Women's Half Marathon Success!

Yep, pretty much on Cloud 9, this morning – which, of course, makes blogging fairly natural.

After my Achilles issue last Saturday, I was (again) incredibly nervous about running on it during the week.  I also went in to see my doctor first thing Monday morning – to make sure he wasn’t going to say, “Stay the heck off it or it will definitively rupture!”  And, allow me to take a moment to tell all of you how much I adore my GP.  Dr. Roso (not only super down to earth) gets me.  He understands that I am an athlete and that he needs to get me well so I can get back on course as quickly as humanly possible.  He prescribed me a heavy duty steroid so that (in his words) “we can see if we can knock this thing out of you.”  His diagnosis – tendonitis.  He applauded me for quitting at mile 19 and not simply pushing out the remaining mile or so – which is what he knows I am much more likely to do.  He claims it may have saved me from a rougher return to running.

I left his office confident that I wouldn’t be out of the game for too long.  But, Tuesday morning, I didn’t do anything – no run, no bike, no swim.  It KILLS ME TO TELL YOU ALL THAT!  But, I rested.

By the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday, Matt realized I was a bit of an emotional wreck.  Tough days at work combined with no running was making for a fairly ugly-Meri.  His suggestion?  A Hike!  So, at 5am on Thursday, we met with our headlamps to do a 3 mile hike up Telegraph Pass, close to the TV Towers on South Mountain.  It was glorious – and crist can Matt move it up those steep, rocky inclines!  I found myself practically running to keep up – all the while moving with trepidation so I wouldn’t go nose first into the side of the rocky mountain.  And, let me tell you – it was precisely what I needed.  It was hard and it was in nature!  When we reached the top, the view of the city on both sides of the mountain was spectacular – sadly, it was WAY too dark for me to have captured any of it on my phone, but we do have the post-hike shot, myspace-style.

See, DARK -- but sporting headlamps!

As usual, we also met for an awesome ride on Friday morning to complete the week.  Interestingly, as soon as we hit Pecos Road, Matt was flying.  He’ll tell you he wasn’t really working that hard, but I was huffing and puffing while keeping up with him for several miles.  It wasn’t until nearly 12 miles into the ride that we started to have some tough elevation changes – taking the backside of Desert Foothills – and at that point Matt was a solid 6-8 bike lengths in front of me.  (Depressing – pretty much!)  However, I was starting to feel good as we started the ascent and I gained ever so slowly on Matt – who was WAY too preoccupied with his lead to care.  About 2/3’s of the way up the incline, Matt thought to look back to see my position.  I was nearly on top of him – and like all good men, he panicked that he might see a repeat of the prior weekend.  He pushed and pushed and so did I.  I am pretty sure I heard him swear at me when I was on top of his rear tire, but that didn’t stop me from saying, “You’re going to win this one, Matt, but I’m going to make you effing work for it, my friend!”  We laughed heartily all the way down the hill and most of the way back to Matt’s house.  I was “THIS” close – but he didn’t allow me to take home the prize that morning.  That’s ok, though – there will be more mornings just like that one – and my new Raleigh Carbon Capri 2.0 will be in on Friday (11/9).  The playing field will begin to level a little more….soon!

I heart my pink arm warmers!!

Friday night at the Women’s Half Marathon Expo, I picked up an Achilles Brace made by CEP.  CEP makes the most common compression devices for runners (most people wear their crazy socks).  It wasn’t cheap, but when I stopped by their booth to discuss my Achilles/Soleus issue, they immediately suggested their RxOrtho Achilles Brace (size III).  I tried it on and paid some astronomical amount for it – with the guarantee that if it sucked I could simply return it.

Its pretty ugly, but I didn't care!

Saturday was merely a 2000 meter swim day.  I was relegated to the outdoor pool (unsure what was up with the indoor one), so there was quite the chill each and every time I lifted my arms out of the water.  I think I stopped noticing around 400 meters, but …brrrr!

I spent the rest of the day cleaning up the yard, eating and hydrating properly – in anticipation of today/Sunday!

I hadn’t run all week – and this weighed heavy on my mind.  Kris stopped by at 4:40am to pick me up and was lamenting the same – she hadn’t put a mile on her feet since the prior weekend, either.  And, we’d be meeting the lovely, Miss Anne, at the starting line around 5:30am.  In addition, all I could think about was whether or not my Achilles would be ok.  It, honestly, felt FINE!!  And, not “athlete-fine” – seriously FINE!  I’m not sure whether the steroid beat the inflammation to a pulp or what, but it has felt just fine for a few days, now.

The three of us were thrilled to be at the starting line.  This was the 3rd Women’s Half Marathon in Scottsdale/Tempe and it was to be my THIRD try at it.  Its always nice to repeat events to see how much better you can do year over year – if at all.  Kris did it the year prior with me, and Anne the inaugural year.  We were all ready to try it again.

It seemed super cold to me, this morning.  May have been a combination of nerves and the chillier than normal temps, but I was seriously worried that I might expend a lot of my energy shivering at the starting line.  The three of us did some huddling and eventually made our way to our respective corrals.

Kris, Mer and Anne -- sun was JUST coming up!

When the countdown started, I was focused – and when the gun fired, I felt more ready than ever.  I spent the first several miles navigating in and out of crowds of people who really should not have been in Corral 2.  I am loathe to complain about runners, but nothing pisses me off more than a presumptuous runner who is in the wrong corral – it screws things up for the rest of us; so STOP doing it!  By the second mile, we were on Scottsdale Rd with plenty of room to breathe and it made everything a little better.  My Achilles felt fine, still, and I was convinced I might be able to pick up the pace a little, without doing any damage.

The race route through Scottsdale isn’t the prettiest at all – its south Scottsdale.  So its littered with biker bars, cheap stores and “fantasy” shops.  Then we hit the canal for a couple of miles until we headed up and over a portion of Papago – and the hills.  It seemed like nothing to me, this morning.  I reminded one gal that it was only 4/10s of a mile up, as she struggled to find her motivation to run.  But, my pace was still really quite good – better than it had ever been, in fact.
  
Between miles 7 and 8, we pass the finish line with all of the cheering spectators.  It’s a blessing and a curse.  We love seeing and hearing the crowds, but passing the finish line is a reminder of how much more we have left.  But, again, nothing was bothering me.  I took my Peanut Butter Gu and some water at mile 7 and by mile 9 was content to be hitting the toughest of the hills and almost done.  I glanced at my Garmin shortly after mile 9 and realized I was running sub-9’s – SUB-FREAKIN’-9’s!  Well, hell – if that didn’t motivate me.  The hardest of all of the hills comes shortly after the mile 10 marker – and again, sub-9.  As I flew down the Priest 202 Highway overpass, I could see Anne in the distance flailing her arms at me.  She was just about to hit the mile 9 marker.  I had recently passed the mile 11 marker.  I looked at my watched and yelled – I am pacing for a 2:02, Anne!  Anne yelled back – and I knew she was going to hit her goal of a 2:45, as well.  We were both thrilled to see each other.

Knowing I only had a couple of miles left, and still feeling super strong, I keep my sub-9 pace and pushed myself to the finish line.  Low and behold, a couple of tenths before the end, I saw my amazing, supportive friend, Ron, cheering me on.  Seeing his face as I told him I would be just over 2 hours, was precisely the fuel I needed to complete the run.  I hit the finishers shoot and saw the clock.  All I could do was grin.  Last year I finished in 2:15:54 – and this year – 2:02:10.  This was/is a personal record – and it makes the 2 hour ½ marathon within range.  I just need a little more…something.  I will figure out what that something is over the course of the next year or so of training – I hope!

Garmin Data -- this about says it all, people!

The most amazing thing was that I stopped my watch and it said “2:02:10”, but you never know if it’s the actual “official” time of the race.  However, Loretta texted me mere seconds after I finished (from the Las Vegas airport) and said “Whew!  2:02:10!  Isn’t that a PR for you?!”  I guess there was an online updater that Loretta was following – so my watch and the official timer were in sync!  Thanks, Loretta!

Standing, waiting to see Anne and Kris pass by, Ron took this one!

Additionally, while it wasn’t Kris’s best race – she finished with a decent time and was really happy to be done!  BUT – Anne!  Anne finished in 2:43 – a PR for her, too!  I KNEW she could do it – and she did!  The stars were aligned, as John, Sean, Lyla, Uncle Fred, Ron and I all watched her push out the last couple of tenths to make it happen.  What a truly joyful and exciting day this has been – and its only noon!

All three completed successfully!

Kudos to several other friends of mine out there today: Laura Ballard and Stace Hayworth!  Amazing work, ladies!!  Amazing work!

Philly Marathon in 2 weeks … I’m feeling healthy and ready!  I will DEFINITELY be sporting my new CEP RxOrtho Achilles Brace – it’s a miracle worker!