November 2018 Monthly Running Challenge

Race Report, Big River Crossing Half Marathon, Nov 3

My husband and I survived our first half marathon!

Having lived through this, I would like to say officially that I was undertrained and that jumping into a half three weeks from never having run farther than 10K is not optimal, especially for an older runner with a history of injury. A few more weeks of training would have been a big help. As I understand it, most guidelines suggest not to increase your mileage by more than about 10% per week, so suddenly doubling it probably wasn't the best plan. Lesson learned!

But also: no regrets! I did it, got the shirt - very nice long sleeved tech shirt, also the the first race shirt I've ever gotten that came in different gender styles - got the finisher's medal - got to run across the Harahan bridge across the Mississippi River from Tennessee to Arkansas, across the riverbank until we passed under the Hernando "Memphis M" bridge, then down to the point, which is a part of Tennessee which ended up on the Arkansas side when the river shifted course, then back across the state line into Arkansas, and back across the bridge into Tennessee - crossed state lines FOUR TIMES in a single race! My first multi-state race. And now I can say I ran a half!

8 am gun time. Despite race nerves and having to get up too early, I got a decent night's sleep and after two days' rest felt full of energy. The weather, after a forecast which kept swapping back and forth between chill and rainy and chill and sunny, surprised everyone by being chill with a dense fog advisory. So we were treated to sunrise over the river through clouds of mist. I wish my phone camera liked low light conditions, it was beautiful! Parking, which can be expensive and far away downtown, could not have been better - someone pulled out of the free lot next to the starting line as we were pulling in and left us a spot within fifty feet of the porta potties. We didn't even need the bag check, since we could easily walk back and forth from our car.

When we arrived there was a high school marching band at the staging area, who kept playing throughout most of the race. This race was held to benefit Peer Power, which is a student-to-student mentoring program, and as a result a lot of groups from local high schools had come out to support the race. We mingled for a few minutes listening to the music, but it was too cold for standing around, so we ended up huddling in our car until closer to race time. Ate a large orange, got out and did some dynamic warm up stretching with about fifteen minutes to go. Since we were planning an easy run with intervals of walking we didn't really need a warm up walk.

I wasn't sure until the last minute what I was going to wear. I knew I wanted to wear my capris, which are comfortable in any weather from just above freezing to baking hot, but I had four potential clothing choices for my upper half - racerback, long sleeved tech shirt, tech fabric running jacket, light rain jacket - depending on how the weather felt on the river. Riverbank weather can be quite different from the weather ten miles away in East Memphis. The 40 degree chilly mist and a forecasted high of 50 convinced me to go with my light running jacket over a long sleeved shirt with gloves. I put my bib on my shirt underneath the jacket and unzipped the jacket before starting. In retrospect I would have been more comfortable later in the race if I had toughed it out through the first mile in just the shirt, since it ended up being sunny and over 60 by the time we finished. But I was never really hot, just unzipped my jacket and zipped it behind my back so it didn't flap. My husband had short sleeves with arm warmers and was perfectly comfortable the whole way. We saw people in all different levels of dress, from short shorts and racerbacks to padded jackets - in fact you could pretty much predict people's abilities from their clothing choices, the faster you were, the less you wore, with walkers bundling up like it was the middle of winter and elites practically naked.

By the way, I used magnetic bib dots for this race and liked not having to poke holes in my favorite shirt. They worked well for me. My husband lost one of his, though, so they are not exactly reliable or a long-term investment.

Dancing to the band music helped me stay warm until the start. And for once I didn't have to struggle through a band of walkers when we moved off! Since there was also a 5k, probably most of the walkers went for the shorter race.

The route was the whole reason we picked this race - the first 3 miles went through the picturesque heart of downtown Memphis. We passed the Peabody hotel, BB King's, we passed Lansky's where Elvis used to shop, we ran across Beale Street, we passed the Gibson Guitar factory. We were aiming for an 11 minute pace, with the intention of a walk break later, and our splits were very close - 10:57, 10:43, 10:55. I'm a naturally good pacer but it was hard on my husband not to speed up and I had to keep reminding him that this was not a 5k, especially when the fastest 5k runners, who had started a few minutes after the half marathon start, blew past us.

Then over the river and across the Harahan bridge, the 1916 railroad bridge into Arkansas, which has been turned into a pedestrian walkway. We walked across this mile-long bridge after our recent 5k in Arkansas and decided we really wanted to run it. Fun fact: the landing under the Harahan bridge used to be a makeout spot for local high schoolers, and when I showed my mom the photos of us exploring it, she told me she got her first kiss under this bridge! The bridge surface is textured and coated with some sort of special paint and was excellent to run on, except for the section joints which get wet and slick. So I got in some hopping over the joints. Once you cross the bridge you're in Arkansas - flat crop land which floods every year. We could hear the marching band and the shouting as the 5k runners came in to the finish line all the way across the river.

We knew from our previous race that part of the Arkansas route was gravel but didn't know exactly where the gravel began. It turned out that a lot more was paved than I had believed, but also that the paved part had its own hazards. The trail is raised, but in order to prevent the whole road from washing out, there are several concrete trenches cut into the road which allow water to flow across it. And it's been rainy recently. So several times we found ourself plunging up and down a sharp incline with a muddy stream at the bottom. The lady running alongside us was cursing these because she had a bad ankle. I had been rejoicing because the sunny weather meant my blister-prone feet would stay dry, but then we came to a twelve foot stream of ankle deep running water across the road surrounded by flooded pasture. My husband gallantly offered to carry me across it, but I'm fairly sure that's not allowed in a race. So across the trench we ran, emerging with squelching completely soaked shoes.

The good news is that I had thoroughly barricaded my feet with bandages, blister proof socks, and body glide, and it worked. Finally! I'm just happy that I took the same precautions I would have had it been raining, instead of assuming my feet would stay dry.

We had planned to run for seven miles, then if necessary take a short walk break, drink some water, eat some gummies, and continue. When we reached the seven mile mark we were still feeling fresh and opted to keep running. I ate a few gummies, took some water.

Then we hit the gravel.

I had been afraid of the gravel - at my earlier 5k it was no fun running a mile and a half on it, and I was worried that running five or more miles would do me in. And it turns out I was right to be afraid. There weren't five miles unpaved, fortunately, only about three. But this part was deeper, stonier gravel than the part we had run before. And it was wet. So it was basically wet sand with random sharp rocks. Add to that, the surface was corrugated to keep the gravel from washing off, and full of ruts from trucks. I think it would have been better had I been fresh, but we had probably gone out faster than we should have, since at mile eight I was already starting to tire. The gravel spun my feet in all directions. My hip started to hurt and I took a walk break. Then I discovered that walking was no better - in fact trying to fast walk on the slippery gravel was almost harder than running. By mile nine I was limping and wanted to cry. By the time we returned to the paved surface at mile ten I was all in mentally.

This is probably a good place to praise the cheerleaders along the route. Whitehaven High School was out in force, and the mile ten greeters were the cast of "The Wiz" in costume and singing "Ease on Down the Road." They had also put yellow brick stickers on the trail. Their smiling faces were a lift that I definitely needed. At the 11 mile marker were girls dressed in football uniforms with pom poms singing "You're almost there!"

Once I was off the gravel I could walk fast and recover, and soon I was able to run again. We ran across the bridge back to Memphis, and then the last mile was along the river through Tom Lee Park. Unfortunately the gravel had done a number on my legs and they never did stop hurting. But I put a smile on my face for the home stretch photographer, ran tall and tried to squeeze that quarter between my cheeks, and managed to limp on in at about a 10:30 pace for the last little bit. By the time we were on the homestretch the marching band had given way to a gospel choir and preacher, and the church music drifting towards us with occasional exhortations was a bizarre but not unpleasant touch.

We crossed the line at 2:36:55, about a minute faster than our "test run" of the distance three weeks ago, with an average pace of 11:57 - our miles on pavement were just about 11 as predicted, our miles on the gravel went from 12 to a sob-inducing interminable fifteen minutes, and we ran/walked about 13 after that. So, a PR after all, despite wet feet, tears, and gravel! Tenth out of 14 in my AG, so not last! Which considering that we didn't train for this appropriately is not half bad. My husband was sixth out of 8 in his AG, also not last! Yay!

The food tent was stocked, and after running a half I wasn't concerned about my blood glucose, so I ate a turkey wrap, small taco, and part of a brownie. Then scared myself with a really high reading, having forgotten I ate an orange earlier with the same fingers I had no way to wash properly. Second reading with clean hands, 97. My husband had pizza, a brownie, and a banana. I ended up sitting on a bench facing the river with some of the kids from the marching band, who wanted to know how long it took to run a half marathon. One girl said she could never run for two and a half hours, and another said that they would have to march for even longer if they got to go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. "You'll be so excited just to be there you won't even notice you're tired until later," I told them. They definitely added a lot to my day!

Some things I learned from this race: 1) my calves were so crampy until I started eating that I feel pretty sure I needed electrolytes. I ran my training runs on Nuun, then didn't carry my water bottle during the race because I figured I could get water at the stops. They had Gatorade and water, but I can't handle Gatorade with my blood sugar. So just plain water wasn't enough to cut it for me. I know the rule - never test anything new at a race - but ignored it. I also think I needed to drink more, but I didn't want to have to pee during the race. 2) My fueling worked out well. I had my usual big breakfast followed by an orange, plus five Clif Bloks during the run. 3) It's probably better to take a break before you feel like crying, not after. I never really recovered, and I think if I had walked earlier I could have avoided some of my hip pain.

I'm not sure a half is my distance. My knees are not good, and my misaligned knee puts a lot of stress on my hip. Although I feel pretty good for the day after, I also feel like I was pushing my luck. I think in future I'm going to make 10K my long race. But I am very glad I can say I did this! I also think that since slightly longer runs seem to improve my glucose control, I will be adding a few longer runs to my repertoire regularly. My sweet spot seems to be about 8 miles.

@7lenny7 Thanks for the great info and advice on trails. I am going to plan for some in the new year!

@katharmonic Happy birthday!

@Orphia and @rheddmobile Congratulations on your half marathons!

I did 70 mins in zone 2 yesterday and was surprised how much of it I ran. I didn’t start taking walk breaks until after 20+ mins and then recovered quickly during each. I am sure most if not all were under a minute. I am fighting a hamstring injury and recurring PF, so I let myself relax and go slow. It was completely enjoyable despite stormy, rainy weather. The wind made me tired by the end, but I was reminded of the challenge motto and repeated it to myself a few times: “Embrace the suck.” It helped!

My leg is worse today. I did a lot of rolling and massaging and realize I likely need to do more stretching after running. With adding strength training workouts recently, I had dropped the stretching. Oops!

MTD: 6.05 / 45 miles

@katharmonic Happy Birthday!

@MobyCarp Taughannock Falls is such a pretty area. We went there earlier this year when we visited hubby’s family.

@Orphia and @rheddmobile Congrats on your races!

Today was my first run of the month, as well as the first since my car accident. I felt really good and completed 3 miles. My best friend visited last night/today, and I think we’ve decided to do the Savannah Women’s Half Marathon in April. I’ve decided that I’m going to shoot for sub-2:15, as my PR right now is 2:22.

Also, did anyone else watch the NYC Marathon? Mary Ketany was a beast leaving everyone behind!

ContraryMaryMary wrote: »

Oh yes, and a pinch and a punch!

@ContraryMaryMary So is that NZ for Physio, massage ?? or a special refreshing beverage ??

On the October Halloween parade I had over 100 kids - live in a cul-de-sac 1 block from a 4 way stop/intersection and 3 blocks from the swimming pool. So lots of parents do a drive by drop off at the top and wait for the kids to complete the circle. Had about 30 pieces left and they went to the soup kitchen donation drop box ( with a case of Mushroom soup ) on my way to work - no goodies = no temptation.

No run for a few days - flu like symptoms but not the flu have kept me in the house - winter has arrived with a vengeance. 6-8 in ( 15- 20 cm ) of snow and more forecast. The ground is still warm = instant ice on all hard surfaces.

November goal: 75 miles

11/1: 4.1 miles
11/4: 8 miles


12.1/75 miles completed

I ran 8 miles today. The weather was really nice. It was a little cool at the start, but perfect in shorts and a t-shirt. The sun was shining and it was really pretty. I needed a pretty day. After the run I had to go to the visitation for my step-niece who was killed in a house fire on Tuesday. It was pretty tough and I know the funeral will be hard tomorrow so a nice long run was what I needed. The run started out shaky. I couldn't find my sunglasses and I had worn them to church so I knew I had them earlier this morning. Then my headphones were acting like they were going to go out on me which was really frustrating. They were crackling and then the songs kept skipping to the next song. But once I got to running I didn't have any more problems with the music. And I was able to use an old pair of sunglasses and even though they are too big and they are really scratched up they weren't annoying so once I settled into the run it was really good. I was really glad I was able to run today.

Great race reports @orphia and @rheddmobile and @MobyCarp!

Happy Birthday @katharmonic!








2018 races:
5/19/18: Run for 57th AHC Half Marathon - 2:43:59.7. - 2nd place AG
10/6/18: Old Rip 5K Run - PR 29:43.5, 2nd place AG
11/10/18: Wags & Whiskers 5K