M-M-M-My Rehoboth!

If you can’t read the title to the tune of “My Sherona” stop reading because I dont want to share this with you.

Kidding! (maybe)

I know everyone’s still patiently waiting for reports on a gazillion races. Or you’re like “WTF, this report’s over 9 months old…didnt care then, dont care now.” But I’ll just assume it’s the former and say I’m sorry. You’re just going to have to wait.

Can you be as cute as this puppy while you wait?

I had a nice PR at Rehoboth. That’s not a spoiler because it was a given I was going to PR. My last time running a half was at  Asheville 2011. The questions were: By How Much? And Will It Suck?

But let’s back up. In 2012 I ran the full at Rehoboth while EVERYONE else ran the half. They had been drinking for hours by the time I finally came through and I was insanely jealous when they came back to get me at mile 25 (awwww) drunk and happy like a Seaslore Sorority and I was just trying to make it through the last mile without crying. The whole weekend was so much fun I said I was coming back for the half.

It’d been a really long time since I’d signed up for a half and it took me a minute to pull the trigger. But once I did, I never regretted picking the half over the full.

Friday night was a whirl of hugs and stuffing my face. Unfortunately, I’m still not used to the whole not drinking thing before races and it sucked watching everyone have all the fun that is typically my department. But reuniting with the Seaslores made it all better.

Race morning was cold and rainy but the house was warm and alive. Greg pranced in and out cursing the cold. Kevin pleaded me to trade him bibs so he could run the half. Mr Buscuit Pusher got me coffee while I fixed my tutu and leotard to make sure my lady parts stayed in (Old School peeps will remember a certain loopette’s vag was in danger of falling out when she ran a half in Philly wearing a leotard). Rehoboth was the 5th and final costumed race for my Year of the Muskrat Challenge…and I think it was my favorite!

Ask me about my Ho Ho Ho story! 

Fast forward about 30 min past the freezing wait at the start line, Linnea and I were off to run the first 9 miles together. I wanted to run 9:30s to the turn around and she wanted to get in some miles before she went all crazy inspirational BOOMtastic BA at the Hellgate 100k the following weekend. We picked up John P very quickly and the 3 of us got into a comfortable groove.

Maybe a little too comfortable because the first mile was 9:47. Booo. Luckily the crowd thinned out and our pace got closer to target. We really started picking it up when the leaders started coming the opposite direction. The marathon leader, who I met at the Columbia Marathon, responded with a hilarious “I have a friend!” when I cheered for him…and seeing him, Greg, Erin, Mr Bacon and all our beautiful, fast friends all up on front made Linnea and I feel super cool. What did NOT make me feel cool was cheering for Maniacs while wearing no Maniac gear. I got no love 😦

Shortly after the turn around we picked up John Duffy for a while but Linnea and I lost both him and John P somewhere in the 4th mile. However, we were in a great groove and we picked it up a bit in the 5th and 6th.

Everyone slowed when we hit the trail, which seemed in worse condition than last year. People came to complete stops trying to dodge the puddles and since I’m a lemming, I followed what everyone else did for about a mile until I put on my trail runner panties and sucked it up.

The best part of the trail was by far seeing all the half marathoners coming back. We figured out when we saw an Abby-less B2squared followed by a Abby-less Bangle (who wouldnt have passed her without picking her up) that she  had a Code Abby. The lady next to us was not happy to hear about our lovely friend’s inability to run a half without pooping her pants. In fact, we heard a very nasty “I DID NOT NEED TO HEAR THAT!!” and she sped up trying to get away from us. Her loss because Linnea and I are freakin awesome.

I was really sad to leave her at the turn around. Half because I was sad to leave my friend and run on my own and half because this was the point I told myself I’d pick it up. I already felt like I was barely holding on to the 9:30ish pace…speed up?? Ugh, this was gonna hurt.

It was super lonely running without Linnea. Luckily there were still some Loopsters on their way out to cheer for…but in a way I was glad to be alone so I could focus my energy on not dying.

Apparently everyone else thought it was cold!

I managed to speed up a little, but while on the trail sub 2:05 seemed barely within reach. I kept trying to visualize speeding up once I hit the pavement. Just hit the pavement.

The last mile hurt, but in a good way. And I felt great crossing the finish. I def had more in the tank. Maybe someday I’ll revisit that whole training to get faster thing…but for now, let’s just say the body was very confused stopping at 13 miles.

Splits since they’re somewhat decent:

Almost 4 year old PR finally down!

I’m doing the half again this year, and I think I’m gonna try for sub 2. My fall schedule is pretty conservative so I’m going to try to get in some faster, shorter miles to see what happens.

Post Race I got to cheer on the winner, Justin, and Greg on his awesome PR (and podium finish) before heading back to the house for a quick shower just in time to cheer Peg. And then I danced and drank my butt off! One of the best post race parties you will ever find.

 

 

 

I’d go on, but it only gets worse once the sun goes down. Finishing this report makes me excited for Rehoboth 2015….and luckily I dont have to wait too long 🙂