Race To The Moon

Saturday night Shane and I ran the Race to Moon in Apollo, PA. Get it Apollo? Moon race? Hahahaha. Yeah, I must be too young. Shane had to explain it to me.

The race didn't have an exact start time, just listed it as 'dark'. So we drove out after dinner since sunset was listed as 8:30-ish. We arrived a little after 7PM and parked and then went to check in. Only we weren't on the list. Turns out Shane registered us so early (and by paper form instead of online) that the race director forgot about us. Thankfully he found our forms tucked away somewhere in his car and we were able to get our bibs and goody bags.

I think the shirts were okay and the glow-in-the-dark mug is pretty darn awesome. We were also given glow necklaces to wear during the race for visibility. Shane and I both wore Black Diamond Spot headlamps since there was barely any moon.

Since we had arrived so early we hung out by the Kiski River and then did a little warm up jog along the course. In the fading light there were already hundreds of lumineries lighting the rail trail path for the entire race. I had been hoping for a 3 mile warm up but I was afraid we'd miss the start so we settled for one. Turns out we had plenty of time and it was pretty much a wasted warm up mile.

Shane gives me this look often.

 

We got to meet up with some of the Latrobe Area Pacer Society (LAPS) members that we 'know' online but hadn't actually met yet. A couple people also recognized our shirts and introduced themselves so it was a really nice evening regardless of the wait to start.

 

LAPS group. Excuse my paler than the moon stomach

 

Finally we lined up around 9PM. The race director said he wanted to wait for it to get just a little bit darker but everyone was ready to go so we just stood at the line and chatted. There was a 5k and a 5 mile race both running together so I had no idea who my competition was. I figured I would run comfortably to the 5k turn around and then see who was still ahead of me. Of course, easy never happens for me on race day.

 

The gun went off and people were flying by me left and right. I looked at my Garmin and saw 6:59 pace so I pulled back despite the sprint happening all around me. By a half mile people were settling in and I was able to start passing back most of the runners who had taken off so furiously at the start. I was hoping for an 8:30 pace but my body didn't want to settle in there. I was either close to 8:00 or close to 9:00 and I couldn't get in the middle. First mile: 8:17

 

In the second mile I finally began to feel the pace and zone out. As I approached the 5k turn around I was right behind another woman but she made the turn. I shouted good luck and then looked ahead to see who I could catch. About 100 feet ahead were a man and woman so I focused on reeling them in. Mile 2: 8:33

 

As I approached the 5 mile turn around I counted people while looking for Shane. I counted 7 men and then Shane. I only saw the same woman ahead of me that I had been trying to catch so far. I couldn't believe I was in second! I told Shane he was in 8th and we missed our high five. Then I set my sights on the man between me and the first woman. I caught him right as mile 3 beeped in at 8:33.

 

I asked if I could hang on him for a bit and he said he didn't mind but he was fading. I could see the glow of the light stick on the woman ahead of me and estimated her to be 45 - 60 seconds ahead of me. I began to put the hammer down but I knew I wouldn't catch her unless she faded. Mile 4: 8:19

 

Somewhere in the final mile I lost the man I had been running with. I began to pass the 5k walkers and back-of-the-packers. One guy was running hard and then walking and then repeating. As I passed I yelled "Let's go, only a half mile!" He hung with me for a bit but dropped off again quickly. I continued to push. My legs had no more to give and I knew my pace was slipping despite the effort. My ragged breathing and aching chest were really starting to hurt but I couldn't let the women behind me catch up. Finally the finish line was in sight and my Garmin beeped in 5 miles. I hit stop and handed over my bib tag. Mile 5: 8:26

 

I found Shane and he told me he had finished 8th in 39:56. My official time was 42:13. I was 11th overall and second woman!

 

Getting my award.

 

In the end, I'm really happy with my performance and my results. Even though I was suffering I maintained a pretty even pace. I didn't let the early sprint get the better of me and ruin my race. And I gave every last bit of energy I had to chase down the woman ahead of me. She ended up beating me by 1:01 which means I really didn't let her gain anymore ground after I set my sights on her. I'm also pretty sure this is a 5 mile PR for me and now I feel really confident about my night running capabilities at Burning River in less than 2 weeks!

 

Shane and his medal

 

trophy

 

 

Week in Review: Week 11

It feels like it should have been unlucky 13. Nothing went right this week. After I forced myself to do my scheduled 10 miles on Thursday I had to work all day Friday. I worked 8am to 7pm or so and then headed home. I was supposed to run 5-6  miles that night but figured I would switch it with Saturday's rest day.

Actual schedule:
Monday: Yoga + cross training
Tuesday: 6 miles
Wednesday: cross training
Thursday: 10 miles
Friday: rest
Saturday: (5-6 miles) *ended up resting
Sunday: 12 miles

Shane finishing his 5k on Saturday

Saturday Shane was planning to run a 5k in Kittaning. I agreed to go with him to take pictures and cheer but I didn't plan to race. Looking back I should have. I would have won second place woman and at least gotten a workout in! Shane did really well, taking second place male despite the icy conditions and cold. After the race we went to lunch and then picked up a few things. By the time we got home it was almost dinner time. We decided to watch a movie and then eat. As soon as I ate my stomach began to hurt. Within an hour I had a blinding headache. It was all I could do to stay awake until an acceptable bed time. I couldn't even force myself to try to walk or run.

Shane and his trophy

I woke up today feeling fine but worn out. Shane and I had made plans to run 12 miles with some friends but by the time I dragged myself out of bed we were running late so we told them to go ahead without us. We made it to the trail and found an ice slick. Shortly after the one mile mark (which took us 12 minutes) we decided to head out onto the roads of the township. No sidewalks, small shoulder, busy roads, and no flat terrain. It was slow going but we made it an adventure and explored housing plans and communities that we've never had a reason to tour before. We ended up with just shy of 2,600 feet of vertical gain in 12 miles!

Elevation profile

In the end I finished out the week with only 28 miles. It's my lowest week of the year so far but my coach reminded me that life happens. Now to forget about the bad week and focus on getting back on my game for week 12! 

Super Surprise!

This week has been rough. And I mean that in a my ass is kicked, stick a fork in me, did I just get hit by a bus kind of way. Gemma has been sick with a cough and fever since last Thursday. The doctors said to wait five days before taking her in, so I did. After being sent home from school a few times and then me keeping her home as well, I gave in and took her to the walk-in clinic. Nothing was obviously wrong with her so the NP gave her a course of antibiotics and sent us on our way.

After all that my boss texted me to say that I needed to work night shift for the rest of the week. I scrambled to get the kids to my mother-in-laws and drink enough caffeine to make it past 10PM. I ended up working 10pm-8am Thursday night and 10pm-6am last night. And I'll be working another night shift tonight and possibly tomorrow too.

I came home knowing that Shane had already signed us up for the Central Elementary Healthy Family 5k on the rail trail today. It was raining out and I hoped that he would decide to crawl in bed rather than get me up. I wasn't so lucky and he dragged me out of my warm covers to get ready.  The girls and Shane's mother were going to run with us too. Thankfully the rain had stopped for the most part by the time we made it down to the trailhead. I told myself I would go nice and easy and just shake out my legs.

The race started at 9:30am on the dot and I went out quickly to get past some walkers and slower runners. I was right behind a woman who was running a pace that seemed comfortably hard. I decided to stay right with her and see how that went. About a half mile out I started looking up ahead and realized I couldn't see any other women besides the one in front of me. Could I really be in second place?

As we approached the turnaround I caught sight of a ponytail way off in the distance. I realized I must be third woman and decided I'd better go ahead and make a race of it afterall. I passed the woman I'd been drafting off of and tried to gap her but she stuck to me, always just off my shoulder. As we made the turn around she stopped to take a cup of water. I almost screamed with joy right then. I'm glad I didn't because it would have been premature. A half minute later she was back on my shoulder again.

I was starting to hurt and my breathing was ragged. A headwind felt like it was beating me back with every step. Only the footsteps echoing behind me kept me pushing. I started reminding myself, "It's supposed to hurt" and "It's all about who's willing to hurt the most now." A young boy caught us and as he went by the woman he told her, "You can catch her!" Knowing he meant me I decided to prove him wrong. I did my best to stay with him and it worked. I put a 10-15 second gap on the woman and was picking up speed. I didn't know if I could hold it but I figured passing out or puking were the only things that might stop me.

I temporarily passed the boy again but he sped up in the final tenth of a mile and beat me by a few seconds. As I reached the last stretch I glanced back and saw I had at least 15 seconds on the woman. I glanced ahead and I saw the clock said 24:10! What?! No way! I was going to PR AGAIN! I found my after burners and eeked out a strong kick to cross the line in 24:27, a 25 second PR!

Showing off my hardware

I found Shane and he had finished in 21:06 for a new PR as well (not counting his 20:50 on a short course). He also got 5th overall and first in his age group. We went back out to look for the girls and his mom and cheered on our friends along the way. One of our friends was really struggling so Shane turned around to run back to the finish with her and ended up helping her get a PR too! I continued to head back out along the course and around a half mile out I found Shane's mom pushing Ash in the stroller. I took the stroller from her and pushed Ash to the chute where I let her out and so she could run across the finish herself. Her time was 38:53 and she got second in her age group (but we gave it to the next girl because Ash was pushed). We cheered in my mother in law for a 39:23 finish and second in her age group. Shane went back out again to find Gemma and run her in. She finished around 55 minutes and was really upset she didn't get an award. I reminded her she's been sick for over a week now and it's okay to take it easy and walk when that happens.

Shane's medal

After the awards were announced we stuck around for door prize drawings. Gemma won a Kids' Book of coupons for clothing stores, entertainment, food, etc. Ash won a basket of Bath and Body Works goodies. We sure do have some lucky kids! A representative from GNC was there and sent me home with a bag of vitamins and goodies so I guess some of that rubbed off on me. :)

Basket and Coupon Book

 

All of our goodies

 

All in all it was a really pleasant surprise and I'm really excited to see what I can do in Baltimore next week!