Albani winning the costume contest!  Her eye lit up so much when they handed her the trophy.  She was in my opinion the cutest Darth Vader ever.  She kept telling me that her trophy was way better than my medal, which was an accurate statement, but my 18:46 was also way better than my medal or her trophy!

Winner!

Celebrating with Hibachi

Now, I can really officially retire from 5Ks.

What makes one marathon faster than the others? Marathon training cycle comparisons

I started putting this table together during my taper week for Prairie Fire to show myself that I was the most prepared I’d ever been.  In some categories, it made me feel less prepared though...so goes taper madness! 

The biggest thing that helped me make the jump from Dallas to Prairie Fire was increasing my mileage, and the biggest factor from Bass Pro 2010 to Dallas and Prairie Fire was working with a coach.  The latter also helped me work smarter, not necessarily harder (although I worked plenty hard too!).  I’ve learned a lot about diminishing returns with training and the line between being well-prepared and over-trained.  I also don't quite understand how he does it, but my coach can give me a 60 mile week that I complete feeling amazing after, but if I piece one together I end it feeling exhausted.

All in all, the combination of things that made the biggest positive difference for me at Prairie Fire was:

• Higher consistent mileage.  Even though I didn’t peak as high as I did before Bass Pro, I ran in the 50s to 60s every single week for 20 weeks, aside from the two taper weeks prior to the marathon.  Bass Pro prep was more variable.
• Working with a coach.  He’s better at this than me!
• No “training marathon”.  This was something I worried would hurt me, having not gone the full distance before race day, but I think it was best (see statement about diminishing returns/over-training).
• Fewer super long runs (see statement about diminishing returns/over-training).
• More workouts in long runs.  Runs like the hardest workout ever and 10 mile tempo + 1 hammer paid the bills!
• More tempos and hill work, for more stamina/strength building.
• Less track work.  It’s not a 5K, after all, and I was amazed at how much speed came simply with mileage.
• Two-a-day runs for more endurance and recovery.
• Faster long and easy runs, because apparently you can run your easy runs too slow!
• Fewer workouts and more base pace running, which reduces my injury risk and ends up making everything faster due to more consistent running.
• Less racing, and no tapering/resting for most races, since that decreases consistent mileage.  I learned that I could race fine even if I'd run 10-12 miles and a double two days before the event, which wasn't something I'd done in the past.
• Not using ice baths and compression until the end of the training cycle so my body could better learn to rebuild without extra help early on.
• Strength training.  My legs feel far less beat up after long and hard efforts, so it’s worth it for that alone.
• Being more fit and eating more.  As I discussed here, I was overall more fit.  I wish I had body composition stats to compare, because I was very close in my weight for all of these races, but I think my body fat was lowest at Prairie Fire, while I also fueled myself the best during training for it.

	Bass Pro Nov. 2010 3:03:47	Dallas Dec. 2015 3:01:44	Prairie Fire Oct. 2016 2:58:53
Mileage average (20 weeks leading up to race)	55	44	56
Mileage peak	73	56	61
Tempos	Spotty, mainly raced and called it a tempo; one traumatic 8 mile tempo that I bombed	Moderate amount, including a 10 miler	Staple workout, including 4, 6, 8, 10 and several repeat tempo workouts such as 3 x 2 miles at tempo
Speed work	Nearly every Tuesday track workouts	Often, but not as much as 2010	4 track workouts, and a few fartleks on the road (overall less than other 2 cycles)
Hill work	Minimal	Most long runs were very hilly; 1 hill repeat workout	Most long runs were mildly hilly; 3 hill repeat workouts
2-a-days	No	No	1-2 times/week
“Training” marathon	Heart of America in 3:16 (very hilly course)	Bass Pro in 3:06	None
20+ milers	1.     20 2.     21 3.     22 4.     23 5.     26.2 (race) 6.     20 7.     22 8.     23.3	1.     20 2.     22 3.     20 4.     27 (race+) 5.     20 6.     23.1	1.     20 base 2.     20 workout 3.     22 - 18 base, final 4 at marathon goal pace 4.     24.3 base, with final mile at marathon goal pace
Long run pace (approx.)	8:30-9:00	7:25-7:45	7:15-7:35
Easy run pace (approx.)	9:00	7:30-8:30	7:30-7:50
Tempo pace (6-10 mile tempos)	6:45	6:30	6:25
Race in build-up (in the order raced)	5K 8K 5K 5K Marathon 5K 10K	5K 10K Half Marathon 10K 5K Half Marathon Marathon 5K 10K	10K 5K 5K 5K 10K 15K
PRs during build-up	10K (not certified) in 39:13	Half in 1:24:33 10K in 39:19	10K in 38:43 15K in 59:19
Cross-training	Sporadic elliptical	Strength bootcamp 2 times/week, with elliptical warm-ups, and sporadic swimming	Strength bootcamp 2 times/week with elliptical warm-ups, and extra core work
Illnesses during build-up	Bronchitis in August and October	Cryptosporidum parasite in August (took 6 weeks to get back to full strength)	Stomach virus 11 days prior to race, minor cold during build-up
Recovery techniques	Sporadic stretching, ice baths after most long runs	Daily stretching, ice baths after most long runs, regular compression sock wearing, sporadic foam rolling	Daily stretching, daily foam rolling, used ice baths and compression socks only in the final 6 weeks pre-race
Coach	No	Marshall	Marshall
Training groups	MSU speed work group	Saturday long runs with Jamie	Frequent runs with Missy; some with Casey and Kim
Diet	Vegetarian, excessive sweets on occasion	Vegetarian, clean, but still excessive sweets on occasion	Included fish, chicken, and turkey (generally just at dinner), but otherwise similar to previous vegetarian, clean and ate maybe 3 desserts in 20 weeks
Race day temperature	High 30s-mid-40s	Mid-50s-low 60s	Low 50s-low 60s
First half split	1:32:42	1:29:29	1:29:40
Second half split	1:31:05	1:32:15	1:29:13
During race fueling	3 gels, occasional sports drink but mostly water	2 gels, occasional sports drink but mostly water	3 gels, occasional sports drink but mostly water
Strategy notes	Aiming for 3:05 and overall female; lucked out and was able to pace with Julie and the lead cyclist	Aiming for 2:59 and pacing with Jamie, used an even paced pace band	Aiming for 2:59 or better, used a conservative start course specific pace band, ran the first 6.5 miles mostly with the 1:30 half pace group, then ran 20 miles alone
Place	1st overall female	2nd overall female	4th overall female (9th fastest marathon ever run by a woman in the state of Kansas, and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th fastest were also run in this race)
Race day outfit	Nike tank with built-in bra and Moving Comfort shorts (started in arm warmers and gloves, took both off)	Nike tank with built-in bra and Underarmour compression shorts	Underarmour sports bra and BCG shorts (started in gloves for the first 5 miles)
Race day socks	Ironman brand	Feetures brand	CEP compression socks
Race day shoes	Asics DS Trainers	Hoka One One Clifton 1s	Hoka One One Clifton 1s
Number of toenails on race day	Probably 8	10!	9, but down to 8 shortly after
Pre-race panic	Moderate	Minimal	Extreme 5-6 days out but subsided to  minimal

Prairie Fire Post-Race & Aftermath

Part 4 of the Prairie Fire series; maybe I'll finish writing about this in time for my next marathon, haha!

After I crossed the finish line, I stumbled in the finish chute; my legs were done!  The post-marathon state is something you can't really fully understand until you've experienced it, as there is nothing else like the mix of elation and exhaustion.  I was in a mixed daze of celebration and depletion confusion.  My first thought was that I wanted to find my family, so I walked through the finish shoot and picked up my finishers shirt and medals.  I got two medals because I did the Back to Back challenge, running the spring half and fall full (barely, as I was injured before the spring race).  I was coherent enough to pick out the correct size of finishers shirt, and to grab a couple of bottles of water and Gatorade as I exited the finish shoot.

It felt better to keep walking then to stop, so I kept walking.  I saw my brother-in-law, niece, and nephew first, as they had come to watch me finish and hadn't yet found the rest of my family.  My nephew was talking rapidly and they were all asking me some questions that I couldn't formulate responses to.  I told them I just needed to keep walking.  I then saw Jon coming towards me, and I gave him a big hug while tears of joy welled up in my eyes, which my parents caught a picture of.  My parents and Albani were there too, and everyone was talking, but I mainly remembering saying that I just needed to keep walking, so I did!

My favorite picture from the day!

 Albani was running the kids' marathon, which started at 11:00 a.m. (I finished at 10:28 a.m.), so we needed to get her to the starting area for it.  I knew I needed to change out of my soaking wet race clothes before her race, so Jon and I hurried (as much as I could!) over to a hotel bathroom for me to change into the clothing from my bag I'd had Jon bring to the finish, while everyone else went to Albani's starting line with her.

I changed as fast as I could, but I kept having random cramps in my calves and feet.  I also mixed a re:immune packet in water and began drinking it to help with my recovery.  I felt far better in dry clothes, and the re:immune was going down well.  I was also trying to text updates to my training partner and my coach, and answer some of the 14 texts I'd gotten from friends who'd been tracking me, while I was changing (post-marathon multi-tasking!).

I took an indirect route back to Albani's race start in order to get food; Jon told me I was going to miss her race if I did that, but I knew not eating quickly would wreck my recovery so I chanced it while he went the quickest route.  I was able to get food and make it to her start with time to spare!  She ran a PR mile in 9:25!  Watch her awesome finish here!  She was very excited.  She did the kids' half marathon, which meant she'd run the first 12.1 miles in training and then the final mile on race day.  They also had a kids' marathon, where they ran the first 25.2 miles in training, and she was working towards that, but we didn't start tracking her miles early enough and she had around 18.  She loved the medal and also loved playing with her cousins at the race.  I hope she enjoyed cheering for me at least a little! 

Determination!

Running happy

After that we went to wait on the awards ceremony and everyone ate a lot of the free food.  It's possible that between me and the 7 family members I had there, we got my entry fee's worth of lunch! Even though it was over 60 degrees and I had on a jacket, I was freezing.  I ended up putting my warm-up pants back on and got a space blanket.

Brr

At the awards, the announcer spent a lot of time talking about the depth of the women's field.  The winner, Svetlana Pretot, was from France!  The announcer asked her how she'd ended up at this race, then came back on the mic and said something like, "She doesn't speak English, and I don't speak French, so we don't know!"  An news article I later read on the race told more of her story, which included that she trains some with a professional group in Vermont, and male runners from her group won both the mens marathon and half marathon that day, so my guess is that the group made the trip for the prize money (and that she did just enough to win, because she has many 2:3X marathons to her name, and Jon said she was just sitting on the second place female throughout the race).  When I Googled her, my information was limited because most articles on her were in French!  But I did find that she was the first female masters runner at the Boston Marathon in both 2012 and 2013, found here.  The second place winner was from the St. Joseph, Missouri area, and was the one I'd identified as fast on the starting line, Ann Marie Chappell, who has Olympic Marathon qualifying times to her name.  Third was McKale (Davis) Montgomery, who also has Olympic Marathon qualifying times and a whole slew of sub-3:00s.  What amazing strong women!

My dad's video of the awards is here.  I was really honored to run a 2:58, even if it was "only" 4th.  Based on past years results, I expected that if I ran my goal time, I would be 1st or 2nd, because a 2:58 would have been every other year this race has existed.  Honestly, on race day I was disappointed about my placing because of those expectations, even though there was nothing I could have done to move up, with those ladies all running 2:50-2:51.  I was disappointed to be 4th and then I felt greedy for being disappointed!  I said before the race that I didn't care if I was 500th if I got my sub-3:00, and I decided that should be the case.  I was blessed to still place, as they placed top 5.  I also decided that I choose to be inspired by the three speedy ladies ahead of me!  So I'm looking at them as inspiration to dream bigger.

I couldn't hold the envelope and trophy correctly for a photo

Swag

Results can be found here, and results with split times here.  My addition to the Kansas State Road Racing Records as the 9th fastest womens marathon ever run in Kansas (not quite the 8th as they announced at the awards ceremony) and the 3rd fastest ever for a woman age 35-39 is here.  Pretty crazy that 4 of the 9 fastest marathon times ever run by women in Kansas were run in this race!



Results (gun time displayed here)

Kansas Road Running Records (also based on gun time)

I am also thankful to have walked away from the race with no aches or pains.  I got two blisters, one on each second toe under my toenails, and had a small scab from where the gel I tucked into my sports bra rubbed (otherwise no chaffing at all!).  During both Dallas and Bass Pro in 2015, my hips hurt during the final miles of the marathons, and they didn't bother me at all in this one.  Overall I felt very healthy.  I stretched while waiting on Albani's race and the awards, foam rolled a couple of times the day of the race, stopped twice on the drive to walk and stretch, and took an ice bath that evening when we got home (and a second one on Monday).  I also wore compression socks a lot after the race, and overall I've felt like my recovery has gone well.  I typically come back from marathons and long runs better than average, which I am thankful for.

My one minor injury

Well, what does a Type A person do when she accomplishes a goal?  Set a bigger goal of course!  I am going to work towards improving my PR at the Phoenix Marathon in February.  We've gotta get my training partner Missy a sub-3:00 there, and it's also going to be a couples vacation for Jon and I!  Dream big!