Race Recap: One City Marathon Relay, Your Mama Says I’m Faster Part 2

It’s been over 2 months since I sat down to write a blog post. I know you have missed my lengthy blog posts. Admit it {hehe!}. I had intended to post at least once or twice during my running “hiatus”; but honestly, I ended up wanting to avoid all things running while I was recovering from my tibial plateau fracture. I ignored Garmin Connect. I paused my reading of a running-related book. I was an awful friend & wanted to know minimally about other people’s training. Etc. But now, I feel like I’m back…. well, sort of. Like 90% back. More on that later.

For now, it’s time to RAVE about my awesome team that I raced with yesterday, as well as selfishly boast about my own race!

In 2016, at the 2^nd annual One City Marathon, I participated with a team of girls for the relay & we had but a single goal—WIN the all-female team relay division. Mission accomplished! You can read about that day here.

This year was different though. Going into the race, there were some team ailments, but to be honest, team member goals for upcoming races trumped the timing for relay day. Personally speaking, I had been cautious with my running—with the recent fracture at the forefront of my mind & because of a possible IT band flair up. My girls were awesome though & never made me feel like my limitations would weaken the team. Maybe my driver-status & organizational skills made up for that, HA! Truthfully though, as a team we were much more relaxed & just went with the flow. Logistics of race day fell naturally into place. No one felt the need to even try on our race shirts until race morning. Pacing was talked about just before the person ran; only being spoken of so that we’d know when to expect that particular runner to finish. It was just an easy, fun day! And for that, I THANK my team immensely. My return to racing needed a day like this—full of laughs, cheers, jokes, & love.

The day began with all of the girls arriving to my house & us departing together at 6am. For future relay teams, this is the BEST way to logistically run this particular point-to-point race—as a team, all in ONE vehicle. You drop off/cheer the person off as they start their leg, & then drive to that persons’ finish line to cheer them into the runner-switching-chute! Clear as mud? I thought so too.

This year, we had decided to switch up the legs & each person run a different leg/distance than they did the prior year. Our breakdown went like this:

Leg #1 (7.9 miles): Julie B.

Leg #2 (6.1 miles): Rhonda

Leg #3 (7.4 miles): Kerry

Leg #4 (4.8 miles): Julie H.

In case your calculator is broken, that’s a full marathon, 26.2 miles.

Without giving specifics, the other 3 girls pretty much killed their legs of the race! I am PROUD to have such FAST & MOTIVATING women to call friends. They’d be pretty awesome friends too if they were “slow”! I was definitely the slowest, but again, that wasn’t the point of yesterday. But this is a running blog (duh!) & yesterday was a proud day for me, so I’ll include a breakdown of my 6.1 (plus) mile leg. Just for reference, this race is mostly flat with some minimal elevation changes—my leg had a couple of small “rolling hills” {rolling hills if you’re from pancake-flat locations like Hampton Roads; otherwise, for those from anywhere with hills, this is a pancake-flat race}. As far as conditions, it was a bit windy at times, but nothing too intense. Crowd support is minimal, but the volunteers that line the course are great & keep the runners very safe {much of the course is along busy city roads}.

Being the second runner was so much different compared to last year {in 2016, I was leg #4 & ran into the finish line}. It was so nice this year to get my leg done early & then just enjoy the race experience! Plus, I was dreading a repeat of the HOT day we had last year—being the last runner, it was blazing by the time I had run. Luckily it was opposite weather this year, quite a cold day {in the 30s for the duration of the marathon}.

As I waited for Julie B. to enter the exchange area, I didn’t have to wait for long, thanks to her fastie running skills! With the pass of the baton {okay, a Velcro piece of fabric with our timing chip attached… same difference, right?!}, I was off. I had told the girls, well really, they predicted, an 8:00-9:00/mile pace. I agreed & was hopeful that would be the case. After a disastrous attempt at a long run, TWICE during the week prior, I felt defeated from a running perspective. I was hoping race day would be different. But I never eliminated the idea that I may need to walk some. Back to me on the pavement…. The minutes just clicked by. I was anxiously awaiting the IT band pain to begin. I ignored the watch—simply just running by feel. I could feel that I was at tempo-paced effort, but I wasn’t feeling awful. I have definitely felt worse on other race mornings! The leg cooperated well, with only minimal tibia discomfort around mile 4.5—for which I slowed, but then sped back up when the ache eased. My 10K-ish leg breakdown according to my Garmin went like this {6.22 miles = 48:53, 7:52/mile}:

Mile 1 – 7:49

Mile 2 – 7:49

Mile 3 – 7:52

Mile 4 – 7:57

Mile 5 – 8:00

Mile 6 – 7:45

Final 0.22 miles to end – 7:46

As I had told a friend recently, I just NEEDED to run fast. I needed to feel that swiftness in my legs again. Although not nearly my prior paced efforts, I got my wish yesterday. I am learning that prior paces will take some time to re-achieve. I am living in the current moments & looking to the future. At least I know what I am capable of in the future! I can’t change the fact that a wall ran into me….. okay OKAY, that I ran into it (HA!); but I CAN change my perspective & attitude on where my running is currently at. I am not a super competitive person with others, but internally, within ME, that is a whole ‘nother story! This accident has taught me a lot. I have more patience & appreciation for running because of it. Sure, if I could go back in time, I would choose to NOT run into that Bermudian wall, but such is life. Shit happens. You deal with it & move on. I am choosing to move on positively & to KEEP pressing forward.

In case you care, our team did FABULOUS—both from an enjoyment & a timing perspective! We defended our 1^st place title for the 4-Person All-Female division, & what’s more, we were 3^rd relay team overall. Which means we kicked a lot of boys butts too! Official time: 3:20:44 {7:42/mile}. Pretty kicka$$ if you ask me! Don’t ever mess with a group of STRONG & DETERMINED mamas!!

As I mentioned before, I am battling a little IT band thing. Or so I thought it was IT band. Turns out, when you run into a stone wall, multiple things can become “misaligned”. Who’d a thunk?! So, that’s where I am at. Working through those discomforts—for now, with ART {locals, go see Jim Browning for all of your sports meds needs!}.

I am still running the Shamrock Half Marathon next weekend, just debating between running with the BRF {& friends} who is pacing the 1:52 pace group vs. running with a few gal pals who have a goal of breaking 2 hours. Decisions, Decisions. Endurance-wise, both of these should be “easy” to achieve; it’s just a matter of listening to my body & preventing further damage to the parts of me that haven’t quite settled back into their proper locations…. after being flung into a Bermudian stone wall. I think these next few days will be very telling as to how my body feels about these 2 options. Although, I can’t go wrong with either option! The most important task for me next weekend is to HAVE FUN!! It will be the first time that I don’t PR at the Shamrock Half Marathon {6^th time running it}, & I am totally okay with that. It’s actually nice to enter a race without all of that pressure. I am thoroughly looking forward to a weekend full of friends & family {plus grubbing out & many crushes!}; much love & laughs to be had!!

I hope to see lots of locals at the race this coming weekend. May the LUCK of the Irish be with you!!!