Peroneal Tendonitis.

Peroneal tendonitis...this is the diagnosis I got when I further freaked out about the pain in my foot and saw a podiatrist this past Tuesday.  Basically the tendon that goes behind the ankle bone and then along the outside edge of my foot is inflamed.  What is it with my tendons???  It seems they are very easily irritated these days and it's really beginning to irritate me!

The good news is that the podiatrist thought with resting it I should be able to run the marathon on Sunday.  He took some precautionary x-rays and all 3 films came back normal..Yay!  The area is not painful to the touch so I think it's a lot less severe than the patellar tendon injury I had.  I'm on a prescription NSAID, icing it, supporting it with KT tape, and most importantly not running at all.  It's hard not to test it out, but I want that area as healed as it can possibly be at the starting line so I'm trusting the regimen.

In other pre-race news it's going to be a chilly one this year!  Here's the forecasted conditions for the marathon as of today...

    
I haven't ever ran in temps this chilly for an endurance or long distance race before.  I've experienced this weather for a 5K, but I imagine dealing with these elements for 5 hours will bring a whole new aspect of running.  It should be interesting.  But it's the Chicago Marathon, and it can't help but be epic, and awesome, and super cool regardless of what mother nature throws at us.  Also, tons of runners posting to the marathon facebook page are very excited for these temperatures, especially since the last few years have been so hot in Chicago on race day.  I'm sure they know what they are talking about...after all this is only my 2nd marathon.  I'm hoping to embrace the cold and have a fabulous run!

Freaking out.

I haven't run since last Thursday when my 'new shoes' left my foot feeling very stressed.  It was even aching when walking so I wanted to give it sufficient time to calm down.  Today it felt pretty good even after walking the loop on my lunch break, so tonight I planned to go for an easy 2 mile run.  I laced up the new-new shoes that were the same everything as my old ones except for the color.  It did not go well and I'm freaking out!

Seriously 4 strides of running form into my workout and my foot cramped and had shooting pains underneath, on top, and along that outer edge of my left foot.  I stopped immediately and walked back home.  Now I have pain upon just walking again.  I could just scream, or cry, or both right now!  I'm sort of hoping it was more due to a charlie horse cramp since it felt a lot like that, but I'm skeptical.  I am so frustrated that I worked and worked to straighten out my knee issue with the ultimate goal to be able to run Chicago.  Now less than a week before the race I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to run, and not because of my knee (which is feeling great) but because some idiot at the running store put me in the wrong shoes.  My plan is to rest it and stretch it until it feels good again... which will hopefully be prior to Sunday.  I will be wearing my old shoes from now on until all fall races are complete!  I plan to pre-medicate with Ibuprofen on Sunday if it still feels sore since it definitely feels like a soft tissue injury.  My goal of getting in under 5 hours isn't looking as promising as it did a week ago when I crossed the half-marathon finish in under 2:10 :(  Please left foot heal quickly, and I promise never to make you wear those mean pink shoes again!!  

It's always something.

My current shoes, the ones I bought and posted about in March (here), have served their purpose but have become extremely worn out.  They have over 400 miles on them now and when I turn them over and look at the bottoms the tread is completely worn off of the heel on the outside edge on the left shoe, and close to being gone on the right.  Coincidentally the more worn side is the same side that I developed the patellar tendinitis on.  I loved these shoes, and the 3 or so pairs before them of the same model that I've run in, but I thought that maybe my shoe choice might have something to do with my injury.  Since I was going to Columbia to pick up my race packet before the Roots N Blues run anyway I decided to visit a running store there that does shoe fittings.  I brought my current shoes with me and explained to them about my injury and wondering if a new style of shoe would be appropriate.  They thought yes, and that I should go with a shoe without such an elevated heel height.  I tried on all different brands of shoes but Mizunos just conform to my foot so well that nothing else felt quite right.  The end result was the Mizuno Wave Precision 13...in bright pink and lime green!

I was in love with these shoes!  Super cool color scheme, felt great on my feet, and they did well on the trial run on the pavement out in their parking lot.  Plus they were somewhat cheaper than the Wave Creations I was used to buying so that was an extra bonus.  I knew I wouldn't wear them to the Roots N Blues half, but I was anxious to break them in so they would be road-ready for Chicago.

I ran in them for a 4 mile run this past Tuesday.  Everything started out great, but about half way through I started feeling some pain in my outside foot on the left.  I finished my run and chalked it up to the fact that I started out with too many miles in the new kicks.  Yesterday I decided to just go for 3 miles and to do the run/walk ratio instead.  Not good.  Even before I had the first mile down that same outside area was hurting again and feeling lots of stress.  I finished the 3 miler, but knew that these shoes would never work for Chicago...or any runs from now on for that matter.  I was very bummed.

So my first course of action after my run was to get online and order another pair of the trusty Wave Creations.  I placed my Amazon order last night around 7pm and selected next day shipping with my prime membership for $3.99.  Today I got an alert text on my phone at about 1pm that they had been delivered! That is crazy...shoes delivered to your doorstep in 18 hours...and tax-free too!  They aren't as cool in color scheme as the Precisions were, but I did get a bolder color this time around in the Creation model.

I am really hoping to be able to break these babies in during the next week so I can wear them to Chicago...my other Creations are really too worn down to make it another 26.2 miles, continuously at that.

So, you know me.  It's always something!  I'm going to keep the Precisions and wear them for non-running.  They feel fine to walk in, just not enough support for my heel-striking running gait.  I wouldn't normally spend that kind of money for some everyday tennis shoes, but since it happened this way I might as well keep them : )

Roots N Blues Half-Marathon 2012.

This past Saturday was the Roots N Blues N BBQ Half-Marathon in Columbia, MO.  It was also Steve's birthday, which makes him a totally awesome husband for agreeing to spend his special day taking me to my race and then spending the remainder of the afternoon at our daughter's softball tournament.  We did let him choose where he wanted to eat the night before to celebrate though...he picked a local hot wings place that we used to frequent when we lived in COMO.  Not the ideal 'pre-race meal', but I went with it and hoped for the best.  Luckily I didn't have any stomach issues before or during the race due to his spicy dinner choice.  

The half marathon was set to begin at 7am.  I had my alarm set for 5:00 am, but as usual on race day I woke up earlier than necessary on my own.  That worked out fine this time because it takes me longer to get race-ready these days.  I had to tape up both knees with KT tape which requires 3 strips per joint to be anchored, stretched appropriately, and secured with rubbing to heat up the adhesive.  I properly fueled and hydrated with a banana, breakfast cookie, and 2 bottles of water.  I did my dynamic stretching routine that I learned at PT.  All that combined with the multiple bathroom stops and I was pushing it to be done by 6:20 am to leave for the starting line.  Steve dropped me off a block from the start 30 minutes before scheduled start.  It was still dark  out and pretty chilly.  I used the porta-potty twice more before getting in the starting corral crowd.

The starting corral was set up very condensed with the 6 min/mile area through the Walkers section only spanning about 15 yards total.

We all just kinda smooshed into a big sea of runners that overlapped into Flat Branch Park.  There was no National Anthem and the race started about 4 minutes late without any kind of verbal warning.

This caught me off guard and my Garmin had gone into sleep mode so I spent the first minute or two after the gun trying to re-connect with the satellites and getting my interval program loaded.  My plan was to run the race with a 3:1 run/walk combo and I had created a program on my Garmin to alert me with vibration when to change these intervals.  It worked out great.

The first part of the race was through downtown Columbia and out near the Hospital where I once worked.  I couldn't help notice how much everything had changed since I worked there 7 years ago.  There were some hills in this part of the course but I really didn't notice them much since I had fresh legs and a lot of excitement from just getting the race underway.

We continued out towards the edge of town on Stadium Blvd, just as the sun was coming up.  The view of the crowd of runners ahead and the sun peeking out was very empowering.

At mile 3 we entered my favorite part of the race...the nature trail portion.  This section continued for 8 miles and was flat and shaded by trees.  The weather was perfect for running, by the way.  It was sunny with temperatures in the 50s to 60s throughout the race.  The nature trail terrain was also mostly crushed limestone which was a little better impact-wise than running on pavement.  I didn't have any issues with the trail being too narrow or crowded, and just really enjoyed the atmosphere of all the nature around me.

One of the unique things about doing the run/walk technique is that I yo-yo'd with a lot of the same runners throughout the race.  I would pass them when I was doing my run interval, and then they would pass me back when I took my walk break.  I'm sure a lot of them were wondering what in the heck I was doing stopping to walk all the time only to pass them up again a few minutes later.  I did meet one guy on the trail that asked me what interval I was doing...ahhh, someone who knew the strategy I was using.  He was doing a 3 min/30 sec ratio himself, and it made me feel better that I wasn't the only one using walk breaks to my advantage. 

Another 'first' that I did this race was that I fueled mid-run.  I have taken gatorade at the fluid stations before that have had it, but I have never taken GU or any of the other gels, chews, or carbohydrate substances.  This time I brought a sleeve of Clif Shot Bloks (citrus flavor) with me and took 3 bloks at mile 5 and the remaining 3 at mile 8.  They went down fairly easy and I could tell that they helped give me some more energy.  I will definitely be using these from now on in my longer distance races.  

At mile 11 came my least favorite part of the course.  We left the trail and got back onto the streets in a residential area.  It was hilly!!  I adjusted my intervals often during miles 11 and 12 to  be able to walk on the uphill climbs since there were several that were pretty steep.  I kept plugging along and once I saw the 12 mile marker I took out my walk intervals and ran in the last 1.1 miles.  

  

I was feeling pretty good...a whole lot better than I felt at the same point during the Nashville half that's for sure...and before I knew it I was at mile 13 with only 0.1 to go.

I finished strong and took a picture as I cleared the finish line.

My official chip time was 2:09:32.  I was very proud to come in under 2:10 using the run/walk method.  It definitely gave me some confidence and experience for my upcoming Chicago Marathon.  My knee felt great during and afterwards, and I really attribute this to the walk break strategy too.

My thoughts on this race are that I would definitely run it again.  I loved the trail portion of the race and the bands they had on the course and at the end in Flat Branch Park were very cool.  Another very cool thing about this race was the medal...I loved the bling!

Here's a look at the course the map and elevation from my Nike+ app.  Not joking that the last 3 miles were crapola hill-wise!  

All in all two thumbs up for the Roots N Blues Half!!  I hope to run it again next year, and maybe even get to enjoy the festival and BarBQ afterwards next time.  

Ready or Not...

It's been over a month since I last posted here...again...but that doesn't mean that I haven't been running.  Actually, my return from the patellar tendonitis/tendonosis injury that I suffered back in late June has been going very well recently.  I was pretty skeptical that I would be able to run the fall races that I had signed up and paid for prior to getting hurt.  Having to take a total of 7 weeks off of running completely, then the super slow re-introduction of jogging had me convinced I would no way be ready to run any kind of road race by this fall.  But things have been going very well with the knee, and not only am I still going to run all of those pre-planned races, I have also added another half-marathon to the schedule!  Just call me crazy!

First off, the low down on how my training has been building up over the past 2 months.  Like I said it was EXTREMELY slow at first.  But as my tendon grew stronger and I kept the inflammation and irritation at bay I have been making some pretty impressive progress.  Here are my recent mileage stats in graph form:

This graph is broken down by weeks.  Week 25 is when I did the 4 mile run that jacked up my knee so badly in June.  Then a tortuous 7 weeks off, with one stupid attempt at running a mile before my knee was ready.  I only made it 0.8 miles that day and it caused quite a set back in healing...lesson learned!!  Week 32 I started on the treadmill at PT.  I cautiously added time in 5-10 minute increments during week 33.  Week 34 brought my first outside running since the incident, and since then I have been riding the fine line between advancing my mileage and fitness while respecting the threshold level my knee will allow.  I've stuck to my plan of mainly extending the long runs on the weekends, resting well before and after those runs, and running short easy runs in between if my knee is feeling ok.  Yesterday (week 39) I ran 16 miles for my long run.  This distance seemed so unattainable a month ago!  I am convinced this progression is only possible because of the Run/Walk style I have been doing.  I'm so glad I stumbled upon the Galloway method!  Taping with KT tape for support and icing after each and every run has surely helped with the healing and progression as well, but giving my knee a rest with walk breaks mixed in has been the most beneficial for continuing training without re-injury.  Unfortunately I have run out of training time.  The Chicago Marathon is 2 1/2 weeks out and I am now entering taper mode to get my legs, and patellar tendon, rested and ready for the big day.  Sixteen miles will have to do for my longest distance prior to the race this time, ready or not.

Debonaire Dash 5K 2012:

This past Saturday I kicked off my fall race schedule with the Debonaire Dash 5K that is part of the fall festival in my hometown.  I have run this race the past 2 years, and it was actually the first road race I ever ran (read here).  This year the event had a change in date and a change in it's course route.  The change in date put it up against another 5K event in a bordering town and therefore only about 30 runners/walkers registered to participate.  My goals going in were to run the entire time (if my knee would allow it) and to maintain a 9.5 min/mile pace...this of course was contingent on my knee feeling good as I wasn't going to sacrifice a healthy knee for this or any 5K.  I'm happy to report that my knee felt fabulous throughout the race and I was able to run the entire 3.1 miles uninterrupted.  Surprisingly I ended up with a time of 26:18 and a 8:20 min/mile pace.  This was 2 minutes slower than last year's time, but 2 minutes faster than the first time I ran it (see sidebar).  Overall I was happy with my time and how my knee handled the pace and miles.  I got a medal for 1st place in my age group...sure I was the only one in my age group (LOL), but the hardware was still nice.  It was the perfect event to kick off my fall schedule of races.      

Next on the agenda is the half-marathon that I added a few weeks ago.  I am registered to run the Roots N Blues Half Marathon in Columbia, MO this coming Saturday.  I wanted to try out my run/walk/run method in a race format before going in green with it in Chicago.  The Roots N Blues race worked out perfectly since my daughter is playing in a softball tournament near COMO that same Saturday, so we will be in that area, and two of my friends that I ran the Nashville half with in April are running in this one also so I'll get to see them there.  Being that Chicago is only 2 weeks after this half I have no goals going in other than to complete it healthy.  Time is of no concern to me, I merely want to test the Galloway method and keep myself injury-free.  I am a sucker for race medals though so getting the hardware at the end will be a super cool bonus!  Race recap on how the Roots N Blues went for me to follow next week : )

Restart.

It's been one month since I last posted here, and 2 months now since 'the knee injury'.  What a roller-coaster this past 2 months have been!  I've been through pain, worry, frustration, depression, set backs, small advances, a defeated attitude, and now most recently encouraged that I'm finally near the end of this ordeal.  I have been going to PT for 5 weeks...first at 3 times a week, then 2 times weekly, and now I'm down to once a week sessions.  I've been doing all of my prescribed exercises and stretching religiously along the way in order to get this knee fixed.  On July 23rd I was finally allowed to jog and did a whopping 5 minutes on the treadmill at my PT session.  I was so happy because I didn't have any pain while running and thought it was the start to my comeback.  This was the Facebook status I posted that morning...

Unfortunately I had a return of symptoms later that evening and the next day with pain on stairs...it was emotionally very hard.  Another whole week of rest and ice before I could try running again, and it was devastating to me.  But, I was allowed to try the 5 minute jogging trial again the next week and this time I didn't relapse into pain.  Slowly I have been adding time to my jog-time and trying to find the threshold my knee will allow.  This past Thursday I ran 25 minutes on the treadmill without any rebound symptoms.  I have been asking for a week now if I could try and run outside, but my therapist wanted me to continue with the treadmill since it has more give and recoil.  I mentioned in passing that the Chicago Marathon is less than 2 months out now ; )  Friday I was given the green light to try an outside run over this weekend.  Yesterday I headed out on a gorgeous sunny and 74 degree morning for my first outside run in quite sometime.        

I of course did my dynamic stretching routine first, taped up with KT tape (the most wonderful stuff ever!), and walked a 5 minute warm-up before I cautiously began my run.  My plan was to do the Galloway run/walk/run method at a 3:1 ratio (which is what I plan to do on marathon day) and either stop if I felt any discomfort in my knee AT ALL or if I reached 5 miles.  I'm happy to report I made it the whole 5 miles without any pain.  And the 5 miles was relatively easy for me with the walk breaks intermixed in.  I've lost quite a bit of fitness and endurance in the 2 months I've been sidelined so that aspect also gave me new hope for fall races.  Looks like I will be a Galloway-girl for any runs over a 5K for awhile, but that is great by me.  I'm happy to be out on the road again and pain-free!!

So now I'm in restart mode.  I am going to take it slow during the week with low miles/time and then try and extend my long run on the weekend by a few miles each week.  I'm going to listen to my body in order not to derail my progress with doing too much too soon...which is probably what got me in this predicament in the first place.  If nothing else this injury has made me a smarter runner, and I'll probably be better off in the long run because of it.

Sad.

What I want to do most right now is to lace up my shoes, strap on my iPhone and Garmin, and go for a run!  But I can't...and it makes me sad.  This whole injury thing is starting to really wear on me.  I seriously teared up after physical therapy today, and not because I was sore or my knee hurt more, but because this slow-paced healing crap sucks!  It's been a full month now that I've been sitting out without running.  I hurt my knee on June 11th, and here it is July 12th and I'm still resting, icing, massaging, blah blah blah.  All the while I'm watching all that endurance that I had built up slowly slip away.  I was 2 stinking miles away from logging 400 miles for this calendar year and now...nothing.

I started PT last week and I am seeing benefit from the cross friction massage and the Dexamethasone iontophoresis treatments, but the waiting for the go ahead to even try to jog is killing me.  And it seems as though it will be awhile longer before that's even a consideration.   And a pretty slow process once I get there.  I'm inpatient and sad.

I realize this is a pretty petty and insignificant problem in the scope of all the things that one could have to deal with, but it has me very down at the moment none the less.  I'm very much hating to admit that Chicago Marathon 2012 is going to be a lot different than last year's experience, and I will likely be walking quite a bit.  Sad.

On a lighter note, I did walk in the Cannibal (time was 43:24 on my Nike+ app), and more importantly and exciting is that my 3 girls did the Fun Run which was their first race ever.  They all did great and were happy to get a bottled water and medal at the end.  It was crazy hot, even early in the morning.  I was a proud Mama : )

Injury Update.

It's been 3 full weeks since my knee injury and I'm still unable to run.  I'm trying really hard not to get discouraged, but it's been hard.  I've accepted that I will be walking in the Hannibal Cannibal next Saturday instead of running the 5K, but I'm nervous what this setback means for my marathon training and even my fall race schedule that includes a 5K, 10K, marathon, and half-marathon.  I'm so hoping I'm recovered by then and will be able to run those road races.

When I first hurt my left knee on the run it was very sore for the first few days and walking and especially stairs were painful.  I went to see my physician 4 days after the injury and he diagnosed me with knee bursitis.  He could feel that there was fluid in that knee and prescribed a Medrol dose pack for the inflammation.  The steroid helped and I was able to walk normally and take stairs without railing support or pain.  I was ecstatic, however anytime I would try even a few steps of a jogging type motion I would have a lot of pain and buckling of my knee.  After nearly 2 weeks of resting and icing and still not being able to jog without weakness I called my doctor back and he ordered an MRI.  The scan report confirmed edema, but also revealed patellar tendinitis and tendonosis, and hoffitis (which is inflammation of the hoffa fat pad within the knee).  So as it turned out it wasn't just an angry bursa, it was inflammation and degeneration of the tendon that connects my knee cap to my shin bone which is a more serious issue.  I was to continue to rest and ice and to take ibuprofen as needed.  NO RUNNING.  By this point I was going crazy not being able to run, but we had a week-long vacation on the horizon and I planned on resting that whole 10 days and didn't even pack my running shoes for the trip.

After that continued period of rest my knee was feeling great.  I even did some pool running where I did the running motion in the non-impact water and it felt fabulous.  When we got home from vacation I decided I would test it out and run a slow 1 mile to see how the knee handled it.  I had bought a knee strap that supported the area very well and I was hoping that would help a lot during the exercise.  I was excited and optimistic.  I stretched super well and did a half mile warm up walk before beginning.  I have been reading all I can about the condition and one article I read said not to push past a 3 or 4 on the pain scale when getting back into the activity that caused the injury.  When I started the run there was discomfort, but I felt like it was under the 4 rating so I kept going trying to find a comfortable stride.  I've also looked into Chi running while I've been injured and tried to apply some of those aspects to my form and not heel strike.  I made it to 0.85 miles and the pain intensified to over 4 and I had to stop.  This just melted my confidence.  My knee was hurting again with just walking motion and I was scared that I had just reverted myself back to square 1 and that the nearly 3 weeks of non-running rest was ruined.  I immediately did an ice massage to my patellar tendon which helped.  The next day my knee was achy, but thankfully not as much as when I first injured it.  I iced several times that next day and planned to call my physician back after the weekend.

Yesterday, Monday, I called my doctor back and requested PT.  My knee is feeling better and I'm able to walk and climb stairs without pain so I think that I stopped the run early enough not to cause too much damage.  He wrote a prescription for physical therapy sessions and I go for my first evaluation on Friday morning.  I'm really hoping that they can help me get this issue healed and me back to running again soon.  I hope they will give me strengthening and stretching exercises to do and if I'm having a tracking issue with my knee cap that's causing the injury I hope they can teach me how to tape the knee for proper tracking...I've read about all this as well.  I will feel better having them involved and giving me advice as to what and when is safe to try.  I don't want a constant cycle of 3 steps forward and 2 steps back with reinjury.

So I'm still optimistic but going a little stir crazy without running.  I totally believe in the power of endorphins from exercise and I've been missing that quite a bit.  Hopefully good things will come from my physical therapy treatments and I will be able to run in my fall races!

R U Serious?

My total mileage for this year so far is 398 miles.  Before my run on Monday evening I was only 6 miles away from the 400 mile mark and set out to run a routine 10K distance to break the milestone.  At mile 3 my left knee started feeling weird.  This is not the knee that has given me trouble in the past, nor did it feel like the IT band syndrome problem that my other knee has had previously.  There was some discomfort and tightness but nothing too bad...it just felt weird so I kept going at the same pace.  By mile 4 it was nagging and glitchy.  I was having to change my running form because it felt like something was catching under my knee cap.  I stopped to walk it out and planned to start running again after a one minute walk.  When I tried to start running again it was clear that something was very wrong.  Sharp pain and buckling of my knee happened whenever I tried to run.  I stretched some but still my knee was not having it.  CRAP!  I called Steve to come pick me up since I was across town.  I was 2 miles short of making it 400 miles this year injury-free : (

So, I'm having an 'R U Serious?' moment right now.  I just can't believe this happened.  I haven't had even a hint of pain in that knee.  I was running one of my usual routes and this happened after only 3 miles... a distance that is considered a short run for me now.  It really feels like something is out of place, like tissue, or cartilage, or something is wedged up and under my knee cap and is getting pinched in there.  It hurts at 2 specific angles...hyperextended and slightly bent.  Otherwise it is pain free.  Unfortunately to run I have to bend through that slightly bent spot and each time that sends shooting pains and causes my knee to go weak.  I'm not going to run until this gets straightened out but I'm freaking out at how long that may be.  I recently set up my marathon training schedule to start preparing for Chicago and I was 2 weeks into that.  I hadn't really increased my mileage from what I was already running so I don't think this is an over use or an increase in miles too quickly issue.  Plus I had just had 2 days off of running since I spent the weekend at my daughter's softball tournament so my legs were fresh and ready to run.  If it's not better by the end of the week I'm going to the Dr. to have it looked at.

In other news, prior to this recent setback, I have been having some great runs.  I've been increasing my speed little by little, especially on the longer runs.  Here is a pace progression for the year so far : )

Also, and I'm ultra excited about this, my girls have taken up an interest in running!  I think the bug bit them when they went to watch my last 10K race.  We got them new running shoes and they have been running on the road in front of our house to start training.  I had the oldest wear my garmin to map the distance and we calculated that up and down our street 2.5 times = 1 mile.  They are gearing up to do the fun run associated with the 5K event I'm running on July 7th.  There are 2 fun run distances to choose from... a 0.5K (0.3 miles) or a 1K (0.6 miles).  My youngest will likely do the 0.5K, but my other 2 will want to run the 1K race.  Everyone gets a medal and it will be a fun experience for them.  My oldest daughter, after seeing the amount of kids who ran in the Bridge the Gap race last month, decided she wants to run a 5K with me in the fall.  I told her to keep working at running longer distances this summer and she will be able to do the 5K being held in our hometown in mid-September.  She has been running several times a week, and with her drive to do something I'm sure she will be at the starting line with me for that race.  And since my middle daughter likes to keep up with her big sister I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up running it too.  It makes my heart happy to see my girls excited about this hobby of mine and wanting to run and get better themselves.

Bridge the Gap 10K 2012.

This was my 2nd year running the Bridge the Gap race and it is one of my local favorites.   It's super cool to be able to run over the mighty Mississippi River on the bridges, but also the charity that this race supports is wonderful.  Being a pharmacist the MedAssist program holds a special place with me.  It is a much needed program supported by Quincy Catholic Charities and Bridge the Gap to Health that helps those who cannot otherwise afford medications obtain their much needed prescriptions...a very worthy cause.  This year was a record breaking race participant year so this benefited MedAssist greatly.

Friday after work I went to the race expo to pick up my packet and t-shirt.  I was a little disappointed to find out that they weren't offering the text notifications this year.  It was so nice last year to get a text to my phone moments after crossing the finish line with my official chip time.  Unfortunately, this year the event was using a whole new timing company and text info wasn't an option.  The expo was pretty small so I didn't spend much time there.  I had arranged to meet Steve and the girls for dinner and we of course chose a spot where I could carb load...one of the greatest perks of running in my book!

After dinner we went home and I started to get everything ready for race day.  I also had to prepare everything for a full day of tournament softball games that we were heading to as soon as the race was over, it was going to be a busy day ahead.  The timing chip wasn't like any that I have used before.  It was a hard plastic square that you had to secure to your shoe with twisty ties.  Also the instructions were to have your chip removed by a worker once you crossed the finish line because failure to return your chip would result in a $20 charge.  This was crazy strange...I have never had to give a timing chip back before???

I went to bed at 10pm and was able to fall asleep pretty well.  Of course I beat my alarm up the next morning and was wide awake at 4am.  I got dressed, ate some oatmeal, and eventually woke everyone else up so we could leave for the race by 6:30am.

The race started at 8am and we were parked and at the race start in plenty of time.  I was glad that Steve and the girls were there with me, they have only come to watch me at the 2 races I ran in our hometown previously.  The girls were really excited about it...they were stretching with me, snacking on the free granola bars being handed out before the race, and taking in the music and atmosphere.  They were also a great little cheering section and motivation for me.

The weather for the race couldn't have been better for running.  It was overcast and cooler in the mid 60's.  This is my optimal weather scenario...warm enough to wear shorts and a tech tee, but cool enough conditions for easier running effort.  There were 3 race distances to run for this race, a 5K, 10K, or Half-Marathon, and everyone lined up together at the start by pace.  I lined up toward the back of the 8 min/mile section.  After the National Anthem the gun went off promptly at 8am and it only took a few seconds for me to cross over the start line.

Right after the start we had a few 90 degree turns and a steep climb up Hampshire Hill.  It was very crowded at this point and was hard to get into a comfortable pace.  You really just had to conform with what the amoeba of runners were doing and try not to trip.

Once we got onto the the first bridge, Memorial Bridge, I was able to stride out better and found a good rhythm to settle into.  I was still dodging runners but at least it was easier to find holes to get around them at this point.   I had my iPhone on my arm and my familiar running mix of songs was pulsing through my headphones.  Especially during races I have to have music to take my mind off the crowd around me.  The first bridge went by pretty quickly and on the other side marked 1 mile down already.  My pace was faster than I had wanted to go out with (adrenalin), but I was feeling good and decided not to try and change my tempo since it felt comfortable.  When I was coming back across the next bridge, Bayview Bridge, I looked down into Clat Adams Park where the race had started from and spotted Steve and the girls right away.  They were dressed in their orange softball team shirts so it was easy to pick out the blob of orange.  I started waving and surprising enough they saw me too.  We waved back and forth until I cleared the bridge which was a nice boost mid race.  It was a nice downhill slope to come back down to shore level and then we split off from the 5Kers down 2nd Street.    This opened up the road a lot.

Next we wove through Riverview Park.  This was mostly uphill and for a pretty good stretch.  I tried to keep the same effort instead of the same pace because I didn't want to burn out at the end.  I was starting to feel the wears of the faster pace that I was maintaining.  See that elevation change from mile 2.5 to 3...that was Riverview Park.

After coming out of the park us 10Kers split from the half-marathon group and went out across yet another bridge that straddled the Mississippi.  This was just a one-lane bridge and it took us out onto Quinsippi Island.  We wound around the island and eventually reached the turn-around spot where we looped back onto the same route.  It was cool to pass the runners going the opposite direction and give eachother encouragement.

Once we got back over the river (that made 4 total trips over the Mississippi for this race) we were on the final stretch up Bonansinga Drive to the finish.  Someone standing on the roadside had a sign that read "You have trained longer for this than Kim Kardashian's marriage!".  That made me laugh.  It was a nice flat elevation for the homestretch in.

Steve and the girls started cheering for me as soon as they saw me coming into the the finish area and that gave me some extra motivation.  I finished strong, got medaled by Jackie Joyner Kersey (the race celebrity), and had my timing chip removed :/  I grabbed a water and a banana and found my family.  They all hugged me and didn't even care that I was sweaty gross.

Since there were no text alerts I had to wait in line to have my official results printed out.  I knew my Garmin had said that I ran faster than I thought I was capable of for a 10K distance, but it wasn't until I got the printout that I believed it.  My time was 49:13 and I never even imagined that I would be able to break a sub-50 min 10K, but I did!  An average of 7:57 min/mile, and that is fast for me.

My time put me at first in my age group and 5th overall for the women.  We waited around for the award announcements and listened to a band they had playing on stage.  When they called my name for my plague my little cheering section screamed and clapped for me : )

Then it was a mad rush to get to the softball tournament.  We made it just in time for the team to take the field!

Country Music Half-Marathon 2012.

This was my first Rock-n-Roll Series race, and I can definitely say it will not be my last.  It was such a fun weekend!  I got to catch up with my friend Sherri who I hadn't seen in quite awhile, plus I got to meet 2 of her running friends that were super fun and nice, Jen and Heather.  It was just the girls weekend I needed, and with a half-marathon thrown in too it made it even better.  So onto the recap.

Friday April 27th, 2012:


Since Sherri and her friends were coming from Columbia and I was coming from my home town, we decided to meet just before St. Louis and carpool the rest of the way to Nashville.  We met up at 10:30am and were on our way to Music City.  We didn't forward think enough to realize that our timing was going to put us in Nashville traffic right at rush hour.  We arrived in the city at about 5:00pm and the expo was set to close at 7pm.  No problem, we thought, we would just go to the expo prior to checking into the hotel.  Problem was the affiliated kids run was going on downtown and it was nearly impossible to navigate down there.  Every time we would begin to move from a stand still we would be detoured due to a road closed and have to sit again.  Eventually we got nervous that we weren't going to make it to the expo at all before it closed and we decided that 2 of us would walk there (much faster!), get our packets, and then come back to the grid lock and switch out.  Sherri and I went first.  There was a humongous line to even get into the expo, which panicked us even more, and then separate long lines to wait in to get our bib, our tech tee, and our swag bag.  Luckily while we were in line for the swag bag Jen and Heather texted that they had found parking and were on their way in.  We got our necessities with time to spare for some booth visits, freebie grabs, and some photos.

After the Expo we headed to the hotel, checked in, and decided to carb load at our hotel's pasta buffet.  It was made to order pasta dishes with soup and salad bar.  The food was good, but due to the business the service was lacking.  Jen's 'made to order' pasta dish was substituted with a different pasta noodle and as the waitress plunked it down in front of her she said they were out of penne and 'can you deal with that?'  After dinner we went to our room and got all of our race clothes and gear laid out and ready for the next day.  The race start time was 7am so we didn't waste any time with lights out.

Saturday April 28th, 2012:

I slept pretty good Friday night, but as with most race days I was wide awake by 4am staring at the ceiling.  I didn't want to wake everyone up but at 5am I decided to finally get up and get going.  The hotel had free bottled water and fruit in the lobby so I had a banana and a granola bar for breakfast.  We had a 2 mile walk to the start line and headed out at 6:10am.  Close to the start we saw a Jack in the Box restaurant and stopped in for a bathroom break knowing the porta-potties would be ridiculous.  Other runners had the same plan though and we spent a little time in line there, but still so much better than a scotty potty.  We realized then that it was super close to the start time and actually had to jog a bit to get there in time.  We never did make it back to our corrals (14, 15, and 16) because we had to stop next to corral 11 for the singing of the National Anthem.  When that was over the race was on so we jumped in at corral 11 to start.  One good thing about being almost late for the race was that there was less time to be nervous before hand...although being somewhat nervous that you were going to miss the race wasn't great, but it was short lived.

The crowd was packed with over 30,000 runners...so surreal!

Ready to Rock the Rock n Roll Country Music Half Marathon!

This race had a wave start where they started each of the 30-some corals separately after the one before was out of the chute.  They counted down from 10 for each coral which was cool.  Coral 11 started about 15 minutes after the official start and we were on our way!

I carried my point and shoot camera with me during this race...I didn't take it out and very often but I liked having it for before and after the race without having to gear check.  When I did try to take mid-race pictures they were  pretty blurry, but here is one just after we started with a view of the first of MANY hills we would face in the next 13.1 miles.

Sherri and I ran together for the first 3 miles or so and then lost eachother at a water/gatorade station.  We had said before the race that it was no big deal if we didn't stay together.  Sherri had a calf injury going in and didn't want to push it too much and create more damage.  I knew before hand that the hills were going to be a big factor for me.  Remember the elevation diagram that was on the event website...

This is NOT AT ALL a good representation of the course!  Those smooth inclines and declines were actually rolling hills throughout.  I never felt like I wasn't either climbing up a hill or bracing myself down another one. Oh and I had the false idea that after mile 5 the worst would be over...it sure looks like it in the above diagram...but wrong-o, the hills just kept coming.  Here is the elevation chart from my Garmin data.

And yes...I felt every single little blip on that graph!  It was radonkulous!!  And that steep hill at the end was super cruel.  But more about that later.

Being a Rock n Roll Series race there were stages set up along the course with live bands playing.  It was cool, but since I'm not much of a country music fan I still listened to my iPhone and only heard the bands when I was in very close proximity to them.  One band though, which was on the biggest stage and right at a turn in the course was super good.  They were singing "I Want Candy" when I ran by and I took out my headphones for that one.  It got me really pumped up and that song has now found it's way into my running mix.  

At about mile 5 I stopped for another cup of gatorade and water (I stopped at each and every station) and when I got going again I spotted the 2:00 hour pacer.  I was feeling good at this point and decided I would try and stick with him if I could.  Being in the pace group actually helped ease my mind about if I was going too fast or too slow, and helped the miles pass by faster.  I was also super glad that I was with the pacer when the routes split...I definitely did not want to get on the full marathon track by mistake.  The routes split at mile 11, and shortly after I stopped for fluids again.  My legs were feeling pretty fatigued at this point and it was really hot and humid now.  The temperature was definitely a factor, and on top of the continuous hills that still had never stopped, I wasn't able to catch back up with the pacer after that final fluid station.  He was in my sights, but I could tell the distance between us was growing.

Then came the cruelest part of the race and when my mental aspect started to get the best of me.  It happened after I saw the 12 mile marker.  I told myself just 1 mile left, but it was so tough!  There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was bearing down on us.  It was so hot and humid and there was that evil uphill grade I was tackling.  I had seen a two runners flat out on the roadside with volunteers helping them already.  I knew I should only have about a half of a mile to go, but there was no finish line in sight.  Also, and I'm seriously not exaggerating, there were more racers walking at this point than were running.  I really wanted to walk too, and I was constantly checking myself to see if I was still sweating wondering if I felt like walking because I was starting to dehydrate again.  I was still pouring out the sweat on that stupid hill up so I just kept running, knowing that I would regret walking so close to the end when it was finally over.  But where was the finish line?!?  I struggled through the longest 0.5 miles of the race wondering if it was ever going to end and why this mile felt like it was taking eons to complete.  It was definitely the time warp feeling again.  Then the course took a right turn which allowed an open view of the finish line...finally!  It was so mean to have the finish line just after a 90 degree turn onto a side street!!  At least at that point it was a downhill slope to the end.  I was so happy to be done...and that I hadn't stopped and walked afterall.

The post race grabs were great at this race.  I really enjoyed the cold wet towels they were handing out and the food and drinks were really good.  Water and gatorade, of course, but also chocolate milk.  Publix sponsored some free food tents and had all kinds of fruits, frozen strawberry cups, yogurt (if I liked yogurt), there were marathon bars, and other snack sized carb snacks.  I really liked the medal too, it is a gold record design and super heavy.

I finished the race in 2:01:09.   That's actually better than I had anticipated...I wanted to come in under 2:10 and thought that a time around 2:05 would be so awesome.  So I was really happy with my time...it's just hard to be so close to the 2:00 mark and not go sub-2 hour.  Hopefully I will get that goal on a flatter course at some point down the road.  For now my PR is this race at 2:01:09.

Before the race we determined the letter I would be our meeting place post race.  It wasn't long before we all found our way there.  We were all happy to have that hot and hilly half behind us!

Heather, Jen, Sherri, and Me.

The race ended at LP Field.  We hung out a little bit there then started our walk back to the hotel.

The other girls sat in an ice bath when we got back to our room, but I just couldn't talk myself into that torture.  Then we got ready and headed downtown to eat since we were all ravenous by that point.  We ate at the Big River Brewery.  Yummy!

We walked down Broadway and did a little sight seeing at the original Grand Old Opry.  Being in Nashville was really cool and brought back a lot of memories from when we had lived there almost 14 years ago.

As part of the marathon there was a concert at the Bridgestone Arena later that night.  Your bib served as your concert ticket and the artists were Gloriana and Rodney Atkins.  Once again, I'm not a fan of country music but the concert was still a lot of fun.  In between the performances they announced the 1st 2nd and 3rd place finishers for men and women in both the half and full marathon.  They also announced that Sheryl Crow had run the half as well as Dave Ramsey.

  
We got pizza delivery in our room after the concert, watched SNL, then went to bed.  Not too crazy of a girls weekend, but we were all pretty exhausted.

This race was tough, but I really liked it.  I liked the format of the RnR series, and St Jude is such an awesome charity to contribute to.  I ran in honor of Lily Pratt who had just lost her fight against cancer the week prior to the race at age 5.  She was on my mind a lot during those 13.1 miles.

Once I got home and looked at my race results closer on the website I really felt proud of myself.  I did the math...because I'm geeky like that...and I finished in the top 10% of women runners and in my age group for the half marathon.  That really amazed me since this is the 3rd largest half marathon in the US.  Very cool : )

Here are my split times via my Garmin data.  You can tell mile 4 and mile 13 were mostly uphill climbs!

So like I said before I will definitely do another RnR series race.  I'm actually planning on the one in St Louis in October.  It's only 2 weeks after the Chicago Marathon, but hopefully my legs can take it.