My first marathon was over 6 years ago and it was one of those things that I got hyper focused on and instead of having fun, I let myself get upset about missing goals and ended up finishing the race really upset. The weather was crazy, I made a ton of rookie mistakes and then at the 20 mile mark, I just mentally tapped out and walked the majority of the last 10K of the race. Later I regrouped and remembered some fun stuff, reveled in the accomplishment of completing a marathon, and shook it off. But I always wanted to do another one. Not to beat my time or REALLY go hard this time, but just to finish a marathon with a smile on my face and feeling as strong (or stronger!) at the end as I did at the beginning. I wanted a second chance at that mental wall.
I've followed the Little Rock Marathon since I first started running back in 2004. I would see them at race expos all the time and they were constantly being written up for their crazy medals and fun experience. As a matter of fact, I almost ran it right after my 1st marathon, which was in December. I was thinking I could go and run another one right away, since LR was only a few months later. So I've had my eye on them for a while and it was always on my list. Last year I LOVED their super hero theme and the medal and I remember telling a friend, "I'm doing it next year, I want that medal." So when registration opened up, I signed up immediately because I didn't want to procrastinate and then end up not training. I knew if I signed up, I would do it. I did have a little burn out around the holidays, but thankfully Shama gave me a quick kick in the butt (and the contact information for a great running coach!) and I got back in the game.
So after weeks of training, it was finally marathon week! I woke up 7 days before the race sick with a pretty nasty cold that kept me pretty miserable until about Wednesday of that week. I didn't run because I was really afraid of making it worse and not making it to race day. I got a few miles in Friday night, but mostly just to shake my legs out a little, which felt pretty good. Of course we get hit with a big ice storm Friday, which threw our travel plans a little out of whack, but Shama and I were leaving Dallas on Saturday (with donuts in tow!) whether Mother Nature liked it or not. We hit the road and made pretty good time, considering. We got to the race expo with a couple of hours to spare and ended up having a lot of fun walking around and checking out all of the booths.
RACE EXPO:
Little Rock is definitely a small race compared to Dallas. The expo was the first sign that we were in for something a little bit different. Every year, the CIC's (or Chicks in Charge) choose a theme for the race and all the decorating, costumes, medals, etc. are designed around that theme. This year the theme was pirates! The medal has a nautical theme, with mermaids, a compass, a pirate ship, etc. on it. It's pretty awesome. Now, we got word a couple of weeks before the race that a huge shipping strike had caused a bit of havoc and the medals were trapped on a cargo ship on the east coast. Because they weren't going to make it for race day, the medal company designed a really fun replacement medal so that we would not be empty handed on race day. I thought that was pretty awesome. We are going to get our giant medals, but probably not until the end of March/early April. It was a bummer, but they handled it really well and it was obvious that they had done all they could. I have since received a similar email from a 5K that I'm running in a couple of weeks, so this shipping problem has obviously been an issue.
The expo was small, but fun! We saw most of the usual booths - nutrition, clothes, recovery tools, running stores, other races, etc. They had a big pirate ship with volunteers dressed up for pictures, which was fun.
The pirate on my left was trying to lick my face.
I thought this cutout looked like Adam Levine.
We did a little shopping, picked up some Bondi bands, some race merch and this bad ass new visor that I'm totally going to rock this summer!
Lots of skull/crossbones merchandise to go with the theme!
We hit every square inch of that expo and grabbed the obligatory backdrop picture on the way out -
After the expo, we headed to the hotel to check in and then made some dinner plans. We stopped at Target on the way and after confirming via the Weather Channel app that the rain wouldn't show up until AFTER the race, I decided against purchasing a poncho. This would come back to haunt me later. After Target there was pizza, followed by cupcakes, and then we were both asleep by 9p. Unfortunately my stupid cold turned into an annoying night cough that kept me up for a couple of hours. Since we went to bed so early, it worked out okay, but I felt terrible about bothering Shama with what sounded like the plague. Ha ha!
RACE DAY:
Usually I start getting nervous about a race several days before, but this one didn't get me worked up at all. Even the night before, other than the coughing fits, I slept really well and felt totally cool. I don't know, I just knew I had trained well and felt no pressure about it. I got a little giddy when we got to the start line and there was some nervous energy, but overall, I felt pretty chill about the whole thing. I will say that any time I set out to run more than 15 miles, I always have funny thoughts beforehand like, "Uh, yeah right, is this really happening?" or "I don't know, this doesn't seem like it can happen." I think that's why finish lines make me so emotional, I really can't believe that it's real sometimes.
Let's talk about how awesome the morning went - we got up around 5:30a, got dressed and headed out. We pulled right up on a cherry parking space (for free!) and watched as the lot filled up 2 minutes later. We walked to the start line and managed to walk right into porta potties without having to wait, only to walk back out to crazy lines. We walked over to the starting line, which they hadn't opened yet and we were going to try and take a picture through the fence with the starting line in the background. Well just at that moment, Bart Yasso is walking through, since he's announcing the race. I know him, so I say, "Hi Bart!" and he sneaks us through the fence and takes an awesome start line photo of us, which we never would have gotten otherwise. We had about an hour before the start and quickly realized that the reports of no rain during the race were all LIES. It was pretty cold and it was already raining a bit. The rain was pretty light, but we didn't want to stand around in it, so we jumped under a covered rest area with everyone else running the race. Right before we left for the start corral, a dude put a trash bag down in front of me that his wife didn't want to use. I mean, HELLO?! I threw that bad boy on and it was like everything was going my way! Can you hear the music now? I felt like Ice Cube, thinking to myself, "Today was a good day."
The start line was pretty standard - Shama ran up to Corral C (really Corral B) because she was running the 10K and wanted to go for a PR. I was back in Corral D with the silly folks! There was music, an opera version of the Star Spangled Banner (which was awesome) and lots of fun ahead of the start. It took about 8 minutes for me to hit the start line, which is pretty good - I've gone 30 minutes from gun to start at larger races. Then we were off! I started off at a pace that I was super happy with and then realized that I had obviously OVER hydrated the day before and was going to need to stop at the first porta potty - which is the kiss of death for time. I didn't really have a finish time in mind, but I think I really got tied to a 5 hour finish, which would be tight at my normal pace. Giving up 5 minutes to wait at the first stop pretty much sealed the deal for me on that goal. I did try and make it up for a mile or 2, clocking some faster miles and doing way too much bobbing and weaving to pass people. I ended up adding almost a quarter of a mile to my distance doing that, so I finally just dropped the pressure on that goal and decided to really focus on having a good time. I settled in and rolled with that plan starting around Mile 5. The crazy thing about the first 5-6 miles is that we were basically just zigzagging through downtown, which was pretty fun! Every where you turned, there was a line of runners going down a street, it was nuts. The 10K runners turned off around Mile 5 and then the half and full marathoners went on a wider circle of the city until about Mile 11, where the half marathoners turned off and us full marathoners were taking a wild ride out of downtown. Shama popped up at Mile 6/7 and got a couple of pics of me, which was funny since I hadn't planned to see her until Mile 11.
See my awesome trash bag/pancho!
As we made the corner around Mile 8, I noticed we were running right past the Governor's Mansion. THEN I noticed - the Governor and First Lady of Arkansas were standing outside their house! They were taking pictures with runners and cheering us on, it was really amazing. They were so nice and since I had settled into my "have fun" goal, I decided to stop and grab a picture, too! It started to really rain as soon as I snapped this photo:
When I got to the split at Mile 11, I didn't see Shama, so I figured we just missed each other. It was also kind of confusing, because they were herding the half runners to the right and we were headed to the left. This is the corner where we passed Couch Potato Mile, which I discovered has it's own Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/couchpotatomile It was an entire block of old couches lined up on along the course and each couch had bags of Lays potato chips. They were really funny and those couches were VERY tempting. I really wanted some of those chips, but I didn't want them that second and I didn't want to carry them with me, so I passed on the treats.
Photo Courtesy of: Little Rock Marathon FB page
We made another couple of turns and we started coming up on Mile 12. MILE 12. Let me tell you about Miles 12-16. I had been staring at this elevation map for months:
I knew that those miles were going to be tough. I had mentally prepared myself for Miles 12-16. I will go back for a moment and say that the early miles were mildly hilly - mostly just rolling hills, nothing too crazy - but hilly, nonetheless. So my hips and my knees were already a little sore from those hills and then as we are coming up on the Mile 12 mile marker, I switched the music to a comedy album that I love to keep me distracted from what I knew was going to be a good 45 min-1 hour workout. There was a cop standing at that mile marker and he was saying to all of us "good luck guys!" Ha ha! And so we began...the CLIMB. Surprisingly enough, I settled in to the uphills pretty easily. It was tough, but it was easy to just adjust and accept that it was tough. What REALLY surprised me were those downhills. You can see on that chart there were 3 hefty downhills and they were just as steep as they look on that chart. I actually had to walk 2 of them just for fear of blowing my knees out getting down them. I will say that while this was the hardest part of the course, it was also the most beautiful. It was a street that climbed through a really nice neighborhood on the right, and the Allsop Forest on the left. So it was almost like running a cliff that had a really beautiful, wooded valley on the left. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but after spending most of the first 10 miles in the city, it was nice to have a little variety.
We get to the bottom of the hill at Mile 16 and a woman that had pulled up next to me looks at me and yells, "It's over! That part is OVER!" Ha ha! I was cracking up. Apparently I'm not the only one that studied that chart. She obviously knew just as well as I did that Miles 16-23 were flat as a pancake and I was just as excited as she was to get there. A quick aside for the volunteers during these miles - they were GREAT! Everyone that we came across in those miles KNEW that we were in the hardest part and there was dancing, people sat in their yards and handed out tissues, jolly ranchers, GU, water, they played music, they cheered for us - and that was on top of the normal aid stations that the race put out. The community was really helpful during those hills and made it so much easier. So thank you to everyone in that part of the city that stood outside in the cold rain to encourage and help us.
Miles 17-22 are a long out and back on a trail that runs along the Arkansas River. You turn to the trail around 16.5, turn back at Mile 19.5 and then finish that stretch around 22.5. I am not a fan of the long out and back route - it makes me a little nuts. However, it was flat and easy and I really appreciated the timing of it - it was exactly what I needed for those miles. It was also pretty fun because for a lot of it, we were running past another line of runners coming back or going out, so there were a lot of high fives and fist bumps with perfect strangers on that section. I did laugh to myself a few times because as I passed mile markers on my side, I could see the mile marker for like 3 miles ahead on my right and I thought, "Man, it would be so easy to just run over there real quick." Ha ha! I really started to pick up a second wind when we made that turn at 19.5. It was mentally awesome to A) be headed back AND B) be that close to 20 miles.
MILE 20! I was STOKED to hit the Mile 20 mat. I was feeling really good and I knew I would see Shama at Mile 22. It was perfect timing too, because I was starting to get too emotional and I didn't want to start blubbering with 10K to go. I try to save that for AFTER the finish line. Just knowing I was that close and feeling so good, I just started to get really flustered. Being solo, it's harder to get your emotions in check sometimes, so a distraction is helpful. I was looking forward to having something to talk to about ANYTHING else at that point. Oh and I also made the decision to take my trash bag off at this point - it had been dry for a while - and then it immediately started raining again about 5 steps after I took this photo:
MILE 22 - I picked up Shama and she ran with me all the way to Mile 25. I was so grateful because it was really raining at that point and she was already dry, so it was sweet of her to keep me company. I felt awesome, even stronger than I had felt in the first 6 miles, and it was a big confidence booster. Shama is a lot faster than me and even though she ran at my pace, she definitely pulled me along and my pace actually picked up a bit during those miles.
Picking me up - Mile 22!
I was so excited to find out that Shama had placed 3rd in her age group for the 10K and to hear about her adventures that morning. Again, I was ready to talk about ANYTHING except me and my race at that point. I mean, 3rd place age group at the Little Rock Marathon 10K is a BIG DEAL. Pretty awesome, man. As we headed into town, there were more rolling hills, but I didn't even care - I powered up those bad boys (well it felt like powering, it probably looked more like shuffling) like it was nothing!
I eat hills for breakfast!
Every mile marker at this point just made me run faster - Mile 23, Mile 24, Mile 25 - I was just getting more and more excited and pumped up! I think even on the Garmin my pace at the end was ridiculously faster than the early ones. Shama jumped out at Mile 25 and headed over to the finish, which was a block away on the other side. Little Rock Marathon has a "Lipstick Stop" around mile 25.5 where you can fix up your face for finish line pictures - ha ha! They were actually handing out brand new, fancy pants Loreal lipstick to everyone. It was pretty funny watching women trying to actually put some on while they ran - I shoved mine in my pocket and kept trucking. I turned another corner and got a handful of beads to wear, then one more turn for the Mile 26 marker. At this point, I could see the finish line straight ahead and I remember just feeling amazing. I ran the entire race, I was finishing strong, I had fun...and it was almost over. Bart Yasso was standing in the street with a mic and talking runners in as they came through. I came through pretty much by myself, so I got a high five from him and he read my name from my bib to announce my finish. I unzipped my jacket so that the photographers could see my bib number at the finish - I had devised my plan for a cute finish photo somewhere in that long out and back. Lots of time to think out there. Shama snapped this pic of me, which might be one of my favorite running pics ever:
See that smile??
Final finish time was somewhere in the 5:31 range, according to the Garmin - there has been an issue with my results on the website, but they are working on getting me uploaded. I walked through the finish chute, picked up a banana, some goldfish and my medal - then right before the last volunteer wrapped the warming blanket around me, I finally had my blubbering moment. Just a quick cry before I took a finisher photo! A couple of volunteers hugged me, which was nice and then I was just excited! The walk back to the car was painful - I promised Shama that I wouldn't moan and groan the entire drive home - but once I got some food and caffeine in me, I felt pretty good! We promptly hopped in the car for the 5 hour drive home!
Don't let my hill talk dissuade you from this race. It is a GREAT race. It is a high profile race, but feels very small town and fun. It's well organized and supported, the whole town really gets behind the event and encourages everyone. Yes, the course is tough, but they really take care of you in those later miles and plan it just perfectly for the finish. Not to mention - the MEDAL IS AS BIG AS MY HEAD. I can't wait until I have it - I'll post a picture as soon as it comes in. We had a blast and I would definitely go back and do this one again. They suffer from weather uncertainty and have had difficulty with that in the past, but even the colder temps and rain didn't ruin the experience. I enjoyed every minute of it.
WOO HOO! Starting in April, it's obstacle course racing season! I have several races scheduled April - June. Here's my current race schedule for 2015:
2015 Races
April 11, 2015 – BattleFrog
15K
May 15, 2015 –
Spartan Hurricane Heat
May 16, 2015 –
Spartan Sprint
May 17, 2015 - Spartan
Super
May 30, 2015 –
Gladiator Rock N Run
June 7, 2015 - Merrell
Down & Dirty
June 20, 2015 – Spartan
Stadium Sprint
July 25, 2015 – Fossil
Valley 3 Hour Trail Run
September 12, 2015 –
Savage Race
October 3, 2015 –
Tough Mudder
October 23-24, 2015 –
Ragnar Trails Weekend
November 1, 2015 –
Spartan Beast
November 16, 2015 –
Blue Red Run Half
STAY TUNED FOR MORE RACE REVIEWS!
