Category: Races

#1441

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As much as I love Cleveland, I love traveling down 71 to see old friends. Friday night was spent in Wooster, partly to make sure I wouldn’t be borrowing a friend’s couch to sleep, but also to help break down the drive. I woke up Saturday and did a short run to shake out my legs, trying not to blow away I headed around Route 83, dodging cars, and quickly found a housing development. I heard my knee pop just as I turned onto the sidewalk. Immediately I thought, this couldn’t happen, after taking two weeks off and being careful, I couldn’t bare starting the pain all over the day before the race. I slowed down and turned back. Luckily it was just a pop and some small pain. By the time I got back, it felt like nothing happened. Hopefully this was just my body’s way of telling me to be careful this weekend.

The drive from Wooster to Columbus felt like forever, probably because I was so excited to get to the expo! I was even more excited that Darren would get to experience it, and maybe it would make him want to be a runner….(wishful thinking). I got my number, pretty cool shirt and race bag, then I was off to see what I could find that “I had to add to my running closet” After spending more than I should have, and spending more than enough time, we were off to watch the Buckeyes at Eddie George’s.

We met up with one of my best and oldest friends Elayna

She stayed for the first half, and then left me in charge of Darren’s friends. Let’s just say that being the only sober person in a bar during a Buckeye game, isn’t always fun. But OSU won, so it was a great start to the weekend!

After spending about 6 hours at the bar, we met up for dinner with my old high school running buddy at this cute little pizza shop. Luckily the pizza was good, because we found out they took pasta off they’re menu. I was not a happy camper 😦

Laying in bed, my mind was all over the place. I don’t know Columbus that well, I wasn’t even sure how to get to the start of the race, or even where good parking garages would be. I wasn’t familiar with any of the race course, so I had no idea what to expect for the course. I had trouble sleeping because I was so worried about getting lost, but I could have easily overslept had I really wanted to. I was still really unsure as I was getting ready in the morning. I was so excited that a number of friends would be running their first half/full marathon. But my excitement quickly diminished for my own race. My stomach was a mess and I was undecided on long sleeve or short sleeve all morning. Stresses I didn’t need.

On my way to drop off my bag, I found Sarah, a friend from high school who was running her first. She was so excited and nervous, everything I had felt 5 months before, getting ready for Cleveland. I wished her good luck and was about ready to start. I barely fit on the street, but started to get excited as the fireworks went off and the race began.

Within the first half mile, I was already regretting running. I was thinking of ways I could get out of the race, trying to convince myself it wouldn’t be my day. Right as I wanted to turn off I felt an arm around me. Who is hugging me in the middle of the race? It was my aunt! We ran together for a few minutes, got my mind off everything and she sped up to do her own race.

The miles went on and soon I decided I needed to take a bathroom break. Waited in line for 2-3 minutes, then I was back on the road. My stomach was in bad shape and I could feel my legs slowly deteriating. The only thing getting me through was knowing I’d be a fanatic at the end. I was still keeping my normal 10:00 minute pace, but there was no way I’d be able to negative split on any miles. By mile 7 I was growing thin, my stomach was growling, cramping and on the verge of losing the Cliff bar I had in my stomach. This was about the time that the volunteers were handing out some sort of energy gel. I grabbed one. I figured nothing else could go wrong, so I might as well try one. Thinking in the bad of my mind, never try something new on race day, I figured it was worth a short, anything to help me through the race.

Slowly but surely, I started feeling better and had some energy. My legs were still sore, but I was feeling better. Thinking back, I should have put more IcyHot on to block out all pain. Around German Village I remember Elayna said she would be there to support me, I tried to find her, but unfortunately couldn’t spot her. She later told me she found me and that I looked great.

Two miles left and I hit my usual wall, not as hard, but my time was definitely slowing down. From then on it was just a solid line of fans on both sides cheering and pushing everyone to get to the finish. I don’t remember much of this part, but for the first time I knew I was going to make it. When I saw the sign that told the half marathoners to split off, I started to speed up, increasing my stride and opening up my legs, I was just seconds of finishing. And that moment never felt so good. With everything against me I made it at 2:17:38, just 2 minutes off my PR (Shouldn’t have taken that bathroom break) My greatest feeling was that I was finally a fanatic. I had worked hard to get to this point, and I could smile through the pain.

So here I am, Half Fanatic #1441. My toughest race to get to this accomplishment. And even though it was a horrible race, it made me stronger. I was 90% mentally not in the race, but somehow I made it through, had some firsts, and wasn’t far off my regular pace. Even bad races can be good.

Columbus swag

After I got myself steady I got a much needed massage, watched the finish and waited to see a fellow Muskie come across the finish line. I was already on the verge of tears after watching little kids squeeze through the fence to finish with their parents and saw a man being helped to the finish after his legs gave out 500 feet from the line. So watching Kimi finish her first marathon, I was completely overwhelmed. Even the guy next to me was excited for her. So proud she had an amazing race!

She’s my inspiration

Oh and hey back 13.1……I’ll see you next year!

One Hill of a Time

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Better late than never, but here’s my recap of Akron. This past weekend I spent time with some amazing Muskie ladies. Friday after work I headed down to Akron to meet up with Team Muskies, Party of 5. We explored the expo, I even made it through without opening my wallet. Score! We even got a picture with our “M” flag.

After the expo, we headed up to Bravo! for some pre race pasta binge. I’ve never been to Bravo, but it has been added to my list of top restaurants. The next thing on our to do list was our team meeting, our captain Kimi did a wonderful job getting things ready and organizing everything! We set our alarms for 4:30 am, which came quick and we were out the door by 5:00 am ready to go.

Our goal was to finish by 11:00, giving ourselves 4 hours to do the full marathon. Kimi had the first leg, and she did great. I almost missed her because she was ahead of her projected time, way to go! I had the second leg, 5.7 miles. It was such an odd feeling jumping in after t he race started. Some runners already looked beat, so I was a little nervous for what I had ahead of me. I also found it hard to figure out my pace, just not knowing where I was or the pace of the fellow runners around me through me off.

I felt good, and my knee wasn’t too sore, but my legs were a little tired from racing for the past two weekends. I also noticed that there were many hills. Hills that I don’t train on. My guess, 90% uphill. But it was good to train on, and I finished in under my projected time! I passed my wrist ban off to Jessica, and met up with Kimi to race to the finish line.

While we were stationed at the 26 mile flag, Jessica, Jen and Molly were running their legs, bringing us to a solid victory. Our team did great, we all ran under our projected time, and finished at 3:54. A whole six minutes under our projected time! Go Muskies! We even had some pretty awesome race gear to make us run super fast!

Black and Magenta

Akron was a great experience, I met some amazing ladies who share the Muskie bond, and now share the Akron Relay experience. They also persuaded me into wanting to run……a marathon. Yes, its official, but not this year. That’s a story for another day.

A Day of Celebrations

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I woke up Sunday for the Sandy Ridge Half Marathon with only a few hours of sleep and a stomach ache. I was not feeling the race at all. I even had bad dreams about it, so I was really wishing I could have stayed in bed all day. But I got to the race, and that’s the toughest part. I didn’t have a certain time I wanted to get, at this point, I was just hoping I would make it to the finish line. I was really surprised with how small the turnout was and a little nervous this would make me slow down later on when everyone was spread out.

Surprising when I started out I felt pretty good, my first mile was 9:40, my fastest mile in a half marathon yet! I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep this up the whole time, so I kept it at a steady 10 minute mile. Yes, it’s slow, but I’m not a pro at this. Around mile four it started getting real warm and I started getting the itch of wanting the race to be over soon. But I’m not a quitter, so I kept going. Somehow mile 8 came up real quick, almost to my old street! I had a great feeling, and even though my legs were getting sore, I was so excited to head down Long, experience it as a race and not just a regular run. Hoping that my parents would make it outside in time to see me, I came up to signs on both sides, writing on the street, and my family sitting in the driveway. I’ll admit, I did tear up, and I got the encouragement that I needed.

Making my way on to Detroit, I really felt the lag of last weeks race. My legs were getting tired and I was drained. I started thinking how crazy I was for running a second half just a week after the last one and I was 6 days away from another race. But my thoughts were quickly distracted when all of a sudden a small dog was running next to me. I was more worried he was going to get hit by traffic or end up too far from home and eventually just let him run next to me. This lasted for about two minutes, and for my first encounter with a dog, I’m glad it wasn’t a bad one.

Mile 11 came and I spent a lot of time thinking. Here I was this far in the race and I still hadn’t walked, my pace was ok, and my legs were falling apart. I really wanted to walk, but I had come this far, and I knew if I walked, I would be so disappointed. My pace dropped and I made it to mile 12, a water stop, and it was just what I needed. This was it, I was almost done and my time was still pretty good, I suddenly had some energy (not much) and I pushed through the pain to get to that finish.

Two hours, fifteen minutes and 54 seconds after I started, I finished. I ran my third half marathon, and my first without walking. I was also just a few seconds off from my PR, which to me, was a PR in its self. I received my finishers medal and I got a second medal for getting 1st in my age group, woohoo! A day that started off in all the wrong ways ended up pretty good. Not only did I end up doing pretty good in the race, it was my dad’s birthday, and the Packers won! A day of celebrations indeed.

Perfecting imperfections

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This past Sunday was the 12th annual River Run Half Marathon through the Cleveland Metro Parks. I picked this race months ago because of my love of running through the parks. Of course my version of the parks were the trails and smaller distances. The whole experience was a good one, I had small difficulties to overcome, but in the end, it was a great way to honor those who were lost on 9/11 ten years ago.

Packet pick up was my first small panic of the race. I was confused about my “bus ticket” and realized it was only a smiley face on my race bib, thanks to those on Twitter. I also noticed that my shirt I received was a few sizes too big. Not too worried, since this happens most of the time, but once in a while I hope that a shirt will actually fit. I also picked up my inserts for my arches from my parent’s house so I’d have some support. The same inserts I haven’t worn in over a year and was going to try out during the race.

He knows the drill

For the first time that I can remember, I wasn’t nervous about the race. I was more nervous the night before, when I started thinking about the distance and the much shorter distances I had been training. Confession, the farthest I’ve run since the Cleveland half was 4 miles…once in July, and once in August. My plan was to get to 10 miles  by August but then my knee gave out. So I was pretty much going in blind, telling myself I was going to run 13.1 after doing horrible training.

I started out with a good pace. First mile was 9:57. Honestly I wasn’t asking for a PR in this race. I missed the second mile marker, but read that there was a water stop at mile two. When I looked down at the first water stop and saw that it had already been 25 minutes, I was completely confused on how I added an extra 5 minutes that early in the race. Luckily I was wrong, and I was at 29 minutes by the third mile. This was also about the same time that my one working headphone blew out so I could barely hear my music.

I took this as an opportunity to really focus on my running. I was expecting to get several cramps within the next few miles so I took the advice everyone as given me and focused on my breathing. My legs were feeling good (no knee issues yet!) and I wanted to see how far I could get without hitting the wall. Around mile seven I was definitely in need of some sports drink. The running gods were looking out for me and I was happily chugging down water and Gatorade at mile eight. I was feeling great until about 100 feet from mile 9. Goodbye anything in my stomach. This added a minute to my time, but I was determined to keep going. I did 9 miles in just under an hour and a half. Right on time for a 2:10 finish (5 minutes faster than Cleveland) This got me thinking of somehow getting a PR, so I decided I’d try to quicken my pace. Again, this wasn’t a good idea, and I was off to the side, added more wasted minutes to my time.

Mile 11 I officially gave up getting a PR, my legs hit the wall and I was ready to finish. Those next two miles were rough, and it was the first time I walked all race. I walked during water breaks because I can’t run and drink at the same time, but to me those didn’t count as actually “walking” during the race. The highlight of the race was the finish. I was about 25 feet from the finish and of course, got sick again. The biggest puker award goes to me! This isn’t the first time I’ve lost it at the end of the race, but definitely the first time I did it during a race. I finished with a time of 2:21:32.

I was a bit emotional when I crossed the line, but I held it in. I was a little upset with how I did, but for lacking on training, I’m still pretty proud of myself. I was also really excited to get to the finish line because Darren was finally going to see me run. Yes, it was long over due, but apparently running isn’t as fun to watch as football, I beg to differ.

My support system

Overall it was a great race. I was able to really focus on my running because I wasn’t nervous or trying to get a PR, at least most of the time. My legs and knee held up most of the race, but without training, I was expecting my body to give in a lot sooner. Each race  I know I’ll learn something new to help me compete the best to my ability. But for now, I guess I’m addicted since I came back for more.

Half number two, in the books

Classic at Mastick Recap

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Yes, I’m finally getting to this a week late, but I had so many other posts that I just couldn’t fit it in. Exactly one week ago, I ran the 19th Annual Classic at Mastick. Last Tuesday I picked up my race packet from Second Sole. The bags are great, big and have many pockets. I’m also pretty sure I have two water bottles already, but they’re a good size and you can never have enough. No more shirts though 😦

Ralphie believes he’s a runner

Mastick is a great race for the local schools to get their cross teams ready for the season. And the teams keep growing. I had a completely different mind set going in to this race. It was the first time I wasn’t nervous and didn’t have a set time I wanted to meet. The weather was also the best it’s been in a long time, and much better than it usually is for this race. As soon as the gun went off, I let the high school runners get ahead of me, there was no way I was going to finish the same time they did. The first 800 meters is around the park, so there was a ton of uneven grass. Once I got onto the dirt path, I noticed my knee was a little sore but ignored it. My first mile was at a good pace, so I tried to keep the second mile about the same pace. Unfortunately the second mile, like always was a lot slower than expected. If anyone has any tips on how to make this not happen, please let me know.

The last mile I tried to kick it in. I think it was my fastest mile, but it didn’t help much. I ended up with the time of 30:12. It seems like the more races I run, the slower I get. But I have accepted that my times will not be just like they used to be in college. I haven’t been training for 5k’s and doing no sprint workouts. But that is still no excuse, I should have better times.

I took a few too many days off this weekend, so my first run back was on Monday. I was hoping to get a few easy miles in and really focus on training for my half. But I took about 20 steps and my knee started to ache. It got worse as the run went on, and I couldn’t even go a mile. I wanted to fight through it, but I haven’t felt this bad of pain in a long time.

I’ve decided to take a few days off to hopefully let my knee recover, and get rid of some allergies. But I think I’ve run my final Mastick. The cross courses just can’t work for my knees anymore. I’m starting to rethink the Alumni race too. If 800 meters of uneven ground can keep me out a week after a race, I’m a little concerned with a mile and a half of massive hills will do. I really want to wear the buns though….

These next couple of week are crucial. I have two half marathons, the alumi race, and a marathon relay. I’m bound and determined to get my knee in better shape. But my days of running cross country courses are over. There’s nothing better than the smell of cross season, I could smell it at Mastick. Lots of memories, but plenty to look forward to.

Weekend Update

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After work Friday I headed to Second Sole to pick up my race packet for the Girls with Sole 5k. I wasn’t expecting anything big, just a shirt and probably some info about the race. I was impressed with all that was included. We got a huge recyclable bag, candy, massage oil, coupons to some great restaurants around the area, and the shirt, which was a light cotton and true to its size. Other small things were included, but they weren’t as fun. I also may or may not have picked up a few small things for myself and future races.

Ralphie not included

D and I also decided on more states for my 25 Challenge, mostly places that we know someone so we’d have a free place to stay. I’m looking forward to starting it next year. This year is all about Ohio and the beautiful state I call home 🙂  Saturday was the usual four hour morning class, followed by the new tradition of going to Fat Heads Brewery in North Olmsted. I’m obsessed with their Blueberry Ale, seriously so good. While we were there I kept seeing runners come in, drenched with sweat. Not so appetizing. The bartender told us that they do this each Saturday during the summer. A group of runners start downtown or near Cleveland and run from bar to bar, eating and drinking during their workout. How fun, right? Made me feel guilty that I hadn’t run yet, and was already planning on a nap once I got home.

Saturday night we headed to the Jake to hopefully see the Indians win. Unfortunately they didn’t, but we saw some of D’s friends and as well as made an enemy. You can’t go to an Indians game, claim them as your team, and then bash them the whole night. Needless to say, it was one against many in our section. But it was a good time besides for the heat, and seats right behind Grady are totally worth it.


Sunday was the big day. My first 5k in a year and a half. Woke up tired, and strangely nervous. Headed to Rocky River and was pleased with the current weather, about 65 and sunny. The set up was great. There were probably 10 vendors, real bathrooms, and a DJ. About 5 minutes to race time we listened to the goal behind the organization, followed by a song and national anthem. That’s when the heat came and after 10 minutes, I was already feeling exhausted. The race started and I planned to go out slow, I didn’t have a pace or even knew what time I wanted, I just wanted to do it. First mile 8:35. Not bad. Second mile I slowed so I could try to keep on pace the whole time….that didn’t go as planned. Second mile 18:40. What! I made a habit of not looking at my watch until mile markers so I had no idea I had slowed that much. There were some small inclines and a water stop in mile 2, but I had no idea how bad it was. I tried to be a little quicker for the last mile, but by this time, the humidity wasn’t helping. Finish 29:01. My slowest 5k ever. Ever. All I could think of was how disappointed I was in myself. This is not what I had wanted, I was thinking 27 minutes at the worst. I’ve never felt this let down before, and I knew the hot topic of friends would be “How’d you do?”

I spent the next couple hours laying on the couch, not feeling like I had even ran earlier. I was still upset and knew I should have ran faster. I’ve been running and putting in the mileage. Looking back now, I knew part of it was the humidity. And after finding the results online, I feel a little better. I was 6th out of 25 in my age group, and times overall for everyone seemed to be much slower than most 5ks. I refused to let this race get the best of me, so I ended up doing extra miles on the treadmill that night. Looking into the future, I need to do more speed work, I need to get my times down or else I’m going to feel defeated. A year and a half later I’m still struggling with the mind game college times versus post college times. I’ve accepted the fact that I will never get down to my PR, but I have to keep going. I’m putting it in the past and focusing on my next two races. Winking Lizard and Huntington Duathlon. From here out, I’m getting much more serious.

>13.1 Miles

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>13.1 Miles. Months of training and nerves at their highest, I can’t believe that in a matter of hours, everything I had worked for came together and is now over. This is the experience of my first half marathon.

Sunday started for me at 3:15am. I was so excited/nervous that I couldn’t sleep any longer. Got up to take a shower and there was no hot water in my building. Looking back, I think it was a way to prepare me for the cold I would endure later on that day. The weather was a perfect, for me at least, this was going to be a good day. Melissa and I arrived downtown around 5:30 and met with my Aunt Lori who would be running with me. Just walking from the car to the stadium was unreal. I couldn’t believe that the day had finally come. It was great to see runners in every direction, hoping it wasn’t too obvious that I was doing my first half.

Between figuring out where I needed to be in the starting line, and visiting the restroom half a dozen times, the hour to wait until the official start time seemed like forever. We were all packed like sardines, waiting to get this thing started. It took about 10 minutes to cross the starting line, and I could begin my journey. The first mile or so was crowded and to me didn’t really count. There was no way you could get to your pace, and most of the time was spent dodging people trying to get into some open road.

Around mile two I was finally in my pace, sub 10:00. I didn’t have a goal time, but I was hoping to do a 10 minute pace and just finish. I think for the first time in my life I was ok with going that slow. It would be a long hard run, and after mile 10 I didn’t know what to expect, I’d never run that far. The next couple miles seemed to be going all well. I had a good pace and didn’t need to stop at the first drink station. However, I was trying not to let the amount of miles left get stuck in my head or else I knew it’d be downhill from there.

Between mile 4 and mile 8, I think I had the most activity/changes/whatever you want to call them. We got off of the main roads and started in on some side streets, the change of scenery was good, especially when I looked up right before the 4 mile clock and saw one of my best friends cheering for me. Such a great surprise, considering how early it was, and how iffy the weather had been all morning. I noticed the streets where beginning to show true Cleveland spirit with potholes at almost every step. In the game of trying to avoid other runners and the potholes that were like a hidden mine search on the ground, I noticed that my arch in my left foot wasn’t too happy about what I was doing. I just decided to ignore it and continue on.

Mile 5 drink station was well needed and somehow I lost my aunt. I knew the pace I needed to continue on so I kept going, thinking she was ahead of me. About a mile later she came up from behind and we were able to keep our pace and make it through the halfway point of the half. Quarter of full marathon down, but still had to spend another hour out on the roads.

Closing in on mile 8, my body was slowly starting to resist wheat I was doing. The pain in my arch was getting worse, my knees were starting to question if I could make it the whole way and my sides were taking turns cramping up. I did what I knew I was allowed to do, but wasn’t too proud of, I walked. Luckily a drink station was right around the corner and I was able to full up and get another mile in the books.

Looking back now, I don’t remember much of mile 8-11. I know that I slowed down, I was cramping and I had doubt that I would be able to make it. But I kept telling myself, Pain is temporary, pride lasts forever. I had come this far, I had to make it the whole way. The crowds were amazing, just when you mentally start to break down, they’d be cheering you on. One woman in particular would ride her bike to different spots throughout the race, holding up signs to cheer us one. The one sign that kept me going was along the lines of “millions of people didn’t wake up early when you were on the starting line today” Very true, this is what I love, this is who I am. I run, and I was determined to cross that finish line. Coming back into downtown, my aunt and I separated, but I started to think that after two miles, I would be a half marathoner. Not sure if it was the rain, wind or cold, but I started tearing up just thinking about all I had done to get ready. I was putting my all into this race, I wasn’t going to stop. The last two miles, I’m sure I had a steady 12 minute pace, at least it felt like it. I couldn’t open my stride, and there was no way I was going to have a sprint finish like I was able to do in college. Seeing the blue tower at that last turn was incredible. I don’t remember getting there but I crossed the finished line. 2 hours 15 minutes and 46 seconds later I had become a half marathoner. I was exhausted, sore and freezing. My aunt gave me a huge hug and I told her I wanted to do another one.

The feeling afterward was beyond what I had expected. I knew I’d be sore, I knew I’d be tired, but I don’t think I’ve ever worked that hard for anything in my life. My arch and right knee are shot, along with many muscles in my legs being stretched and sore. But it’s a good pain, an “I gave everything I had and then some to make sure I crossed that finish line” sore. And knowing that I wasn’t in the shape I used to be in two years ago (Goodbye 7min. mile repeats) I think I did great.

So what’s next? I plan on taking this week off completely. As much as I’d love to hit the treadmill, yes, I’ve started to have a change of heart. I need time off to let my body heal. I’m looking forward to getting my road bike out and doing some cycling through the metro parks. I also plan on running another half in the fall, and of course I already have one picked out. After going online, I’m really interested in doing the River Run Half Marathon. It starts in Berea and goes through the metro parks and an almost continual down slope for the 13.1 miles. Sounds like a perfect run to do in the fall. I’m looking forward to doing some 5k’s and some possible 10k’s this summer. But one thing is for sure, I have no desire to run a full marathon….at least not this year.

My first race, at the Cleveland Marathon when I was 4 years old

My first half marathon, also at the Cleveland Marathon