Summerfest Rock 'n Sole 1/2 Marathon

Summerfest Rock 'n Sole (1/2 Marathon) - June 13, 2015
time = 1:50:22
pace = 8:25
placed 16th in my age group (40-44) out of 264
placed 205th in women out of 2021
placed 644th overall out of 3344

when i checked the weather last night there was a 32% chance of rain at 7am.  when i re-checked at 4:45am this morning it had gone up to 100% chance of rain at 7am.  what a bummer.  so i checked the doppler because... doppler.

there was a huge storm headed our way from the south but veering east and planing to end up over the lake.  it looked as tho' there would be a downpour right at the start of the race.  i was not at all happy to see that.  krista is again in town from colorado to run this race (like last year) so we decided to carpool again.

when we arrived downtown traffic was pretty backed up and it took about 20 minutes to get parked.  as soon as we were parked it started to drizzle.  now, drizzle is no big deal... it was this "downpour" i was worried about.  we got our running prep on and headed towards the port-o-potties.

me & krista - photo by john g.

on the way there we ran into my friend john g. who was one of the event photographers!  it was nice to see a friendly face and he got a pic of us to boot.  hugs and introductions were had, and we moseyed on to do our business before hitting our corrals.  the potty lines went quickly and it was about 15 minutes until go time.  krista's corral was right there so we said our goodbyes and i started towards my corral.

when i got to my corral i expected to run alone and was contemplating my goals when i looked to my left and saw rani!  yay!  so i went over to her and we chatted.  we both were really happy to see each other and it turned out to be a no-brainer to run together.  while we were waiting to begin there was this woman in front of us.  she was very fit.  she looked like she didn't eat much but spent a lot of time maybe lifting light weights and/or running/jogging.  she was doing some VERY VERY dynamic warm ups to the tune of kicking people in her immediate vicinity.  rani and i were discussing the merits of such a venture in such a small space.  we agreed that it was odd.  this woman was an odd duck for sure.  she was in full makeup and swinging her legs like there was no tomorrow also... massaging her glutes like it was going out of style.  we couldn't decide if she was super elite or the complete and utter opposite.

when it was time to go that woman took off like a bat out of hell.  it was drizzling and i am happy to report that my choice in long sleeves up top and shorts on the bottom was a good choice.  i was appropriately dressed for once.  yay me!  our pace group started off WAY TOO FAST and we lost them within the first 2 miles.  oh well... so much for a 1:45 finish.

we caught up to dynamic woman within the first mile.  guess she took off way too fast and all that leg pendulum-ing did nothing for her.  we passed her shortly after that and maintained a lead for some time.

the miles ticked by and as always running over the hoan was beautiful.  the rain had stopped and the fog was so thick that nothing beyond the bridge was visible.  each time i run this race the experience is so different.  the next notable runner was a very colorful woman in hokas who stayed just a few paces ahead of us from the bridge on.  why she is notable will come later in the report.

mile 6-7 from the bottom of the bridge to lafayette hill was pretty uneventful except for rani's knee causing her a significant amount of pain.  she decided she would make the decision to bow out (aka slow down) after we crested lafayette hill.  once we made it to the top she said go so i did.  i needed to find a potty anyway.  so i took off and hit the potty near st. mary's.

lost 2 minutes there (mile 8) and took off sprinting.  caught up to rani less than (i think less than) a mile later where she told me that dynamic woman passed her.  i took off and just focused on my pace and passing people one by one.  i wanted to finish strong and since mile 10 is lincoln memorial drive and a big down hill... i knew this was going to be a good split!  i just kept focusing on form, breathing, and ticking off the next person in front of me.  sure enough that mile split was a 7:49.

keep it moving and keep breathing even... i've got this!  i feel great, my legs feel great... everything feels great!  oh my god!  look who it is... dynamic woman is a few people in front of me so i keep ticking them off, and i effortlessly pass her.  i leave her behind and never see her again.

this stretch is totally flat which is wonderful.  i just keep running and keep trying to pass the person in front of me.  my watch beeps and i look at it... ugh.  8:08.  pick up the pace!

i try to move a little faster and IT WORKS, but i'm starting to feel it.  i've done ZERO speed work this year and it's starting to wear on me.  i'm really trying to keep picking off the person in front of me.  a lot of these people started off really fast and are paying for it now.  i really want to finish strong!  i really want to PR, but i know that's not going to happen.

mile 12 beeps off.  7:52.  not bad... keep pushing!  so i keep pushing, but so do a couple of other women.  we play frogger for awhile with me winning some and a couple of other women winning some... only one mile left and i'm running up on the very colorful woman in the hokas.  i finally caught back up to her!  so i decide to push harder... it's only one more mile!  i can do this.  when i pass her she exclaims: "hey!" so without missing a beat i raise my right hand and wave to her over my right shoulder.  i can't even waste a moment turning my head or my pace will suffer... she laughs and i'm glad.

i am running as hard as i can which is still not hard enough for a PR.  it is all i can make my body do. my toes hurt and i'm pretty sure i'm getting a blister on my right foot just between my big toe and the ball of my foot.  i keep telling myself it's just a mile... i can do this!

unfortunately i am not as fast as i feel and i finish out the last mile at a 8:07.  still respectable but not good enough to meet my goal of finishing in under 1:48.  i came into the finish with a smile tho' and i am really happy about that.  normally i feel so awful at the finish that the pain on my face can be read from a mile away.

man, i guess i didn't look as good
as i felt at the finish line

beastmode or beefneck? finish face

walked it out to the end of the finish shoot, and read my text messages.  found out where krista was and then i saw rani in the finish shoot!  we hugged and she finished strong in spite of her knee.  only a 5min difference between the two of us so she did excellent!  then i saw the colorful woman and tapped her on the shoulder!  i told her she did a great job and we laughed about my passing her and the wave.  i love runners and how connected we are!

finished with a smile

rani, her boyfriend brian, and i stood around and talked a little bit and then we went to our cars.  i stretched it out and got ready to head back and wait for krista.

krista finished strong around the 3 hour mark and we unceremoniously met at the end of the finish shoot and headed to the car.  by then we were both done.  we did a little stretching at the car and headed home.

this race is always fun.  i really enjoy the course and will probably do it ever year if i can.  i love running over the hoan bridge and i think it will be all that more amazing once the repairs are done and it is completely open.  my hope is that they will go back to the original course and we will get to run an out and back on the bridge again.  june race in the books... now to prepare for dances with dirt in july.

Summerfest Rock 'n Sole 1/2 Marathon

Summerfest Rock 'n Sole 1/2 Marathon - June 14, 2014

time = 2:24:53
pace = 11:03
placed 170 in my age group (40-44) out of 230
placed 1572 in women out of 2102
placed 2904 overall out of 3581

ready to run!

this time around was very different than my first time running this race.  last year this was my very first 1/2 marathon and i was terrified!  this year, i decided to use this as a training run and pace my very good friend kellie.  as we all know i've been battling some stupid issue with my left leg, and haven't really been able to get in all the long runs i've been needing to for training. so to run this at full speed and try to race it maybe wouldn't have been in my best interest physically after having just done the ragnar relay.

my friend krista is home from colorado for the summer visiting her parents and she decided to run the 10K so we drove together.  i slept pretty poorly and was up at 4am.  even so i felt pretty good.  the weather was perfect.  low 50's and almost full sun.  couldn't ask for better weather actually.  quite chilly to start but once the body gets moving it is all good in the proverbial hood.  this year the race was beginning in a new location because there is construction being done on the hoan bridge.

hoan bridge - milwaukee, wi

last year the race began in front of the art museum, went south over the hoan bridge, turned around at the end and came back north over the bridge again.  it is truly the best part of the race and the whole reason i ran it in the first place.  this bridge is iconic to milwaukee, and in fact, my father and grandfather had a hand in building this great structure so i feel some emotional attachment to it.  it feels like home to me.  getting the privilege of running over it was meaningful in a way i cannot accurately describe, and emotional in a way that almost feels silly upon first thought.  i feel bonded to my city.  it is a part of me and the joy of running over it as the city expands and contracts before my eyes is a journey i plan to take every year as long as the bridge is involved.  it truly is the best part of the run.  this course over all is really spectacular.  the race directors did a fantastic job changing the course this year.  it was really seamless and smooth.  i love everything about this race.  kellie and i started out really strong and stayed that way for the majority of the race.  i think she started to lose some steam near mile 7 and in hindsight i think it may have been fueling.  i'm going to have to ask her about that.  i feel like she was really really strong up until then and then it started to fall apart.  we did some walking so she could catch her breath but ultimately i think fatigue was just taking over.

splits

at mile 8.8 we were cresting lincoln memorial drive and hitting that beautiful downhill which couldn't have come at a better time!  it was a spirit lifter when a spirit lifter was necessary.  the most amazing part of being a pacer is helping someone through the most difficult and challenging parts of their run.  there were a few for kel.  i know that when i'm running a race and i get to the point of tears it would have been really great to have someone i love and trust tell me to keep going.  hell, just having someone there by my side might have been enough a few times to get me through the thick of it on occasion.  i'm not sure i did that for her but i like to think that i did. i try to be encouraging and maybe i'm too chatty most of the time.  i also try to be quiet when i think she needs me to be quiet.  it's hard to know what exactly someone needs when their in the thick of their pain.  hard to know what they need to triumph over their challenges and defeat the voice in their head that is telling them that they can't possibly take another step.  so we walked a bit here and there to give that voice a rest and quell it into submission.

splits

there was a point at about 11.8 (right outside the art museum) where i decided i was going to sing "eye of the tiger" for her so i was searching siri and once i found it kellie turned up her headphones.  apparently i think i'm funnier than she does.  i started making the hand gestures to the beat of the music and in that moment kel said something along the lines of i was ruining her life and that she hated me for it... well... not really anything at all like that but whatever she said i knew that the kidding must end because she was deep in her pain and i wasn't helping.  so i stopped screwing around and let her feel all the feels... there may have been some tears.  sometimes these things happen when the physical pain of exertion becomes too much.  happens to the best of us.  so we took a walk break to get the emotions and heart rate in check.  once those were in order we took off strong again to bring it home.

the volunteers for this race are second to none.  really great!  always cheering and smiling.  i always thank the volunteers.  if it weren't for them these races couldn't happen.  so make sure you thank your volunteers at the next race you run.  krista was a trooper and was waiting for us at the finish since she had run the 10K and (obviously) that wasn't going to take as long as the 1/2.  we went to check out the after party and use a REAL bathroom.  all in all i have to say this was such a fun time.  i think kellie had fun but maybe the jury is still out on that... i enjoy running with her and i'm really glad i got to experience this race with her.  running it with her was a totally different experience than when i ran it last year at my fastest race pace.  i'm not sure which i enjoyed more... i think i liked them both equally but for very different reasons.  i will always recommend this race to everyone as it is well put together, organized, fun, and has such great support all around.  you really get to see a beautiful portion of milwaukee when you run it.  until next year...

right before this picture was taken i asked krista
if the photographer was taking pictures
of people waiting in line for the port-o-potties.
he was.

me & krista - pre-race chill & banana

me & kellie @ mile 6ish still all smiles

F my face!

krista, me, kellie - happy finishers!

krista, me, kellie - happy finishers!

krista

kellie

Summerfest Rock 'n Sole 1/2 Marathon

Summerfest Rock 'n Sole 1/2 Marathon - June 15, 2013
time = 1:48:17 (with bathroom break, lol!)
pace = 8:16
placed 24th in my age group (40-44) out of 240
placed 174 in women out of 2077
placed 628 overall out of 3589

ok... what to say about this bugger. this was my very first 1/2 marathon and terrifying to be honest. i woke up at 4am to a thunderstorm because my dog is afraid of them and then likes to paw the closet door thinking that maybe this time (the millionth time) i'll let him in there? yeah right! i'll never let him in the closet to nest around in my things and make a mess cuz he's afraid of a little thunder and lightening... he can suck it up! however, that's neither here nor there... this story is not about his irrational storm fear.

the doppler didn't look good and so my family stayed home and i drove the 20ish minutes to the race in some rain. i arrived fairly uneventfully and parked. i tried contacting a few people who i knew would be there but got no one so i got myself together and started heading to the starting corrals. i knew the event was going to be big but i guess i didn't know exactly how big... this is the largest race i've ever competed in and i'm pretty proud of my results.

my goal was an hour and a half but that is pretty unrealistic considering the pace i've been running the past few months so i'm still pleased with my outcome. i'd like to be faster but i'm not going to complain... we'll see how i do in september at the brewer's 1/2 and if i'm better or worse then.
the corral i started off in was 1:45 pace. i tried to stay with them to begin with thinking that running up the hoan bridge might be really challenging but as it turned out it was quite easy. i think because i've been doing so much running in lapham peak on the black route aka the moraine ridge trail. it's the most difficult route in the park with several really challenging inclines including the very first one which is .87 of a mile and 4% grade... it's super hard but i have successfully run it without stopping several times now. that was pivotal in my success today. made all the hills a piece of cake!
i lost the pacers at mile 6 when i had to stop at the port-o-potty to pee... it couldn't be helped. so that changed my time by almost a minute. i stopped my app so i saw the difference. still... a great time even with the potty break.

overall the experience was pretty great. i'm glad i had my own hydration because i'm sure that would have slowed me down too... stopping along the course. i gunned it at the last 3/4 of a mile to a 7:39 pace... that hurt like a mofo! although, miles 2,3,5, and 6 were under 8 min/mi so that is pretty awesome... too bad i couldn't maintain that the whole time. the rest were just over 8 min/mi with the slowest being at mile 7 with a 8:33 min/mi right after my potty break. which is funny because i thought i had picked it up there but i guess it just felt that way after sitting down. weird.

the energy of the event was wonderful and i really didn't feel fatigued at all but my hips weren't feeling so good after mile 10 or 11 which made me feel slower than i was actually going... made it seem a lot harder than it should have been too i think.

and that... is my first 1/2 marathon experience.