Wineglass Marathon Race Report

Two weeks ago I completed my 5th marathon.  When I first started running, I was sure a marathon was for gifted runners and crazy people...not ordinary people like me.  And then when I registered for my first marathon it was going to be a one and done.  However, I fell in love with the marathon.  But, unlike the half marathon, I can't crank out a marathon every week or couple of weeks.  I've limited myself to 2 a year last year and this year.  Because I don't do them as frequently, it's hard for me to choose a favorite.  They all have great things about them.

Here are a few of my favorite things about the Wineglass Marathon:
- Gorgeous race course
- A finisher medal made of glass
- A course that never merges with the half marathon
- Outstanding race swag - a wineglass, a shirt and a bottle of champagne

The race started in Bath, New York and finishes 26.2 miles later in Corning, New York.  I love a point to point race.  Sure the logistics are a little tougher, but you get to see more and there's no chance of the dreaded out and back.  I also really love marathons that are just a marathon.  It's a difficult thing to watch the half marathoners break away and go to the finish.  While this race had a half marathon, we never saw them.  They started before us and in the middle of the marathon course.  It felt like separate races!

We had to catch a shuttle from the finish line to the start of the race.  The shuttle got us to the start line about an hour before the race was to start.  We had trained all summer in the heat and humidity.  One of the great things about picking a race in New York in October was knowing the temperature wouldn't be too hot.  And it wasn't.  It was a toasty 32 degrees.  Which might not have been too bad to run in, but it was brutal to wait in for an hour at the start line.   It was at least mile three before my toes had defrosted.

I ran this race with my dear friend Holly.  She trained with me last summer to run her first half.  She's completed a few of those, and in the spring just hinted that she might like to run a full.  Of course, I ran with that.  We've been training together for this race all summer.  She is amazing - through all of our training runs and the entire race she never complained!!  Don't worry, I complained enough for both of us.  I loved getting to train with her every week and running the race together was definitely a reward for all of our hard training.  I loved getting to experience her first marathon with her.  I also loved that our friendship got even closer during the process!  Maybe it's the shared experience (and pain) or all the conversations that happen on long runs, but either way running glues people together.



Races have been hard for Mark since he's been injured and recovering and overcoming setbacks for so long.  I know it's hard for him to get excited to come out to a race and cheer.  I really expected him to only meet us at the finish line.  But he was the most outstanding spectator all day!!  He was able to find us on the course at least eight times.  Every time he was all smiles and cheers and had the music blaring in our rental car for everyone to enjoy.  We were thrilled to see him every single time.  You have no idea how much of a mental boost it gives you to see a familiar face during the race.  It really helps you keep going.  But Mark impacted many more people than just our group of runners.  I heard at least five different strangers tell him how much his cheering meant to them.  And I think he got a little bit of a boost from the experience too.

The race was an amazing experience.  There was never a point where I thought I couldn't do it or wouldn't be able to finish.  I'm thankful to Fleet Feet and Personal Best Fitness for that.  And thanks to Mark & Holly for the on course entertainment.  Holly and I got to run the last 2 1/2 miles with my great friend Kendra.  She was coming off an injury that cost her weeks of training and still significantly PR'd the race.  I loved getting to finish the race with her.

A big shout out to my amazing friend Gail, who trained her butt off and PR'd the race by more than 10 minutes.  She's amazing!  She works hard all the time.  I'm definitely the slacker in our training.  Danielle ran her first marathon and was the speediest runner in our group!  She rocked it and has already signed up for her next marathon!  It was also Erich's (Holly's husband) first marathon.  He is a personal trainer and super fit.  He had limited running training and still had an amazing race!  We kept expecting to pass him on the course (and we might have glanced in all the medical tents we ran by to make sure he didn't hurt himself) but he was a rockstar!  And he's planning his next marathon already too, or at least he's thinking about it.

Corning is quaint, super cute little town.  It reminds me a lot of downtown Franklin.  And because we crammed in a trip to Niagara Falls before the race we didn't have a chance to visit any of the local wineries or create something from glass (glass is what Corning is known for), so we clearly have to plan a return trip.  I haven't done a half marathon in New York yet.  It's my goal to do one in all 50 states.  I'm planning to come back to run this one next year. It's a well done, beautiful race.  Plus, if I put in the work, it could be a potential PR course.  

The Chicago Marathon

The Chicago Marathon was the most awesome race experience I've had so far.  All the stars aligned creating nearly perfect racing conditions.  I was feeling the best I had felt in months physically.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect - overcast, 30's to start the race and never over mid 50's.  Of course, I did whine about it being chilly at the start (to answer your question, yes I always whine about some facet of the weather).  Even with an ideal race morning, I still had a few doubts and my less confident self tried to talk me out of doing the race...I'm so glad I won the argument over her!

Nicole, Jeanie, Gail and I were all doing the race.  I practically begged Nicole to run with me...in a way that made it sound like I wanted to run with her.  Really, I knew it would be a better experience with someone than by myself.  Nicole and I had matching outfits for the race before we left home.  But with the chillier temps we bought very loud, nearly obnoxious capri pants to wear instead of shorts.  Thus breaking the first rule we ever learned from our coaches at Fleet Feet about racing - nothing new on race day! 

Wearing a matching outfit with the person I ran with was a great idea, making it a bright orange and purple outfit that you can't miss was a stroke of genius. Why?  Because for 26.2 miles, people commented on our outfits constantly.  Other runners, spectators, and volunteers all said something to us.  It was extremely encouraging.  And when you really want to punch something at mile 23, you can't help but smile when someone tells you they love your outfit.  We may never win a race, but I think we have best dressed covered.

It's no secret that I love the city of Chicago.  It's one of my favorite places to go.  Sometimes Mark and I daydream about moving there someday (as long as I can have a winter home at a beach).  The absolute best way to see a city is by running.  We saw so many parts of the city I hadn't been to before and I loved all of it!  My favorites were Lincoln Park and Chinatown.  At one point in the race, we ran past a large nursing home.  Lots of the people there were looking out their windows and waving.  I smiled and waved.  When I looked around every runner I could see was also looking up and waving.  It was a wonderful, heart warming moment.

The race had a vibe about it that I hadn't experienced before.  I've been to some well supported races before, but nothing like this.  I wore my ipod for the first three miles but never turned it on.  At mile 3 I took it off and put it away.  There was music through most of the course and the crowd support was astounding.  They estimated 1.7 million people came out to see the race. That just amazes me. 

And the crowd wasn't just there to cheer.  They were extremely giving too.  Many had extra water out and available for runners.  Some had tylenol or ibuprofen measured out in little cups, I had brought my own but loved the gesture.  I saw several people giving out pretzels - I did have some of those.  But my favorite was the man at mile 22 who had Nutter Butters.  I wanted to kiss him and propose at the same time.  Luckily for him, I'm already married, so he got the most heartfelt thank you I could muster.

There were so many race volunteers and plenty of water and gatorade stops.  I carried my water bottle, but would have been fine without it.  The water stops were also nice and long and great for walking.  The only downside was the stickiness from gu's and gatorade made it a little hard to walk through.  It wasn't terrible but by mile 20 or so it seemed like a lot of extra effort to get my feet off the ground.

Nicole was the best person to run this race with.  She enjoyed (or faked it) every part of the race.  Well every part except for the grated bridges, where she ran straight for the carpeted side.  I'm thankful they had it carpeted or I may have had to carry her over the bridges.  She sang and danced and high fived her way through the race.  Even when I was feeling like death (about mile 21) she kept singing and dancing with a little running mixed in.  It was infectious.  And it made me stop (figuratively, not literally, thank goodness) and think if you can't enjoy the race and have a good time then there's no reason to do it.

Going into the race my only goal was to finish the race and have fun.  With a couple miles left, I started calculating what I needed to do to PR the race.  Early on we had been moving along nicely, but I knew as we got closer to the end I'd probably slow down - not crash exactly, but close.  It was very hard to keep pushing it at the end, but I tried.  I finished in 5:21:35, which was a PR over my first marathon by just over a minute!  We were also able to finish the race in front of the man dressed like Captain Jack Sparrow, which was a small personal victory.

I'm so proud of Nicole and Jeanie who both finished their first marathon.  And also super proud of Gail who PR'd by more than 20 minutes!  Also, very proud of Mark, who was registered for the race but didn't get to do it (he didn't whine about that nearly as much as I would have). He managed to see us on the course 3 times on crutches - that is love! 

I loved the race and I will do it again. Before my first marathon I had said I would do one and be done. After it, I said I would do one a year. Now after Chicago (my second), I would entertain the idea of doing two a year.

Marahon #2 in one week

I can't believe the Chicago Marathon is one week from today, in fact, one week from right now I'll be running. And probably wishing I were blogging instead.  If you've spent anytime with me in the last four months, you know this training season has been long, painful and somewhat disappointing.  I've had to cut back my mileage several weeks and cut back my goal for the race.  I've spent lots of money and time in physical therapy trying to strengthen my core and prevent an injury.  I've felt sorry for myself and thought about quitting more times than I can count.  And sadly, I haven't been blogging about my training.  I was pretty sure I didn't want company at my pity parties.

Thankfully, I have amazing friends, coaches and running mentors.  Brandon, my PT, and Tammy, my running coach, have been telling me there is plenty of time.  I wanted to believe them, but struggled to.  Two weeks ago, I finished a 20 mile run.  And, they were right, trusting the training, I realized I am ready. I didn't worry about time or anything else and just had a fun run.  It was the first time I really, truly believed I would be able to finish this race.  And what a difference that little bit of confidence has made! 

Last weekend I ran the Women's Half Marathon here for the third straight year and had a blast.  And best of all it was pain free!  Last week and this week are both for tapering, dialing back the mileage.  I feel like my mileage has been dialed back all of training, but I'm still doing only what the training plan calls for and not more (even though more is really tempting).

I think marathoning for the second time is harder than the first.  This time I know what to expect.  I know at mile 13 I will wish this were just a half...that I could be satisfied with only ever doing that.  At mile 16, I will think there's not a chance in hell I can do 10 more miles.  Then I will quickly push that thought out and force myself to read signs and look at buildings and anything else to keep me from thinking about what's left.  At 20, I will be ready to curse the day I started running and every run since.  At 22, I will think 4.2 miles away might as well be Australia.  At 24, I will begin to think I might actually be able to do this.  At 25, I will say just 1 more mile - no 1.2 more miles, damn it.  At 26, I will pause (mentally, not actually) and just feel the last .2.  And at 26.2, I will feel on top of the world and ready to slay dragons!

Training for and running a marathon is the hardest thing I've ever done physically & mentally.  But it's also by far the most rewarding thing I've ever done for myself.  It's amazing how strong and confident you feel at the end of 26.2 miles. Now I'm just going to keep telling myself this for the next week.

Keeping Promises to Myself

One of my favorite things anyone has ever said to me about running was said by my friend Bill Evans, he said, "I quit 137 times in the first mile."  This statement describes exactly how I feel about the first mile of a run.  I despise it.  But when I get past it (or the first three miles, usually) the rest of the run is awesome.  That is except for the last few weeks.  I've developed a terrible pain in my hip/butt around miles 6 - 8.  I'm doing exercises, yoga, foam rollers, prayers and anything else I can think of to help it go away. 

Last year, training for the Dublin Marathon was easy (you know as easy as training for a marathon can be).  The additional miles came easily and I didn't really have any extra aches or pains.  This year has been an entirely different experience.  The Chicago Marathon is 60 days away.  It seems so close.  But in running time I know there's still lots of time to train.  I just need to get my body on board with this plan. 

I guess I shouldn't be terribly surprised by this training being more difficult.  The entire year has been has been more challenging than the last few. I would list all of the ways it's been difficult, but I'm trying to derail the pity party train.  I attribute some of my problems in my training now to breaking my arm in May. I broke it on trail run.  I swear runninng is not a dangerous sport, except for the two incidents this year that have lead to broken bones for me and Mark.  I had to take a few weeks off and pretty much went right into marathon training (not the way I suggest starting off your training program).

Check out some of my friend Paige's Fosterisms

On this past Saturday's 15 mile run, which was particularly difficult physically and maybe even more difficult mentally, I thought multiple times about quitting.  Quitting that run, quitting the marathon training, at a few desperate times I even thought about giving up running altogether.  I went so far as to talk to Tammy about riding back with her at the next to last water stop.  But there was something that wouldn't let me.  It was the promise I made to myself to train for this race.

I love to run.  It makes me a better person.  It relaxes me and energizes me at the same time.  These are the things I tell myself when I want to give up.  Keeping promises to myself is something our late pastor, David Foster said a lot. It's a motto I've adopted. And when there's something I don't want to do, it's what I tell myself. It's one of the reason I choose to start again when I want to quit.







Happy, Hopeful & Humbled

This is a picture of a sticker I bought for my car in March to celebrate my decision to do the Dublin Marathon.  Of course, I'm not putting it on my car until after the race.  I can honestly say there have been many times over the last few months that I was unsure if I would get to use the sticker.  However, I'm very excited to be able to confidently say, we will be going to Ireland and running the full!

Why have I been unsure until now?  $10,000 is a lot of money to raise.  It's been difficult.  It's always been very rewarding.  Right now we are up to $7600 raised.  A big thanks to my company, Home Warranty of America, for matching $2500 of the money we've raised.  Their donation made a huge difference! I feel sure we can get the remaining $2400.  Want to help us raise that last $2400?  Visit our website for more information.

We had a great weekend of fundraising and training last weekend.  We set up a bake sale after Fleet Feet's Women's Half Marathon Training on Saturday.  My original plan was just to have chocolate milk (by far the most popular thing we had), Gatorade, water and a few cookies.  But then something unexpected happened - several people started offering to bring things.  So we had drinks and a huge variety of baked goods.  Thank you so much to Gail, Delaina, Jeanie, Angie, Rene, and Nicole for contributing yummy snacks! 

The response to our sale was amazing to say the least. Including a generous donation we received after, we raised over $900 Saturday.  And we had tons of baked goods left.  As important as the donations we received, was the encouragement and stories we heard.  Everyone was so positive and motivating.  It was also moving to hear people tell us about their loved ones who had blood cancers.  With the baked goods we had left over we set up a smaller sale at our Monday night Tin Roof 2 run and raised another $300.  Wow...we are amazed and humbled that so many people are supporting us. 

Because we were fundraising on Saturday, Gail, Mark and I did our long run on Sunday.  18 miles on the Natchez Trace.  We've not run the Trace before.  Which means we had no idea, it would be so hilly.  Gail and I were doing 3/1 intervals and almost every run felt like it started out uphill!  But I'm definitely not complaining, because it went as well as I can imagine 18 miles going.  The weather was perfect.  Mostly overcast and the temperature stayed in the 60s and 70s. We even had negative splits.  If you know me, you know pacing is not my gift.  I almost always start out too fast.  But we started out in the mid 13s and at the end of 18 my average pace was 12:32 a mile.  And the last mile was my fastest at 9:30. 

Mark has been battling several leg issues since we've been training.  He was able to finish almost 17 on Sunday.  And he was beaming at the end of the run!  It's been awhile since he's been this hopeful that he could finish the race. I'm so proud of him.

One great thing about Sunday's run was that David (Gail's other half) picked us up at the end of 18 miles, so we could run out 18 and not do an out and back.  It was great to run out straight, but driving back you realize 18 miles is a long freaking way! 

Gail has been the most amazing person to train with.  Not only does she let me whine and complain and talk her into crazy ideas, she's also planned and set up all of our water and refueling stops.  My advice to anyone training for their first full is to find a partner like Gail (but not Gail, because I've already taken her).  Speaking of my crazy ideas, this week's run went so well, I was actually entertaining the idea of an ultra marathon.  Of course, I'm tabling this idea until I've survived my first marathon.

Mark and I are so thankful to every person who has helped us fundraise and made donations.  Our fundraising deadline is October 14.  Please visit our website if you want to help us with our final fundraising push.