IMG_2489I ran my 11th half marathon on Sunday, March 25th in Grosse Ille, Michigan at Rock CF River Half Marathon. I was scrolling through Facebook and saw the event for the Rock CF Half Marathon. It is an event that the proceeds go toward Cystic Fibrosis. I love running races that help foundations. I was in the mood to add races to my calendar. I needed to race. I asked my husband if he wanted to run this half also. He said sure, so I did not hesitate to sign up. That night I signed myself and the husband up for the race. I also signed myself up for Riverbank 25k in May.

I was nervous about the logistics about this race. I am training for Boston and this half happened to fall on peak week and race day I needed to get 22 miles in. I knew I would need to do some warm up miles and cool down miles. I have only even done this once before and it was for a local race, so I was able to get up early and run around home and get back in time to head to the race with my family. Oh, and I never completed my cool down miles for that day.

I happened to see a week before the race that Laura (IG:nebraskarunner) was also running the race and she is training for Boston. So, I asked her if she wanted to run a warm up with me.

The day before the race (Saturday), I ran 5 shake out miles on the treadmill. My husband, daughter and I got ready, went to an Easter egg hunt, and stopped at the outlet mall before making the 3.5 hour drive to Grosse Ille. We went right to packet pick up at the Middle school and ran into Laura and her son and Tasha a fellow mind over matter athlete. We talked for a while and come up with a plan for the morning which my daughter and her son ran around the gym playing. It was so cute. We were going to meet at the shuttle parking lot at 6:30 am and run 6 miles for warm up. After we picked up our packet, we checked into the hotel 6 miles away and went straight to dinner since we knew it was going to be busy. We got back to the hotel in time to put the little right to bed since we needed to get up early. We went to bed shortly after.

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Well, I did not sleep. I think I was up majority of the night. Anyone else get nervous before a race and cannot sleep? I had a huge goal for myself. I wanted a sub-1:32. Do I think it was achieveable? Of course, But I was on peak week. I hit all of my speed work and tempos. I ran 57 miles prior to Sunday.

5:30 am the alarm goes off. The husband and I are up and in the bathroom together getting ready trying not to wake the little one. It was 18 degrees with a real feel of 11 degrees and about 15 mph winds. I was putting on all the layers. I do not like to be cold when I run. 6:10 am, we are in the lobby getting breakfast- Bagel and Banana (Thanks Holiday Inn for starting breakfast early that day). 6:25 am, we are at the shuttle parking out. This is where I was going to meet Laura to run. My husband and daughter were going to meet our friends a little later at the shuttle lot to watch our daughter. 6:35 am- completely dark and FREEZING, we are running. We found the course and ran the last 2 miles of the course and then about 1.5 miles of the start. We were going into the wind and it was not awful. It was definitely tolerable. We watched the sunrise over the Detroit River with Canada and Detroit off in the distance. 6 miles at 7:40 avg for warm up. Not bad. 7:25 am – Call my husband to see where he was. Just getting on the shuttle. I checked my coat and vest I worn for my warm up. It felt like it took FOREVER for my husband and friend Ashlie (IG:get.our.run.on) to get there.

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I finally found them and we made our way slowly out of the gym to the start. By the time, we got outside it was less than 5 mins until the start. I was seriously freezing from being sweaty from my warm up. The national anthem played and we were off. The first 2 miles were along the Detroit River. I ran most of this strip this morning. The wind was not awful. I was running effortlessly. 1 mile- 6:56! YES. I wanted to run about 7:00 min/mile. I was right on. Mile 2- 6:56! Okay we are going to be consistent. I am good with that. We then turned and the wind was working with us. Mile 3,4,5,6- 6:50, 6:55, 6:49, 6:55! Oh please let me keep this pace. It would be awesome to run a sub 7 min/mile half marathon. My legs were started to get fatigued. So, I fueled up. Miles 7,8,9- 6:58, 6:57,

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6:59. Losing some speed but still a sub7. I am okay with that. Just keep the pace. Just before mile 10 we ran through the Navel Airport Hanger, which was awesome and amazing. I loved it. We turned and bam the wind hit. The wind got way worse as it got later in the day. Mile 10- 7:06. Not bad. I can deal with that. Just keep that pace for 3 more miles. Well, easier said than done. I was digging as deep as I could and felt like I was barely moving. There were a few hills in the last 3 miles. I would get up the hills and just let go on the down hills. I would add burst of speed to help my pace every couple mins just for like 30 secs. I was repeating NEVER GIVE UP. I knew I was going to be close to my goal time. Mile 11- 7:16, Mile 12- 7:20. Come on, Mary. One more mile. You can do this. The last mile was straight into the wind with a hill then you turn and round to the finish line. Mile 13- 7:19. As I rounded to the finish line, I saw the time clock 1:31:4X. RUN FASTER. GET YOUR TIME. The last .1 I clock in at 6:40. I guess I really wanted my goal time to MOVE even though I was freezing.

I stopped my garmin at 1:31:59. I thought I only got my time by one second. I still had 3 cool down miles to do. I ran back on the course to find my husband and help him finish. I found him at about mile 12. I ran with him until the end. Watched him finish then went to complete my last mile. 3 cool down miles at 8:33 avg. I had finished my 22 miles for the day at 7:18 avg AND PR’d my half marathon by almost 4 minutes.

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We went into the gym. I picked up my bag. Found my friend Ashlie. She was trying to PR also and wanted to go check her results. She DID! I checked mine too. 1:31:50 official time (7:01 avg)! HECK YES! SO SO EXCITED.

I loved this race. It was a fabulous course, a larger crowd, great shirts, homemade cookies, well organized, and lots of great runners. I placed 4th in my age group out of 72. 11th female out of 522. 69th overall out of 976. That is a lot of good runners.

After this half marathon, it has given me a confidence boost for Boston. I ran 22 miles that day for a 72 mile week and had an awesome ran on tired legs. I just have to keep in mind “the body achieves what the mind believes”- Mind over Matter

My mind is ready to go for a PR!

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IMG_0354.jpgThis marathon marks one of the toughest races I have ran mentally and physically ever. I did not reach A, B, or C goal, but I did finish.

Friday was our travel day. We were up at 4 am to leave the house by 5 am since we were getting a lot of snow and wanted to make sure we got to the airport in time. We had a flight from Grand Rapids, MI to Atlanta, GA then a short flight from Atlanta, Ga to Savannah, GA. We arrived about 12 noon. Picked up the rental car, eat lunch and headed to our AirBnB. We got the little one down for a nap and got settled. We decided to make pasta at the villa for dinner since I never know what to eat the night before a race since I do not was any GI issues. I decided to just pick up my bib the morning of race day since it was at a hotel that was 20 min drive from our villa. I even went to bed at a decent time after checking the weather which said it would be low 60’s-mid 60’s and cloudy.

Saturday morning we got up at 6 am. I had a little breakfast and was getting everything ready that the hubby and little would need (diaper bag, snacks, books, toys, clothes). I just was not feeling ready. My calves were a little tight, my neck was sore from sleeping, had an awful cough, and just in a funk. We got to the start about 7 am and picked up my bib. It was cloudy, the roads were wet from the rain the night before, and a little muggy. By the start time- 8am- the clouds went away and it was sunny, humid, and about 64 at the start. I remember saying this is going to be a hot one.

All of the race distances started together (26.2, 13.1 and 8k), which I do not like because I am very competitive that I try and stay with the half marathoners. I started running about a 7:30 min/mile, but was fighting hard for the paces. We were running on a highway. It was wet and slippery and slopped. My legs were in trouble. We got to the bridge (hill) at mile 6 ish. I read about this in the website, but I must have missed the you are going to run it 4 times! It first time up was great and loved the downhill.

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We ran inside a park and hit a trail- WHAT? I do NOT run trails. I slowed my pace since it was muddy and I did not want to fall. Luckily it only lasted about .25 mile. Then back to the hill we went at mile 8.5. I was still doing okay but fighting for my paces. I was the third female overall at this point.

About halfway I fell apart. My quads and calves were cramping. I was very dehydrated. I was taking water at every aid station, but the humidity was killing me slowly. I tried to fuel, but it was not settling so water and Gatorade were my options. I fought really hard until mile 18. I saw my hubby and daughter for the 4th and last time. I had not walked at this point. I told the hubby I was hurting. I grabbed my water bottles from him and walked to the aid station that he was just in front of. Filled one with water and one with Gatorade. This is when my body took over and told me that this was going to be a fight. I was still 3rd female overall. I was now averaging an 8-8:30 min/mile. I ran until 21 when we had to run up that hill again. I ran up and down it for the third time. On my way down the 3rd female passed me and said “were you really in front because all I have seen female wise is 2 others in blue tank tops”. I replied as “YES TODAY IS NOT MY DAY” I thought that was very rude and I was so mad and upset.

Miles 21-23- I was running/walking and was averaging about 11 min/mile. Mile 23 hit and up that dreaded hill ONE MORE time. When I was walking up it, I facetimed my husband and told him I did not think I was going to make it. He told me do not worry about time just finish. I will see you soon. So, the last 3 miles I did not walk. I wanted to so bad. I hurt everywhere. We even had to run through a field- remember what I said about trails- same goes for fields. Anything that is not pavement, I do not run on. Back on that highway for the last about 1.5 miles. It was boring, hard, hot, and I wanted to quit. I didn’t. I wasn’t going to let a bad time stop me from finishing. We got back to the park we were finishing at and had about half mile left. I kicked it into gear and was running a 7:22 min/mile. I could not feel my legs moving anymore. I crossed the finish line at 1:41:55. 1st in my age group and 8th female overall.

I know some people would kill to have that time, but I know I am way better than that time. I have had so many good races that I forgot what it was like to have an awful one. It is just a race and there will be more. I know that I need to focus on water intake and nutrition the few weeks leading up to a marathon. Sometimes conditions are just on ideal and your body is not 100%. I normally do not set time goals for races, but I have been lately and it is causing me anxiety to push my pace when I am not 100%. Therefore, I am going to go back to my no time goal races and just run off how I feel for the day. We all know we have good days and bad days when it comes to running. That Saturday was just a bad day. I will have more bad days I am sure, but I am going to learn from them to make me a stronger runner.

It is time to put this race in the history file and look at what is to come. I have a half marathon in March and Boston in April.

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This was my third year in a row running this race! I love everything about it. I love the city, the course, the swag, and the CHOCLATE.
This year the course changed from the pervious 2 years and I LOVED this course better. The out and back at like 5 ish was gone! you run on the lakefront bike path and go into Grant party. I was beautiful on the chilly morning. The swag this year was fantastic. For women, it was a purple 1/4 zip. In the past years, it has been a neutral color and it was great to have some color added. The expo was in a different location in the McCormick Place. I was a little crowded with the vendors and the lots of people. Could barely move. Overall, I love this race and we love driving to Chicago every year for a long weekend! Can't wait to do it again next year.

This is a smaller race in Northern Michigan in the fall.
Pros: the long sleeve was great
liked the course
fall colors
cooler temps
Medals!

Cons: not really and expo just get your packet (small race)
Smaller race so not always running with people
HILLS

Overall, I loved this race. It was a challenging course, but so much fun!

I drove 6 hours for this race. My friend wanted to run her first marathon, but she wanted to run one that was bigger than our local races. We did not know the area or the course.
I went to the expo the day before on Friday about 4pm. It was small, but had your essentials. Lets talk t-shirt. It is a long sleeve tech shirt that is black and neon yellow. Gross. It will be going on my t-shirt blanket, The problem was they were setting up for the 5k race and we could one drive one way, which was not the way we needed to go. So, it took us longer to find the hotel.
The morning of we parked in a big field. it was wet from the dew. So, my shoes were wet to start. We had to walk about 1 mile to even get to the start and once we got there we had to go through security even medal detectors. Finally, we found the start line with 2 mins to spare. We left 1.5 hours before start time. We were off. I have never been on an air force base so that was cool. At about mile 9 and 10, there we a spectator section and got to see my family cheering me on. That a little difficult. I like to see my cheering squad. The finish line food was your normal- water, Gatorade, banana, granola bars, ect. Then we had to make the walk all the way back to our car in the field about a mile after the race. OUCH. legs were dead.
Overall, I liked the course except for the on ramp you have to go up at like 21 and the hill and mile 23. It was a very hot day for the middle of September. We started the race in the 60's and finished in the high 70's. I would recommend this race, but I am not sure I would drive the 6 hours to do it again. I have other races to do.