Nichole's FitLife: 10 Miler

It has been a while since the Tobacco Road Half Marathon. I have done a couple races since then and just never wrote about them. So here is a catch up post.

In April, I ran the RunnerDude’s Trust. Believe. Conquer! 25K; which was put on by a local running event company,Trivium Racing, and my running coach from RunnerDude's Fitness. It was a great race because so many of my running group friends were running it.

The course consisted of two loops that were pretty hilly. It being two loops was actually nice because not only were there a lot of people that I knew running it, but there were a bunch of people volunteering to help and spectate as well. No matter where you were on the course, you ended up running into somebody you knew. Plus you got to see everyone twice so you knew where to look for people the second time around. It was very motivating.

The course was pretty tough with a lot of rolling hills. The day was cool with bursts of relentlessness strong wind, that always seemed to be the worst when going up some of the worst hills.

Going into the race I did not have any expectations. I knew I wanted to get under 2 hours 30 minutes. I had trained for this race but had raced hard at the Tobacco Road Half Marathon two weekends before. So I had no idea what my performance would be like.

I started off with Brittany, Laura, Will, and Bobby. I started off hoping to hold a pace below 9 minute miles for the entire race. We started the race off at a pretty good pace. Eventually Brittany, Laura, and Bobby took off. All of a sudden they started getting further and further ahead. At first I thought I was slowing down , but realized they were speeding up. All the power to them, but I knew I needed to pace myself. Especially since I was still on the first loop. I ended up finding a good pace next to Will. We ended up running the whole race together. It was really nice to have the company. We barley talked, but just having his presence was nice and helped me keep a faster pace then I probably would have kept if I was by myself.

I forgot to mention that my other goal for this race was to beat Bobby. Bobby is a great guy with a funny sense of humor. We like to banter back and forth. He's always giving me a hard time and he's faster than me even with walk breaks. During past races I have tried to keep up with him, only to have him blow out a fast pace. Then he takes walking break,s and when I almost catch him he starts running again and ends up beating me. So I joked that my only goal for this race was to beat Bobby.

When Bobby took off with Laura and Brittany, Will predicted that Bobby would lose his wheels around mile 12. Sure enough around the 12 mile maker we saw Bobby up ahead walking up the hill and going to the porta potty. We ended up passing him there and were able to maintain our lead on him. So I reached my goal of beating Bobby and he never hears the end of it ;)

A little while after passing Bobby we picked up Brittney. Her stomach had started bothering her so she had lost Laura and our other friend Brandon. So I finished with Brittany and Will. The last 3 miles were the worst. It was all I could do to keep going. But with Brittany and Will by my side, we fought through it putting one foot in front of the other over and over again until the end. Just when you think you are at the end they made us go around back into the parking lot where we originally started. I finished in 2:22:30 with an average pace of 9:10 per mile. My half marathon split would have been a sub 2 hour half, which made me really happy. We had really slowed up those last hilly 3 miles. I was very satisfied with the race and my performance.

Overall it was a wonderful race. It was very well put together. There were a couple issues with not all the cops being there because of their misunderstanding that it was on Easter weekend, even though it had been set up over 6 months in advanced. Other than that the race was amazing. The volunteers were outstanding, especially since I knew almost every one of them.

Our friend Brandon had probably ran the smartest race, running it as a progression. He had been behind us for a good distance and then speed up past. Eventually he had caught up with Laura. At the very end Laura turned it on and ended up beating Brandon. We still like to give Brandon a hard time about it. Laura is sneaky though and is a lot more talented than I think she realizes. The girl has speed and is really good at kicking it into another gear at the end of a run or race. She is my hero :)

Laura ended up placing second in our age group (30-34). I got excited because I ended up winning 3rd. We got an Easter baskets since it was Easter weekend. The basket had a chocolate bunny and some candy, plus a $10 gift certificate to Dicks Sporting Goods. My friend Saundretta had watched watched Hannah for me while I ran so they were there for the rewards ceremony. As soon as I received my basket, Hannah grabbed the chocolate bunny and ate almost the whole thing before I fully comprehended what she was doing. Little booger.

I also did the Tar Heel 10 Miler in April. It was a pretty race. It had a lot of hills and was really crowded. They really need a better corral system because it was a mess. Not to mention it was so crowed at the start of the race that it was hard to move let alone get into a comfortable pace. Luckily I had no time expectations for the race and was just looking to run by feel.

A unique thing about this race is that near the end there is this horrendous hill you have to climb. So the event coordinators make it a separate challenge, "Laurel Hill Challenge".

The race describes it as follows:

"Get ready for the Laurel Hill Challenge! Laurel Hill Road passes through one of the most exclusive and beautiful neighborhoods in Chapel Hill, but it has a reputation for being one of the most challenging roads to run up. Over the course of approximately one mile, runners will climb just over 200 vertical feet. Runners will cross a timing mat at the bottom and top of Laurel Hill Road. A separate split will be included in your final results."

It was a beast of a hill and knowing you would be timed on it made it so I ran the whole thing. I'm pretty sure I would have walked some of it otherwise. Only problem is that once you reach the top of it there is another hill. Good lord I was mad. haha.

I finished the race feeling pretty exhausted. It was a great race. I'm not sure I would do it again unless I had some friends my pace that wanted to run it with me.

In May, I ran Race 13.1 Greensboro. My goal had been to get a course PR. Last year I was going for my first sub 2 hour half and had missed it by 29 seconds.

Everything went well up until mile 10. I was running with Brittany and Laura. The day was humid and got worse by the minute. The course consists of a ridiculous amount of rolling hills. It reminds me of a rollarcoaster. Last year we had been lucky and got a nice cool day. Not this year!

At mile 10 the humidity and heat started to get to me. I just wasn't feeling it . The relentless hills, heat, and and humidity were working against me. Plus I think we started out too fast for the course. Luckily Brittany and Laura helped get me through it. I had lost them for a while but they ended up waiting for me and telling me they wanted to finish together. The elements were getting to them too.

At that point we were still set to get a sub 2 hour half. Then we came across the hill of hell, and I just did not care about my time anymore. We walked up that evil hill and talked each other to the finish line. At the top of the last hill our friend Duncan met up with us. He is super speedy and finished over a half hour before us. He helped run us in. He was laughing because usually we are all talkative and we were dead silent. He asked us if this was the part of the race where we were not talking, hehe. Umm, yeah!

Laura and Brittany still finished a bit ahead of me. I was just a hot mess and could not get my legs to move.

Hey you win some you lose some. I was just happy I finished the race with some of the best running friends a girl could ask for.

Will I ever do this one again... I don't know. This time of year is so hard with the weather. Maybe I will sign up on race day next year if it is another cool day ;)

That puts me at 9 Half Marathons!

I had signed up for the Triad Ten Miler on National Running Day. They were running a promotion where it was like $30 to register. It was a local race, so I thought it would be fun.

It was scheduled to be a training run. I had all intentions of keeping it that way, until I arrived at the race. It was a beautiful cool fall day. Not to mention, this was my first ten mile race. Our running group also had a lot of runners running the race as well. Which also fueled the fire.

I did not have a goal time in mind starting out. I just decided to run by effort, and not worry what my Garmin said. After the first 3 miles I was averaging under 9 minute miles. So I decided to try and run this race keeping every mile under 9 minutes. Which would be absolutly amazing for me.

It was a hilly course, but I was feeling good. The course was beautiful. It ran through some really pretty neighborhoods and along a nice golf course.

RunnerDudes & Dudettes

I had seen two of my friends (Melanie and Michele) from my running group running about 30 seconds ahead of me for the first 5 miles. I wasn't sure if they were trying to race or just run the course. We are all very close in pace and always tend to run near each other.

They were just far enough ahead of me that it would take too much effort to catch up. So I just kept running my own race.

Then at mile 5, Melanie and Michele slowed at a water stop. I was able to catch up and began running with them. We had a great time talking, and helping to push each other up over all the hills. It really helped to make the time go by faster. I also truly believe they were the biggest reason I ended up getting such a great time in the end.

The last mile was the hardest. It was a gradual incline and you could see far down the road, but could not see the finish line. When we finally hit the final stretch, we discussed how it would be fun to try to cross the finish line at the exact same time.

The announcer spotted us and started making comments about whether or not we were going to race it out in the end. We all silently stuck to the plan, and crossed at the same time. <3

Photo Finish!

It was seriously my favorite race finish to date. I am still surprised by the relationships you make with other runners. It's a bond that happens so quickly. I really enjoyed sharing that finish with Melanie and Michele.

RunnerDudes & Dudettes with awards :)

The best part, was that none of us had ever ran a 10 mile race, so this was a PR for us all. On top of that, we truly killed this race!

We finished in 1:27:15 (average pace of 8:43 per mile)!

We were all super excited, as this was a really good time for each one of us. I'm not sure I could have kept that pace on my own.

The icing on the cake was that I actually placed third in my age group!

Such a fun memorable race!

Running Stats: