CoDel Race Report

Abridged version: 

I mostly trained for a half marathon, decided on race morning to run a full, had a great weekend away with my friends, made some new friends, and have now fully recovered.

Lengthy version:

In August. several of my friends registered for the Coastal Delaware Running Festival's marathon. My summer was kind of crazy. I couldn't make a commitment. Knee pain, child who wouldn't potty train but wanted to go to preschool, sick dad, other family deaths, etc. At the reception following my dad's funeral, one of my friends asked if I was ready to register for CoDel. I jokingly reminded her his body wasn't even cold yet, and registered for the half a few days later. I figured it would be a fun weekend away with my friends.

My half marathon training went well last winter. I did most of my long runs with my friends who were training for the full. I debated switching to the full a few times, but I got sick. I missed a long run, did another one, had a good run, debated switching to the full, and got sick. Lather, rinse, repeat. I was sick four times during training. (Thanks for that, preschool. How my daughter remained unscathed is beyond me. It reminded me of my first year teaching elementary school. I was sick constantly.) I went on vacation during the end of the training period and ran maybe twice in the three weeks before the half? I was glad I'd decided against the full.

My friends picked me up Saturday morning to leave for the race. Rainy, drizzly, cool day - perfect for a road trip including stops at Starbucks, Panera, and the outlets. Columbia and Under Armour? Yes please! During the road trip, we realized one of our friends had decided a few days earlier not to run anything at CoDel. Some fast and furious texting and emailing ensued, and by the time we arrived at packet pick-up, we had permission to get our friend's packet. (We figured she'd want the nice shirt and pint glass.)

After settling into our lodging that evening, we looked at the course maps and logistics for the day. We quickly learned that half and full runners of similar paces wouldn't be running together at all. What's a girl to do? Paint her nails, of course. Paint and ponder.

Pic was actually on race morning.
Black coffee and a second coat of polish.
Go time!

Cue Sunday morning. The four of us who had traveled to Delaware together loaded up our hydration packs with the essentials (water, gu, and chocolate covered coffee beans), loaded ourselves into the minivan, and headed to the start line. I was wearing my friend's full marathon bib, and carried my half marathon bib in my pack. You just never know what you're gonna do. I'd decided that if I made it to 20, I'd finish. If not, I'd hop on the stragglers bus and call it a training run. Not sure what it would be a training run for. Life lessons maybe?

My longest training run was 11 miles. This was my 11th full marathon. I started hurting around 11 miles. Interesting chain of events. I wasn't running as a bandit, it was more of an unofficial transfer IMO. Heck, I sure wasn't placing.

I could have turned around at the half turnaround point, but why?

I was only supposed to see 13 mile markers that day.
Oops!

It was fun running with my friends, it was a beautiful course, the event was well organized, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Except I'd train, probably. Training is the un-fun part of distance running. Events are way more fun than long training runs.

There was a nice stretch of the race in Cape Henlopen State Park, which I have fond memories of visiting with my dad when I was in my late teens / early 20s. Great packed gravel path in the park, easy on the ol' knees. Another nice stretch of the race was along a paved multi-use path bordering several neighborhoods, totally protected from vehicular traffic. My only complaint with the course was a mile or two right near the end of the course, when we were on a road with an inescapable camber.

Somewhere around mile 23ish, there was a hair salon on the course that worked an alpha and an omega into the signage. I was sure I was in my own personal omega right then. It had to be a sign.

Make it stop! End race, end!
photo credit

For what felt like that last 34,681 miles of the course, I wanted OUT of Rehobeth Beach. I had choice words in my head, many uttered aloud, about that *&@$^% water tower in the *&@$^% town of Rehobeth Beach that I had been seeing for hoouuurrrrrsssss. For. Ev. Er. We got out of Rehobeth, we got back to Dewey, all was well.

Then I ate. This piggy cookie sums up most of my dietary choices for the 72 hours following the race. Fat, sugar, and salt. All of it,. All the yums.

I think there's still cookie crumbs in my friend's minivan.

We got home Monday afternoon. Tuesday morning, while hobbling around the house and trying to get my daughter ready for the day, I chose what I considered the most appropriate coffee cup for the day. It reminds me a lot of my dad, who in his later years, lived for the day and the moment.

You only live once, so make it count,
even if it black coffee is needed to enjoy the one life you life. 

Let's talk about poor life choices. I don't regret my unplanned marathon one bit. I guess it's a questionable life choice. Any stories to share of your poor and/or questionable life choices?

A Giveaway!

We all regift. Why should blog giveaways be any different?

I won this fun medal hangar from a friend's blog a couple years ago. When we turned our office / craft room into the baby's room, I not only lost my beloved crafting space, but also my I Love Me wall. No place to hang my degrees, the picture of me running my first marathon, the nice collage my then boyfriend, now husband made of my first time running MCM, and no place to hang my race medals. I had so many medals, though, that I'd thrown away a bunch by then, and just had the really cool ones displayed. The one with the spinner, the one shaped like a crab, the one with my state flag... they're all shoved in a box in the attic somewhere.

Perfect for your own I Love Me wall.

Someday, we'll finish the basement, and maybe then I'll have an I Love Me wall again. But someday, we'll also replace the kitchen back splash, refinish the Adirondack chairs, power wash and reseal the back fence, and build a walkway along the side of the house from the driveway to the front yard. After 12 years in our house, I'm not sure when someday will come.

To win the medal hanger, comment below. I'll randomly pick a winner on Tuesday, Feb 10, and notify the lucky one via email.

Eating My Words for Six Hours (Last July)

Last summer, when I was all gung-ho about blogging, I started this blog post. I pretty much rewrote the whole thing this morning, though, because it was all OBE.

Anyway, there's this event called the Endless Summer Six Hour Run fairly local to me. For years, I said I'd never do it. Whenever one of my friends signed up for it, I went on about how they were begging for injury, heat exhaustion, or worse. Tick bites, lime disease, you name it, it was sure to happen on their six hour jaunt through a wooded park. Don't get me wrong, I love the outdoors, I love the woods and hiking, but six hours on a paved four mile loop? Ewww.

Then Mother's Day weekend 2014 happened. (Read all about it here.) Over coffee, one of my training partners put a bug in my ear to sign up for the July 2014 event. I pondered it for several days. I was tired of running races for distance and time. By then, I'd stopped wearing my Garmin, or any watch, on most of my runs. I was just running for enjoyment, with no real goals in mind. But I kind of wanted a goal, or at least an event, to train for. Six hours, with no real distance? Six hours, with the option to walk, or even take a break and sit down, whenever I wanted? Sure. I decided to give it a try. After signing up, I joked that I'd be eating my words for six hours. Years of going on about how it was a bad idea and how it didn't sound fun? Umm yeah, I'd be eating those words. For six hours.

May, June, and most of July went on without any unusual events. Also without much training. I went for a four hour trail hike one day in June. Surely that was sufficient training, right?

No

To say I was undertrained is an understatement. The first three laps were fun. Then the suck factor increased along with the heat and humidity. My walk breaks got longer. I sat down and rested a few times. (There were benches along the path, begging me to take a rest.) In a futile attempt to alleviate the pain in my feet, I changed into flip flops for my final lap. I completed 22 miles and change.

The day wasn't a total wash. The ride there and back was fun, Five of us kept each other company in the Van of Regret. I ran parts of several laps with my friends. The food was good. Unlimited gummy bears, M&Ms, and pretzels every 4 miles? Yes, please! There was a post-race cookout in a pavilion. Grilled burgers and more gummy bears? Cookies? Homemade blueberry cream pie, that one of my friends brought? Sign me up! And the race swag couldn't be beat. I got an awesome silicone pint glass and singlet. It did take me several weeks to wear the singlet and use the pint glass, though. I had to get over my regret. Plus, the race supports a very worthy cause, the Semper Fi Fund.

Worth running for six hours on a paved path for? Probably.

And look, now you know what my bed sheets look like. Creep away.

Last weekend, my friends started talking about this event again. Although the groundhog saw his shadow yesterday, July 2015 is right around the corner. This time, though, several of us are forming relay teams. While waiting around between legs sounds boring, it won't be. We'll have each other! Lemonade, magazines, and pedicures!

Maybe I'll still be blogging in July and you'll get a race report. I'm sure you'll be holding your breath for it.