So just before Philly the possibility of doubling that weekend popped up....it seems there's a race in CT (Gulf Coast 1/2 Marathon) that is only a 3 1/2 hour drive from Philly. And I don't have CT. AND this would give me Venus Status for the Half Fanatics. Oh the temptation! I mentioned it to David and he was interested in doubling as well. We went back and forth, but in the end I decided to skip CT and spend Friday in Philly catching up with some friends and getting some MUCH needed sleep. As I owed one of the friends a drinking night I decided to take a cooler of Jello shots and some mixed drinks (sweet tarts/pink drink) and party on Friday night, recover Saturday, and run Sunday. I don't drink often and only once (Portland) have a drank close to a race, so this was out of character, but Philly was a repeat race and I was just doing it to spend time with George as it's his birthday race. I got to the hotel, messaged my friends, and relaxed in a bath reading a magazine. After a while, I drained the tub, showered, and started "getting ready"...still not sure if I was going to hear from my friends or not, but not wanting to just sit in the hotel all night. I couldn't help wondering if David had actually done CT and texted him to ask where he was. He was, of course, in CT. We chatted a bit and he told me to join him. I told him if I didn't hear from my friends by 9 I might. At 8:00 I got a message that they'd just gotten out of work, had a long day, and had another one tomorrow so we're going to do anything. I called the valet, texted David, and threw together my gym bag. Just after midnight I rolled into the hotel parking lot in CT. Exhausted, having been up since 4AM, but excited that I was going to get another state and Venus status.
David was just walking out of the bar and asked if I wanted a drink, but I knew I'd never run that way! We headed up to his room, I threw on my jammies, and we crawled into our beds and chatted across the room like little school girls catching up at a sleep over. Around 1:00 I told him I was totally enjoying catching up, but knew we needed to sleep if we were getting up for a race! We planned to be up at 5. So we both crashed. The next 4 hours flew by in what seemed like minutes, but we were up and getting ready. I'd told David the night before I need 15 minutes to get ready on race morning (I have everything laid out the night before). I don't think he believed me. 15 minutes after waking up I sat waiting for him...for another 20 minutes!! We decided to head directly to Philly after the race as the CT hotel was about 45 minutes in the opposite direction of Philly...showers could wait. We headed to the start line. As soon as I got in my car I downed a large amount of caffeine...this had become a morning ritual as I'd barely gotten 4 hours of sleep each night for over a week and had been up by 3 or 4 each morning...I completely spaced that this was a race morning and immediately began to worry about the effects on my heart rate and performance but there was nothing I could do now! We left my car at the start line and headed to the little coffee shop down the street as they were just starting to set up. After a bagel and some water; and lots of conversation, we headed back to the start and registered then waited in the truck for a bit. We decided to hit the porta-potties before the start and were surprised to see how long the lines were, but we were able to get through the line and to the start in time. It was a small race...the first one I've ever run that didn't have a start line at all. And it was only in its second year. But I'd heard great things about it and the area was pretty, so we were looking forward to it.
I forgot to mention...David had shaved his head since VA Beach!! We'd discussed our race plan/time over bagels and agreed we were going to run for fun, not time. Being my first double and sooner than I'd planned I had the motto of "Complete, not compete" for the weekend. David agreed and we settled on 10:30 minute mile averages. As soon as we set off I knew I was in trouble. He kept pulling away, although he was constantly looking over his shoulder and trying HARD to slow down.
I didn't want to slow him down but he insisted he wasn't worried about time and kept teling me to reel him in. The course was gorgeous. We wound through a little residential area in the first mile, then across a little foot bridge and through town, down to a marina, and finally right out onto the beach. We both spent a good amount of time taking in the sites and pointing things out to each other, just enjoying the course. But I was a bit worried about our pace. Around mile 4 David asked how I was doing...I asked him what happened to our 10:30 minute miles! He asked what we were doing and I let him know that our slowest yet had been 9:04 and we were on course to KILL my PR...which I wasn't up to doing that day. He again told me to reel him in and he tried hard to slow down...and he did, but I probably should've said something sooner.
We came to a residential area after our time on the beach and I knew we had to be approaching the turn around...though we honestly weren't 100% sure it was an out and back...neither of us had really looked at the course...but it seemed as though it was. Somewhere around mile 4 or 5 I noticed this red-headed girl with a unique tattoo of flags on her lower back just in front of us. We'd been chatting to lots of people on the course and soon enough found ourselves chatting with her as well. All of the runners we encountered were incredibly friendly and most seemed local. The course support was amazing with ample water stops, friendly support, and 4 GUs stops (I've never seen that many in one 1/2 before)...they made sure you were taken care of.
I know better than to let myself walk when I'm hurting...once I walk for even the teeniest bit I have a hard time running without taking walk breaks. But I was dead. I walked through a water stop. After that, it was a walking interval here, another there. And I kept noticing the red-headed girl....we were doing the same thing apparently. She'd pass me, I'd pass her. We started joking and talking more and David was being patient with both of us, but not letting us slack either. He'd give us a short break and then start pulling us along. I learned this was Jess's first half. She learned David and I were crazy.
We ran back down the beach...on the boardwalk, of course, and while the way out I'd been in awe of it's beauty, on the way back I was thrilled to know we were ticking off the miles!
The last two miles I struggled the most, my heart rate hadn't been below 182 since mile 5. I walked when I needed and hydrated well. As we approached the finish line we had a tenth of a mile on the sand. Jess said "3 wide?" and we agreed. I was a few steps behind them and had to crank it up a little to join, but it was just a tenth of a mile, so I did. We crossed the finish line 3 wide, I was in the middle...in hindsight it seems fitting, her first...I've got quite a few under my belt....and David, he's just a machine! It was an amazing race and the bling was surprisingly nice for a small, second year race. I definitely recommend this race to anyone that wants a CT race! You won't be disappointed! There was also Olive Garden at the finish line, but we didn't hang around for that...had to get to Philly to pick up friends from the airport, get showers, and get to the expo! Plus somewhere along the way I'd promised David I'd actually have a few drinks that night as I wasn't going for time in Philly. We grabbed chocolate milk, I gassed up the car, and we hit the highway. We hit traffic just before the George Washington Bridge...but even that was fun...
The thing I'd told myself about doubling was I need to make sure I fueled and hydrated. I pulled some chicken salad out of my cooler and ate a sandwich while driving, despite the fact that I felt totally nauseous from the caffeine, GU, and running; and I drank A LOT of water on the drive back...
As soon as I hit the hotel, I grabbed a shower and then was off to the expo to meet George! I love a good race expo and the RNR expos never disappoint. It's always great to see the latest and greatest gear and network with other runners. During the expo I prepaid for medal engraving (I always get my medals engraved if it's offered), met a few new faces, visited with some existing running friends, and bought a Stick (stepping it up a notch from my foam rolling). David met us at the expo and introduced us to Krissy. As the expo closed George and Gabe headed back to their hotel and Krissy, David, and I headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. We planned to meet up afterwards for a few drinks...yes...TOTALLY out of character for me, but I wasn't after time in Philly and was there to have fun with friends, so why not? After dinner George and Sean met David, Krissy, and I in my room and we hit the jello shots and sweet tarts I'd brought for Friday night before my plans with non-running friends fell through.
We had a good time socializing and toasted various things from running to the friends it has brought into our lives to George's birthday! Then we set out on a bit of a walking tour of Philly. Eventually we went our separate ways and made it back to our rooms and as I laid in bed I began to realize I'd had a little more alcohol than I intended and began to seriously question whether I wanted to run or simply sleep the next morning. Given my recent work and family commitments I had not slept for more than 4 hours a night for nearly 2 weeks and a quick glance at the clock revealed that would hold true for this night if I ran. I mentally weighed the pros and cons of running and ultimately decided it would not kill me to not have the Philly medal or the Rock Legend medal this year and went to sleep without setting out my race gear or even setting an alarm, convinced I needed the sleep more than the medals.
At 6AM I was WIDE awake. Ironic given that was the time I would've had to have set my alarm for if I was going to run. A quick physical inventory and I realized I felt great and could run, but an equally quick forward glance and I reminded myself that I would not have the opportunity to catch up on my sleep for at least another 2 weeks. I laid in bed trying desperately to go back to sleep....my legs feel really good...go to sleep...my lungs feel great...shhh!....my heart feels strong.....finally relaxing I was just about to dose off when BOOM! "IF YOU DON'T RUN PHILLY YOU DON'T GET VENUS STATUS IN THE HALF FANATICS!!!" I sprang out of bed and was out the door, bib and shoe tag on, in minutes. Not the neatest braids, but they'd work. Halfway to the startline I realized I'd forgotten to put any body glide on my arm...that's gonna chafe...oh well, not going back now! The sun was rising over the startline as I arrived and it was quite a site to see on this chilly morning.
I got to the hospitality tent before the rest of my group and nibbled on a bagel while sipping water, suddenly aware of the alcohol in my tummy. As everyone began arriving we shared a few laughs and light-hearted minutes and took a few photos. It was great to see everyone and apparently we made quite the motley crew as a CBS photographer stopped to snap our photo for the local news.
David and I took a quite photo to document our second 1/2 of our 1st double together
And then it was off to the starting corrals. As I lined up I was reminded of last year's RNR Philly and the puzzling array of issues I'd had...such a rough start, heart rate issues throughout the run, my near blackout just before mile 9....I shoved that all aside and decided I was simply going to take the day easy, finish the race, and enjoy the scenery...Philly RNR is a gorgeous course. I went out easy and was actually surprised at how good I felt. I had to keep myself in check and not go too hard because I felt so good I easily could've pushed it.
As we made our way through the city I enjoyed the sites and felt myself getting further pumped up by the energy of the crowd. I soon found myself looking forward to the statues we would be encountering around the 5 mile mark.
Even given my issues the previous year during the race I'd really enjoyed that section of the run. Soon enough we had wound back past the starting area and were headed that way with crowd support the entire way keeping the energy high. Somewhere around mile 8 David passed me and stayed just ahead until we'd crossed the bridge and he broke away.
I stayed lost in my happy little world, enjoying the energy of the race, the near perfect weather, and the beautiful course.
From somewhere near mile 7 I'd seen the Brooks inflatable rocker across the river and somewhere around mile 10 we passed under him with me mentally checking the box for this RNR milestone.
For a moment I tried to recall how many times I've run under him but decided it was too many to count and pressed on. As we approached the last few miles I went through my "normal" routine of mentally telling myself there was just a 5K left and I've done plenty of 5Ks, then "it's just 2 more miles", and finally "last mile, you've got this"....only this time I was really needing the break down, I still felt great, the course support was still strong, the weather was great, and the energy was amazing. It was more of a habit at this point than the necessity to pull me through the last miles as it is in some races. As we came into the home stretch I recognized the overpass just before the finish and began my push. I finished strong in 2:14:41 and was happy that I'd actually shaved a little time off of Gulf Beach the day before. That was not intended. I returned to meet up with my friends and as we all came in we spent a little time offering congrats on our great efforts and grabbed one last group shot (though Gabe, George, and Joe had already left) before heading our separate ways to grab showers and begin our various travels home.
When I returned to my room I was rather surprised by the volume of debris from the previous night. It made my 2:14 finish all the more amazing.
I don't at all recommend drinking the night before an event (I don't actually drink more than a couple of times a year at best and I'm quite a light weight!)...but my mother always says the Lord looks out for little children and fools...I guess I know what category I fit into as I wound through the streets of Philly...maybe I'm not Half Crazy but rather completely foolish!
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