Race Report-Newton's Fraction

It's been a while since I've done one of these, eh? Not sure I remember how.......

Flashing my Brooks Fanatics tee

Last year I ran the Stafford Half Marathon and I started to sign up for it again but stumbled upon the Newton's Fraction Half Marathon which was one of the top 10 as voted on by Runner's World readers in 2012 so thought I would give it a go instead.  Unlike last year where the weather was so cold that runners were coming in to pick up their t-shirts and medal (I've never ran a race where you had the option to pick up the medal before it started until Stafford) and immediately going back home, Sunday was absolutely gorgeous--slightly too warm for a spring race in my opinion but I loved the sunshine.  The winds, predicted to be up to 33 mph, I could have done without though.

The sideways ponytail? That's not from me tossing my head playfully

Miles 1-4 went well leading me to think I might be able to keep the 8:40 something pace I wanted to ensure a sub 2 hour. I'd skipped the first water stop at 3.5 because of a queasy stomach and drinking when I feel that way already leads to me needing to find a Porta Loo or some trees very quickly. Gross but true. Oh, I did have a garmin malfunction just past mile 1, it did the lost satellite reception thing then tried to freeze up. Fortunately I was able to shut it down and get it restarted with only losing .2 of a mile. 

The tummy did do what I feared and started rumbling towards the end of mile 4 so between that and the first big hill at mile 5.5ish my pace dropped to a low of 10:33 for mile 6. I did find someone to chat with for 3 miles which got me back under a 9 minute pace but then around mile 9.5 I started feeling like the nail on my left big toe was being ripped away.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Going up the other big hill at mile 10.25 made it throb even worse and I was vowing to never enter another half marathon. It was such a relief to be told finally that the finish line was within half a mile but I couldn't even manage to pick up the pace once I got on the track. Actually I got slower, lol.  

The end is in sight! After a lap around the track that is

Despite the toe and tummy issues I did enjoy most of the course. I love running canal trails and back roads plus the view of Belvoir Castle was amazing.   The area of Denton that we ran through was quite pretty as well. The only complaint I would have was that the final 1.5 miles wasn't quite as nice as the rest of the course but you have to get back somehow on an out and back.  This isn't a personal best course in my opinion and if you are a bling collector you will be disappointed because there were no medals, only finishers shirts which were a bit plain (no logo on back, small logo on corner of the chest).  The goodie bag was also a bit sparse especially when compared to the one from the Rushcliffe 10k. The only extra besides food was a trial size tube of toothpaste--hmmm, wonder what they were trying to say, lol.  A big thank you to all the course marshals and volunteers, everyone seemed to be pleased to be out there--that probably had a lot to do with the beautiful sunshine though :-) 

Not happy about the 32 seconds over 2 hours but happy to be done!

So back to the toe. I was dreading pulling off my shoe because I was expecting a bloody mess but fortunately I (and everyone else on facebook because I would have taken pics) was spared that.  Turns out that the Compeed callous plaster I'd placed on the side of my foot had started to come loose and when it did it was catching on my sock which then was catching the side of the nail and pulling it up with each step I was taking. Extremely painful yes but no permanent harm done this time, whew.  

Click to enlarge

Mileage and time is off because of the Garmin issue

  

Day 8

Janathon day 8. Super easy 4.5 mile run in 42:13 with Elsie the Miniature Schnauzer Menace who was well pleased to finally head out on the canal trail with me. Right after was a kettlebell interval workout (swings, low windmills, one arm swings, swing punches, and russian twists), 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest for 20 minutes. Finished up with the bicycle crunches and foam rolling.  Surprisingly I am not the least bit sore after last night's handicap run (official time of 23:06) despite the hellacious hill on the return portion. The first time I did the handicap I could barely walk for 2 days after, I'm attributing the improvement to the kettlebells. Love seeing some improvement.

I also signed up for the Ramathon half marathon which sold out in under 8 hours. Who else managed to get in?

Visiting a palace

My first week in England on this visit was absolutely gorgeous--sunny skies, hot temps (in the 80s), everyone had a smile on their face and most were sporting a sunburn or in the process of trying to get one.  In other words, very UN-typical UK weather and it was a perfect day to visit Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.  Fitting since on the last trip I visited his gravesite, eh?  Yes, I did opt to stand in line and get the annual pass since it was free other than getting my mug-shot and a little bit of time, kinda cool carrying that around in my wallet.

very imposing

side view and the moat depression

intricate ironwork

fearsome! looks like something out of a video game

looking up at the eyes looking down in the main entry

Moi

Doesn't she look so elegant?

lush, I probably overuse it but it so applies to quite a lot of the UK

One of the areas we couldn't enter: the maze

love the ducks

Watching the sunbathers

silly pic of me trying to hug one of the giant trees :-)

More sunbathers

We toured much of the interior also but like most places they wouldn't allow photography on the inside (want you to buy the books from the gift shop). Parts of Blenheim Palace can also be rented out for weddings and other events but honestly I wouldn't want to be married there unless it was out in one of the amazing (and extensive) gardens.  Next visit there will be to run the Blenheim Palace half marathon in the fall and I'm hoping to ride the miniature train and play in the Marlborough Maze afterwards--yes, I am still a kid sometimes, lol.

Joplin Memorial Run

In the previous 5 days I've actually done a fair bit of moving about.  On Saturday I ran the Joplin Memorial Run Half Marathon that my friend Julie talked me into registering for a couple of months ago.  While the race wasn't what I was hoping for (sub 2 hour) at least I got the mileage done and that was my 3rd race in 7 days so I don't suppose I should grumble about a 2:03:39 chip time but I would've like to have skipped the porta potty stop during the race.  Oh and don't get a pedicure 2  days before a half marathon!!! My feet were feeling some pain, I'm still surprised I didn't end up with blisters.

First race in my half-fanatics shirt :-)

Part of our running club crew that ran Joplin

There is still a fair bit of  damage in the Joplin area, quite sobering to hear some of the stories and see the leveled areas from the tornado that hit just over a year ago.  I'm not going to get into the details since this is all available with a simple search but it will definitely make you tear up.

Memorial Tree, terrible pic but my phone started messing up.

So, the race itself........The good:  lots of porta-potties both at the start/finish line and all along the course.  Fantastic volunteers at the water stops and even the residents all along the course were sitting outside cheering us on.  They had 2 troughs set up with ice water to soak your legs and feet in afterwards.  The shirts are technical and offered a choice of tee or singlet style and they had male/female cuts available (most races only offer unisex and no smaller sizes than a small).   There was lots of water available on the course and after the race and if you were of legal age you could get two free beers afterward.  Gorgeous course for the first few miles and the medal is absolutely beautiful.

porta-potties!

lots and lots of water

cold but felt so good on my aching feet

Beer, Blue Moon or Miller Lite

ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Blue Moon of course (and my cute Brooks Launch trainers!)

Isabel and Julie waiting on me to finish my beverage

Isabel and me before the race

The bad:  Quite a few of the porta-potties were not lockable.  I know that's not the fault of the race director but of the supplier but it is something they need to insist on next year from whatever company they hire.  Lots of people getting walked in on including me at one point.  Didn't help that the runner was over-aggressive in pulling the door open, lol.  Also it would be nice if there was hand sanitizer available either inside or at the tables.  While the first part of the course was gorgeous, there was a section that had to be run on sidewalks and it was covered with loose gravel, I'm kind of surprised no one fell during this section.  This race is a hilly one and the latter part had no shade whatsoever so be prepared for that when you run it.  Pre-race banquet was the usual: 2 kinds of pasta, salad, green beans and cold apple or cherry pie and despite asking for coffee, no one bothered coming to our section with the carafe.  Unless there's a speaker you really want to hear, this is a skip.

another "chime" for my door :-)

If you're in the Joplin area I do highly recommend eating at the Red Onion Espressoria.  I had the best BLT and A sandwich there, gotta love a place that offers fresh sliced avocado rather than mashed up guacamole.  The Banana Foster latte was also a huge win.  

Isabel, me and Julie at the expo.

back 2 back races

Doing back 2 back races/events is not anything new for me, not that I'm saying I do it several times a year or anything but it is something I've been known to do occasionally. However it has always been a shorter race combined with an endurance event, ie running a 5k or 10k on a Saturday then a sprint duathlon, a century ride, or a half marathon on a Sunday.  This past weekend I ended up running 2 longer distance races--the Sylamore 25k trail race followed by the Run the Line Half Marathon on Sunday in Texarkana.  Yes, I know the true distance runners are scoffing at my classifying these as distance events but let's not forget that even a 5k can be a daunting amount of miles for those starting out.  Heck, a 5k still scares me and that's my favorite distance to race.  

KT Tape and my new Brooks Running Launch trainers

I had no plans/illusions/goal times for the Run the Line half marathon, all I wanted to do was get there, get the distance done, collect my Arkansas RRCA Grand Prix point, and hopefully still be able to walk afterwards.  I told Julie and Luke (who I car-pooled down with) that I would be much slower than them (btw, I'm slower than those two in ideal conditions) and apologized in advance for the longer than usual wait time they were going to have because of me.  It was so hard waking up at 0345, feeling my left ankle throb and knowing that I was going to have to run 13.1 miles after a long drive--which I was just a passenger for thanks to Julie!!!!--but I had my goal and with KT Tape snugged around the cranky ankle I was all set (sorta) to get it done.

ummm, is that a bullet hole?

This was the first time for the three of us to run this race so we had no clue of where it was, what the course was like, the parking situation, etc but everyone I knew who had run it last year said it was great and we had no problems locating the place and everything went quite smooth with finding a primo parking spot close to the start line and the packet pickup.  The only complaint I could make was that there were 3 porta-potties outside and 2 of them appeared to be locked judging from the constant line of runners walking up and trying the doors and not being able to open them.  Thankfully there are facilities available inside the building where packet pickup was--yay for flushing toilets and hot water to wash your hands with!! Yes, that's a recurring theme for me, lol.  

Lots of hugs, lots of talking about my previous day's adventures, and lots of good lucks later we were off and running.  The first mile was all about getting my ankle un-stiffened up but once I did I was able to settle into a nice, steady pace, the good thing about the ankle was that I did NOT jack-rabbit this race like I have a bad habit of doing.  Also since I had no time goal pressure I was able to chat with other runners, the cyclists who were riding back and forth checking on everyone, and the volunteers at intersections and aid stations.  I generally make it a policy to say thanks to those directing traffic anyways but on Sunday they got smiles and "how ya doing's?" too, lol.  What I didn't have to do thanks to me carrying my Amphipod water bottle of Heed mix was walk the aid stations in order to get fluid (unfortunately I don't get any money/endorsement from those links, it's just what works really well for me) so I was able to keep my steady pace going.  Even the long-arsed incline on the busy roadway at mile 5-6 didn't slow me down an extreme amount.  Not saying I didn't slow down quite a bit, it just didn't hit me near as hard as I expected it to. Was very glad to see it end though, whew.  

That steadiness and feeling surprisingly decent lasted right through to around mile 8 then we turned into a headwind that sapped the energy right out of me. I still hadn't walked a single step and didn't have to until just before mile 10 where I took a piece of candy from a kid to try and boost my flagging energy.  Could only get down a couple of bites of the twizzler though.  After that I played the game of I'll run to the next intersection, mile marker, person, etc then take a walk break if I need to.  I WANTED to take walk breaks but was able to convince my brain to keep going.  Yes, brain.  While my legs were fatigued and it was getting very warm, it's more a matter of my brain wanting to quit rather than my body saying it had enough. Surprisingly during those last 2 miles of sluggery I was still able to keep catching and passing people and no, there were not any further walk breaks.  

I knew that I was keeping a decent pace thanks to the teenagers volunteering who called out the time and sometimes pace at every mile marker.  Yes, EVERY mile marker! That's something a bit different than any other race I've done and I kind of like it.  However I was still surprised to see the finish line clock and realize that I was going to come in under 2:05.  Don't ask me how I managed to put in a somewhat decent half marathon time on a bum ankle and the day after a 25k trail race because I have absolutely no clue myself.  A good bit of it was probably due to the not putting any pressure on myself to "race" on either day.  

Click to enlarge--mileage splits

My garmin mileage splits were quite interesting to me.  While it's not a negative split race, they are fairly consistent and much better than I expected.  The mile 14 data is skewed because I forgot to turn it off and there is some walking about time on there.  Needless to say, I'm happy with the result and it shows me that if I hadn't have ran 25k the day prior I would probably have gone sub 2 hours and might have even come close to pr'ing. Final stats: Gun time 2:03:17, chip time 2:02:58, 231/447, 13/44 female 40-44 age group, and 75/213 gender.

I thoroughly enjoyed this race especially the portions that were on the trail, crowd support was great, fantastic volunteers, intersections were well policed, and a gorgeous medal with an interesting tech shirt.  There was ample food afterwards, fresh grilled hamburgers and chicken with lots of condiments available and free beer from Hopkins Ice House.  I didn't receive one of course but the age group awards were cool-looking too.  A nice touch was posting the results immediately and they had a monitor scrolling through the results, showing overall finishers and where you placed in your age category.  

Such a cute moment

Finish Line disassembly

If you know Julie be sure and give her a huge congrats on her sub 2 hour half marathon finish.  She killed it Sunday!!! And this is all before her first year anniversary of running!!!!! She's also a cancer survivor and quit smoking approximately four years ago so there's an inspiration to get out and move if there ever was one.  My only whinge? She's in my age group, lol!!!!!!!!!  All kidding aside, I feel very privileged to have gotten to know her this year and look forward to seeing her ahead of me in many more races.

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Seen during a bathroom pitstop

Quick ankle update, I took Monday thru Wednesday off from running. Monday there wasn't much choice since I was limping and hobbling about but by Wednesday there was only a little stiffness left so all is good.

Race bling

seize the moment

............and blog when the mood hits you otherwise you'll end up like me this past week and have some great ideas but then lose them or the "want to" to write anything at all.  Bah. 

I've had some great runs this week, all of which have challenged me to go faster or longer than what I felt or thought I could, all of which were with some amazing friends.  That always makes the miles go by faster even on days like yesterday morning when I was feeling light-headed from not eating enough on Wednesday (not on purpose, just had a lot going on and kinda forgot that I needed to eat occasionally).  Even with that and a walk break, Isabel and I managed to kick out 6 miles in 56 minutes with the last 2 miles being the fastest.  Throw in a couple of short but fairly intense trainer sessions and some major core work and I feel like I'm getting back in serious mode with training. Finally.

My new Brooks Running kicks--the 2012 Launch

Hopefully I will have some great posts to write up over the weekend. Tomorrow I'm running the Sylamore 25k for the first time.  It will be my 2nd trail race and I hope it goes much better than the Full mOOn 25k did back over the summer.  I'm certainly better trained for this one distance wise but the creek crossing kind of has me worried since there's been so much rain here.  Apparently it's just slightly longer than 25k too, as in 17 miles as opposed to the 15ish it should be.  Guess I'll find out tomorrow, lol. 

As if that wasn't enough, I decided earlier in the week to sign up for Sunday's Run the Line Half Marathon in Texarkana since it's also a grand prix race. I am NOT trained up for back-to-back long runs, eeek.  But I'm not planning on "racing" either event, more just getting out to get the distance done and see if I survive.......Yep, color me stupid.  Please cross your fingers and wish me luck!