Run the Woods Race Recap {10-3-15}

Run the Woods 8k

1st Place OA Female

41:14

This was my 8th year participating in the event (I've been on the committee that plans this race since 2010 or so), my 6th year running it, and my 2nd year running the 8k distance. Clint's retrospection when he wrote his own race report on the event inspired me to look back on my own past performances at this event:

My first RTW - 2008 (5k) 28:52 (further inspection revealed I ran this one with my then-new coworker/friend Jillian McGriff and finished less than a second behind her...we finished 2nd and 3rd in our oh-so-young age group of 25-29 :))

2009 (5k) 26:12, 2nd in 25-29 AG

2010 (5k) 25:46, 2nd in 25-29 AG

2011 (5k) 24:52...better each year and still 2nd in 25-29 AG :)

2012 (8k) 41:53...1st in AG, I remember fighting off two girls as we finished...one of the first times I remember such a thing happening (I have a strong history of limited competitive drive:-))

I didn't run in 2013 and 2014 because of darn injuries (laugh it up...in 2013 I didn't run because of a back injury from my brief stint in cross-fit-esq workouts. WHAT WAS I THINKING?! Last year, I didn't run because of a leg injury and the fact that the course was partially covered in water...figured I didn't need to gamble! I was still there volunteering both of these years, of course! :))

This brings us to 2015...

It's no secret that this race is one of my favorites. It's probably tied with the Bix...how could one really choose a favorite out of the two ;)?! For those of you who don't know (probably no one hasn't heard this diatribe by this point :)), I am a pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist and I have worked with Easter Seals of Central IL since July of 2007. Being a pediatric SLP with Easter Seals was truly my "dream job"...I started pursuing employment with the organization starting in November of 2006 when I was in my second-to-last semester of graduate school at Purdue in IN. Easter Seals' mission is something I stand firmly behind, "Easter Seals provides exceptional services to ensure that people with disabilities and their families have equal opportunity to live, learn, work and play in their communities." My experiences at Easter Seals have been among the most rewarding and inspiring {and sometimes challenging!} of my life. These kids...who fight to accomplish milestones most of us take for granted are who push me to do more and be more in my professional and personal life. The ES parents, who advocate for their children and keep their heads up through sometimes discouraging odds, also inspire me with their strength and tenacity in spite of often having to deal with things they did not choose and were not prepared for.

Fun fact: in 2010 I started a "training group" with co-workers at Easter Seals, getting people to run their first 5k. I had NO idea what I was doing. I downloaded a couch to 5k plan from the interwebs and shared this with the group. We met once (sometimes more) per week to run together and to chat about running. I wish I had recorded these "training sessions" to see what kind of advice I was giving to these poor newbies. Haphazard as I am certain this group was...everyone who participated DID finish! Coach Rachel...has a nice ring to it, eh!? ;)

Ok, ok. Enough tangents. For now.

Clint told me he was going to go for the overall win...which of course sounded pretty awesome, but I was a little bummed. As a RTW committee member, one of the fun things I am part of each year is constructing the pretty amazing ;), unique awards. If you haven't seen them...they are a (usually) round "slice" of wood with a gold plate on them detailing the age group and place. This year, we had some irregularly-shaped wood chunks. One, I was convinced, looked like a goat's face. During our "glue party" out at Timber Pointe as we constructed the awards, i strategically chose the award I was *pretty* sure Clint would get (1st place male 30-34) and put that plate on the goat's face. See?! It's a GOAT!

Clearly I wanted him to do well...but couldn't he please just get first in 30-34 instead of 1st OA?! ;)

Clint and I headed out to camp a little later than I hoped (ha...the story of "us"!), but ended up arriving right around 7:05am which was just fine. My duty as a committee member that morning was to oversee the registration table. As is our usual RTW style, we went into race week with only a few volunteers resulting in some frantic e-mails between committee members about doing more recruiting. In spite of this...it ALWAYS works out that we have more than enough volunteers (THANKS to so many amazing people in our community!). Big thanks to Andy and Amber for helping out at the registration table, to Andy for helping on the course, to Nigel for being a course pointer on the 8k course and to Gary for whatever it was that they ended up making you do ;). I also brought the goods to make GF pancakes (as I have every year for the past few years) and spent the ~2 hours leading to the 9:00am race start flitting here and there, chatting with committee members (we lost a few awards...but ended up finding them, whew!!), volunteers, Easter Seals colleagues and other community members who had come out to run.

Often Running Racing Team volunteers and racers!

Me with Ginnell, Metcalf co-worke/friend and star athlete :)

I also began to informally scope out the running field to see what kind of competition I might have in the 8k. ORRT teammate Karen arrived (thanks for running, Karen!!) and signed up for the 5k...which made me then wonder if I had some sort of shot at the 8k OA female spot. The sensible side of me was trying to remind me that I am not running for just myself any longer and I did need to be responsible...meaning watch my footing extra-carefully (who wants to scrape a pregnant lady off of the trail?!), keep my heart rate "reasonably low," listen to my body, etc., etc. I decided that I would go out fairly strong for the first mile and see where that left me and then decide "on the fly" how to handle the rest of the race. It's also been increasingly more difficult for me to take deep breaths while running (my lung capacity is decreasing...apparently this is a real pregnancy thing...my internal organs are shifting up and pushing on my lungs. SO WEIRD!). Additionally, I have to pee ALL OF THE TIME...during our Thursday night run, for example, I had to pee at exactly 0.38 on my watch. And it's not a "normal" I-have-to-pee sensation either. It's more of a, "you better pee right now or it's just gonna flow out!" Add this all to the fact that I am now carrying 8lbs more than my normal weight. Running IS getting harder! WOW. Did you know you'd get this much education in this race report?! You're welcome! ;-)

We lined up at the very-official starting line (a crack in the parking lot outside of the main lodge). Jim Cooper (my fabulous boss!), our director of clinical services, spoke to the runners about one of our Easter Seals kiddos who had passed away the weekend prior. After acknowledging her sweet and too-short life with a moment of silence, the traditional barbershop quartet began singing the national anthem. I danced around a bit (my idea of a "warm up"), looked down at my shirt and realized something was...missing. OH CRAP! I didn't have a bib! I made a mad dash into the lodge, dumped out my bag...couldn't find the bib. I grabbed a new bib from our registration pile and yelled at one of the (very nice and quick-acting!!) volunteers that my name was Rachel Wells and I lost my number and now I am 770 and could she please tell Eric Arndt in the timing area?!?! With a final mad dash, I made it to Clint's side at the starting line in time for Laurel Schumacher to snap a pic...and then we were off!

I started out with a strong pace and was the first female for a few tenths of a mile before Karen easily sailed by, on her way to an OA female finish in the 5k. I felt the now-typical tightness in my lungs and had the need to take in more breaths than usual...Mile 1 - 7:41. I haven't run under an 8-minute mile since my BQ marathon 3 weeks prior! I guess I CAN still manage that! I didn't hear any other females around me, though, so I knew I could back it off a bit for mile 2 (and frankly, I knew I SHOULD back it off!!).

As I started the second mile, I reminded myself to keep an eye on my feet. A few weeks ago during one of our race committee course previews, I had taken a spill after getting distracted by the sun setting over the lake and had tripped over a root. We didn't need that happening today, for more reasons than one! Mile 2 - 8:41. HA! A whole minute per mile slower than mile 1, but still good enough to hold onto first (while slow enough to not push things too hard!). I'll take it.

Right before the third mile ticked off, I saw good ol' Andy directing runners at the split for the 5k/8k. I yelled something at him about myself breaking heart rate rules and soldiered on. Mile 3 - 8:24. Still no other girls in sight.

The fourth mile is on the newer portion of the trail and is rather rugged. I gave myself the liberty to reign in the pace and run cautiously. As Clint mentioned in his report, portions of the trail were littered with walnuts. These in addition to the roots and sticks on the group forced me to keep my eyes glued to the ground. Mile 4 was a much slower 9:51...still good enough to hold on to 1st! I actually didn't see any other runners for a large portion of miles 3 and 4...until the 8k course had the annoying section that ran back on itself, causing runners to be going both directions on a narrow trail (shout out to Nigel for helping to direct traffic here!!). Somewhere in the final portions of the race, I was passed by Merlin Anderson...I knew had I not been in my current "condition," I could've pressed harder to try to keep up with him but I let him go without a battle.


Soon enough, I rejoined the few remaining 5k runners for the race to the finish. As always, it felt great to cross that finish line!

 
 
Total finish time 41:14.

I chatted with some other finishers for a bit outside before heading inside for some yummy (GF!) pancakes and BYO Funks Grove Maple Syrip. I was also pleased to see that there was orange juice...one of my big, weird pregnancy cravings.

Standing up in front with Clint as overall finishers for our respective genders was the best part of the morning :). I'm glad I was able to pull this one off....as I know my days of "running fast" are coming to a close. Being able to claim OA female at 3 races this year was pretty awesome (Easter Seals' Run, Walk and Roll 5k in April in East Peoria, Lake Run 12k in May and Run the Woods 8k now!)....and I will use these memories to fuel my fire to get back into shape as quickly as I can next year after this sweet babe is born!

Wells Family!

THANK YOU to Mitch/Often Running for the privilege of being a part of the Often Running Racing Team, to Adidas to the great gear (my pants were Adidas at this race...but my top was Easter Seals attire, appropriate for this event seeing as this supported my employer :)), and to my ORRT and Challenge teammates for the support and camaraderie...and to everyone who participated for supporting this organization that is so important to me by either volunteering or running or both (*Shout out to Paul who ran a great race post-injury! GREAT to see you and glad you are doing better!)! We might joke that "running is dumb," but in actuality...running helps us remember that there are far bigger things in this world than ourselves and it has given us many ways to give back to our communities. So...thank you, each of you, for everything.

Some of our Often Running Thursday Night running group who came out to RTW!

What's next?! Well, The Mister and Baby+I will be doing the Allerton Park Trail Race (on Clint's birthday!)...join us if you can!! Following that, there is Canal Connection...and after that I will be playing it by ear. I hope to keep running up through April (casually at least!), but we will see!

Have a great day, all!

~Rachel

PS Here's a link to my Easter Seals fundraising page if you'd like to read more about Team Believe...or if you'd like to support families in our community with a donation to Easter Seals! https://kidstherapyprogress.com/Volunteers/RWells

Last Chance Boston Qualifier (BQ2) Chicagoland {Race Recap}

Last Chance Boston Qualifier (BQ2) Chicagoland

Saturday, September 12, 2014

Geneva, IL

I actually wrote this race report a month ago after completing this race and shared it with my Often Running Racing teammates (part of our team responsibilities includes sharing race reports post-races). However, since Clint and I weren't yet officially publicly talking about the pregnancy...I held off on putting this report in my blog. Now that we've made our "announcement" (the first trimester will be over in two days!)....I'm ready to share this race report! Honestly, I had fun re-reading it this afternoon and re-living this amazing day :)...a reminder of why I like blogging/writing race reports (to remember things like this!).

As some of you know, a year or so ago I had set a goal for myself to qualify for the Boston Marathon in my "next" marathon, whenever/wherever that may be. Prior to 9/12/15, I had run 10 marathons (if you count the marathon in Ironman Wisconsin I completed in September 2013...which some people say I should count in my marathon tally and some say I shouldn't...for now I am counting it) and I haven't really been very close to my qualifying standard of 3:35 (for the female 18-34 age group). My PR prior to this fall was 3:49:46 which was set at the Quad Cities Marathon in 2011. While I hadn't run a marathon since November of 2013, marathoning was really my "first love" as far as running events go. However, I haven't ever really focused on "speed" and more just ran to finish.

Over the past year and a half I have worked harder on improving my running than I ever have before. This spring, after talking things through with Clint, I decided that this should be the year that I give my BQ race a valiant effort. I had big PR at the half distance in April at the U of I (1:35:43) and wanted to build off of that momentum. As it always seems to happen, though, I fought with an injury (plantar fasciitis in my right foot) off and on throughout the season. I wasn't sure what marathon to register for either because I wanted to choose something close to home that wouldn't require a lot of travel because Clint usually has to work either Saturday or Sunday each weekend (sometimes both) and I wanted to be sure that he could be with me at what could be a really big race for me (and really, for "us," seeing as he has been the one coaching me through!).

Sometime this summer, my friend and teammate Andy sent me an article about the best 10 Boston qualifying marathons. One race on the list intrigued me...the Last Chance Boston Qualifier BQ2. The timing was good (September!) and it was within 2 hours of home (Geneva, IL). However, the course seemed...interesting to say the least. The course consisted of 8 loops, each of approximately 3.22 miles. Oh dear...holy boredom!?!

We kept an eye on the website for the race and in July they posted something saying that there were just 30 spots left. I jumped on it and registered, without telling Clint (not feeling like my body was performing at 100% made me nervous...and the race was pretty expensive! I was worried it was too big of a gamble.). The next day he commented to me as we were on a walk in a park in Normal, "I saw that the BQ2 race has only 30 entries left. Maybe you should register." I just looked at him and he said, "You already did, didn't you?!" :)

My training for the rest of July and the month of August went pretty well and I was fairly happy with how things were going leading into September. I had a big PR at the Bix7 in late July...and then the wedding adventures happened :). Our Wells Wedding Run 13.1 was nowhere near a strong 13.1 for me, but I guess I should give myself a smidgen of grace considering the stressful and exciting nature of the day and the fact that my nutrition was less than ideal that day (half of a latte and a few pieces of fruit and bites of egg for the first 8 hours of a day probably aren't sufficient when running a HOT mid-day half marathon!). Once we got back from the honeymoon, I ran a strong 20 miler with Clint one weekend, ran a strong 15 miler with the middle 7 miles at goal pace (8:00), ran 5 loops of an area trail race called Painful Elimination for 21.25 total trail miles and had some great speed workouts in the middle of the week thanks to Clint/Thursday Night runs.

Then...(and here's where things get crazy...)...there was a little something else that changed in our lives in mid August. We found out that we are expecting an addition to the Wells household sometime in late April (?!?!). We have vacillated between stunned surprise and sheer excitement over these past few weeks. We have now known for four weeks (when I originally wrote this report in September :)) and have gone to the doctor twice and have seen our little bean via ultrasound...talk about surreal. 

Clearly that news complicated things :). It's funny how quickly (instantly!) ones priorities change...suddenly a BQ wasn't my #1 priority, but growing our healthy little one IS. That said, I knew that it was highly unlikely that I would be in my current state of fitness again for a very long time (if ever!). We decided that if I felt good...I would still run the race. I had already run one of my 20 milers while {unknowingly!} pregnant and it had gone well. We did ask our doctor about running at our appointment the Tuesday before the marathon and he talked with us about how he preaches "moderation in all things." He asked how far I was planning to run and he didn't tell me not to :). He did say to keep the heart rate below 150 and to listen to my body. Additionally, if I have ANY issues I am to see him the very day that issues begin. I've been scouring blogs and different forums, reading everything I can about running during pregnancy. As you can imagine, some of this information is great and some is not-so-great...some contradicts other, etc. Mostly, though, I am learning that balance, moderation, and listening to your body are the important pieces of knowledge.

Over the next few days, I made every effort to be as in-tune with my body as I could be and as the weekend approached it seemed like all systems were a "go." This isn't to say everything was perfect...I've definitely been dealing with nausea and exhaustion (and sometimes eating a TON due to extreme hunger while other times not eating anything at all due to nausea), but nothing too serious. Additionally, I've been dealing with...uhh...altered fit of sports bras which has been an interesting (and painful!) conundrum.

Friday night prior to the race, Clint was able to get off work a bit early (THANKS Mitch!!) and we headed to Chipotle together for dinner before heading out of town. We saw our friend and area fellow runner Briana Paris at Chipotle who wished us luck on our big racing weekend (Clint had an ultra on Sunday the day after my race!), finished our dinner, and were soon on our way to our hotel in Geneva. Big thanks to Clint for driving the 2 hours to the hotel...while I closed my eyes a bit off and on during the journey ;).

We got to our hotel around 9pm. Clint got things ready for breakfast in the morning and I prepped my race clothes. We got in bed around 10...with alarms set for 4:30am (SICK!!). I actually slept decently well, which was surprising. Usually I can't sleep much at all before a big race. Maybe those pregnancy hormones are good for something ;).

At 4:30am the alarm went off and Clint got right out of bed to get my breakfast ready (muesli, banana and almond milk). I rolled out after a few snooze-hits and got dressed and ate my yummy fuel. We gathered up all of our things and headed out a bit before 5:30. Our hotel was just 10 minutes from the race site and start was at 6:30am.

Clint had devised a nutrition plan for me that involved more calories than I'd ever consumed during a marathon. We have two small hand-held water bottles that he planned to fill with 2 Huma gels each (my favorite mild gels that don't ever upset my stomach...they're basically fruit puree and chia seeds) diluted with water to fill each small bottle. The plan was for me to bring one bottle with 2 gels and some water on each loop and consume each one (200 calories) during the course of a ~3.22 mile loop. I've used huma gels in the past with no issues. The Monday prior to the race, Clint mixed me up a sample water bottle with 2 gels mixed in to take on a 7-mile run and it worked out really well. Since the course involved the same loop run over and over, I would be able to see Clint at the end of each loop to make a water bottle switch.

We arrived at the park where the race was held around 5:40, parked, and made our way to packet pickup. The air was cool and crisp...I was glad Clint had advised me the day before to pack a blanket and walked around with it wrapped around me for a while as we found our way to the start.

The starting line!

We found an area by the finish (which was just a few yards behind where the start was in the loop) for Clint to set up camp. I visited the porta potty and then went out on a "warmup" that consisted of about a minute and a half of jogging and a few strides and then a few minutes of walking/stretching. Before long it was time to join the crowd in the starting area! With just around 300 entrants, it was manageable and not crowded at all. There were pacers at each of the different BQ times, but I made the decision not to run with a pace group. Running with random people I don't know and inevitably having to make small talk with someone who wants to chat during the run is sometimes stressful...and I would rather run by myself. I don't mind talking to people while running, but I like doing so without any expectation of keeping someone else's pace and being able to slow down (or speed up) if and when I so desire. My goal was to keep an 8:00/mile pace for the duration of the race. This would result in a 3:29 finish, which was a 6-minute "cushion" behind my needed time of 3:35.

I had planned to keep a long-sleeved top on for the first lap, but made a last-second decision to cast the shirt off to Clint and just wore my Often Running singlet and shorts. With a quick kiss, Clint left me in the start corral and headed to watch the start from across the line. A few seconds later...we were off! After the first few yards, we crossed by a parking lot area and I saw AP off to my right who had arrived right at the start to spectate/keep Clint company. Awesome!

I settled right into my stride, with one pace group not far ahead of me and another not far behind. I was happy with how things felt and excited to get started. I was chilly, but could tell that I would heat up fast and was glad I had decided to get rid of the long sleeves right away.

Mile 1- 7:50...a little faster than goal pace, but not far off, I tried to dial it back a bit for mile 2. I was successful because the second mile ticked off with the exact pace that I was shooting for.

Mile 2 - 8:00

Mile 3 - 7:53

Somewhere between mile 3 and 4, I completed the first loop and made the first water bottle hand-off with Clint. I smiled as we made the switch...things felt great!

My dear, sweet Clint waiting with a water bottle as I approached after one of the loops

Right at the start of each loop, there was a slight downhill that always felt great...like it was propelling me into the next loop. I was always careful to stay to the center as I started each loop as there was a water bottle table to the left (you could leave a water bottle for yourself here) and a water/Gatorade station to the right.

About a quarter mile into each loop, the path turned slightly to the right and went uphill just enough to get annoying as it got later into the race. After this, you had to run through a small construction zone with uneven pavement and some loose gravel...and then through a McDonald's parking lot with some rubber mats placed over curbs (that were actually pretty slippery the first 2 laps) for runners to run over. Following this, we had to cross a wooden bridge over the river...and the darn thing loved to move a whole lot as runners went across. Not gonna lie...the first few laps, this made my tummy a little nauseated! Right after crossing the bridge, we had a sharp left hand turn that also went up the most significant "hill" of the loop. This course is advertised as "fast and flat"...and it really is. However, the flatness of the rest of the course really made the two hilly spots stand out!

After that second {slight} hill, the course ran past the second water stop. Each time I passed this stop, I was sure to grab a cup of water and each time drank most or all of it. Sometimes when I grabbed cups, the individuals handing it out had even pre-folded the top a bit to make it easier to drink. Best volunteers ever!

After the water stop, the course went under a bridge where some people had camped out to cheer. Here you could also see across the river to the finish line area which was kind of fun. After running under the bridge, the course took runners through a wooded area (much of the course was nicely shaded) and then we had to take a left turn to head back over the river via another wooden bridge (though not nearly as shaky as the first one!). After crossing the bridge, the course curved to the right and then around to the left...and straight on through the start/finish area.

Mile 4 - 7:58 Spot on! I carried on through the second lap and held on tightly to my all-important 8:00 pace.

Mile 5 - 8:01 Happy!

Shortly after the 5th mile, a woman came up next to me and said, "Your pace is so steady! Are you keeping 8's?" I told her that I was and told her that I didn't always FEEL steady and felt like I was a little irregular with my pacing. We made some small talk and it turned out that her goal was to hold 8's as well. Her qualifying time was 3:45, but she wanted to finish well under that time. Turns out she had had a hysterectomy in the spring. Sheesh! I wasn't the only one running with extra challenges! :) We ended up sticking together for many miles and I came to think of her as "Pink" in my head because of her bright pink tank top. At each water stop (there was one at the start/finish and one about halfway through each loop) she stopped to take a gel and drink an entire cup of water...but most of the time ended up catching right back up to me.

A bit before the second loop ended, I crossed the 6 mile point...

Mile 6 - 7:51.  Nice!

Around 6.5 miles I saw Clint and received my third bottle and got rolling on my 3rd lap.

Mile 7 - 7:55  Sweet! I had started making it a game to see how many seconds under my goal pace I was as each mile ticked off. With my goal being even 8-minute miles, it made calculating what the goal total time for each mile marker was. I love thinking about numbers while I am running...probably because it's something to keep my brain detached from what is going on for a bit!

Mile 8 - 8:01

Mile 9 - 7:59 

Around mile 9.75 it was time for the next bottle switch and the start of lap 4. I found myself REALLY looking forward to seeing Clint at the conclusion of another loop. It helped break up the time and was a very welcome distraction. Additionally, the start/finish area was just a lot of fun. The crowd was the largest here, there was a fun DJ/announcer and I had two familiar faces (AP and Clint!) to cheer me on. The adrenaline surge as I started each lap was very helpful indeed!

Mile 10 - 7:55

Mile 11 - 7:56

Just prior to the irritating wooden bridge/McDonald's parking lot...a little boy (maybe 8-11 years old) held a variety of different signs. One time, he yelled (in a hilariously monotonous voice), "Run faster! I just broke the wind!" HA!!!! I don't think he knew how funny he was...or maybe it was just me. I thought he was hilarious ;).

Each time I crossed the annoying wooden bridge, I told myself, "Just FOUR more times over this bridge! Just THREE more times over this bridge! Just TWO..."etc. :)

Mile 12 - 8:03

Mile 13- 8:03

I was still just under my target 8:00 average pace when I crossed the 13.1 mile mark right before I saw Clint for the next bottle hand off. With some encouraging words from Clint, I powered through to lap 5. Halfway done...I felt STRONG!

Mile 14 - 8:01 Good!

Mile 15 - 8:04 Decent! It was somewhere around mile 15 that I realized my hands/fingers were pretty swollen. I looked down at my hands and bent my fingers back and forth, trying to assess the situation. I noted that my rings were stuck around my fingers as if they were fat little sausages. Here I did begin to worry and doubt the situation a little bit. I wondered if it was a "sign" that I needed to call it a day and quit..after all, I had run 15 miles at just under an 8-minute average pace (something I had NEVER done before!). It has already been a good day...and I didn't "need" to push it in my current state. I thought about things for a few strides and realized that I really was ok and soldiered on. I was perfectly content with calling it if I needed to (again, priorities are clearly different now!) but I also didn't want to make unnecessary excuses. Here I told myself that one of the big things I want to teach this child is that we are strong enough to do really hard things...and I really could finish this marathon. Somewhere here, during this post-15 mile inner conversation, I told myself that this was real...that I really was going to finish and I really was going to meet my goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon no matter how hard the next 11 miles got.

Mile 16 - 8:01

Just before mile 17, I saw Clint for the 5th bottle hand off and the start of lap 6. He smiled and told me, "You're spot-on!" Lap 6...just 3 total to go...6...7...8.  I could do it, right?! Here, the temp also started to heat up. I told Clint and AP later that I felt like my race really started at the beginning of lap 6. I'm not saying those first 5 laps were easy by any stretch of the imagination, but they also seemed comfortable. I never felt out-of-control. But man...those last 3 laps REALLY felt like WORK!

Mile 17 - 7:59

At mile 17 I was approximately 20 seconds under my goal of an 8-minute mile average and felt like I was fighting for each of those precious "cushion" seconds. It was also here....that my pace began to die. While I wish I could've held strong to my solid 8-minute miles, but I truly believe I did put it all out there and ran as hard as I could in my current state on that specific day.

Mile 18 - 8:12

I was a little disappointed in myself seeing those 12 seconds past the goal time and basically eating up a majority of the 20 second cushion I had held onto until mile 17. But, I also knew that a sub 3:35 was still well within my reach.

Mile 19 - 8:16

Mile 20 - 8:14

A bit after mile 20 clicked off, I saw Clint again as I ran through and swapped bottles. He gave me an encouraging, "this is your race! Keep it up!" and I headed out on my 7th lap. UGH...the start of each lap was SO HOT by this point! I made sure to grab water from the water stop to supplement the water/gel I had in my bottle (I was doing a pretty good job of finishing or nearly finishing my bottle each lap...sometimes I had to really remind myself to take drinks, or if someone around me took a drink it spurred me on to do the same).

Mile 21 - 8:21

Mile 22 - 8:24

Mile 23 - 8:29

As I went through our FINAL bottle exchange, Clint told me, "now go do work!" and I headed out on the final lap. This. Was. HARD. It was a constant mental fight...I told myself that I could do it, that I WOULD do it...if I just managed to keep my pace below 9-minute miles. Sometime during the final lap I passed my friend "Pink" for the final time and told her, "keep it up...we are almost there!"

Mile 24 - 8:39

Mile 25 - 8:45

As I crossed the second bridge of the loop (the LAST BRIDGE of the race!!!), my brain started to play tricks on me. For some reason, I thought I had grossly miscalculated things and that the finish line was a lot further away than it actually was and that I needed more than 5 minutes (my watch showed 3:30 at this point) to make it to the finish line. I started to panic a little bit, "I made it SO FAR and am SO CLOSE and I've messed it up!" Thankfully, my brain was just being weird ;).

Mile 26 - 8:33

As I crossed mile 26, I could see and hear the finish line ahead and smiled. I was doing it...I was really doing it! ;). I dug in with all I had left and finished the final bit (final 0.26 by my watch) in 1:57.9 in a 7:29 pace.

Total - clock time 3:33:16

BQ, baby! Literally! BQ...with a {teeny, tiny lentil-sized} baby!

I got my medal, was offered a mylar blanket which I refused (I WAS SO HOT!) but AP took for me knowing I would want it later (which I did!)...drank some coconut water {aka nectar of the gods} and plopped out on the ground. I had done it...I had run one of my best races ever and had PR'ed my marathon by 16 minutes and 30 seconds.

I DID it! Well...WE did it! :)

THANKS first and foremost to my sweet husband Clint. I couldn't have done this and wouldn't be here without you. Thank you for the perfect nutrition plan (I ended up consuming 1000 total calories during that marathon...which seemed to be just what I needed, even though I thought it sounded crazy!) and for taking care of not just me but of our Wells #3.

THANKS to AP for the great spectating support .... and for some super-awesome pics!!

THANKS to Mitch for the privilege of being on the Often Running Racing team (and for letting Clint leave work early Friday night! :)). Thanks to my Often Running and Challenge triathlon teammates for the support and camaraderie. Thanks to Adidas for the great, comfy (non-chafey!) gear (I think I'm gonna need to size up on my shorts soon, though ;)....post-race I discovered a little line traveling around my stomach from the waistband :).).

What's next?! Well...I will be crossing my fingers that my BQ time will be within the qualification window for 2017. They are releasing those dates soon (I already e-mailed to ask!). I won't be joining those of you who are going in 2016...because Clint and I will be beginning our own marathon in April :-). In April of 2017 our little one will be around 1 and it will maybe be a good comeback race for me (HA HA HA!). Until then...I plan on running as much as I can do in a healthy and safe manner. 

****Update (October 14, 2015). So, as it turns out, the qualifying window for the 2017 Boston Marathon starts on September 19, 2015. This is SO disappointing, seeing as I ran my qualifying time on September 12...one mere week too early (the qualifying window for Boston 2016 started Sat. Sept 13, 2015 so I was hopeful the weekend would stay the same for the subsequent year!). I turn 35 in 2017, so my qualifying time for that year is actually 3:40 instead of 3:35...and my time of 3:33:16 is a nice 6 minutes and 44 seconds under that time. SO...if I would've run this time just seven days later...I would very likely make it in to the 2017 race. BUT...it's not to be, not yet anyway. And that's ok. I still met my goal...I did run *below* my BQ time and I did PR in a big way. And...I did it all 7+ weeks pregnant!

So...we'll see how things go with this pregnancy and what running looks like next summer and maybe give qualifying a whirl again next September. I know I have NO idea what's in store for my body...but I am very encouraged by all of the strong, inspiring females in my life who have shown me what impressive things our bodies can do during and after pregnancy.

Stay tuned for my next report...marathon #12, Chicago 2015 ("run" at 11+ weeks pregnant :)). After this...marathoning is on HOLD until this baby is in our arms!

In the words of the great Paul Bliss, Runfaster :)

~Rachel