Detroit Free Press 1/2 Marathon Race Report

We arrived in Detroit yesterday afternoon and headed over to the Expo to pick up our race packets. I only purchased a Bondi Band this time, so I made it out of the Expo without leaving my life savings behind! LOL. On our way out of the expo we stopped to take some fun pictures.

Don't we look fast?!?

Following our Expo visit we walked to Greektown where we would be having our carb loading dinner. We had pizza at Pizza Papalis. All I can say is YUM!!
Once we finished our fantastic dinner, we headed back to the hotel to get all of our race gear ready for our 5:00 AM alarms! We talked for a short while and then it was lights out! I woke up ten minutes before my alarm and just relaxed a bit and waited for the alarm to sound. Everyone got up and we all had some breakfast, got ready, and took a few pictures.

At 6:15 AM we headed for the start line. I was checking gear for the first time today and it took us a long time to figure out where the gear check actually was. Once we found it I started to panic because the line was very long. My wonderful friends helped me stay calm. While waiting in line I had my cranberry grapefruit Carb Boom. It was actually very good. I was thrilled when I realized the line was moving very quickly. I put my pre-race long sleeve shirt in my bag and handed it to the awesome volunteers and we were on our way to the starting line. We were attempting to make it to Corral E which is where we were to start but it was 6:58 by this time so we climbed through the fence at Corral C just as the race was started. I was feeling great and smiling during the first mile. Afterall, that was the last piece of advice Joe gave me. I also made sure to "run loose". I settled right in with the 3:35 pacer and talked with a few other runners, most of them doing the full. As we approached the Ambassador Bridge I was thrilled that I had done hill repeat workouts. The bridge was definitely a climb. They only had 1/2 of the bridge closed and it was incredibly congested. I was pretty much forced to slow my pace during this section until we got to the end of the bridge. I didn't let it bother me. Afterall, I was still with the 3:35 pace so I figured I must be doing something right! I was thrilled when we were able to spread out again. I just kept plugging along keeping the 3:35 pace in sight! I knew going into the race if I wanted to reach my "secondary goal" of 1:50 I would need to be at 50:14 at mile 6. I got to mile 6 and my watch read 50:14 exactly! I continued to plug along thinking that my next goal was to be to the 10 mile mark at 1:23. Shortly after mile 7 we hit the tunnel back to the US. Somewhere in the tunnel, my Garmin completely lost satellite signal and I was running "pace blind" for the first time all day. I just kept going and thinking how much I really wanted to be out of the hot tunnel. I wanted circulated air and I wanted it now and that's when I exited the tunnel and saw the mile 8 sign! My Garmin never lost time but it did lose distance and pace. For the next 1/2 mile or so it was registering my pace as 55:00. I knew there was no possible way it was accurate! I kept on moving while calculating how much time I had to make it to mile 10 to stay on track for my "secondary goal". As I was approaching the 10 mile mark I really needed to pee so I make a quick pit stop and hit mile 10 at 1:24. No longer on "secondary goal" pace but still definitely on "PR goal pace". This is when I decided to take my Vanilla Carb Boom. It was awful! It was the consistency of frosting. I only took about a 1/3 of it and tossed it in the trash. At this point there was a group passing out m &m's. In hindsight I think I should have taken a handful but I just opted for my smart water in my handheld. Around mile 11 the 3:40 pace group took me by storm. I ran with them until the marathon/half marathon split. With about 1/2 mile to go, there was a strong headwind. I put my head down and pushed through it. I could see the finish line clock and knew my PR was in the bag and gave it the last little bit I had and crossed the line in 1:51:18!! A 3 minute PR!! I was elated and completely fine with missing my "secondary goal" since I had just crushed my best time! I grabbed my medal, got a quick picture taken, and headed to the gear check to claim my things. I was so glad to have pants and a jacket to put on after the race. I thanked the gear check volunteers and headed back to the finish line to watch the other ladies finish. I short while later my phone rang and it was Nikki. She had finished in 2:07 (her goal was 2:09) and she was trying to figure out where I was standing. Once she found me we waited for the other girls to finish. I was thrilled to get a picture of them approaching the finish line! Look at those girls...all smiles after just taking on 13.1!!!

Nikki and I told the girls we would stay exactly where we were so they could find us easily! Once we were all reunited, we had a group photo taken! Look at those smiling faces and awesome medals!

We were already talking about our next 1/2 marathon on the walk back to the hotel. We also discussed the fact that we needed to come up with a team name and get shirts made so we can cross off each state as we complete it in our 1/2 marathon in all 50 states quest.

Since Joe (here) was kind enough to create my training plan, I made sure to have his email address readily accessible so I could email him the results right away! I was thrilled to learn from his return email that he too had set an awesome PR in his 10K today. Head on over to his blog and read about it!

I need to take the time once again to thank Joe for being a great coach and giving me an outstanding training plan that got me to that finish line in a fantastic time!! Thanks Joe!!

I plan to enjoy this PR for awhile! Looking forward to my two hour massage Tuesday night! I do believe I have earned every minute of it!!

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!