2017 Episode 2: Change of Pace

     This is another delayed post of the spring, but this is a "to be continued" piece so I have to make sure it's told!  It's a bit longer than most, not necessarily because I'm more passionate about this race than the previous post, but because that was one event and the days and emotions leading up to it.  This is one event but includes more than two months worth of training plus my rationalizations and emotions leading up to the event.  So without further ado...

     In the winter and spring of 2016 I started waking up early and running with my sister.  She was training for the One City Marathon and my friends and I decided that we were going to train for the One City Marathon Relay.  I used to run cross country in high school so I've always had a passion (or something) for running.  During the relay the though crossed my mind that a marathon in my hometown would be kind of a unique experience and would be really cool as a first (and probably last) marathon.  As the year progressed, the though kept creeping into my head and the closer the end of cyclocross season got, the bigger the though got.  After Nationals I just felt so fit, and so elated that I did what any rational person would do after finishing up seven solid months of non-stop training and racing.  I signed up for my first marathon with no real running miles in my legs since the previous summer and only two months to train!

Team Glittering Wives after the 2016 One City Marathon Relay...
the start of my marathon "career"!

     Luckily, I have a great cycling coach that went to school on a running scholarship.  Turns out he's a great running coach as well!  I had a couple friends that had decided to sign up for the marathon (Darren and his wife Helen) and since I work with Darren, got constant heckling about getting ALL of my workouts in and advice on all the small things I should think about...when I should get new shoes, what shoes I should try (Hoka Cliftons were suggested and turned out to wonderful clouds under my feet the whole time!), what mile is the most people's downfall on marathon day, stuff like that.  I had decided that a 3:45 finishing time would be achievable but still challenging enough for me.  After all, I haven't been running since June.  After I decided this another friend, Bruce, let slip during a conversation that a 3:30 finishing time (just over twice the time as my only half marathon the previous May) would be impossible.  That equates to an 8 minute mile average.  Well then.  If impossible it be, new goal it was.  I guess I got a case of the can't-help-it's...

     And so I started training.  Hour runs became easy days.  Saturday mornings started at 5:30am with a two+ hour run before working at the shop and standing on my feet for another eight.  I did treadmill workouts when I didn't have hills for repeats...those usually lasted for at least an hour and a half.  And I became good friends with the track at Warwick High School down the road.  If anyone is curious it's 0.5 miles short (which means 4-3/4 laps per mile).  I never run with headphones unless I'm at the gym, I drink water every mile, I eat a gel from my gel flask every 45 minutes, and I always run with my "fanny pack" that carries my flask and full size water bottle.  Oh, and I never double knot my shoes.  One guess as to which gave me a hard time come marathon day...

     My long run was 18 miles.  At my 14 during that run I thought it was a good idea to head off road, and found myself turning around and walking about a mile when my quad locked up.  New lesson, don't veer off-road towards the end of a long run!  I felt good though otherwise, and was able to finish the run feeling good.  But unlike most people, I didn't do anything longer before the marathon.  I just didn't have enough time between Nationals and marathon day.  Mike had everything I needed to do planned out seemingly perfectly.  Darren hinted that I was possibly going to regret not having done anything longer, if nothing else but to know that I can go longer.  But I was naively confident, and my goal ultimately was to finish this thing and not hurt myself in the process.  If, while finishing, I got to prove Bruce wrong about my finish time, then bonus!  Proving Bruce wrong also means that I put 5 minutes on the time that I need to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  Something that had never even crossed my mind until I started training for this thing.  So I finish, don't get injured, prove Bruce wrong, AND qualify for Boston.  Super bonus!

     Marathon day was fast approaching and the forecast called for possible snow that threatened to cancel the event.  I was dreading not being able to run this event.  The Shamrock Marathon was the following weekend so I had a backup plan, but that was another week of solid training that I don't know if I could've mentally handled.  Especially being in my taper week and getting excited about running my first marathon in my hometown.   There's something kinda special about that.  Plus it was another $100 for registration...  I spent the last few days leading up to marathon day obsessing over the pace chart (even though I knew exactly what average pace I needed), trying to decide if I wanted to go out fast, slow, or maintain pace the whole time, and of course with the weather all over the place, I obsessed about what to wear.  I was told by quite a few people to make sure it was something I had run in before.

     The night before, I laid my clothes out that I decided on, from my socks (Swiftwick Maxus by the way) to my hat.  I filled my gel flask, charged my Garmin, filled my water bottle, and packed my gear bag for pre and post race.  Chris and I planned to wake up at 5:15 and for him to drive me across town to the start at Newport News Park.

Pinned and ready to go!

     Without surprise, I woke up a few minutes later than I had hoped.  Partially anticipating that, I was glad to have laid everything out so I wouldn't be scrambling and we could just jump in the van and head down the road.  Because of the aforementioned delay, I was starting to panic just a little bit about getting there with plenty of time to check my gear bag and make it to the start.  A little unnecessary I realized because everyone was getting there as late as possible because it was so bloody cold (remember the threat of snow means that even though the little white flakes don't fall, it's probably not warm)!  As I popped out of the van, a familiar looking guy rode by on his bike.  Chris and I called for my dad before he got too far down the road (he had volunteered to ride his bike with the leaders) and my dad turned around and rode back toward us.  The both wished me a good race and I was off to shed some layers, check my bag, and find my support group.  I saw Courtney first, she was doing the relay again this year with Kim, Katina, and Noris (Noris took my place from the previous year's relay team).  We snapped a picture, complained about the cold, and waited for them to stage us.

Pre-Race Selfie!

The music was blaring over the loud speaker.  It was still dark and I was trying really hard to focus on not being cold.  The start corral had pace signs posted so you had an idea of where you needed to be among the mass of bodies.  When they called us into the corral I told Courtney to have a good run and I found Darren and Helen.  We were huddled together for a bit until people started cramming in.  Helen and I are about the same height so once more people started filling in I lost sight of her pretty quick.  Darren is a foot taller than both of us so I could keep track of him quite a bit easier.  Not that we were actually all planning on running together, it just helped keep me from getting so nervous knowing they were there.  The start was delayed a few minutes, a woman collapsed during the national anthem.  I'm not sure why, but she turned out to be fine and they got us back on track shortly after.

     Everybody was staring up the road, leaning forward.  It seemed that we all took a deep breath the second leading up to the start, anticipation setting in.  We all rushed forward together, with hundreds of Garmins chirping to confirm the start of the marathon.  I had decided to stay with the 3:30 pacer for as long as I was physically able to so when I found him I made my way to the backside of his right heel.  That was where I planned to stay.  Running through Newport News Park, the sun started to rise and I started to finally feel the blooding flowing through my veins and warming me back up.  The large groups after the first mile scared up some deer and they went galloping across the golf course alongside us.  It was really pretty peaceful for a few minutes.

     Leaving the park we crossed over Fort Eustis Boulevard and ran past my elementary school.  The first water station was immediately after that with volunteers from Woodside High School at the 2-mile marker.  The 3:30 pace group was huge.  There must have been 30 or 40 people grouped around one guy carrying that 3:30 sign.  The first 3 miles felt pretty good.  My shoelace came untied around 3.5 miles in so I was forced to stop and re-tie it.  I re-tied both of my shoelaces, just in case.  But since I NEVER had shoelaces come untied with those Hokas during the past two months of training, I thought it was a fluke, still didn't double knot them, jumped up, and kept going.  I consciously tried not to sprint to catch back up to the group, though that was pretty hard to do when you are focused on staying right behind a particular person!  I caught back up to the group pretty quick, went through the water station at mile 4 and started past what used to be my middle school.  There was some excitement building for me at that point because I knew at the top of the street I grew up on my mom was standing there with a cow bell cheering everyone on.  I ran ahead a bit, gave her a big hug, and thought again how great it is to run a marathon in your home town.

     The next few miles I started paying attention to everyone that was still in the group.  The numbers had shrunk considerably already, it seemed like only 15 or 20 of us were left.  One girl was up to the left of the pacer and had been there the whole time.  It was her first marathon also and they were holding a fairly steady conversation.  Another girl had a shirt that said "50 Marathons, 50 States, <4 Hours" but had been quiet since the start.  We passed the 6-mile aid station, entering the Beechmont neighborhood, and I thought about how much time I had spent on those roads.  Spending time at my grandmother's house, old friends' houses, our long runs before field hockey practice, and all my training rides that take me up and down those streets.  People were outside of their houses huddled under blankets cheering us on.  The 8-mile aid station with the first relay transition.  Excitement again because I knew my sister-in-law, Katina, was there with Courtney's husband Brandon.  Katina was running the second leg of the relay and they were both waiting on Courtney.  Naturally I had to stop and give them hugs!  I passed my friend Christina's house and was hoping to see her mom out but later found out that she was out of town.  My brother's house was next on the tour of my hometown, but he wasn't outside just yet.  As we got closer to the next turn I heard the drumline from my Alma Mater.  The Denbigh High School Patriots always had an awesome drumline and they were out here supporting all of us.

     I saw my friend Cameron riding opposite us at mile 11.  He had already been up the road to check on Darren and was coming back to make sure Helen didn't need anything.  He found me again at 12.5 miles and rode with me until the halfway point before riding ahead to find Darren.  The second relay transition was coming up at mile 14, and although Noris wasn't there just yet, there were loads of people out cheering everyone on.  It was fantastic how there were still so many people out when it was so cold!  We came through mile 15 and our group was smaller still.  Ten of us total and more than half were ladies!  We finally discovered that our pacer's name was Mike and as the group shrunk we all started talking him up more and more.  Good for me to help keep my mind off of getting tired.  The girl doing 50 marathons in 50 states was still with us, the other girl who was doing her first marathon, and a third that I had noticed earlier had been thanking every volunteer we passed...I could only muster a wave most of the time!

     We were in my neighborhood now.  The roads I run and ride and walk Zuma on every day.  It was great being so familiar with the route, I knew every turn, pothole, the crests in the road, and I was feeling great.  I found Chris on course, just where he said he'd be.  He was at the Lions Bridge at mile 18 where we had been married 2.5 years earlier.  He was on his bike and had brought extra water for me.  Since I had been drinking every mile I was almost completely out of water, even with having taken some at a couple aid stations (which I realized back at mile 16 I didn't want to do anymore because I had to use more energy to get back on pace after slowing down to take a cup).

The remainder of our 3:30 pace group heading down the service road.

We ran down the Mariner's Museum service road and back out onto the main drag.  We were 20 miles in when I realized it was my longest run ever.  And then I realized that my shoe came untied.  Again.  I stopped, again, to tie it, only doing the one shoe this time and still not double knotting it (don't worry, that's the last time I had to stop for it).  I definitely took my time catching back up to the group the second time.  I was starting to feel the miles.  The next few ticked by.  Mile 22 was the third relay transition where Kim would soon be starting, and also the point where Mike told us if we were feeling good this is the time to start picking up the pace a bit.  I told him I was very happy staying behind his right heel.  A couple girls went ahead, a couple started dropping off a bit, knowing that they were ahead of the pace they wanted and wanted to save some for the last few miles.

Still smiling at mile 20!

Catching back up after my shoelace came untied again!

     Mile 24 was just Mike and myself.  And Chris was of course still pedaling beside us.  I talked to Mike as best I could to try and ignore how tired I was.  The wind was picking up as we were getting closer to the water and I stayed as close behind him as I could without stepping on his heel.  I learned last year at the half I did that drafting works in running too!  I discovered that Mike had done over 120 marathons and he was trying to become part of the Clif Bar Pace Team.  I hope he makes it because looking at our splits afterwards he really deserves it!

Keeping pace with Mike 24 miles in!

     I was getting really tired by now.  Everyone told me about mile 23 would be when I hit a wall.  But I really didn't then, it was more like a little hill.  I saw the Mile 25 sign and my left quad locked.  That, was the wall.  The pain shot all the way down to my foot and I just knew there was no way I could finish.  I thought how bad it would be to stop and maybe I could walk the last mile, but Chris and Mike kept talking to me to the next corner where cheerleaders from Heritage High School were out yelling for us.  It gave me some renewed energy and we rounded the penultimate corner.  I could see the last corner and just knew there was only 0.2 miles to the finish once I turned it.  My dad was riding backwards on the course looking for me when Chris started yelling to him that I was going to qualify for Boston!  Mike was telling everyone we passed that it was my first marathon and I was going to qualify for Boston!  I turned the last corner and with Mike telling me to go I started to pick up the pace just enough to open up a 10 second gap on him.

Mike telling me to pick up the pace into
final corner!

Side by side with Mike heading into the
final corner!

FINISH!!!

     I finished my first, and what is turning out NOT to be my last marathon in 3:29:39!  I finished 6th in my age group of 26, 18th of over 160 women, and 60th of over 360 total!  My Boston Qualifier time was 3:35:00.  So.  I qualified for Boston with minutes to spare, I didn't get hurt (my quad wasn't all that bad at that point with the distraction of finishing!), and most importantly proved Bruce wrong!  BOOM!  My mom and sister were just beyond the finish waiting for me along with my niece and nephews, Madilyn, Evan, and Quinten.  Darren was with Cameron waiting for Helen and they both congratulated me on something Darren would later tell me that he though was way more impressive than winning nationals (he's a Xterra National/Pan-Am Champion so he knows what it takes to win nationals)!

     The next few hours were a blur.  It took about 10 minutes for exhaustion to set in.  I began to realize how cold it actually was outside and started to shake uncontrollably.  Chris went o get the van as close as possible and when he got back we started making our way back past the finish line where we saw Helen had finished a few minutes earlier.  I remember she looked like she could turn around and run back across town to the start!  Maybe she didn't feel that way but she certainly looked way more fresh than I felt!  Chris helped me walk back to the van, load me up, and drove me back home.  There may have been a conversation or two started but I have no idea what there were about and whether I helped finish them.  We pulled up in the driveway and as Chris was helping me toward the house I had to stop to let all the fluid and gel I had taken in the past 3.5 hours come back up.  I managed to make it into the recliner and was in and out of sleep for the same amount of time that I had been running.  I was done.  All that training and I can finally relax.  I had finished and am ecstatic about how well I ran!  Id didn't take long for me to decide that I'm going to register for Boston, and I can't wait for that trip next year.  Darren and Helen both shattered their BQ times so I'll get to hang out with them too!  Until then though, I have a whole cyclocross season to plan and focus on...but at that point it was time for a brief hiatus from training!

     Thank you, as always, to my husband Chris who has helped encourage me, walked Zuma when I had already trained for two hours, and stayed by my side when I started to doubt myself.  Stoop, thank you again for coaching me and helping me achieve another year long goal.  Darren and Helen, thank you for your encouragement and helping me to realize exactly what I had gotten myself into.  My sister Beneline, for being my early morning running buddy.  The Glittering Wives/Happy Feet relay team for getting me to run the relay the year before and putting the thought in my head.  And of course Bruce for giving me the added motivation!

     I didn't really do much else this past spring again until May, but more on that in the next episode.  Thanks everyone for reading...sorry its a long one!

Stay tuned, Episode 3 is coming up!

2017 Episode 1: Mission Accomplished

     So I stalled posting this after Nationals.  I typed this up, and while trying to find pictures to post along with it (and realizing I can't actually find many) I kept delaying.  I got to the point that I wasn't sure that I should actually post it anymore since Nationals seems so long ago.  But here I am, convinced that maybe someone would like to read about it.  Plus there's some other things that I've been wanting to go on about that I feel like I can't without posting about this one!  So for those who aren't tired of hearing the story, or haven't yet and want to...

     Two years ago I never thought that I would actually ever win a National Championship and wear a Stars & Strips jersey.  Two years ago I also drove to Austin for my first ever National Championship race and got dead. f'ing. last.  It was a very humbling experience but a trip that I don't regret taking in the least.  Then last year I discovered that I didn't have to race the Elite race and train to try and get a top 25.  I discovered that I was just old enough to do the "Baby Masters" (30-34 age graded) race.  So I did that.  And I got third.  And I looked at the jersey while standing on the podium and realized that I really, really wanted one.

     I got in touch with Mike Stoop and after discussing my goal and race schedule with him, started to seriously focus on and train to achieve that goal.  I've had very consistent results this year, better than last year, and was really looking toward my goal.  After NCGP in December however, I started getting a little anxious about Nationals.  It was coming up really quickly and I don't think I was expecting the season to end so soon.  What if my training wasn't enough and what if I didn't put in enough effort during training to get it done.  I was hoping for a top 10 at NCGP and I didn't get it.  I tried to not be disappointed, after all it wasn't Nationals and wasn't my A race.  But it placed a seed of doubt in my head about whether my effort was going to pay off.  But Mike obviously knows what he's doing, otherwise I wouldn't have had some of my best results to date while working with him.

     I got sick the week before Christmas and had to miss a few workouts.  I couldn't believe that all the work that I put into the season was going to be meaningless because of a stupid cold.  I made sure to rest and hydrate as much as I could so I could recover as quickly as possible.  When I started feeling better I was on the bike making sure I had every workout in.  The van got an oil change, Zuma had her reservations for boarding, and I had a packing list that was two pages long for everything I could possibly imagine needing.

My 2 page packing list included 4 sets of tubulars and 2 sets of clinchers,
2 helmets, 3 pairs of riding shoes, a tent, propane heater (the forecast was 26 degrees!)
and of course my bikes!

I was as prepared as I could possibly be.  Nothing I did at this point (or weeks before at NCGP) would make me any more prepared.  Nevertheless I was so nervous I was almost sick.

Cyclocross Nationals Day 1... 2 days before my race.

The holeshot on Tuesday...it was way muddier by the end of Wednesday!

     Chris and I got to Hartford on Tuesday to rain and mud so deep that seemingly 50% of the course was unrideable.  I knew that Thursday everything would be frozen at 8am and the course would be completely different.  There was no point in pre-riding the course at all.  I did get to walk around and see how steep the levee was and where all the off-camber sections were so there was an advantage to getting there that early.  Chris and I went out to dinner with friends and I came home for one of my last trainer rides of the season.

Pre, Pre-Nats Dinner with the housemates!
Photo: Michael Carey

Tuesday night we received an email that the course had changed to shorten lap times.  On Wednesday Melissa Seek and I planned to get to the course early to pre-ride before the men's Masters fields and Collegiate fields started.  We were hoping for a slightly more frozen course so we get some idea of how the course was going to ride.  But alas, the ground was still sloppy muddy and gave us no idea of how much riding we would actually be able to do during the race.  I got one and a half laps in before they closed the course and I spent the rest of the day setting up the tent, riding the trainer, picking up my numbers, and relaxing.  I had no desire to pre-ride any more because I knew the course would be nothing like it was that day after a twenty plus degree temperature drop.  We ate dinner back at the house we rented for the few days, and received another email that the course may change for Thursday's races.  We would find out what the course was going to be when we lined up at the start.

     We got to the course at 6:45 Thursday morning.  The sun was still not up all the way, and temperatures were several degrees below freezing.  I got onto the bike as soon as I could.  I needed to dial in tire pressure as quick as possible.  The ground was frozen solid.  The ruts from the previous days of racing were etched into the ground with what seemed like concrete.  They were deep, solid, and I was bottoming out my tires and slamming the carbon rims into everything.  I was very cautious going through on my first full pre-lap and started getting really nervous again.  Chris put 24-25 psi in my tires and I went off for a partial lap which made me feel a quite a bit more confident through a lot of corners I wasn't previously.  Amazing what a difference of two psi makes.  The morning went by much quicker than anticipated and I felt rushed getting changed and getting on the trainer and properly warmed up.  I got off the trainer, Chris helped me change front wheels on my race bike (after realizing that the wrong wheel was put on), double-checked tire pressure, and rushed off to staging.

Call-Ups
Photo: @usacycling

     I've never had the first call-up in this big of a race.  I rolled up to the start line, wherever I wanted, checked my starting gear, pulled my jacket off, checked my shoes, started my computer and looked down the starting straight.  The officials gave us final instructions and told us they were adding in a large piece of the course that had been previously removed.  A large section that although we had seen, had not had the opportunity to ride under these frozen conditions.  As soon as the whistle blew all my nervousness dissolved and I was focused on riding as smooth and hard as possible.  I got the hole shot and put my head down past the pit where Chris was yelling for me.  I got to the levee first and decided to take the low line before climbing diagonally up to the high line.  This whole section turned out to be like sightreading for me.  Remounting, I tried to pedal with both feet as much as I could, unclipping my left foot and "skateboarding" only when I felt like I may slide out.  This section of the course was really where I needed to be smooth if I wanted to stay in front.  The off-camber section had changed slightly from the morning's pre-ride, taking us into another off camber, and a steep, switch-back descent.  We headed into a wooded section that had the days before been a long pool of mud and standing water, but this morning was a frozen path.  The grounds crew had driven the gator on parts of the course to help pack it in before the freezing temps, this was a section that riders could benefit by riding its tire tracks.  Coming out of the woods the race took us straight up the levee, with a 180 degree turn back down to the right, another 180 degree turn this time to the left and back up, and the a 90 degree left turn that ran us off camber and back down the levee.  I tried to maintain my speed back into the woods and riding past the pit I yelled to Chris and assured him that the tire pressure was good.  I got through the barriers, over the flyover, and into the start without any issues.  I didn't know what kind of a gap I had, I just kept my head down and kept digging.

Riding the top of the levee.
Photo: @cxmagazine

     My second lap was a little messier than my first.  Laura van Gilder was yelling for me before I got to the levee.  Laura van Gilder was yelling for me!  How cool is that?!?  At the top of the levee some guy was riding beside the course on the road yelling for me to keep it up.  I started losing traction and he started yelling at me to relax and settle down.  On the off camber I reminded myself that smooth is fast and felt comfortable again on the descent and through the wooded section.  On the second half of the climb back up the levee I turned the bars too tight and I was on the ground so fast I didn't realize what happened until I jumped back up.  Heading past the pit my left knee was throbbing from where it hit a frozen rut.  Behind the boathouse my handlebars got caught in the tape.  I tried riding through it but they were pretty tangled and my shoe hit the post in a way that the BOA dial opened.  I couldn't go anywhere without my shoe falling off.  I didn't have an updated time gap and it felt like ages before I got clear again.  I think it ended up being only 5 seconds or so that I lost but at the time it certainly felt longer.  I found out later that Jared Nieters had gotten a video of it and posted it on Instagram.

     I collected myself after my shoe incident, finished out the lap, and put my head down through the start/finish with two laps to go.  People were yelling for me at the top of the levee, I heard my name from different spots of the course, and I stopped paying attention to what anybody was really saying.  Chris yelled something about champagne from the pit, I yelled back to remind him I still had a lap and a half and that I wanted a time gap.  Maybe I didn't yell...maybe I might have snapped a bit in my excitement...  He didn't give me one but instead said to just keep going.  My legs were feeling great and I had one lap to go.  I've had a lot of races where I tell myself at some point to not go backwards.  Don't get caught.  I don't know if there was any race where I was more focused on just going forward.  I finished up my final lap, came into the finish straight, and posted up.  I had finished my season, and accomplished my goal.  I am a National Champion!  Someone from USA Cycling stopped me after the line and got an interview with me.  A guy from CX Magazine took my bike so he could take pictures of it.  Another guy from CX Magazine wanted to interview me.

2017 USA Cycling Women's 30-34 Cyclocross National Champion!

     I was, and even months later still am, elated from that morning's events.  I set a goal an entire year before, focused and worked toward that goal, and finished the season off by achieving that goal.  I could not be more excited to have finished off the season on such a big high and I'm really looking forward to next season!

     Thank you, everyone, for being so supportive of me this last year.  Christopher, I am so very thankful to have you by my side through all of this.  To all my family and friends that I had to skip out on plans to go ride or race, thank you for putting up with me.  To my coach, Mike Stoop, thank you for focusing my training and helping me to reach my goal.  Thank you all again.  I think I may be my biggest critic and the encouragement and kind words that I received from everyone went further than anyone can imagine.

Thank you, also, for reading.  I'll have more later in the week!

2017 Episode 2

Summer Series Announcement

     I haven't posted in a while.  Not that I haven't wanted to or haven't had anything going on.  I just delayed the first of several things I wanted to ramble on about and subsequently have delayed everything else.  I've actually had a few significant happenings this year, and with cyclocross season on the horizon I know I'm going to want to move on with these posts.

     I think I'm wanting to do a mini-series of the past few months, compressed into a few weeks.  At least one post a week, maybe two.  If y'all want to read it, great!  If not, that's okay too.  This way though, I'll be able to read it in the future and remember what happened when my memory gets even worse than it is now!

     So stay tuned, I'll post 2017 Episode 1 soon!