RR: Rehoboth Beach Marathon

LONG overdue. This race was 12/8/2012.

It seems like most people have taken a loop hiatus. Some blame it on Pluck, some on work, injury, blah, blah, blah. I’ve been horrible myself but since everyone else is doing it you can’t hate me without hating on all those loveable loopsters. Remember that before you hate.

Anyway, sometime in September before the craziness of my fall hit me I kept hearing the sweet whispers of Rehoboth. 

Beer. Beach. Flat. Loopsters. Beer. 

Finally the voices said:

If you run it, you will PR.

You see, back in September I didn’t have much hope of a good PR at Twin Cities. The Raleigh/Savannah Double was going to be the opposite of a PR attempt and although I was signed up for the full at Marshall the next weekend, I wasn’t even positive I’d be able to run it or finish it. Rehoboth was my shot.

Enter Pearl Girl, Aschmid, Gingersnap, Corcorama, and BiscuitPusher…beach house, sleep over party – I’m all in!

Then Loopfest magic happened and I had a HUGE PR at TCM. In fact, it was easier than it should have been and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I could have shaved a few minutes off. Then I survived 3 marathons in 8 days feelin pretty darn good. 

Enter cocky Jenster – Rehoboth is way flatter than TCM…and I had done 3 freakin marathons since then. I’m totes gonna PR that thing! Forget about the fact that I PR’d at Shamrock earlier in the year too…I was closing out the year with Marathon PR #3. 

The drive to Rehoboth wasn’t bad, though I swear as I got closer the speed limits also got slower….and the cops definitely got the memo there were plenty out of towners during this off season weekend. UGH.

Pearl Girl was nice enough to offer her parents’ beach house to a bunch of strangers. She even cooked us dinner and got us tiaras. Best host ever! I hadn’t met her or Gingersnap before (Abby and Corc are old news) and it’s always fun verifying how I imagine people in my head with the real thing. These ladies are legit!

We had planned on watching awesome movies like Mean Girls and Anchorman, but ended up just talking, eating, and making our awesome shirts for the next day. Of course there were some beers involved before calling it a night. Corc was awesome enough to let me have top bunk!

Bed buddy competition: Horses or Mild Sauce?

The horses must have sung me some sweet lullabies because I slept like a champ and woke up like freakin Snow White singing with the birds. Well, not really but for 5 am or whatever horrid hour we woke up it was as good as it gets for me. 

We all piled into Abby’s car and met up with Biscuit Pusher near the start. I turned on my (what should have been fully charged) Garmin and was hit with the dreaded: LOW BATTERY.

WTF Garmin? I charged you last night! Are you too good for my PR?? Jerk. I was having a minor panic attack when Biscuit Pusher said she was just running for fun and I could borrow hers. She gave me a quick tutorial…and handed off her very expensive watch to someone she’s only met a few times. Love loopsters. Seriously.

You know who else I love? Maniacs. Rehoboth had no pacers…so I quick post to the Maniacs FB page connected me with a fabulous person. I found him in the sea of Maniacs.

I missed the real Maniac picture because of the potty lines…but luckily I wasn’t alone

The temps were decent, but it was a muggy morning. I didn’t think I’d notice 100% humidity with temps in the low 50s but I did and started sweating right away. I had taken off my LS shirt before the race even started and tossed my gloves before the first mile marker.

MUGGY – Courtesy of JB.

My pacer, Edward, was a dream. He is in the military and had just come back from deployment in October… and had done at least one marathon every week ever since. He’s on track to finish all 50 States by July. He kept me happy, but even in the early miles it felt too hard to hold the pace. I wasn’t so sure about it but the miles, although hard for me, went by really quickly.

Blurry pic of Ed, Me, and Biscuit Pusher in the early miles

We picked up Biscuit Pusher pretty early in the race and between her, Edward, and all the Maniac shout outs on the course I as happy as someone who was just wondering when the ball was going to drop could be.

I felt better once we hit the trail. There’s something so  reassuring about being in the woods that takes the edge off pace pressure….it was so much easier to relax and just let Edward lead the way. I also helped to see Erin and Abby on their way back (though I have to admit I was more than a bit jealous). Biscuit Pusher left us about a mile short of the half turn around, wishing us luck.

Edward, Me, and Biscuit Pusher rockin the trail section

The course took us out of Rehoboth where a volunteer/spectator said “Welcome to Lewes!” There was something really cute and memorable about it to me, but I cant remember why. Perhaps I’m holding on to that warm fuzzy memory because what I saw next has haunted my dreams.

There was a woman in a red sparkle skirt…with a dark spot on her butt. I thought for a moment that it was mud. Maybe she splashed in a puddle? As we got closer I thought, “Oh no, maybe she got her period and doesn’t know?” Edward and I said hi as we passed running along side her for a bit. At some point during the short conversation she farted…correction SHARTED! Um…I think I would take a DNF over sh!tting my sparkle skirt. Seriously, haunting! I dunno if Ed really didn’t notice or he’s just a nicer person than me…but he asked if I was ok when I blurted out “OMG” rather than join me in my Ewwww-fest. I decided to push it out of my mind.

Given how I felt at mile 1, I was a bit shocked I was still holding pace. Edward and I hit the half mat @ 2:14:49…about as perfect as someone shooting for sub 4:30 can hope. I held it for 13 miles not feelin it, could I hold it for 13 more?

Hitting the state park, there were a few rolling hills. I hate when flat courses have rollers, even if they are tiny!    Luckily there were a few out and backs so we got some more maniac love and even picked up a friend for a few more miles.

Making our way back to Rehoboth I started to bonk. My pace started to falter at mile 19…fought back for a decent mile 20, but the rest of the race was a real struggle. Edward was amazing, doing everything he could think of to get me to go faster and offering a ton of encouragement. I just couldn’t go faster.

By mile 22 it was clear I wasn’t going to get sub 4:30. Approaching Mile 24, I realized I wasnt even going to PR. It was depressing, but the depression didn’t last long – Jillian, Abby, and Erin were and the end of the trail to run me in!! These ladies are amazing!

Since I had new pacers, Ed dropped to the back to encourage runners who bonked harder than me

 Despite the uplift, I still wasn’t moving very fast. It was SLOOOOOOOOOOW. The girls kept my spirits up by telling me about all the beer at the end. It worked because somewhere close to mile 26, I found a bit of a kick (about 4 miles too late but better late than never!)

Ed and I crossed together. No Double Bangle…in all 26 miles I failed to mention it…but I think we still had an awesome finish photo.

FINALLY done!!! Where’s the beer?

Final time was a disappointing 4:38:09. I wasn’t happy….though the slow poke in me is happy that I’m at the point that a time in the 4:30s is a disappointment. It wasn’t that long ago my goal was sub 5. 

With the smart ones who did the half!

Te next few hours was beer, food, massages, and more beer. Rehoboth puts on an awesome race. I know it’s hard for some people to get to…but I really think people should put it on the back burner for an alt Loopfest. Pretty sure all of us are coming back for the half. I’m know I’m in for the pikermi…maybe that’s what the PR whispers were talkin about??

The post post race party was pretty awesome too.  Let’s just post some of the PG pics and leave it at “I passed out in my clothes and woke up with some interesting items stuffed in my bra….”

Lovely Loopettes

Thank you, Scottish man with the sexy accent.

Engagement made it a legit bachelorette party!

One more 50k report to catch up before Rocky….can I do it??? I mean post the report before Friday. You guys know I’m kickin that raccoon’s butt!

Thanks for puttin up with me and my tardiness 🙂