Month: October 2014

Towpath Half 2014

Sun, Oct 12

So after pulling the plug on the Columbus full I needed to accomplish something running-wise this fall. Lo and behold the Towpath Half jumped out at me! I had never done it before and since I have really grown to love the towpath I thought that it would be a great option. I mentioned it to my running gals MaryAnn and Marilyn a couple weeks before and they jumped on it too! Yahoo!! This was crazy last minute for them, but they just decided to do a long run the week before and they would be ready. Sure enough that is what they did!!

We met to carpool at my house since the start was so close. It was freezing that morning, about 28 degrees, but we were prepared!

MaryAnn’s gloves
Rungloves

At the start selfie!
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Crowd shot
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What do you do when you are waiting and cold? Well, besides visit the portapottie which we did quite a bit that morning!! Take pics!!! Here are individual shots of us in our glory…

The pink nightmare – wearing my thrift store gem that will be in my posession for approximately 10-15 minutes into the race!
pinkjerseygirl

Marilyn wearing a garbage bag…smart! Lots of folks do it, but few are able to actually fit into a kitchen size bag!!! That is my girl!!
garbagebaggirl

Then there is “Nanuke from the North” suited up for the Polar Vortex!!
NanukefromtheNorth

Despite being chilly, the morning was beautiful and the route was breathtaking, really. It was foggy early, but became sunny mid-morning with the leaves looking so pretty. We saw a duck, perhaps a hawk and someone claimed to see a snake on the trail. I’m glad I missed that one! The three of us were together for about a mile and then we cut Marilyn loose!! Ha! No, it was the other way around!! That girl is fast!

The narrowness of the towpath was a little bit of a challenge. Mary Ann and I were chastised my another runner passing us as she yelled “move over” at us rather abruptly!! Oh, well. It gave us something to laugh about. We were just glad we were not taking the race that seriously and could laugh and just enjoy the race and experience.

I felt pretty good for the entire race. I had water and Gatorade at every other stop and had a GU packet at mile 10. I wanted to have it at mile 9, but no water! I really slowed down the last couple of miles, but did not walk! I actually felt pretty good about my time too: 2:26:08. It was not a PR, but not my worst time either and it was so fun to run with my gal pals. It was the first time all three of us ran a race together!

Medal selfie!
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Finished!
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Me
Lisaindividual

Towpath triplets!
afterselfie

Medal close-up
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Shirt and such
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After the race we were each able to get a quick massage with only a 5 minute wait! That felt great! We stayed to hear a bit of the awards ceremony. I love to hear the finishing times of the women in my age-group – so amazing!! Then, back home for a much welcomed shower.

Great race, great scenery and the bestest friends a girl could ask for!!! Feeling blessed!!

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Uncle

I surrender. I give up. Stick a fork in me – I’m done. There are many ways to say this, but they are all equally difficult to say out loud. And now, this is especially difficult to write down. There are so many people who have encouraged me and given me advice and now I feel like I’m letting them down. I decided that I’m not going to run the Columbus full this month, after all. I’ve been struggling with motivation this entire training season. Turns out that training for a marathon is easy…if it is your first one! Okay, maybe not exactly easy, but in comparison to training for your second marathon, it is a piece of cake! At least that has been my experience.

This weekend I was supposed to run/walk my final long run – 18 miles before the 3-week taper. I had a super busy weekend with work so I decided to take Monday off and run it. Meanwhile that weekend I found out that my dear hubby was not planning on making the trip to Columbus with me this time. I had assumed that he and my son would be coming. This was the proverbial last straw. Now let me stop here and say that I’m not in any way throwing my hubby under the bus. He has been extremely great and supportive through all of my running and races over the last few years. I had simply assumed that he was planning to make that trip and I was wrong. It is more difficult to go when the race is out of town – boarding the dog, etc. I get it. And let’s face it – not tons of fun for spectators waiting for hours in the cold. You have seen the signs “the most boring parade ever”!! I was already lacking motivation (clearly) for training for this race, but I just could not picture me successfully running it knowing that no one would be there at the finish line. Truthfully I doubted that I would be there at the finish line too! The way my training had gone I had very real doubts whether or not I could finish. Not to mention I had a hell of a time by myself just parking and navigating my way to the start line for the 1/2 in Columbus last year. This anxiety would just be multiplied this year with 26.2 in front of me. Rather than be devastated and alone in the streets of Columbus I finally decided to just pull the plug on this race once and for all. My sweet husband tried to convince me that I wasn’t quitting, but rather starting the race and not finishing would be quitting. But, my dear, sweet son, was there with the hard hitting truth. “So you are quitting, huh?” he said to me, shaking his head. Ugh. I just don’t feel ready – that is the honest to goodness truth. And frankly, I don’t want to walk. I ran it in 2011 and if I ever do it again, I want to run. Yes, I know I have issues!

In closing I’d like to quote Mark Cuban, one of the entrepreneurs from one of our favorite shows, Shark Tank. “And for those reasons and those reasons alone, I’m out.”