A "do not start" for Capital City :'-(

I hate to feel like a quitter, but I need to keep my eyes on the prize and maintain (what's left of) my sanity.

I will not be racing the Capital City Half Marathon Saturday.

I've looked at it from every angle, and given the following circumstances there is no way running 13.1 miles in two days can be considered a not-horrible decision:

• I came down with a cold after my half marathon Sunday. Ok, that's a lie, I came down with a cold before my half marathon Sunday. Woke up at 1 a.m. and couldn't breathe. I just pumped myself full of DayQuil and Ibuprofin and miraculously survived, then slept for 36 hours. Oh, and I also ate my magic coconut peanut butter. (It's magic because it's peanut butter and I actually like it.)
• Many many many sources tell you not to take cold medicine and Ibuprofin before a run. I've already not listened once.
• Said cold has overstayed its welcome by about four days. Either it decided to get worse again this morning, or someone hit me with a bag of bricks overnight. 
• Against my better judgement I went to spin this morning, using the logic that "maybe if I get up and get moving I'll feel better." I did not feel better.
• I refilled my big water bottle at least six times yesterday, and still woke up dehydrated.
• It's going to be almost 80 in Columbus Saturday. I don't do well in the heat even when I'm used to it. I have not run in the heat this year. 
• Cold meds make my tummy hurt. 

The odd thing is, I feel tired but otherwise fine. No fever. I'm functioning surviving at work and had the energy to play with laugh at chicken butt Lizzie dog this morning (and clean up the half glass of orange juice she knocked over with her tail). Tonight I'll probably venture out to the store to buy more tissues and return my overdue Redboxes (to plow through Lincoln, or accept the fact that I will fall asleep during it?) Sooooo.... you get the picture. 

Even after all this, and multiple people telling me to listen to my body, I was tempted to go and try to run. "You jumped into a dumpster full of ice in November a year and a half ago and were fine the next day," I tried to tell myself. "That means racing doesn't make me sick!"

This was the deciding factor: I've already lost a week and a half of half ironman training from tapering and this cold. On Sunday, I will be 11 weeks out from Musselman. I am really far off my training plan.

If I run this, it could mean being out for another week, for a race I've already put a lot into.

That won't do.

I deferred my entry, so I'll look forward to the Capital City Half Marathon 2014.

I'll take my day off tomorrow, teach my class, then rest. Maybe take the dogs for a walk. Maybe introduce Flower to the Canal trail. Maybe get in the way of the Hollywood crews downtown like the rest of the city.

(And maybe go fight that parking ticket.)

Flower City: As ready as I can ever be

In two days starts the crazy three-races-in-eight-days scheme: The Flower City Duathlon, the Flower City Half Marathon and the Capital City Half Marathon.

First, check out this video I did with some of my colleagues on the Flower City course. I'm proud of it!

So... I'm ready as I'll ever be! I got my new bike...

...have picked up my race packet...

... a very pretty t-shirt...

... and am getting my information together for the Capital City Half Marathon the following weekend!

The plan is to go slow for all legs of the Flower City Half Marathon and the Flower City Duathlon. Then I'll give Capital City all I've got!

Race weekends (plural) are fast approaching

This morning I switched into race mindset :)

Fleet Feet held a preview run for the Flower City Half Marathon today, so my training partner Megan D. and I met there for our final long run before taper.

This was my first time running in a big group outside of the smaller races that I've done. We stuck with the 12:00 pacer, the group of 20 was wonderful to run with and it made the run go so quick!

Megan and I did a little bit beforehand to make sure we'd get at least ten miles in. We ran 10.3 miles in 2 hours.

I felt strong through the entire run. I struggled on some of the hills through Highland Park, so I'm going to get some hill repeats in before the race.

Which I'm getting excited for!

I have three races coming up in rapid succession. Race #1 is the Flower City Duathlon, a 5K run, 20 mile bike, 5K run on April 27.

The very next day is the Flower City Half Marathon. My plan is to take the entire thing at a 12:00 mile, and stick with a pacer to hold myself back.

Finally, the next weekend is the Capital City Half Marathon in Columbus. I cannot put into words how excited I am to go back and see all the people who got me hooked onto this wonderful sport! This one I hope to race to the best of my ability!

I'm excited but getting nervous!

My goal this week is to stick to my training plan. I've been switching the workouts around, but it's designed to be done as written.

Filling out the race calendar, and returning to COLUMBUS!

I should probably wait until I throw down my money to make it official. I've decided to run the Capital City Half Marathon in Columbus May 4! I am so excited to see all my Columbus friends again, but that will mean two half marathons and a duathlon in back to back weekends. I'm also considering  a tri in Columbus at the end of June.

In addition, I'm going to shoot for the Wineglass Marathon in October.

So, the only thing I'm missing is an Olympic Tri sometime in late June. I just need to take the time to find a good one.

So my race schedule for the year:

April 27: Flower City Du: 5K run, 20 mile bike, 5K run, Rochester
April 28: Flower City half marathon - 13.1 mile run, Rochester
May 4: Capital City Half Marathon, 13.1 mile run, Columbus, Ohio (still need to register)
June 2: Strassburg Sock Keuka Lake triathlon, 820 yard (.75k) swim, 14 mile bike, 3.1 mile run, Penn Yan, NY
POSSIBLE: June 9: The Great Western Reserve triathlon, swim 1500 meters, bike 26 miles, run 6.2 miles, Ravenna, Ohio
OR
POSSIBLE: June 30: Greenswell Antrim Park triathlon, swim 1500 meters, bike 24.9 miles, run 6.2 miles, Columbus, Ohio
July 14: Musselman HALF-IRON!!! 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run, Geneva, NY
September 7: Highlander Cycle Tour, 100 mile ride, Canandaigua, New York (still need to register)
October 6: Wine Glass full marathon, 26.2 mile run, Corning, New York (still need to register)

Eeep.

Race report: Flying Pig weekend

The Flying Pig Marathon was hands down the best event I have ever done. I ran for 5 hours, 21 minutes and 7 seconds and genuinely loved every second of it. (Separate blog post with more photos.)

Thinking back to how miserable I was the last 8 miles of the Columbus Marathon, trying to make a time goal, I wonder if slowing down and stopping to smell the roses (literally, Rebecca E. stopped and made me smell some pink ones), is the best way to go.

To bad I have too much of a competitive spirit!

This weekend was a whirlwind. I'll just whiz through the early details so I can get to the super-fun stuff. Woke up at 5 a.m. Saturday. Headed to downtown Columbus to see the MITers off for the Capital City Half Marathon. Had a blast standing on a freeway overpass for several hours ringing a cowbell, jumping up and down and yelling at the many, many members of my running groups competing. The incredibly awesome Sara W. cheered with me. She blogs here.  

Me and Sara

Sat in a Tim Hortons sipping tea for an hour -- as quiet of a moment as I was going to get that weekend. Met up with Brandie D. and Rebecca and headed out of town. Got stuck in traffic for an hour because of an Obama rally. Finally got out of the car on I-270 to stretch our legs. Saw cars moving up ahead. Screamed. Waved our arms. Ran back to the car. Many engines behind us revved up as a result.

Ick! Traffic.

Finally made it to Cincy. Found parking. Went to expo. Spent too much money at expo. Bought some yummy dried fruit snacks and some Flying Pig gear at 50 percent off. Loaded up on free samples of laundry soap, wrinkle reliever and undereye cream. Since Mr. Obama held us up we were there as they were closing and trying to get rid of stuff.

Loot

Went to Arnold's Bar and Grill for dinner with other members of Run DMC. Got some yummy gluten free pasta with portabellas and a bottle of Woodchuck cider. Made it to the hotel by 10 and crashed almost instantly.  

Run DMC after dinner

Our alarms went off at 4:30 a.m. We dragged ourselves out of bed, got ready and walked a good mile in the dark to the starting line. When I woke up I was petrified, but as we were walking across the bridge that separates Kentucky from Ohio, we heard "Born to Run" over the loudspeakers and saw crowds of people pouring in from every direction as the sun rose. The fear was gone, now we're just excited. We dropped our bags and got in the corral.

Brandie and I, up bright and early.

I loved, loved, loved this course. I wish I had brought a camera so I could document some of the things we saw. The course was windy, curvy and hilly. Around every turn there was something new, a mascot, someone in a funny costume, cute kids cheering, zombies, drunk people, a band, a DJ, people with hoses to cool us off. The miles just flew by.

Ready to race

I am so proud and happy that I have stumbled across such a wonderful, supportive group of people. The past two weekends Facebook has been filled with posts of people virtually cheering on our teammates and it has me so excited to run the Pig next weekend.

I had a great run this morning with the 12:00 pace group. It went really fast and I had a lot of fun, and got me thinking about my plans for fall :) After I got two shirts for $7 at Old Navy, went to Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Half Price Books.

DMC members Amy, Amanda, Richard, Kim, me and Mandy.

I'm really looking forward to next weekend. Brandie and I are going to cheer at the Capital City Half Marathon, then head down to Cincinnati for the Pig.

Photos from Cleveland and the MIT celebration!

We are now five days past the marathon and I am mostly recovered. I still feel a little shakiness in the knees. I still feel a little stiffness getting up and sitting down. And most of all I have just been tired.

But more importantly, I have pictures! These are both the Brightroom proofs of the official race pics, and also photos of the wonderful 10:30 gathering on Wednesday at Champps in Columbus.

First the official race photos. Hands down my favorite, I know it was taken during the last .2 miles because I took my earbuds out at the 26th mile marker.

And a nice, blurry procession of me finishing:

 

 

MIT Team 10:30 met at Champps on Wednesday to celebrate all of our races! What an amazing group of people and set of accomplishments! I felt naked with only one medal!

This is Coach Randy, me and Kim. Randy ran the Gettysburg North-South Marathon and Kim ran Cap City.

Sarah, who ran the Pittsburgh full and Katie, who ran the Flying Pig and Cap City halves.

Me, Sarah and Kim.

And speaking of medals, Michelle K. from our pace team pointed out a typo on the medal! The Rite Aid logo says 2010 marathon! It's ok, it still says 2011 in large, funky, psychedelic type!

And, for no reason whatsoever, this is the cat that has taken up residence outside my apartment window. I think it gets great pleasure from torturing my dogs.