Steph, KO, and I stayed at Mangie's on Friday night (thanks Mangie and Sean). We had our usual pasta dinner and headed to bed as early as possible (okay, so not really- but it took a long time to catch up AND get everything ready for race morning). Sleep went better than expected- at least until 2:30 AM when Steph woke me up screaming OH S***! I immediately thought, oh no, we missed our wake up alarms and sat straight up in the bed- only to find Steph still sleeping peacefully. I found my phone and realized it was only 2:30....ah, the dangers of sleeping with the sleep talker. After an hour of restless wishing myself back to sleep, I finally drifted off again. At 5:45, the alarms started sounding, and we were up and getting ready for the race. We arrived at the race site and were delighted that the parking situation was better than anticipated- that way we could wait for the 8 AM start in the warmth of our cars! We made one last restroom stop around 7:20 and ran into Bill, Amy, Rich, and Ann Marie- glad they made it since the weather was predicted to be a little iffy. Great to see some smiling and familiar faces before starting! Kris and John arrived around 7:30 and we gave crew instructions. Then Gibby and Blake showed up to offer support. Gibby was going to do an easy training run with Kris while we ran our first lap- and Blake was going to run with the girls. (We have since been named Blakey's Angels- which is better than some of the other names that were tossed out this day :)!) Blake just finished his first Ironman distance triathlon in November- so this was his first week back at training. Gibby was just back at his running, also, so it was great seeing them out there!
Mangie, Steph, and KO- relaxing the night before the event
We were excited that the weather was slightly warmer than anticipated (it was 32 ish instead of 27 or 28). We were a little nervous about the predicted 16mph winds that were supposed to start at 10 AM, but I decided that I could not control the winds/weather- so I went back to my "File It" folder method...and it was filed- moving on. We all walked to the race start at 7:55 AM, and we were off at 8 AM sharp. There were around 250 runners signed up for the race- not sure how many actually showed up, but it was much better than the crowded Chicago start :) Everything went smoothly and we managed to keep things nice and slow to start the race. Around mile 2.5, Blake caught up with us- and he entertained and encouraged us for the whole first lap (15.6 ish miles). His plan was to only run 10 or 12 miles, but he was having such fun, he just hung with us. The first bit was great- I shed my outer layer because it got too warm- and we all laughed and enjoyed the run and company. Around mile 7.25, we met the "river", which was actually a flooded little bridge.....hmmm, what should we do? There were several people attempting to see if they could make it across dry- not gonna happen, so just move forward...yikes, that water was COLD and my shoes and socks were soaked to my ankles. Hmmm, better put my gloves back on to keep at least some extremities warm! After running for another mile, they felt much better- just in time to cross again :) As we headed back on Lap 1, the snow began to fall! First little flakes and then came the BIG flakes.....it was pretty and didn't cause too many problems. I think the temperature dropped a little, and some of the path got a little slick, but overall, it was a nice distraction. At the mile 9 aid station, we picked up Gibby and he ran with us back. Thanks Blake and Gibby for your support and company! At the end of our first lap, came the first fall- that tricky root got Steph, but she has perfected her stop, drop, and roll technique- and all was good! So on we went....
Finally, Lap 1 was complete. We were going to have a quick pit stop and change out our nutrition bottles, get some dry socks, and maybe a snack...but when we got there, our crew was nowhere to be seen...we waited for a minute and were getting ready to take off without them (note, this could not have been good for the boys :)!) when we saw them...and they saw us....so here they come running with bags in hand! Quick swap out, change of socks (ugh, as much as I did not want to sit down, I did, because bending over after running almost 16 miles in the cold was not a good option either), an apple slice and swig of coke- and we were back on the trail. It felt good to be starting the second lap- just don't think too far ahead, because that never feels good! My legs were feeling better- they had gotten a little tired around mile 14 for some reason- and we were all running well...and then, came another fall. Steph fell and then I fell (think Dominoes or Bowling here)...and I can say for certain that ground was hard. We were both okay, just a little sore, and were back to running....of course this time, we fell in a nice muddy part of the trail- so everyone else we saw that day would also know we fell :) Do we get extra points for this? Everyone was still doing well- we passed Kris and John at mile 22 and kept moving forward. Another river crossing and we were at the last turn-around....ah....now we were starting to get tired. Mile 25 was probably the turn-around point where we had to really muster up some mental energy to get through. We stopped at the Mile 25 aid station for a quick pit stop, and we were back off and running...at this point we decided to use our music and mile celebrations! Both helped tremendously....as we managed to make it back one step at a time...and in under 6 hours. We all crossed with a little left in our tanks- and were happy to see that little red tent! It didn't take long for the shivers to set in, so we quickly changed into some dry clothes and headed for home! (I have to say, the car ride home was almost more unbearable than running at that point :))
Overall- I think everything went well. I still have some work to do on my nutrition plan- as I was pretty nauseous the last 10 to 12 miles and am not sure why....I do have some theories. I will have plenty of runs to figure some things out. I also am glad that we ran this together as a training run- so that I didn't have to mentally stress about reaching certain goals......here's to the furthest run so far! And I actually am less sore than I was for any marathon...hmmm- was is the softer surface or is Coach Ian working magic?
Staying warm in the car! Trying to keep Steph from getting too nervous :)
KO- ready to rock!
Final touches before heading to the start. Blake (in red) and Gibby (in gray and red)- and Steph and KO!
The ladies and Gibby as we head to the start....
Speak no Evil, Smell no Evil, and See no Evil!
Salem Lake on Race Morning!
And we're off!
Kris at Mile 22/25 with all the crew bags!
Here we are at Mile 22, still smiling and running!
Mile 25 Pit Stop
Chap Stick is VERY important :)
Finishing!!!!!!!!!
Kris, Steph, and KO after the finish!
Steph- how did you get so muddy?
Mud- It's the new Black :)
Awesome job to you, Steph and KO!! This is very impressive.
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