Massachusetts

We flew into Boston to stay a few days and see the sights (including the Boston Marathon Finish Line!) before we headed to Falmouth in Cape Cod. We had a few beautiful fall days to tour the city, walk the Freedom trail and get a few runs along the river. We did visit the Finish Line but I made sure we didn't cross it! I even made Thayne drive a few blocks out of the way to ensure this... I couldn't jinx myself! 

Yes I did hop into the street for this! I'll see you again someday, Finish Line!

We rented a car and drove to Falmouth which was only a little over an hour away. The race expo, start and finish were all at a hotel and we had decided to stay at the host hotel to make things easier for us. 

Once we arrived and got checked in at the hotel we went to the expo. It was pretty small so I assumed it would be a pretty small race as well. I knew this was a woman's only race so everything was about women being strong and resilient. 

The hotel was right on the beach in the cape and it was beautiful! The water was clear and the beach was nice to walk up and down or sit in one of the chairs to read a good book... we did both!

The night before the race, Zooma had a nice pasta dinner for anyone competing and one guest. Thayne and I headed from our room to have dinner and watch the sun set over the ocean. 

Ready to start!

Race morning brought us perfect running weather! The temperatures were in the mid 40's and no wind at the start. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day to run. 

We left the hotel parking lot and started to climb up a long, steady hill. After the hill the race headed towards a marina. The wind picked up a little bit as we were running right along the coast, but that was to be expected. 

There was a short out and back and I was surprised to find myself within the top 5 women. We were a little spread out, but I figured I was only behind the first place runner by about 30 seconds so far, but we'd only run about 4 miles of the race. I tried not get into my head and just run! 

There ended up being one male in the race, but he didn't get to accept any awards. He was pacing the woman in first.

Once we left the coast, we hit a really nice paved and shady trail. We stayed on the trail for about 3 miles while we headed back past the hotel and into a more residential area. While on the trail I worked my way into third place. Woohoo!

The trail was beautiful!

What I didn't realize was that while the first 7 miles of the race were flat and fast, the last 6 miles of the race were not. Hello hills! Not nice to see you!

At this point I was pretty much running alone. I could see the woman in 2nd place, but couldn't see anyone behind me. I was actually a little hesitant to go much faster. I wanted to keep 2nd place in sight so that I didn't get lost, but didn't want to take over 2nd and have no idea where I was going! The volunteers were very helpful with directions but I didn't know the course or area well and didn't want to lead us the wrong direction. I ended up catching up to 2nd place and we ran together for about a mile, kind of leap frogging each other back and forth.

Coming into the finish line strong!

We found the coast again and I knew we only had about two miles to go when my body was telling me... nope! The woman in 2nd took off and I actually had to stop and walk for about 30 seconds. I knew if I wanted to finish strong I needed a short rest. At this point, my goal was staying in 3rd! 

We turned away from the coast and found ourselves on the same winding, slight uphill road that we began. I knew we were coming close to the finish now!

I gave that climb everything I had! Again, the 5k and 10k runners/ walkers who began about an hour after the half were finishing but since it was a smaller race and a wider road than in Little Rock I had no problems navigating around them. The women I was passing gave me big cheers. I love it when strong women support other strong women!

I ended up keeping third place overall and first in my age group. Even with the short walk, my time was 1:37:08 (7:25 average). After the race we went back to the beach for a little before heading up to the point of the cape to go on a whale watching tour. What a great race celebration!

I loved all the light houses!

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Ohio

For every good race, there's going to be one that doesn't go as well. I've had a really lucky (okay, maybe not lucky... I've worked hard!) string of solid races and big PRs since I've started running half marathons just 2 years ago. I've already dropped about 20 minutes in my time! 

I honestly think it's important to have runs or races that don't go well. How will you appreciate the ones that feel "effortless" or like everything just flows if you don't have ones that you struggle through. Plus, there's always a lesson to be learned.

Always spreading awareness of Rett Syndrome.

We hit up the expo and there was a wall asking why you run, and a giant pile of sticky notes and sharpies. I love when races do this! Any chance I have to educate one more person about Rett Syndrome during a race it's a win, so of course I had to share a little bit about my girls.

We didn't stay too long at the expo as we wanted to go to the aquarium just across the river from downtown Cincinnati. We opted to walk there and back, which in hindsight may not have been the smartest idea. 

We also had a decent walk race morning to the start line, so we were up a little earlier than normal to get started. The morning was dark, but warm and humid already. I didn't even need any extra gear on our walk to the start.

My gear is race ready!

Waiting at the start line.

Our race started right at sunrise, which gave us some amazing views as we climbed the first of many hills of the day to cross the river into Pennsylvania for about a mile. I could tell right away that today wasn't going to be about a PR. It was going to be about survival. We ran for about a mile in Pennsylvania before having to climb another bridge to cross back into Ohio. This one was even steeper than the first! Little did I know just how much of a theme this would be for the day.

I didn't get to see Thayne until about mile 4 and he told me after the race that he'd never seen me look so miserable while running. 

The hill just kept going and going and going!

Don't be fooled by my smile.

Right before mile 6, we started climbing a massive hill. I mean it was huge and lasted a solid mile. Luckily this is where a huge gathering of spectators were, including a man with a mega phone holding giant pink wooden "F"s yelling "Get the F up the hill!" He would hand them out and the goal was to take it to the top. I definitely needed the extra boost so I grabbed one and took it to the top!

We still had more climbing after a few downhills but I knew I just needed to get to about mile 10 and the rest of the race was pretty much downhill.

What I didn't know is that once I started those big down hills my stomach would also act up. Now, ask any runner and I'm sure they will tell you of a time or two during a training run when they had to stop mid run to take care of business. I've had my fair share as well, but never in a race. Until today. 

Luckily there were some port-o-potties midway through mile 10 that I could hop into. I don't think I would have made it to the finish line without stopping. After my short pit stop I felt so much better! My last few miles were definitely the fastest of the day.

Race medal and bib.

Even though this race wasn't one that felt great and had the extra pit stop, I still ran a decent time of 1:41:43 (7:47 pace). I took 20th in my age group and was the 96th woman overall. I learned that if I want to run well, I shouldn't be walking all over the city the day before the race and to not eat chicken wings the night before a race. All in all, Ohio is another state checked off the list!

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Arkansas

We headed to Arkansas and I was excited about the training I had put in over the winter months. I knew I was a little bit faster, but had no idea what could be possible for my next half in Little Rock, Arkansas. I had heard it was a hilly course, and hadn't really been tested on too many hills in a race since my Wisconsin half.

Picked up my bib at the expo!

The full marathon medal was huge!

We headed to the expo with some friends who were also doing the race. The expo was pretty big with a huge offering of different vendors. The Little Rock races are known for their huge, over the top medals and warm hospitality, as well as a different theme every year. This year's theme was Pirates... so we kept hearing "Welcome to Aaaarrrrrrkansas!" 

Before the race we didn't end up doing a lot to tour Little Rock, but since I did have a goal of setting a new PR I was okay with staying off my legs as much as possible. 

Staying warm before the start.

Race morning brought much colder weather than originally anticipated. I'm talking like 33 degrees. Just barely above freezing, which was probably good since it was raining/ misting the entire race too! Better rain than snow, for sure. This way at least the roads weren't slick. 

We were all bundled up before the race, waiting for the start. Once the race was just a few minutes away I decided to take off my throw-away clothes and got some strange looks for being in a tank top and shorts! You have to remember... I live in Wisconsin! I run in much colder weather about half the year! 

I still kept my sleeves and gloves on. Keeping your extremities warm will help keep your entire body warm!

The race took off and I knew I wanted to run sub 1:42. I had trained hard all winter and didn't want it to go to waste! I tried to start a little conservatively and keep my first few miles in the upper 7's, knowing a lot of the hills happened in the second half of the race.

The course zig-zagged through downtown Little Rock quite a bit, so luckily Thayne was able to see me about 5 times in just the first 6 miles!

I kept checking my watch and was really in disbelief about how good I felt. After mile 7 we headed to a different part of town and I knew I wouldn't see Thayne again until the last mile of the race. He told me to keep staying strong, especially going up the hill in mile 9. I kept repeating to myself what he said. "stay strong." 

We went through a little bit of a sketchy part of town, but there were a few small bands and local artists who came out to entertain us while on the back stretch of the race.

Excited to get the race started!!

I tackled the hill and still felt great! I knew we'd go back down that hill around mile 11 as we headed back towards downtown and the finish line. I didn't want to let off the gas and actually pushed harder to use the downhill to my advantage.

I kept going, saw Thayne around mile 12 and knew we had one more short out and back. 

One mile to go!

This part of the race was a little hard to navigate as the 5k and 10k runners/ walkers were still on the course making it a little more congested than the rest of the race. They stayed a little more towards one side but there were a few times I'd have to tell people I was coming up on their left.

We took two lefts to turn down the next block to come into the finish. I tried my hardest to pick up the pace even more at the finish, but I was already working hard! 

I was in total disbelief when I crossed the finish line and saw 1:36!

What!? 1:36?! My official time was 1:35:56. A 9 minute PR! My average pace was 7:19, so 41 seconds per mile than my PR back in November in California! I ended up as the 16th female and 3rd place in my age group.

Needless to say, I was sore and thankful the rest of the weekend. You're not so bad, Aaarrrrkansas.

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