On Sunday I went to one of my old 'home' towns to run in the Brooksie Way Half Marathon. I say 'home' because I went to Oakland University and lived and then worked in the area for many years and it was only 30mins from my actually home. The Rochester area is a very nice and pretty area! I actually had 21 miles scheduled for today and yes I did get all 21 miles in! But before getting into the run I guess I need to start with the expo. The expo was on the campus, and oh how the campus has changed since I was there!! So many new buildings including the rec center! Such a nice change from what it was when I was there, and I was a swimmer when I went to Oakland so I huge change! I have to say I did not expect to see the expo I saw! It was a lot bigger then I had expected and had a huge variety of vendors! I wish I had gotten then earlier then 6:30pm on Saturday! But then again my credit card is happy I didn't get there to early... But I did make one stop at a vendor that had a charms and I finally got a 26.2 charm for my Pandora Bracelet!
& he did let me know that he will be a Detroit with a special Detroit Charm!! So will have to hunt his booth down when at Detroit Expo, and no I do not remember the name of the vendor! I also saw a sign saying that Desi was going to be there..but I was in a time crunch never got to read the details...I guess I should have! So I got my bib and my very bright green shirt! and off to my Mom's to stay for the night. She lives 20mins from Oakland a whole lot closer then East Lansing so didn't have to get up super super early. The day of the race I had 21 scheduled! So I had to get in 8 miles prior to the actual race. I was not racing this race it was just a run and run down memory lane! So I got to Oakland and with the help from Matt at Faster than a Turtle found a great parking spot away. Plus I had been talking with him and he helped me make a pre-race/run route! He lives in the area and it has been many years since I have been out there so a little help was needed! But once I got out there running, it all came back to me of where I was at! So I started out at about 6:10am and made it back to my car little after 7am where I meet up with Matt and his wife Janet. From where we were parked we jogged to the start line which brought my pre race run at 7.75 miles. Yes I was .25 miles off but don't worry I will get to 21! Once we got the start line we dropped off our bags, and I put my long sleeve into bag check, at first I was worried but 4 miles into the run I was happy I got rid of my long sleeve. But I did keep my gloves on the entire time!
I also used this race as a 'dry run' of what I would do or not do for the actually race in Detroit. I ran with out my water bottle. Something I have been doing on all of my training runs since moving to Michigan. I don't have any pre-arraigned water stops up here like I did back in Bama. So I did this race to see what it would be like to run with out and take advantage of the water stops. What I learned, is that I will run with my handheld until its empty. I will work on running and drinking out of cups for the next race but for this one I am going with my handheld. At the end of the run I was thirsty and felt like I never could get a real gulp down. So I am happy about having this trial run! I have ordered a replacement handheld so if or when I dump my handheld I will have 1 in reserve.
As for the race itself, I put myself in the 10min/mile pace group. I was scheduled to be at a 10:15 pace, but ended up closer to 10min pace. But felt great the entire time, ok not the entire time....the hills! It is called Rochester Hills for a reason! They were not horrible, they were very close to the ones I ran on a daily basis in Bama, but when I have been running in the flat land of East Lansing they were a bit of shock to the legs. But I did not walk any of them, and I only got off pace by 15sec or so on each of them. So I was proud of myself.
The race itself was a great scenic tour of the town and a huge trip down memory lane for me! I enjoyed every minute of it! And yes, will most likely go back next year. As for that .25 I had to get in! Well....I crossed the finish line, graped my medal and heat sheet and just kept running! Let me tell you it's a bit hard to keep running when you have to weave through people who are done! and then I made to the parking lot and just did a few circles and I'm sure the people where looking at me like I was a crazy person! But oh well...marathon training got to get it in!!
 |
| Having fun at the end of a 21mile run! |
 |
| My reward for a 21mile run with a 13.1 during it! |
Keep running happy!!!
Questions of the post......
Do you train with a hand held or fuel belt? If so what do you do on race day?
Have you ever ran a race plus more miles??
No comments:
Post a Comment