Photos from the Half

Some of my fellow Triangle Mommies got some good photos throughout the day.

It was really cold at the start!

Working my big butt up a hill on Anderson. So many more hills to go!

Triangle Moms happy to be done!

Triangle moms that went the whole distance.

Ramblin Rose Race Report

"I'd like to say that no matter how I do, I will be fine with finishing. But I know I will be disappointed if I don't make my time goal."

Official time: 2:40:03.

Big sigh.

At first look, I was really disappointed. But then I thought about it. Miles 1-7 were flat and maybe some gentle rolling hills. Not bad at all. I was on pace for a 2:25 finish. I was feeling good. Right around mile 7 on Anderson street the hard core hills started. One after the other. Having already run 7 miles and no real hill training to speak of, my pace slowed to a walk for most of them. In the end, I am ok with my results. I am not going to let 10 minutes difference on a really challenging course take away from what I did.

The race was great. Really well organized. The vibe was great. Over 1800 women and a handful of men. Brent and Morgan popped up 3 times on the East Campus and a couple of times over in Forest Hills. It was nice to see and hear them. Morgan always ran to give me a hug. Running with the Triangle Moms was nice too. It was nice to see some familiar faces along the way.

The weather was good as well. It was pretty cold (about 45 degrees) while we were standing around waiting to start. My arm warmers were a big help, although I had them off within the first mile of the race. By the end of the race it was about 65. So overall the weather was perfect.

My most memorable moment came in the end of the race. I had been following this one woman for the last 4 or so miles and went to pass her late in mile 13. I told her I had been following her for miles and thank her for that. She laughed and I moved on. Turning the corner to Blackwell St I saw they had moved the finish line way up the road and my heart sank. My tank was empty. I started walking. This woman caught up to me and grabbed me by the arm and said "NO!, you are not walking this in. Let's go!". She got me up the road when all I wanted to do was stop. I am so grateful for this stranger to get me across the line.

Here's the course map though:


And my splits:

MILE	TIME	AVG. PACE
1	10:47	10'47"/mi
2	21:13	10'26"/mi
3	31:47	10'34"/mi
4	42:24	10'37"/mi
5	53:55	11'31"/mi
6	1:05:27	11'32"/mi
7	1:15:55	10'28"/mi
8	1:28:39	12'44"/mi
9	1:41:35	12'56"/mi
10	1:55:33	13'58"/mi
11	2:08:31	12'58"/mi
12	2:21:01	12'30"/mi
13	2:34:25	13'24"/mi

It's here!

I am sitting here in my running clothes waiting to leave for the half. I am sitting here remembering all of the runs I have done in the past 4 and a half months. All of the times I ran in the sweltering heat and humidity. All of the work breaks I gave up to run. All of the times I woke up when I didn't want to to run. All of the times I felt flipping great after I ran. All for this. All for today.

I'd like to say that no matter how I do, I will be fine with finishing. But I know I will be disappointed if I don't make my time goal. So giddy up! Let's go! I didn't do all of this work just to be disappointed at the end!

Tick tock!

Well it is here. Less than 48 hours to the start. All the work I can do is done.
59 workouts
248 miles covered
Only 13.1 more miles to go to reach my goal.


I've been making a mental list of things to remember during the race:

- Don't start out too fast. This was reiterated by an email from Bull City Running which noted: "Take it easy. The second half of the course is more challenging than the first in terms of hills and turns. So, don't start too quickly!"

- Run my own race. It is ok if people pass me.

- At the same time, keep in mind my goal of 2.5hr. But secretly, I would love to come in before 2:27 which is the time Jenni and Juli made on their halfs.

- Remember my mantra "Recover while running". Try to limit the walk break if at all possible.

- Have fun and remember that I am setting an excellent example for Morgan and Hannah.

10 days to go and a little worried

Well, it feels like my training plan has blown up in my face. But I am doing the best I can with the schedule that I have. Brent has been crazy with work which has resulted in my missing the last two mid-week middle distance runs. My last long run of the schedule was supposed to be 12ish miles but ended up just shy of 10 since I had to take Hannah down to George's, run and be back in time to get Morgan from the bus. My last two long runs were really tough for me. And I don't have many more opportunities to get some good runs in for the next 10 days. I am nervous that I have worked so hard for the past FOUR months only to have it all fall apart on me in the last 2 weeks.