Flying Pig Half Marathon recap

Good Morning from Ohio!

My flight is leaving later today to get back to the beach.  I still think I’m on an adrenaline kick from yesterday.  This is the best I’ve felt after any half marathon.  I think it’s a combination of the great weather yesterday and training.

How ’bout a little race recap?

This year the Flying Pig added more corrals to the start.  This was a great idea.  Not only did it spread people out, but there were less Speedy Gonzalez runners trying to pass all the walkers in the back.

Another great thing was they added more speakers!  This may seem like a small detail, but it’s not.  Last year we couldn’t hear anything.  No blessing, no National Anthem, no announcements.  This year we got to hear everything!  It really helps to pump you up when you can actually hear what is going on.  Crazy, right?

Since it was the warmest Pig ever, they had water stops at every mile.  This was also a big morale booster.  I was never afraid that I was going to become dehydrated, unlike the Williamsburg Run for the Dream.  Mom and I pretty much got water or Gatorade at every stop.  This doesn’t mean that I downed a glass of water and Gatorade every time, but I had something.  I made sure that I drank a little more Gatorade than I’m used to since it was a warmer day.  We also had beans or other “food” about every three miles.  I didn’t eat anything at the last three because I was very much over eating my beans.

There was so much crowd support and entertainment this year, again I don’t think the gorgeous weather hurt.  There were always people cheering you on and music playing, except for the last mile and half or so…

The hardest part about The Flying Pig are the hills…

Hello!  Look at the elevation the last couple of miles.  Just remember to take big strides, stand up tall, and stretch it out.  Or as we were saying during the race, “Chuck Norris doesn’t ever see hills, just straight paths!”  Yes we were Chuck Norris at some points, whatever works.

We got a lot of comments about our shirts this year.  People were really loving the mother, daughter combo.  We also met some other mom, daughter and even a mom, son team.  Hello all you family teams!

Sweaty camera picture. Sorry!

We really didn’t keep track of our splits for this race.  We knew that we were keeping around a 15 minute mile.  We also knew that we were feeling pretty darn good.  When mom checked our official time against our other Flying Pig times; she found out we had PRed for the Pig.

Three hours twenty-two minutes!!  What, what!?Also, our average pace was 15:29.  I’ll take it!

In the recovery area, there were so many goodies to eat.  We got oranges, Cheetos, Swiss Cakes, and Yogurt covered fruit (from Dole).  However, our favorite treat was the Powerbar Recovery bar.  So delicious!

We sat for a bit and enjoyed the view…

I love Cincinnati!  Even with all its crazy hills!

If you haven’t done so check out my previous posts about the Flying Pig!

Carbo loading 

How to Prepare

PR time

This was the best Pig yet.  I know next year’s 10 year anniversary will be even better!

PR time!

Hey all!

Just a quick note about the Flying Pig.  My mom and I did awesome today.  It was a perfect day, starting out with a temp of 57 and warming up to upper 60′s by the end of the race.  Sunny with blue skies and just gentle breezes now and then.  Since they were predicting warmer weather for this race there were water stops at every mile.

The big news is that mom and I walked our best Pig yet!  We finished in 3:22!!  How awesome is that!?

Some how we’ll have to top ourselves for our 10th year anniversary next year!

Thanks to all the volunteers, police, and Flying Pig coordinators.  It was truly a great race!

Now, it’s off to watch the rest of the Reds game, drink some water, and maybe take a nap!

Check out WLWT if you want to watch all of the inspiring finisher stories.  One finisher even got proposed to!

Carb loading in Cincinnati

What’s up Pig people?!

It’s the day before the Flying Pig Marathon and we are getting ready to head down to Cincy!

A question some of you may be asking is where do I eat?  Well….  Last year mom and I ate at Via Vite and Nicholson’s for lunch and dinner.

In years past we’ve eaten at Sorrento’s,  Betta’s Italian Oven, and Teller’s

If you want a pre or post race snack I would most definitely say go to Graeters!  It’s seriously the best ice cream ever!

Wherever you go today I would probably suggest making reservations.  It’s Cinco de Mayo weekend and people are going to be everywhere.  So either get there early, make reservations, or be prepared for a bit of a wait.

If you want to know how to get ready for the Pig check out my previous post!

See you at the Finish Swine!

Rainy? Wicked10K

Tomorrow Leanne and I are going to be walking in the Wicked 10K.  If you remember the original plan (I don’t;), we were supposed to be running it. 

Weellll, this kinda happened…

Not Bond, but moving.  Moving really threw off our training plan.  Like big time.  So we came to the conclusion just to walk it and have fun.  This is pretty much our favorite race.  We are excited except for one tiny little thing…

Thanks a lot Don Slater, thanks a lot!

We will persevere! 

Off to get my beauty sleep for tomorrow!  There will definitely be poncho’s and long sleeves involved.

Freedom Friday

Freedom from what…?  I don’t know, but it was alliterative and we used to do Freedom Friday in school, until our principal said no.  Anywho,  I was browsing blogs last night and stumbled upon Running off the Reese’s.  She’s got great pictures and loves Reese’s Cups, how could you go wrong.  She had the video posted and even though I’m just a half marathoner, I can definitely get on board with a lot of what the video says.

It is so true that you get a song stuck in your head that is what’s on repeat for the rest of the race.  For me it’s usually Katy Perry or Lady GaGa.  Also how at mile whatever you totally get a second wind and the next second you feel like you’re going to die…been there done that!

Happy Friday!

Running in the summer

Halfmarathons.net posted this article on their Facebook page.

I wish they would have posted this before I did the Williamsburg Run for the Dream.  So I wouldn’t have felt like this by the end of the half…

I may look like I'm excited, but I'm really not, really!

Some things I found important:

1. If you have cramps or spasms, STOP running, rest, and drink fluids.  In other words, don’t try to be a hero and push through.  You are just going to hurt yourself!
2.  SUPERSWEATY WORKOUTS LEAVE YOU DEHYDRATEDAccording to a recent British review, losing just two percent of your body weight through sweating and dehydration can diminish your running performance up to 20 percent and as much as 60 percent in a hot environment. More important, heat illnesses, such as cramps and heat exhaustion, can begin when core temperature rises only a few degrees above normal, often related to dehydration from sweat losses (see “Danger Zone,” below).

COOL RUNNING Weigh yourself naked on a digital scale before and after a run. For every pound of weight loss, rehydrate with 16 ounces of fluid. When you run, sip a sports drink or water when you’re thirsty, but don’t drink more than the amount determined by your sweat rate. To replace salt and other electrolytes lost through sweat, eat a snack such as baked pita chips dipped in almond butter after a run.

I don’t know if I’m going to be weighing myself naked, but I think it’s important to know…

Good article, definitely some good pointers!

Wordless Wednesday

Hey everybody!  Welcome to Wednesday.  We are that much closer to the long Memorial Day weekend!

I had some leftover pictures from the Run for the Dream, so why not share ‘em?

Finally on the "home stretch" of the half.

Yummy Ben and Jerry's Black Raspberry yogurt, after the race refueling!

Big sailboat in Yorktown

Fife and drums

School News

I write back and forth to one of my students.  He has Autism and it’s easier for him to communicate all of the ideas and thoughts he has this way.  It really does help and he doesn’t just blurt out as many random musings throughout the day.  Yesterday we were writing about the storms we’ve been having in the area.  He had this to say…

If you can’t read what he wrote, he said, “I hate the Rian but it helps the Trees and Plats (plants) But there is strong storms isolated thunderstorms scattered thunderstorms heavy rian AM showers PM showers Tornadoes Hurricanes but sometimes when there are storms like that sometimes the Power goes out in are house if you are sleeping and if your power is out you need a Flashlight so you can see where you are going if you do not have a flashlight if you loss (lose) your control if you are lazt you might hit your wall in your room and you will say OUCH!  It’s true.”

All one sentence.  I think it’s hilarious that he knows all the different types of storms and weather occurrences.  Also that he says if you are lazy and don’t have a flashlight.  This is what is going on in his mind at all times!

Run for the Dream – hills? What hills?

Where’d we leave off?  Ah yes, the start of the race…

Leanne and I started way  at the back while Phil went up and started way at the front.  It all worked out!

Some students from the Achievable Dream school sang the National Anthem and we were off!  There wasn’t a gun shot or anything like that, we just slowly moved forward. This was a smaller race; being the first year and all.  There was a total of about five thousand for the whole race weekend.  Pretty cozy.

This is what was behind Leanne and I…

See, I wasn’t kidding when I said we were at the back.  It was all good since we wanted to start with a more comfy pace.  Leanne was worried about her stiff back and foot.  I was a little worried since I had the Pig two weekends ago and hadn’t really trained for this one.

Anywho, on with the story!

Miles 1 – 2 were all through Colonial Williamsburg.  It was pretty cool to be walking through Williamsburg without anyone else there.  And by anyone else, don’t worry about the two thousand or so other runners/walkers.

I see you runners!

Miles 3 – 5 took us around  Colonial Williamsburg.  We really got to see the outlying areas of Williamsburg and some of the city.  It was tranquil through this part of the race.  Not a whole lot of spectators or other people about.  One thing I noticed right off the bat about this race was that there was not any entertainment at all.  In some parts it was nice to just be in Williamsburg and enjoying the scenery, but towards the end…I really needed something!  Around mile 3/4?  a lady in the neighborhood told us, “I brought you shade and a downhill!”  She was cute.  It’s little things that make races worth it!

Miles 6 – 9 these were the fun miles…or not really.  At mile six you turn and start heading into Historic Jamestown.  Also at this point you get to see the runners you haven’t seen in an hour or so.  This part of the course also starts with the hills….oh the the hills.  Looking at the elevation map

I didn’t fully appreciate how many elevation changes there were throughout miles 6-10.5.  Even that’s a lie.  Pretty much from mile 6 – 13…there was a hill in some shape or form.  Ugh…

I was doing fine during miles 6-9..er 8.  After that I hit…the brick frickin’ wall…  It pains me so…really, it does.  The thing is, Sunday was the hottest and most humid day of the year.  I know this sounds like an excuse, but whatever.  I drank water and Gatorade at every water station yet still at mile 9… I was done.  I had to make Leanne slow down her pace…I felt like a big weenie!  I know I shouldn’t but, hey it’s pride!  Leanne was my own personal cheerleader.  Honestly if she wasn’t there.  I so would have stopped.

At mile 8 we got serenaded by a piano player.  Seriously we did!  This man had an upright piano and was singing and playing old musical songs such as, “One.”  Leanne and I were very appreciative.

Moving on…

Miles 10 – 13.1  We had to move over for the ambulance to go pick up a walker behind us.  Lots of people were struggling due to the humidity and heat.  I hope that person was okay!  During these last couple of miles we headed back in to Colonial Williamsburg and onto the campus of William and Mary.  More Gatorade and water were consumed, but for some reason…didn’t really help.  Damn you humidity! *shakes fist at sky!*  Between miles 11 and 12 the best thing happened…a cool mist station.  Oh my God!  I felt like I stepped into a tiny little rain shower, it felt soooooo good!  After the cool down station we were heading into Zable Stadium at William and Mary.  We could hear the announcer yelling off everyone’s name,  I so wanted to be in the stadium so he could say my name!  So close!  There was one last turn and a hill (curses!)before entering the stadium.  This is where Phil showed up!  Thank goodness.  You know why?  He had water!  Oh and I guess he was a bit of a motivator…;)

Do you see what I see?

That, my fine friends,  would be the finish line.  When we entered the stadium they were playing Olympic themed music.  It was a good touch and it did help me a bit, although I kind of wanted to be on the back of those Olympians…

Leanne and I crossed the finish line in 3:18 unofficially, 3:15 officially.  Once we stopped moving, I felt a lot better.  Considering that I made us slow down, I think our time is pretty awesome.  It irks me to know that our time could have been better if I hadn’t been a human slug!

The after race party in the Sunken Garden was pretty impressive.

There was BBQ! 

and beer, although I did not partake.  They also had lots of other goodies such as cookies, peanuts, yogurt, bananas, and chocolate milk.  Yum!  There was also a live band playing.  Pret-ty good.

I give the “after party” an A+.

Leanne and I enjoyed this race, even with the whole “wall” thing.  It was the first year for the race, so I know next year will be even better!

I appreciate Leanne for helping me get through those last miles.  I appreciate Phil for having water at mile 13ish and for taking Leanne and I’s picture that last leg.  *Group hug!*

Run for the Dream

Happy Monday!  Today was definitely still a recovery day.  I didn’t take the day off or anything, but I’m still moving pretty slow.

Let’s recap shall we?

Saturday we headed up to Newport News.  We stayed at Phil’s since he is much closer to Williamsburg and this way we wouldn’t have to get up ridiculously early on Sunday to get there.

We headed to the Expo which was a bit underwhelming and confusing.  The packet pick up was at the Visitor’s Center at Williamsburg in a smaller building.  This was the first year for the race so I know things will be fixed and changed, but the packet pick up was all over the place.  First, you headed downstairs to get your number.  In order to get your number you had to walk through the room where you signed up for shuttle bus times and got your swag bag, but you couldn’t sign up for a time or get your swag bag until you got your number.  Oy.  Then you headed back upstairs, through the expo to get your shirt.  It was a super small expo and I’m sure it will get bigger and more organized.

After the expo we chilled for a bit and then headed to dinner.  We went to Luigi’s in Newport News.  It wasn’t that busy, which just meant we got our food that much quicker.

First off…garlic knots!

Carb it up!

They were super addicting.  I got chicken Marsala as my meal.  It too was very good!

You can also see Leanne’s pizza, which she said was delicious as well.

After dinner, I got my stuff together…

spi belt, gu's, shirt, sports bra, pants, socks, shoes, bus pass, headband, and race number

Yeah, we didn’t wear the bus wrist things.  They pretty much just let you on the bus when you got there and really didn’t pay attention to the times at all.  See, at the expo they made you pick a time (our time was 6:10).  It was stressed that you needed to be there at the specific time and yada, yada, yada.  We got there sometime around 6 and still got on the bus.  Whatevs.

Sunday we got up bright and early at 5 in order to make it to the buses by 6:10.

We made it to the start of the race course well before the race started (7:30)

Breakfast:

Banana nut bagel w/almond butter.

There was also coffee and a banana for breakfast.

The race start was actually inside The College of William and Mary; we ate breakfast in the library parking lot I believe.  Lots of people watching ensued along with entertainment.

Drum and fife!

Finally we headed over to the start.  We didn’t see a corral system in place, apparently there was one, so we just headed to the back.

There was still time for a few last-minute shots before the race started…

Phil, Leanne, and I

Leanne and me

I’m going to end it there today.  Lots more to write!  Stay tuned!

Williamsburg Run for the Dream

Tomorrow morning Leanne, Phil, and I will be in Williamsburg running/walking the Run for the Dream Half Marathon.  It’s going to be a great day and I know we are all going to do an awesome job!

See you on the flip side!