Cummins Falls Half Marathon Recap

On Saturday, I ran the Cummins Falls Half Marathon in Cookeville, Tennessee. It was my 33rd Half Marathon and one of the most beautiful… and cold races I’ve done!

I hadn’t really planned to run this race but my friend, Dallas Smith (RIF #79) is on the committee and he encouraged me to run it. I hadn’t seen Dallas in a while and knew I would get to see many other TN peeps so I decided to do it even though it would put a kink in my LA Marathon training plans.

I’m really glad I did it because it was one of the craziest, most fun adventures I’ve had. And I feel pretty proud of myself for running it too.

PRE-RACE
I flew to Nashville on Friday morning. I was worried that the storm heading for the area would delay or cancel flights but both of my flights were on time and I had no problems. Once we landed, I went outside to wait for my friend Leanne (RIF #45)who was picking me up…and promptly froze my butt off! It was 26 degrees. And snowing. Snowing! I was thankful that Leanne was picking me up because I would have been really nervous about driving.

Leanne picked me up and we drove over to packet pick up and got our bibs, goodie bags, and shirts. Dallas was there so I got to say Hi and meet a few other people. We then headed over to Leanne’s to hang out til dinner. We met Dallas and the others at Mama Rosas at 6. I got to meet a few other RIFers there including Dallas’s daughter Jill (RIF #356) and Charlie Taylor (RIF #353).

Dinner was fun and filled me up and we headed back to Leanne’s to relax and get ready for the race. And by get ready for the race I mean not freak out! Holy moly! The weather was insane. The forecast talked about freezing rain and ice and this So Cal girl was really, really nervous. I had never run on ice before and I wasn’t sure I could do it for 13.1 miles. I’d brought some Goathead Gear screws to put in my shoes and I put some in my shoes and Leanne’s while we watched tv. Then we saw a post on the Cummins Falls race page about the bridge…

Photo by Cummins Falls Marathon

And I thought, oh crap, I’m going to fall in! It would be just my luck! (The bridge was washed out in a flood a few years back so they put up this temporary bridge so we could run a loop course.)

Because of the weather, they also posted that the race would be delayed an hour so it would start at 9 instead of 8. I was thankful because it meant I could sleep in extra and get up at 6 (4 my time) instead of 5. I set my alarm and went to sleep and actually slept pretty well. Too well! Because I slept til 6:30! Thank goodness Leanne knocked on the door to wake me up because I’d set my alarm for Sunday, not Saturday. Oops! I ate breakfast and got ready and then Leanne and I walked over to her dad’s so he could take us in his big truck. We were both thankful that we didn’t have to worry about driving and sliding on ice or getting stuck.

We made it to the race site in plenty of time and headed over to the heated tent. We met a few more RIFers in there Leslie (RIF #417), Kerri (RIF #407), and Susan (RIF #368). And then we also found RIFers that I already knew Dallas, Charlie, Heather (RIF #44), Donna (RIF #310) and Whitney (RIF #37). Sadly, some of my RIF peeps did not make it because the weather was crazy and the roads were a mess. Boo!

They ended up delaying the race until 10 but I was okay with that because of the warm tent. They also offered us fruit and Clif Bloks while we waited. And did I mention there were heaters? But alas, it was finally time to start. The RD led us out to the start line and it was go time!

THE RACE
My strategy for the race was “don’t die, don’t break anything”. I had originally hoped to finally hit 2:05 here but when I saw it was hilly and going to be icy/snowy, I decided to just have fun and enjoy the run. So I was nervous at the start but not too much. I wanted to get going so I could see if I could actually do it.

They counted us down and one of the rangers in a Revolutionary War costume fired off a musket to signal the start of the race. We were off!

It actually wasn’t too bad to run. You could feel your feet slipping slightly almost like running on sand. I took it really easy in the beginning, especially on the downhills so I wouldn’t slip. It was really pretty so I stopped to take a few photos in the first few miles. I tried to take some while running but those did not come out. I really need to practice that!

Just after mile 4, we got to the bridge. I was with a big group of people and I let most of them go first so there would be less movement on the bridge. They had a rope up so it was actually pretty easy to cross and felt stable. After the bridge, we had a big hill to climb. I tried running the hill but it was so tiring. It was a not traveled road so there weren't any tire grooves to run in and you slid a little or sank a little depending on what footing you chose. I mostly chose the snowy part so felt like I was working twice as hard to get up the hill. After that hill, I was thinking that if there were more hills like this, I would be lucky to make it under 3 hours!

Luckily, that was the hardest/biggest hill and at the top we were back on main roads. The roads were a little better on the main stretch and I was able to stretch my legs out. I even had a 9 min mile in there. I didn’t too bad on the hills either. I knew there were some at the end and thought they would be worse than the mile 5 hill but they were more rolling and I only had to walk one tiny part of a hill that was steep and icey. I got a brief bit of encouragement at this point when I looked up and saw a Run It Fast shirt coming towards me. I thought it was a hallucination but then realized it was David Pharr (RIF #185) who’d missed the start of the race because of road closures and was running back along the course too encourage runners. Thank you David!

It had rained pretty much the entire time and there were times when it stung a little so not sure if was turning to sleet. The worst part was that the tire grooves we were running in filled with water so you were up to your ankles in freezing water. I kept trying to decide which was the lesser of the two evils - frozen feet or slower times from running on snow. I mostly picked frozen feet.

I definitely feel like I ran the first half of the race too cautiously. I think by the time I got to the top of the mile 5 hill, I had more confidence and that helped and it only got better after that. I hadn’t seen anyone behind me while going up that hill and thought I might be last. I decided to start fishing for runners to get me to be more aggressive. From mile 6 to the end, I passed 11 runners. Once I passed one runner, I’d set my sights on the next and try to reel them in. I thought I might not catch that last runner I could see but passed him with one mile to go.

I was so excited to be almost done. My feet and fingers were numb and I was hungry! LOL. Anyway, the only time I really slipped was in the last mile because I wasn’t paying attention in my excitement. Thankfully, I didn’t fall and was able to catch myself. Then I turned into the park and could hear the announcer and the music and ran as hard as I could over the ice to finish.

I’d done it! 2:40 but I’d done it! Woo!

POST-RACE
Leanne & Whitney (thank you Whitney for the finish photos!) were there cheering me at the finish, bless their souls. After I caught my breath, we walked over to the tent and I got my medal and then went back to the truck to get my clothes and change. Ha! Trying to change out of wet clothes with numb fingers is HARD! LOL. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do it. I was giving myself more encouragement in that bathroom than I had on the course. There was another runner in the stall next to me going through the same thing and we were laughing. But finally, I got changed into dry, warm clothes and headed back to the tent.

And surprise! When I got back, Leanne and Whitney met me and they told me I was 1st in my age group and they had my age group medal! I was like “For real?” Woo!

Isn’t it pretty? :)

I basked in the glow of this...while basking in the glow of a heat lamp! And Leanne was kind enough to get me a bowl of chili. It's funny the things you think about when you are running and during this race I was dreaming of a big bowl of soup. Usually, it's burritos or pancakes. THAT'S how cold I was! The chili was great but it was cold and we left soon after.

When we got back to Leanne's, she made us hot chocolate (another thing I'd been thinking about on the course and actually wondering if any of the aid stations had it) and tried to thaw out. Then later that evening, we went out to dinner with her husband for some good Southern food (bb1 pork, beans, and hush puppies!) and then ice cream! It is NEVER too cold for ice cream!

The next day, I was lucky again that both my flights got out and relatively on time. My quick adventure to TN was over but wow, was it packed with some fun memories.

FINAL THOUGHTS
So...I was 1st in my Age Group (there were 3 of us), 4th out of 14 women, and 16th out of 34 brave runners who battled and won the Icepocalypse Cummins Falls Half Marathon! I am so glad I got it together the last half and got over my fear of falling.

I want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to the organizers, volunteers, and rangers who were totally AWESOME during this. I give them very high marks for being out there in the rain and cold for us. I was not worried at all while on the course because there were so many volunteers & rangers out. Despite the conditions, everyone was really cheery and I had a lot of fun. There was one moment at the 10K turn around where I thought about calling it and dropping to the 10K, mostly because I was nervous. I am SO glad I didn't.

This was truly epic.

Thank you so much to Leanne for hosting me and driving me around! I probably would have stayed at the airport if not for her. I also want to thank Dallas for providing me with one heck of a story to tell my friends. :)

And thank YOU for reading! I know it was long. Sorry about that. :)

Surf City Half Marathon Recap

I ran Surf City Half Marathon, my 32nd half marathon, last Sunday.

It was the second time I'd run this race and this time went WAY better than the last time.

I wasn't planning to run it. I didn't sign up for it until last Tuesday. I had to get the okay from my coach since it wasn't on the schedule. He said okay. I had 16 miles planned for Sunday so the plan was to warm up for 2 miles, run the half, and then run a 1 mile cool down. We (my coach and I) knew that I might not run it as fast as Star Wars Half because I hadn't tapered but it would be fun to see how it went. I feel like I have gained a lot of confidence in just the 2 short weeks since I ran Star Wars and I was secretly hoping to beat that time.

PRE-RACE
On Saturday morning, I ran 5 miles per my scheduled. Justin had had a hard workout on the schedule but switched it to a 5 mile with the middle mile being a 30 sec hard/90 sec easy mile. It went well and I felt good.

That capped off a 53 mile week for me including one day of run commuting (12 miles round trip) and 201 miles for the month of January! It was so awesome to see the 200 number again. Finally.

After the run, I drove down to the expo. I didn't spend a lot of time there. Just picked up my bib and shirt. And signed up for the OC Half while I was there. I also visited with Sue a Run It Faster for a little bit. I also bought another pair of Hokas. Oops. Oh well. You can't take it with you so might as well buy fun stuff. :)

I had a good dinner that night and then slept really well. I did have a goal for the race but I was not really nervous because I knew that really whatever I did would be fine...as long as I beat last year's time (2:39), that is.

I woke up at 4:30, ate, got ready and drove down to the race. I decided to park at one of the satellite parking lots and then take a shuttle to the race. I had hoped to see the start of the marathon but I had to wait for the next shuttle so I was too late. I had plenty of time to do a 2 mile warm up though. Which I did along the beach and it was a beautiful morning.

I had a gel and then got into what I hoped was the right corral (I signed up late so didn't get assigned a corral based on time). So...yeah, I was secretly hoping to run a sub 2:05 on Sunday. :) I felt pretty confident I could do it. I looked for the 2:05 pacer but didn't see any pacer signs in my corral. Darn. I was on my own.

THE RACE
The half marathon started at 7:45 with waves going every couple of minutes. I managed to start my watch on time so I was able to watch my pace pretty closely. I knew I needed a 9:33 pace and pretty much kept that up throughout. The first mile was slightly faster than it should have been but not too much. The course is mostly out and back along Pacific Coast Highway with a detour for a couple of miles taking us inland. PCH is really flat with tiny rollers but the inland portion has a nice little hill to give you a break from the flat. I kept my pace even through there and did really well.

I had planned to take 2 gels during the race. I'm not sure if I really needed 2 but wanted to practice for the LA Marathon where I plan to take gels every 4.5 miles. So at 4.5 miles I had a gel and that went well. I had my next gel at mile 9 and that went down pretty well too. I was a little worried because it was sunny and warm and I was dripping sweat by mile 5 but I seemed to be doing okay. I have not tolerated direct sun very well since cancer. I seem to get hot right away and sweat a ton. It's so gross. :( Buy anyway...I didn't feel like I was going past the point of no return so didn't hold back. I think I may have looked a little rough though because somewhere in mile 10, a Race Guard ran by me and gave me a long look. LOL. I tried to smile and look like I wasn't dying. :)

So, I would say the first 10 miles went according to plan. But I lost steam in the last 3 miles. :( I was running about a 10 min pace and couldn't speed up for the life of me. On the plus side, I wasn't slowing down any more than that either and I knew if I kept it up, I could beat my Star Wars time. I sure was happy to see the finish line though!

2:06:28! I'd shaved a minute off my time from Star Wars! Woo!

I got my medal (I love the surfboard medals from this race)...

And then took a moment to not be sick. I think that's when the heat caught up with me and it was close. I found some shade and had some of the peaches they handed out and drank water and felt better. Then I headed out to do my cool down and get back on the shuttle to get back to my car. Half #32 was done!

POST RACE RAMBLINGS
I'm happy with how this race went. With not tapering and signing up at the last minute, I think I did pretty well. I've dropped my half time by almost 30 minutes since the Leading Ladies Half last August. I feel like I ran it smart and pretty even but for sure I was feeling the heat and that caught up with me in the end. If only the race had started earlier! 7:45 is too late! One other good thing is that I think I recovered from it really well too because I am finishing up another 50 mile week this week and didn't have any real soreness afterward except for a little bit of grumpiness with my left ITB.

So race 1 of 3 in the Beach Cities Challenge is done! Next will be the OC Half in May and then the Long Beach Marathon in October.

My next race is the Cummins Falls Half  in Tennessee in 2 weeks and I plan to try and go sub 2:05 again there. It has a hill...a real hill...so it will be tough but I hope think I can do it. First I have to get through this weekend's 20 miler!

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend!