Arbuckles to Ardmore Marathon Race Report

Flashback:
Last year I ran the half marathon. I was under-trained, but I was aided by some nice downhills at the front-end of the race and a hefty tailwind. I was telling people on the bus about the tailwind when I was promptly informed that the winds were head out of the South this year, and since the point-to-point race was on I-77, we were in for a CHALLENGING run. My goal was to even or negative split and finish in a comfortable 4:15. Mother Nature (she was a lil' grumpy) had other plans for me though.

Race Morning:
I woke up at 4:00 am (my husband was in Ardmore all weekend, but I stayed in Fort Worth on Saturday night so I could feed the dogs on Sunday morning) and scarfed down a bagel with peanut butter and a banana. I hit the road at 4:30 with a large coffee, and I made it to Ardmore High School at about 6:15 am. Everything worked out great logistically, just like last year. I picked up my race packet, made a "pit stop," and boarded the bus. I sat next to a few of the Marathon Maniacs (including #12, #40-something, and #94(?) - he had run the Antarctica Marathon) and I was pretty humbled. It's funny how so many accomplished runners found a marathon in small-town Oklahoma.

The Start:
This was the first time I had seen pink and blue port-a-potties. Some boys were breaking the rules, but it was nice to have our own set of port-a-potties that weren't as defiled! I took two potty breaks before the start since I had plenty of liquids the past 24 hours. They had a timing mat at the start this year (getting all technological!), but fortunately the starter still used a great big ol' shotgun/rifle thing (promptly at 8 am... I swear, these people are soooo organized). I tried to keep things nice, easy, and controlled. I kept checking my Garmin to try to stay sub-10 (but close to 10).

The Course:
The run began at the Turner Falls Overlook in the Arbuckle Mountains... definitely a beautiful nature moment! We ran down some rolling hills and met up with the half marathon course at around 3.5 miles. That's when we hit a mile or two of some good downhills.


Mile 1 - 9:41
Mile 2 - 9:54
Mile 3 - 9:36
Mile 4 - 9:56
Mile 5 - 8:44(!)
Mile 6 - 9:20
Mile 7 - 9:49

At around mile 7 we turned east for an out-and-back leg through the Bar Nothin' Horse Ranch. This was a nice break, both physically and mentally, since we didn't have to run straight into the headwind. Also, everyone was in pretty good spirits at this point, and I chatted it up with a few people. This made the miles fly by. I looked down at my Garmin and saw a sub-9:40 average.


Mile 8 - 9:47
Mile 9 - 9:54
Mile 10 - 9:44
Mile 11 - 9:55

After that detour, we rejoined the half marathoners on Hwy 77. We had some rollers from around miles 11-15, and then we began a shallow climb before turning west at mile 20. I hit the wall mentally at around 17.3 miles. That's when I began walking. It was just so depressing to get excited for a downhill only to be smacked with a headwind. I'm sure the previous 17 miles caught up with me a bit too, especially as I picked up the pace in the middle of the race.

Mile 12 - 10:26
Mile 13 - 10:28
Mile 14 - 10:29
Mile 15 - 10:15
Mile 16 - 10:32
Mile 17 - 11:15
Mile 18 - 12:50
Mile 19 - 12:38
Mile 20 - 13:32

The right turn towards the park at mile 20 (instead of turning left towards the finish line at the stadium) reminded me of the Fort Worth Marathon when the marathoners turned at mile 25 and us ultra runners had to tackle an additional 5 miles on the Trinity Trail. I had run at Regional Park before, but I had always done the small loops around the park. I didn't realize there was a longer road that takes you out quite a ways. There were a lot of small rollers at the park as well, but at least there were a few breaks from running into the south winds! The first 2.5 or 3 miles was really tough mentally since it was an out-and-back. Once I hit the turn-around, it perked me up a bit. Although I think I still battled some very negative internal dialogue during the last few miles! After the detour at the park, we finished at Noble Stadium with a lap around the track. I was so happy to see the finish line that I had no trouble running the last half mile or so. Also, it was a nice surprise to see Cliff, my mother-in-law, and my sisters-in-law cheering me on at the finish! They took a few photos of me, so I tried to hide my suffering!

Mile 21 - 11:47
Mile 22 - 12:22
Mile 23 - 11:38
Mile 24 - 15:10
Mile 25 - 12:56
Mile 26 - 12:19
Last 0.4 on the Garmin - 3:56 (9:42 pace)

Total Time: 4:49:09 (11:02/mile)
4th out of 5 (Womens 25-29)
24th out of 44 (All Women)

Thursday Thirteen: I need a few more hours in the day

1. I started the new job last week, and I've been a busy lil' bee. The flip side is that I don't have nearly enough time to workout.

2. I've been messing with my schedule a bit and I think I finally have it figured out. I'm going to drive separately (and not carpool with Cliff), get to work early so I can park for free near the Firestone Apartments, workout (either run outside on the Trinity or workout at the gym), and then get ready for work. I'll work from 8-4:30.

3. This is a total 180 from my previous schedule, which was 6:30-3:00 on office days (Mondays and Thursdays) and 6:00-2:30 on telework days (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays). Now I feel like a real adult (and I'm not sure if I like it).

4. I was only able to squeeze in two 5K runs around my neighborhood last week, but that was probably a good recovery after the 50K.

5. I'm back on track with the runs - 4.2 miles on Monday, 7 miles on Tuesday, 2.14 miles on Wednesday, and 3.1 miles today. Hopefully I can hit 30 miles this week.

6. Next Sunday I'm running the Ardmore Marathon. I would like to break 4 hours, but I think that might be a stretch right now. So a more reasonable goal would be sub-4:15 with an even or negative split.

7. I'm still about 10 pounds heavier than I was before the Vegas marathon. That is pretty easy to figure out though - more food and drink and less miles.

8. I made my killer salmon (with veggies and potatoes) tonight for family dinner. Nom nom nom.

9. Last night we went to the Reata roof top for some drinks and then to Cantina Laredo for dinner. It was a nice mid-week treat!

10. I've been in training all week (for work) and my brain is a little sore.

11. I'm looking forward to a nice weekend with Cliff and a "triple date" with some friends on Saturday night.

12. Last weekend I was in Tulsa for a friend's birthday. Andrea, Melissa (Birthday Girl), and Me:


13. And I might have fallen asleep at the Sugarland concert.

Cowtown 50K Race Report

Wow, what a day... my longest run ever!

Pre-race thoughts: I had bailed on the Rocky Raccoon 50-miler due to weather and sickness. I felt like I had trained enough prior to Rocky to get me through the 50K. However, I realize that I had a few really low mileage weeks right before and after the planned Rocky event, and I think that might have affected my endurance and/or confidence a bit. My goal for this run was to jog the whole thing in about 10-minute mile pace and try not to walk (except through the water stops). I threw that goal out the window around mile 22 though, as you can tell from my splits!

Race morning: I set my alarm for 4:45, ate a blueberry bagel with fat-free strawberry cream cheese and a banana for breakfast, and met my friends at 5:45. I followed them to the race site, and we parked on a residential street off Montgomery (easy, breezy!). We had about an hour to kill before the race started, and we sat down for awhile to keep our legs rested. I liked being in denial about running the ultra distance, because I just wanted to have fun and not stress myself out. It started to become real on race morning though, especially since there were SOOOO many people running the half, not nearly as many people running the full, and only a small percentage of participants running the ultra. It was kind of fun to get the extra “go ultra runner” cheers and support though!

The start: My friends and I made our way into the second coral and Shawna tried to keep me in check for the first mile. She did a great job with that (I usually get really excited at the start and bust out some ridiculously fast first mile). Shawna and Stacy ran ahead of me after that since they were doing the half. I tried to keep my pace under control and stay as close to 10-minute miles as possible. I felt really great and easy, like I was doing a shuffle run. I could feel the sweat all over my body REALLY early on though… like mile 1 or 2. The humidity was a BEAST! The ground was even wet on race morning, and it was 66 degrees when I woke up. YIKES! There were some pretty big hills around mile 5 (the hill on University/Northside) and mile 10 (going up Main from the Stockyards into Downtown). In fact, the whole course consisted of a lot of rollers! I purposely didn’t review the course map, because I thought that being surprised would make the course go by faster (and I think it did). I had run the first half of the marathon during a group run a few months ago though, and it was helpful to know about those two bigger hills. The half marathoners split off at around mile 10. Stacy and Shawna stayed at the split to cheer me on, and that was a nice surprise and morale booster. The next few miles were pretty ugly in terms of scenery (I’m horrible with directions, but we were running in the seedy part of the hospital district). I really had to pee, which was a good sign for my hydration. Fortunately I made it to mile 12 though (after the half marathoners split off), so I didn’t even have to wait for a Port-a-Potty. I felt like Tom Hanks in “A League of their Own” though. I popped a squat, and my quads were shaking, and I was wondering when I would finish up! I felt so much better after that though, and I split a 9:48 and a 9:50 on the next two miles. Looking back on my splits, I probably should have tried to ease up a bit.

Official 10K split: 1:02:11
Official Half Mary split: 2:12:41

The food situation: I managed to eat my Gu at miles 5, 10, and 15. The Gu at mile 15 was a bit of a struggle though, and I realized that I would have a hard time choking down my planned Gu at miles 20 and 25. I was also affected by my inability to “go” to the bathroom (*ah hem*) that morning, and my tummy started rebelling. After my Gu at mile 15, I ate a few banana halves, a few tootsie rolls, and a fun-sized Krackel (which tasted amazingly good). I think my nutrition definitely affected my last 10 miles, and I need to find something to replenish my calories (besides Gu). I also need to invest in some salt tablets. I didn’t take any salt supplements during the race, and I couldn’t eat enough salt after the race (pizza, cup of soup, Baked Cheetos, etc.). Those were good lessons learned (although I seem to keep learning them and then I don’t take any sort of corrective action).

The last 10 miles or so: If I was doing the marathon, I think I could have kept jogging/running, but I knew with about 10 miles to go, I should start walking a bit so I didn’t completely die. So I started to walk using a bit of strategy, and eventually the walking became much more prevalent. We split off from the marathon at around mile 25 and did 5 miles on the Trinity (out-and-back) before rejoining the marathon route for the last mile. The Trinity portion was mentally tough, especially the way out. I did quite a bit of walking, but I stayed pretty positive about it and I told myself that 5 miles was no big deal.

Official Mary split: 4:36:23

Hey there, finish line! You sure do look purrrrdy.


The finish: I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to see University Drive! I ran the last quarter of a mile or so into the finish and immediately saw Stacy and Shawna waiting for me and cheering me on. I was soooo happy to be done! I wasn’t as sore as I thought I would be, but I started getting pretty hungry. We made our way over to the DetermiNation tent, and I inhaled five (yes, FIVE) slices of Papa John’s pizza. Scrumptious. We hungout for about an hour or so, and it was fun to see everyone and bask in my post-ultra glow (even though I was quite stinky).

Token bloated hunchback photo:


Post race: I drove home and got in the ice cold swimming pool, which I really think helped speed up my recovery. GusGus kept jumping in onto the first step and whining because he wanted to swim (but it was cold and he didn’t have his life jacket on). I showered and then enjoyed some red beers before heading to dinner at the Italian restaurant up the street with Cliff and Leslie. I slept like a baby that night, although I could have used about four more hours of sleep!

Celebration station (I couldn’t stomach beer yet, but thank goodness for some pizza!)


Splits:
Mile 1 – 9:44
Mile 2 – 10:03
Mile 3 – 9:47
Mile 4 – 9:58
Mile 5 – 10:13
Mile 6 – 9:47
Mile 7 – 9:55
Mile 8 – 10:00
Mile 9 – 10:00Mile 10 – 10:05
Mile 11 – 10:15
Mile 12 – 10:58 (bathroom stop)
Mile 13 – 9:48
Mile 14 – 9:50
Mile 15 – 10:17
Mile 16 – 10:15
Mile 17 – 10:25
Mile 18 – 10:21
Mile 19 – 10:32
Mile 20 – 10:23
Mile 21 – 10:41
Mile 22 – 11:12
Mile 23 – 11:38
Mile 24 – 11:21
Mile 25 – 11:16
Mile 26 – 12:24
Mile 27 – 12:10
Mile 28 – 12:27
Mile 29 – 12:52
Mile 30 – 13:17
Mile 31 – 12:02
Remaining 0.33 – 5:37

Official Time: 5:37:44 (10:53 pace)
Age Group Results: 5th out of 9
Gender Results: 23rd out of 65