Frosty 5k {January 27, 2018} AND 2018/Month 1 {Recap}

2018 Frosty 5k

Peoria, IL

Saturday, January 27//9:00am

-21:44 (7:00 pace per mile) *with stroller/Gabey!*

-2nd in F26-35 AG (weird age group range, eh?!!)

-6th Female of 111

-18th overall of 178

(My 1st race of the 2018 season)

I ran the Frosty 5k race last year (it was my first race of 2017) with Clint and some other friends and teammates...and had a an blast (last year's report HERE). Last year we treated it as a "date day" and left Gabe with friends in BloNo! This year, I loosely planned on doing this event again as I knew, once again, that we had a bunch of friends and teammates planning to make the trek up to Peoria like last year. As an aside - this race benefits FamilyCore, a Peoria, IL-area non-profit committed to strengthening children and family relationships in the Central IL area - now that's something worth supporting! :)

Not to beat a dead horse (I have spoken and written about this topic lately ad nauseam!), but I haven't really been on my A-game running-wise for a while now. I don't want to depress myself by calculating months of consistently personal low performance, so instead I will say that I did have 3 weeks of strong training (the last week of December and the first two weeks of January) and I will just focus my thinking positively to that end - I am confident that I have potential, I just need to figure out the best way to tap into it without getting injured. I constantly tell others to have patience, give themselves grace, you can't always "do everything," etc. and I am trying to internalize these thoughts related to myself as well. As a "hobby jogger," there is a lot more going on in my world than running - and that is ok (by the way - I wrote that last sentence for my own therapeutic benefit, not for the readers'. HA! :)).

The weeks leading up to the Frosty 5k event, I was non-committal about actually running but Clint and I did confirm that our plan was to attend the race with Gabe. We would either all run, some of us would run and some of us would spectate, or we would just all spectate - after all, we had a big friend group going that we wanted to support no matter what.  The Saturday prior to the race I ran a really strong (for me) negative-split 10-miler with Gabe. I felt great during the run...but afterwards my left achilles was like WHOA. So, I took the next six days off (other than a bit of spinning on my tri bike and a bit of strength training) and decided to make a game-day decision regarding running.

The morning of the race, we packed up and did our usual pre-race prep. I dressed as if I was racing and Clint made me breakfast and got the jogging stroller squared away and in the back of the SUV. With the 9am race start, we planned to leave home at 7 to get to the race site before 8 to register and run a warmup/shakeout run (Peoria is about 45 minutes from our home).  I decided that my plan was to run a mile as soon as we arrived and if that mile felt "ok," I would register for and run the race.

Our friend and neighbor Nick was planning to do the race as well and he and Clint had exchanged some text messages about carpooling. Clint offered for Nick to ride with us at 7am, but Nick opted to plan to drive himself since that was a little early in his opinion for a 9am start. Well, as tends to always be the case with the Wells Fam, we got a later-than-planned start so Clint texted Nick to say, "come on over if you haven't already left!" Nick did end up riding over to the race with us and, during the trip to the race, let us in on some of his new and exciting running-related news - it's been fun watching his training and racing the past few months. He has been showing some amazing improvements!

After we arrived, Clint and Nick grabbed their packets - Gabe and I waited in line with them and one of the guys registering runners asked if we wanted to register...I replied that I wasn't sure but might be back later. Ha! After we got their things, we headed off in search of a bathroom. While doing so, we found some other teammates and friends and chatted a bit before heading out for a warmup.

Clint joined me and Gabe for a mile warmup along the river. It was cold-ish, but the mild temps felt ahhhh-mazing for January. The sun was shining...the river looked beautiful...Gabe was content and enjoying time in the stroller...it really was a great day for a run. My achilles didn't hurt right away, but it did start in with the achy-ness about a quarter mile into the warmup. It didn't get "bad," though. Right, wrong, or otherwise I made the decision to register and run. It definitely wasn't a PR day or even a "great" 5k day, but it could be a good workout opportunity at the very least. I mean, let's be frank, for a LONG-time cardio-fiend like myself it's pretty difficult (mentally) to not be able to get in my running fix thanks to achilles tendinitis or whatever "ailment" may be plaguing me ;).



After we got back from our mile warmup, I headed over to the race registration area. I parked the stroller right outside the door (the registration was inside a building, past a narrow hallway) and headed inside with Gabe to register. As I started giving my information to the individual at the registration table I realized that the blank check I had put in my jacket pocket to use to register was gone. Crapola - I am assuming it blew away during our warmup. I crossed my fingers that it had blown INTO the river and was ruined and that someone wouldn't find it along the riverfront and try to fill it out and drain our (super gigantic - that's sarcasm in case you couldn't tell ;)) bank account.  I ran over to the car to grab my debit card and went back to register. Should I have instead taken this as a "sign" that I shouldn't register?! Perhaps. HA!  Gabe had the privilege of giving a high-five ("fuh-fii") to the guy dressed up as Frosty who hung out by the registration area a few times - he LOVES him some mascots!

After registering, I headed over to the starting line and took of my pants (shorts underneath!) and stowed them in the stroller (stroller racing perks - mobile storage options!!) and got ready to race. I didn't do any preparatory strides (right, wrong, or otherwise) but just stood in the starting area and stretched my limbs out a bit before getting ready to hit it. I decided my goal was to shoot for a 7 minute pace - sure, wild thoughts of getting closer to my PR went through my brain, but short of a miracle that wasn't going to happen. COME ON!! Can't have the results without the work (or without the healthy body).




Before long, the signal was given and we were off! As usual, I stayed too close to teammate and friend Gary for too long (guys, I can't hang with Gary...but for some reason at the start of races I always seem to think that I can by my actions that include busting out from the starting line ahead of him).  My first few strides were awkward at best - I definitely felt stiff and was feeling the lack of speed work in my body.  I saw BloNo area speedy runner Carianna Gibb had also made the trek up to Peoria for the race - she ran up next to me on my right side within the first quarter mile and we chatted for a minute before I cheered her on her way and let her know there would be no way I would be keeping up with her today! :) Other than Carianna, I knew there were just a few other females in front of me but I did my best to push the selfish thoughts of being one of the top female finishers out of my brain - not in the cards today!

Mile one dinged in 6:46 - sub 7, so that was honestly pretty darn great and encouraging. I was definitely "feeling it" in my achilles and legs. However other than that, it felt just plain GOOD to be MOVING...and to be moving a little FASTER than I had in a while!

Sometime around the first mile I saw Holly-Rae's husband Tim and their kiddos cheering! It's always a great pick-me-up to see them...and sometimes you even score some funny pics of yourself afterward, thanks to Tim!

Someone needs to work on her posture :)

I definitely felt my body sl-o-o-w down as we started the second mile. I tried not to care and just to keep powering through. I hoped and prayed that I hadn't made a mistake by running the race - clearly I don't want to jeopardize finishing Boston in a few months by harming my less-than-heathy body in a silly 5k! As I neared the turn-around on the out-and-back course, I saw the leaders start to come back and cheered as they passed us. I love out-and-back races for this reason - especially when Clint is running so I have the opportunity to see and cheer for him. I saw that he was in 3rd - awesome!! I cheered a few other guys as they passed and cheered for Carianna as she made the turn - at this point she was probably just under 100 years in front of me.  I rounded the turn and headed back toward the finish line.

Around 1.7, I saw friends and teammates Holly-Rae and Amber running together approaching the turnaround. I cheered for them and continued on my way, pushing the stroller up the only real "ascent" this pancake-flat race course offered - a tiny little molehill of a "hill" to the right.  Mile two dinged in 7:08 - yeah, yeah, slower than 1...but I knew my average pace was still sub-7 so I was more than content.

As I started in on the third mile, I glanced behind me and saw a familiar face - our friend Todd. I knew I didn't have the physical strength to hold him off so I prepared for the inevitability that he would be catching up to me. He caught up to me around 2.5 and we chatted for a bit...I almost told him, "come on Todd...don't be kind and stay with me, just GOOOO!" However, before I could, he did gradually start to work his way away from me. Way to go, Toddy! :)

Mile 3 was over (not soon enough!!) in 7:09.  I turned to the right toward the finish line and saw Clint's lovely face cheering.  I picked it up to the best of my ability and crossed the finish in 21:44.  According to my watch, I had a 6:56 pace for the final 0.11 - at least I had a teeny tiny bit more in the tank!

I congratulated a few of the females I saw in the finish area who had finished ahead of me and then turned around right in time to see Holly-Rae and Amber finish....and promptly took Gabe off to find "suh-snuh" again...he asked for the guy dressed up as a snowman REPEATEDLY as we neared the finish. Hilarious!!

The kiddos with Frosty...don't let his "look" deceive you...G was THRILLED!

I didn't join my friends on a cool-down, decided resting my rather sore achilles was more valuable to my body than a cool down was. After all, I had just run 4.1 miles after running 0 miles a day for the previous 6 days. Sigh.

A rare Dada+stroller sighting

After a while, we all headed up to the awards ceremony/post-race festivities that were held in the upper level of the Gateway Building on the riverfront. We were quite entertained by the "centerpieces" on the tables....HOLY CANDY!

Someone was reallllllly excited about all of the (king-sized!) Snickers bars!

Clint and Gabe receiving the 1st Place 26-35 Male award!

 Last year, I earned second place in my age group with a 20:45 - I was SUPER excited to start off 2017 with a new 5k PR.  Fast forward to this year - I was a little disheartened to finish an entire 59 seconds slower this year - but, I guess the "excuse" of pushing a stroller and having a body that isn't exactly healthy right now at least explains things. It was nice to still place in my age group this year - second in my age group (like last year, oddly! :)). The age groups were kind of weird this year ten year spans that started in the middle of each decade - 26-35F was my age group. It was fun to have a bunch of friends/teammates receive age-group awards...Often Running had a great showing. I am excited for another year on the team and thankful to Mitch and Saucony for the opportunity, for sure!

After the race, we met up with my sister and her family and ate lunch at CoreLife Eatery (a favorite!!) and then went to The Peoria PlayHouse Children's Museum for some FUN...it was great to be able to make our Peoria trip serve a few purposes!

When we got Gabe out of the car after lunch at the children's museum, he was covered in chocolate...mama made the mistake of giving him a chocolate Square Bar that ended up just melting all over the place! HA!

If you are in the Central IL area, I would HIGHLY recommend checking out the Peoria PlayHouse! Our kiddos had an absolute blast!!

Just like THAT, January 2018 is history.  I vividly remember the end of January LAST year and it doesn't feel like it was 12 whole months ago! I didn't run after the Frosty 5k again in January and ended the month with 87.4 miles - not nearly what I hoped to accomplish, but the month still did have some wins:  strong 16.5 mile run with Amber, a strong 10 mile run with the stroller, a decent 5k, and two strong weeks of training including some hill and speed-work the first two weeks of the month.  I still have a long way to go before being ready to run a marathon, BUT there are still a few months between now and Boston for me to get my act together. I seem to always do my best work "cramming for the test" in more than one area of my life, so we will see if I follow suit with this event.

Recently, I read the following quotation on a blog that I follow:  “If your life is a constant blur of activity, focus, and obligation, you are likely to miss critical breakthroughs because you won’t have the benefit of pacing and negative space. What’s not there will impact your life as much or more than what is.”–Todd Henry, The Accidental Creative {the blog post where I read this was: A Soul Minimalist's Guide to Time Management}.

Wow.

This really, really jumped into my soul today.  I, like SO many people, really battle with how I fill (or over fill!) my time. It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman, a working parent or a stay-at-home-work-from-the-home parent, a pro runner or a "hobby jogger" like me, someone who loathes exercise or someone who spends 8 hours a day at the gym - all we each get every day is 24 hours....and how we CHOOSE to fill (or NOT to fill) those hours is important.

As a pediatric speech-language pathologist, I KNOW the importance of what we call "pause time." Pause time (aka SILENCE!) gives students time to process, time to think, time to wonder, time to formulate, time to connect. The purposeful NOT-filling of that pause time with my voice, my requests, my instructions, etc. is so SO important because it gives my students the space, time and freedom to communicate.  This is, of course, crucial for students who present with any of a variety of communication disorders but it is also useful for EVERYONE to practice. This pausing...this NOT-filling is important in so many areas of life.

I've really spent a lot of time this month NOT running and NOT rushing around (because my achilles is forcing my "hand"...or feet...ha....ha....ha ;)). I actually spent more than a few evenings just sitting on the couch for a while {usually watching Koo Koo Kangaroo or Chuggington with the boys :)). It felt weird and I often felt guilty about it - you know the drill, because I have THINGS to do!  I have WORK! Therapy to plan, evaluation reports to write, IEPs to prepare for. The BOSTON MARATHON is now under 10 weeks away! There are miles to run, muscles to roll, achilles tendons to ice and stretch, weights to lift, clean foods to prepare and eat, yoga to engage in. I am working on my crazy DOCTORAL DEGREE! There are classes to prepare for, tests to grade, PowerPoints to write, articles to read, papers to write. Oh, and a house to clean, a baby toddler and husband to bond with, and laundry to fold...and...and...and..........

Sometimes we DO need to just STOP and be still. "What's NOT there will impact your life as much or more than what is." Yes. This.

Here's to February...and to the rest of 2018.  Here's hoping it's full of GOOD, good things including space and time for some purposeful pauses (and...here's to not having injuries force us into this gift of space and time!).

Frosty 5k {January 28, 2017}

1/28/17

Frosty 5k//Peoria, IL

20:46 (*8 second PR!*)

2nd female, 1st AG
1st race of 2017 season!

First of all, a big THANKS to "Papa" Mitch for allowing me to re-join the Often Running Racing Team! For those of you who don’t know, I was on the team {for one of our local run shops} for my first time during the 2015 season and then…well, Gabey-baby came along and ushered in 2016/my year of not being on the team. 

In spite of not being “officially” on the racing team, I was still pretty active in our BloNo running community last year. After we ran a really slow St. Pat’s 5k together in March, Gabe was born on 4/22/16. He and I went to cheer on Daddy-Clint and the rest of the racing team at the Lake Run when he was just a few weeks old (I was “that mom” with my infant in a carrier in the rain as we cheered Clint in on his final strides). In June I started helping out with Heat Wave {one of my favorite parts of summer!} for my second summer in a row, this time leading the awesome Group 3 Ladies with Gabe in our trusty BOB stroller.

My first race "back" post-baby was Park2Park where I managed to finish in 40 minutes and a few miserable seconds to make my per mile average just milliseconds over 8:00. After that, I managed my second-fastest-ever Bix in late July and then a somewhat-decent 5k at Evergreen in August. In late August I joined friends Carol and Amber for a team 5k where we took the fastest chick team honors in our sweet pink Often Running/Saucony getups. In September Gabe and I “fun-ran” the We Care Twin Cities Half Marathon as Barnabas runners with our very own Holly-Rae Van Hoof (I clocked my longest stroller run that day at just over 15 miles!). I call it a “fun run”…but I still clocked a sub 2-hour half marathon while pushing a stroller so I guess that’s cool! In October I managed to get top female at the ISU homecoming 5k (clearly all of the REALLY fast college girls were at home sleeping ;)). November brought Canal Connection (where I PRed my 10k!) and the Turkey Trot, both yearly staples. Finally, I worked up the “courage” to ask Mitch for a spot back on the team a few weeks ago (thanks, Clint, for dragging me to the store and for wrangling Gabe while we chatted!) and here we are! I’ll do my best to prove girls can still run fast (faster?!) after having a baby!

So….that brings us to this past weekend and my FIRST race of 2017 and my FIRST race as a newly-re-instated Often Running Racing Team Member!  A few weeks ago my coach (this guy named Clint, you may have heard of him) informed me that I would be running the Frosty 5k in Peoria as a fitness test as I prepare for my 2017 A-Race (the full at the U of I on April 22). When I received a registration confirmation in my e-mail despite not actually registering myself for the race, I figured I better take him seriously (thanks, love ;)). I did have PRing on my brain when I started thinking about the race, but I didn’t know if that was realistic or just a pipe dream. I started getting greedy, if I am being honest, and also had a few fleeting thoughts of, “what about a sub-20 5k?!” Yeah, you stop that Rachel - not yet.

Anyway, soon after finding the registration confirmation in my e-mail, I found out that Coach Clint was requiring fellow coached athletes Holly-Rae and Tanya to do the Frosty 5k as well. Additionally, some other ORRT teammates Amber and Gary planned to run it. On the drive over I asked Clint if anyone else from the team was running, to which he replied, “if there’s anyone who would randomly show up, it would be Carol!”

Backing up a bit here again, Thursday prior to the race Gabe came down with pinkeye (gross and seemingly painful for the poor little guy). We kept him home from daycare (doctor’s orders, of course) on Friday and I stayed home with him. I was hoping to get a little shake-out run in on the treadmill that morning while he napped - well, that never happened. He never really napped other than sleeping on me for little chunks of time (poor guy was, understandably, pretty grumpy and uncomfortable). I didn’t get a run in until the afternoon. I ran a simple/easy 3.25 miles while he played in his "baby cage" with toys next to the 'mill. I felt “fine” and was optimistic about the race the next day - and just hoped and prayed that G would be doing well enough for us to leave him with friends in town like we had planned.

Saturday morning we woke up and started our pre-race preparations. I cautiously woke up our baby around 6:15am. He was definitely less than impressed to be awake at such an hour (our boy loves his sleep, similar to his mama), but his eye looked much better and his general disposition was good. So, I got him ready to go and set out for our friend Kris’s house around 6:40. I dropped him off, filled up the SUV with gas, and headed back home where Tanya, Gary, Clint, Holly-Rae and Amber were waiting for me. We piled into our vehicles and the caravan was off…Peoria bound!

We got to the riverfront a few minutes before 8:00 am which was perfect - packet pickup was at Running Central at 8:00. We were some of the first people to get in line…after a few minutes of waiting, who did we see but Carol Pratt herself. Of course! After grabbing our packets, we went off in search of a bathroom. Frosty tried to help us out but everything seemed to be all locked up down on the riverfront. Thankfully, someone unlocked a door where there was a public restroom available so we got our first (or second or third, as the cases were) bathroom stops of the day out of the way.

Afterward, we headed out on our warmups.  Coach Clint had prescribed 2 warmup miles for me and, while I didn’t really WANT to run that long of a warmup, I knew that I should definitely heed his advice. I did my warmup with Carol, Amber, and Holly-Rae and lamented the fact that I wasn’t wearing gloves - my thumbs felt as if they may freaking freeze right off! I had also placed my iPhone and the two large key fobs for our vehicle in my right jacket pocket…the jacket is loose-fitting, so for every step of my 2-mile warmup those items crashed against my right hipbone. I actually now STILL have a bruise there, three days later - cool.

After our warmup, we started stripping off our clothes/changing shoes/finding gloves/stashing keys, etc. Also - I really, really had to pee. At this point we were like 10 minutes til race start and I knew I didn’t have enough time to go back to the public bathroom. It was either (a) be late for the race start (not a real option, in my opinion), (b) hold it for the moment knowing I WOULD pee my pants at some point during the race (amiright, postpartum ladies!?), (c) straight up pee like a boss in the parking lot, OR (d) pee into a {large, reusable} cup inside my vehicle. So, what do YOU think I chose?!

After that was all taken care of, I headed over to the start. Holly-Rae reminded me that Coach Clint had instructed us to do some strides, so we ran a few (ok, two) quick sprints in the parking lot. Then, I “casually” wove my way up to the second row of runners and prepared my brain for the pain that was to come. After some chatter, the director sent us on our way with a loud GO! I sprinted off the line a bit too enthusiastically. I was mere steps behind Clint for far longer than I should’ve been (probably like 50 yards). Irritatingly, I soon learned that the tights I had chosen to wear (thanks to the cold!) were a little too large around my waist. They kept creeping down my backside, necessitating being hiked up as I tried to simultaneously keep my pace up. I was hoping I wasn’t giving anyone a shot of my backside as I kept pulling the darn things up. By the time my watch said I was a half mile in, I realized I had definitely gone out too strong - my watch read like 3:02 at the half mile mark (HAHA!!!!)….and then Gary passed me. Whoops!! Thankfully, once I started sweating a bit more my pants started sticking to me more so I didn’t have to constantly pull up on them. Hot.

Also of note, at some point during the first mile I was passed by a speedy girl in a thick pink long-sleeved fleece shirt. I was kind of puzzled by her choice of attire and wondered if I would catch her again at some point. I can’t personally imagine that running a hard 5k in a heavy fleece that would soon certainly get wet and cold with sweat would be very comfortable. But what do I know!? Obviously, as evidenced by my too-big tights, I don’t really know how to dress myself for a cold 5k most effectively either.

Naturally, my pace backed off at that point to closer to where it should’ve been (out of necessity). I will say, thanks to adrenaline or whatever the heck it was, I did feel really great that first mile. I did feel like I was pushing somewhat - but I didn’t feel nearly as “bad” as I thought I should have at that pace. That was absolutely encouraging! I think my mile PR is something like 6:17. Mile 1 ticked off in 6:23…looks like I am going to need to do another mile time trial here at some point! Something tells me I could really kick 6:17’s butt.

As I neared the turnaround somewhere around mile 1.65 or so, I saw that Clint was in second - WOOOT! It was fun getting to give him a shout and a smile as he rounded the turnaround.  I made the turnaround myself and headed toward a slight uphill to the right…nothing “severe,” but enough to make my burning legs slow a bit. Mile 2 clicked off in 6:42, total running time of just over 13 minutes. At this point, if I were able to keep running at a similar pace, it could’ve been within reason to finish in under 20 minutes. The thought danced between my ears for a few seconds before I let that one fly out to oblivion, “maybe someday, but not today,” I told myself. This of course begs the question of IF my mental game were a bit stronger, could I have pulled off a sub 20-minute race on Saturday? Well, probably not. But who knows! This much is true - I do need to gain some more confidence and I could also stand to obviously gain more strength and fitness.

Well, mile three kinda sucked. We were running right into the wind along the river at this point. I tried to keep my pace somewhere decent, but I was definitely fighting. Mile 3 wrapped up in 6:56. Pink fleece girl was in sight but I knew I wouldn’t be catching her. You GO girl!

Thanks for the snap, Tim! This was around mile 2.5 or so. I was definitely feeling the pain;
the smile and fist-pump are definitely mind-over-matter!

As I rounded the corner to turn left toward the finish line, I saw Mr. Wells cheering me on in. That always gives me a nice mental boost and I was able to pick up the pace a bit. The final 0.11 by my watch was in 0:44 seconds/6:27 pace. I was definitely gassed but was elated to see the clock at 20:45 as I crossed the line.

Fun to see the "new record" notification pop up on my watch after this race!

Total per my watch - 20:45/total per race clock - 20:46/average pace per mile of 6:41. I ran some pretty mean positive splits…sorry, Coach Clint. HA!!

My previous 5k PR was set in April of 2015 at the Easterseals Run, Walk and Roll 5k in East Peoria (20:54). It was great to figuratively and literally crush that PR for a few reasons (some of you know that my 9 1/2 year employment relationship with Easterseals ended this past week - an entirely different story for another time, over many drinks). Most significantly,  it felt empowering to run this speed at 9 months postpartum. Having a baby and “getting old” doesn’t mean you have to get slower…I’m determined to keep improving until I no longer can!  Also - maybe I need to invest in a speed-inducing fleece. Pink fleece girl got a time of like 20:02 (just imagine what she could’ve done without that fleece weighing her down! For the record - I am kidding. I'm fully aware that people have plenty of reasons for their clothing choices :)...all I'm saying is that it is not typical that the fastest people are also wearing the most clothes! Ha!). 

After we cheered in all of "our people," we went out on a cool down. I did a mile and called it good before heading into the post-race shindig/awards ceremony. I enjoyed a banana and some water (somehow resisting the temptation of the expired packages of "protein balls" on the tables ;)). Among the door prizes that were given out was a pair of sweet Maui Jim sunglasses - our very own Amber won them! Lucky ducky!!

Fun - Clint and I both got second in our respective genders (well, he got second overall!) and first in our age groups. After the medals were handed out, we headed out to One World for some brunch - one of our fav Peoria places. After a yummy brunch (GF breakfast pizza for me and a scramble for C), we grabbed coffee (a special seasonal ginger molasses latte for me!) from 3030 and then headed to pick up our sweet favorite boy. 

Gabe had a great day as well with our friends Kris and Mike and their family back in BloNo. We are so grateful he was in awesome hands and were so excited to be able to share a date-morning together doing one of our favorite things. While we certainly love bringing G to races and sharing those moments with him, it was a nice "break" to be able to come and go all morning with all of the race prep and activities without worrying about him!

Loving the wood floors to scoot and slide on at Kris's house!

G + K

Next up - St. Pat’s 5k in March, as well as the Starved Rock Marathon Relay. And - I’m now at just under 12 weeks till my A-race, the full at Champaign! 

THANKS, Saucony for the amazing gear - comfy and good-looking! I LOVE my new racing flats and the jerseys look so great. THANKS, once again, Mitch for letting me be a part of this cool club again - I hope I can represent the team well! THANKS, teammies, for the camaraderie and support! And, of course, THANKS to Coach Clint for the guidance, tough love, patience and real love. And...congrats to all of the other finishers, in particular Holly-Rae and Tanya who also scored some sweet shiny-new PRs!

Happy Running and Happy 2017!

~Rachel

Some of our group post-race!

His and Hers!

Marathon #8 recap

Well...that's an underwhelming title for an overwhelming day. Everything else my tired brain came up with was either too cheesy or just plain stupid. So, I'll just call this post what it is:  simply a recap of my 8th marathon.

I've completed 8 marathons. I have to say...I like the sounds of that.  Eight marathons. First, Chicago in October of 2009.  Second, Minneapolis in June of 2010. Third, Quad Cities in September of 2010. Fourth, Quad Cities in September of 2011 (where I earned my PR of 3:49.46). Fifth, Virginia Beach in March of 2012 (my slowest...and most dramatic. I was incredibly sick and actually had passed out on the flight out to VA twice, resulting in an ER visit. I still managed to finish:  in 4:52.01). Sixth, Marine Corps in DC on my 30th birthday in October of 2012.  Seventh, Los Angeles in December of 2012 (on the day after Christmas!). 

And....eighth....today. 

Here I am at the finish...rather proud, I must say. 

....let's back up a bit, though. It was a long road to the finish this morning, both physically and mentally. 

I toyed with the idea of running one of the events in the inaugural Run River City event in Peoria since last fall when I heard it was scheduled. I was quite excited about a local marathon and was thrilled that Running Central, my favorite fabulous central IL running store, was sponsoring a team for the event to run to raise money and awareness for Easter Seals.  I felt strongly about supporting an exciting new event in my area...supporting Running Central...and of course, about supporting Easter Seals. Those who know me know that Easter Seals, an organization that provides pediatric outpatient rehabilitation services for children with disabilities, has been near and dear to my heart since 2007 when I moved to this area. So, for me, participation in the Run River City event would be a win-win-win. 

There were 5k, 25k, marathon and marathon relay options. I actually planned a number of weeks ago to run the relay. Long story short, my team fell apart. Next, I considered the idea of running the 25k (15.5 miles). I had never run a 25k race before...could be cool to add another race distance to my list. This week, however, I started thinking about just going for the full. Really...what's ~11 more miles?! ;-)

My coach, Laura, caught wind of my tentative plans and strongly encouraged me to NOT do the full. In fact, in my Training Peaks schedule she specifically wrote in a long run...of NO MORE THAN 13-16 miles for today. My left foot has given me some grief the past few months. Additionally, I hadn't run further than 13.1 miles since my marathon in December.  I really, really should listen to her.  Sometimes...I just get...stubborn.

Yesterday afternoon, I drove over to the Caterpillar welcome center in downtown Peoria. I walked up to the registration table and told the young man at the computer that I would like to register for the event. He asked me what distance...and I hesitated before responding "well I don't know. The full I guess."  He looked at me as if I was kinda crazy and said, "uh, it's YOUR decision!"  I'm sure he was thinking something along the lines of, "what kind of nut job walks up to a race registration not knowing what distance to register for?  Don't they consider training?!"  I repeated myself, more confidently this time, "yes. I know. I want to sign up for the full please!"

I secured my number and shirt, then checked out the Running Central tent where I scored a new pair of my favorite New Balance shoes (that I've used for about a year) for about half price on sale! Sa-weeet!!

After a dinner of GF pasta and lots of water, I hit the sack.  This morning, I climbed out of bed at the last possible minute (as is my typical style) and got ready for the race. I got to the race site around 6:40 for the 7am start (cutting it a bit close!!), scored a stellar parking spot along the road, visited a porta potty and made it to the start with time to spare. 

Number 70...ready to rock this thing!!

Wheelchair athletes lining up...many were wearing red "Team Believe" shirts for Easter Seals...pretty great. 

The following two photos I found on the Peoria Journal Star website:

(I'm in the left part of the pic above, with my head turned and a white visor on. In other news...I'm totally jealous of the abs on the chick in front of me!!)

AND THEY'RE OFF!!!

(I'm in the right side of the pic...white visor.  I love this picture!)

Things felt great...mile 1 was done and over before I even felt warmed up.  I completed mile 1 in 7:47.  Adrenaline ALLLLLWAYS gets me and I start off more quickly than I should.  Miles 2 and 3 were at a much more manageable (for me) pace of 8:15 and 8:16, respectively.  After that...I just wasn't feeling it.  I started to slow down.  It didn't take me long at all today to see that a 3:35 finish (my age group's Boston Qualifying (or BQ) time) just isn't in my capabilities...yet.  Miles 4 and 5 were slower yet...8:35 and 8:45.  I picked it up a bit for Mile 6...8:37...and Mile 7...8:26.  Mile 8 ventured into the 9-minute-mile territory with a 9:01 mile.  Miles 9-13 were all right around the 9 minute-mile pace.  Mile 14 slowed a bit to 9:15.  Miles 15-20 were all between 9-9:25. 

At mile 19 I started doubting myself and started wondering if maybe I was a complete idiot for running today...when I was explicitly advised not to.  Plus it was hot...and I was getting tired.  At each and every water stop (there were around 20, which was fabulous!!) I took two cups...one to dump over my head and one to drink.  Additionally, a few kind people were handing out cups of ice cubes in their yards!  These ice cubes felt like small pieces of heaven today.  Some went in my mouth...others went on my head...some were rubbed on my cheeks...and two went down the back of my shirt.  Ahhhhh!!!!

As I fought through mile 19-20, I told myself that when I got to mile 20 I would allow myself a short walking break.  I hadn't walked at all at that point and rationalized that a 20 mile non-stop running workout was, if nothing else, a great workout.  As soon as my watch beeped on that 20th mile, I stopped running and began to walk.  As anyone who has made it through elementary science knows...an object in motion tends to stay in motion and an object at rest tends to stay at rest unless it is acted upon by an outside force.  Likewise, an object walking or running at a slow pace sometimes requires an outside force to act upon it to get it moving again.

Around mile 21, my outside force came in the shape of a sweet "random stranger" (as we later called one another).  She ran up beside my right side and said something to me.  I had to take out my ear buds to hear her; she was offering up kind words of encouragement to spur me onward in my race.  I smiled at her and we started running together.

We exchanged some pleasantries, talked about the course...the heat...our aching bodies...and then she began to open up to me.  Turned out, she had just run in the Boston Marathon one month ago.  She shared that she was running today as a way to emotionally heal from that day.  I won't write about all the details of what she shared with me, because I don't feel it is my story to share.  One thing she did say to me that especially resonated within me, though, was "I have been dealing with survivors' guilt."  She went on to say that she didn't understand why it was that she was able to escape that day, bearing nothing more than the emotional scars, while others fared much worse.  As we fought through those final miles together, there were times she became caught up in her emotions and I had to wipe a few involuntary tears from my own cheeks. 

As we neared mile 23, we saw a fellow runner begin to stumble.  A few of us started shouting for help and two strong men ran up to the struggling runner and caught him before he could fall.  I will never forget looking in his eyes in that moment...they were rolling around in their sockets and his body seemed to be flailing uncontrollably.  What happened to me next is somewhat embarrassing to admit.  I started panicking...or hyperventilating...or something.  Honestly, I'm not really sure what was going on with my body.  A combination of the physical stress of the race and the heat and the emotional conversation I had been having with my new friend, on top of seeing the pain and struggle of a fellow runner...it all got to me.  I started breathing crazily and was horrified by the gasping sound coming out of my body.  I couldn't take deep breaths, which made me panic more, and I continued to gasp.  I felt my lungs inside my chest expanding as if they were going to push out of my ribs.  I couldn't stop tears from coming out of my eyes.  After what felt like an eternity...but was likely only a minute or two...I was able to talk myself down and get myself under control.

After being assured by others that the struggling runner would be taken care of, we continued on our way...together we pushed onward.  Our final miles were a run-walk combination.  A few times, my new friend needed to stop to throw up (by this point, the throwing up was dry heaves, as her poor stomach and body were completely empty).  Each time she urged me to leave her and go on...but I couldn't do it.  A few times, a selfish part of me was a bit tempted (just offering up complete honesty!) to continue on and just wait for her at the finish...but there was just NO way I could rationalize leaving her.  She had picked me up when I was about ready to give in between miles 20-21, the least I could do was to finish up the race with her.

As we neared the finish line, the reality of crossing a marathon finish line began setting in for her.  We talked about how today was completely different than April 15 and that what had happened there in Boston on that terrible day was not going to be happening today.  With about three tenths of a mile to go, I glanced down at my watch.  "4:07" shown back at me.  In a split second I realized that we would likely be crossing the finish line at 4:09.  4:09...when the explosion occurred at the finish line in Boston. 

We picked up our pace and ran toward the finish line stronger than we had run in the past 6 miles.  When the finish line came into view, it became clear that we would indeed be running under it within the 4:09 mark.  I didn't say anything to her as we finished, nor did I say anything after we finished.  However, I am sure she realized what was happening.

We crossed the finish line together at 04:09:30.  Two were absolutely stronger than one.

We exchanged some sweaty hugs after being presented with our medals.  We then parted ways.  I have a feeling, though, that our race together today won't be the last we see of each other.

Today was a day I will truly never forget.  It wasn't my fastest marathon...and it wasn't my slowest.  It was hard-fought, though, and a great day of training.  Most importantly, though, it taught me that there are things far more important than PRs and BQ times.  Kindness, compassion and companionship...to name a few.

Wrapping up with a few final tidbits from the day....

This vehicle cracked me up..."nuisance abatement vehicle"?!  It was parked on part of the course (I took the photo after I was done).

Here's a breakdown of my splits!  As you can see, I did the exact OPPOSITE of what one SHOULD do in a race...run "negative splits" (getting gradually faster). Instead...my pace dropped significantly throughout the race. But....I'm ok with that. And I truly mean it. Like I said, today's race showed me that there are things far more important than PRs and even BQ times...not that I'm giving up on my quest for those things!  That will just be for another day :-).

Each of my marathons is memorable, for one or more reasons. Chicago...my first. Quad Cities...my PR. Marine Corps...my 30th birthday (and hurricane Sandy!). Peoria...because it was a tangible lesson for me in what's really important in life. 

I'm truly grateful that I had the experiences that I did today. The soreness in my joints and muscles will (hopefully!) fade this week. My sun-burnt shoulders and arms will sting less. But, I really hope that I never forget the way crossing that finish line side by side with my new friend felt. The kindness of a stranger taught me about strength today in a way nothing has before.  To whom much is given, much will be required. I have this life, these legs that carry me (regardless of if they are as thin as I may like or as fast as I would desire!), and the heart that beats strongly within my chest. I know today more than ever that I have the responsibility to share my gifts and kindness with those I come into contact with.  Thank you to sweet J for an unforgettable run!

Looking forward to many more adventures,

Rachel Lynn

The Steamboat Classic

So yesterday I ran in the Steamboat Classic in Peoria. There are 2 races: the 4 mile and the 15k. I chose to run in the 15k. The night before I got pretty nervous....I even had trouble sleeping! I was driving to Peoria by myself in the morning; my attempts to get a few friends to come with to run in the 4 mile event (since I knew none of them would want to run in the 15k!) was fruitless, unfortunately. And, Jeremy was scheduled to work so he was unable to go along. So, I was worried that I would wake up late, would be late to the race, would have a hard time finding where to go, have difficulty finding a parking place, etc., etc. Well, I successfully woke up at 5am, was in my car by 5:20am, stopped in Morton at a gas station for a potty break ( ;) ), and arrived at a parking garage off of Hamilton Avenue in Peoria around 6:20 am. The race started at 7am, so I was golden!

The next dillemna I faced was deciding whether or not to use Jeremy's iPod that I had borrowed for the day (I don't have my own iPod...I know, get with the times, right?! Even my father owns an iPod! ;)). The information I had gotten the day before when I piked up my race packet clearly stated that no portable music devices with headphones were allowed. Well, the thought of running 9.3 miles without the distraction that music could bring me just wasn't very appealing. Call me a wimp....whatever ;). I don't do my long training runs with an iPod, I only use the iPod during races. However, I reallyreally like doing so (I ran the half marathon with Jeremy's iPod in April, and also the Lake Run..a 12k at Lake Bloomington)...so I sat in my car for a while and scoped people out to see if people were wearing iPods and the like. Since I only saw ONE woman wearing one, I decided to leave Jeremy's in my trunk :(. I then ventured out to find the starting line. As I was walking, though, I noticed that there were indeed many people wearing iPods! So, I decided to go back to my car and get Jeremy's....rules or no rules, I decided that my comfort was more important ;). I will say, though, I listened at a low volume and often ran with only one ear bud in an ear so that I was still aware of what was going on around me and all that jazz.

The race was a lot of fun, really! The route was great and I will definitely try to do it again next year. It was HARD, though, too! There were some crazy hills...both up and down...that were strenuous (I saw a lot of people walking at these points!). I am so glad I did it, though!

I got 443 out of 726 overall, 19th out of 39 in my division (Female 25-29) and a time of 1:23:57. My 10 k time was 58:23 and my last 5k was run in 26:40. This all breaks down to an average pace of 9:08/mile....not too wonderful...but also not terrible! I was below the average time of 1:21:25. All in all, though, I am satisfied with my performace. Next year will be even better! :) And, I can't honestly imagine having done much better; I think I did the best I can do. I was unbelievably dead last night and am SO sore today! Honestly, I feel even worse than I did after the half marathon I ran in April! I am sure that it has to do with the fact that it was COLD in April and pretty hot yesterday. I am definitely not so used to running outside in the heat. I need to get better at that!

I will take this time to re-iterate my ongoing BEEF with post-race "parties". It totally stinks to NOT be able to eat anything (or much, anyway!) that is available due to my silly gluten intolerance. Seriously, there are bagels and cookies, etc. GALORE (and beer of course ;)) after races....sometimes even PIZZA (like at the half marathon in Champaign last April)....talk about tempting! I made due with a bottle of water and an apple yesterday. It stinks, though. Maybe someday huge GF muffins or something will be available after road races! That would be INCREDIBLE!

Off to have a productive Sunday. I think I'll let myself take the day off of training ;). My body probably needs some rest! :)

112 days and counting...Chicago, here I come!!!