Harbor Lights HalfAs you know I ran the Annapolis Running Classic Half on Saturday, after airing up my two low tires, I jumped in the car and made the four plus hour drive to a friends house in Norfolk. The drive was grueling. I was tired and my knee and hip both were killing me. I stopped every hour just to get out of the car and move. I pulled into my friends house knowing that running on Sunday was going to be very hard and it wouldn't take much to convince me not to do it. I spent the evening watching the Navy game and woke up to the sound of pouring rain. Knowing that Beth was running too was probably the only reason I got out of bed and hobbled to the car. I was grateful to have her and grateful that she drove to the race. We arrived about 30 min before race start and had no problem parking in a lot about a half mile from the Town Pointe Park start. We stopped into the Sheraton for a bathroom break, dropped off dry gear, and got to the start. |
The start was delayed by a few minutes. I am sure that it was because flooding on the course was a concern, and as we slogged through the 13.1 miles in the never ending rain. The puddles became larger and there may have been some sidewalk running to prevent our ankles from getting wet. I attempted to leap a puddle around mile 8 but who am I kidding, epically failed and splashed not only myself but probably 3-4 runners around me (sorry). When we started, my hip and knee were both bothering me. I told myself to take it easy and just keep going. I adopted a Jeff Galloway run-walk with much shorter intervals than normal. The course was well suited for this as there were many turns and so I ran a street, walked a street, ran a street, etc. Some of the streets in downtown were like a wind tunnel with the wind blowing right in your face. Once we left downtown the pain subsided and I was able to get in a groove. At the Colley Ave underpass I had a flashback to news stories about people attempting to drive through it and getting trapped as the underpass was flooded. This was not the case, the underpasses were the few areas on the course where you were actually out of the rain for a few minutes. By this point, I had come to terms with the rain. The chill actually had a numbing effect and I could no longer feel the pain of my knee (or my hands for that matter) and my hip pain disappeared never to return. I realized that I didn't have to worry about overheating in this race.
Half way point: ODU my how you have changed!!! When I worked and attended there it was a smattering of nice college buildings with contrasting warehouse buildings (where the lab was that I worked). My coworkers wouldn't let me go to my car after dark. Now it's filled with trendy upscale housing and businesses as well as lots of new campus buildings. I can't wait to go back and visit (when it's not pouring rain).
Race Support: J&A racing and volunteers did an amazing job of supporting this race in cold rainy weather. It seriously had to be miserable to stand around in 40degrees with pouring rain. I can't say enough good things about them. Neighborhoods with people standing outside (some around fire pits) in the pouring rain to cheer on the runners. I can only imagine how much support this race would have had if the weather had been perfect. Bakers Crust pie station, refuel stew, and volunteers standing in the rain smiling. They even had executive staff shaking hands with runners at the finish line. This was my "I carried a watermelon moment." As the J&A rep notices my Navy emblem (after I clumsily dropped my water bottle at the finish --I blame lack of dexterity from frozen hands and not my innate clumsiness) he asks if I went to Annapolis. My reply didn't even come close to answering that question (long story anyway); all I could mutter was, "I ran Annapolis yesterday!" I was feeling so accomplished. Two half marathons, in two days, both under 3 hours!!! I had mooned up from one to four moons in half fanatics. I've completed 8 half marathons this year, and lost 15 lbs since late August. What's next on my list? Could it be breaking that 15 year PR? I will be back for another J&A race in March. Dolphin Challenge Year 2 here I come!
UPDATE: Surprise! Free photos from the event and there were some of me, even though my number is covered. The close up is me figuring out that I met my goal for both races! It's a look of relief not the pain as it appears!